Game Development Essentials: Game Interface Design (Paperback)

by Kevin Saunders (Author), Jeannie Novak (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
As an introduction to the complex topic of user interface design, this in-depth book discusses player interface design conventions and looks at the effects of platform, genre, and design goals related to electronic games. Readers will explore everything from the history of game interface design and basic design theories to practical strategies for creating a winning, interactive interface. A host of professional applications, revealing insights, and illuminating anecdotes from dozens of pioneering game designers will inspire readers to explore this fascinating aspect of the electronic games industry.

About the Author
Kevin Saunders is a senior designer at Obsidian Entertainment. Previously he was lead designer and producer of Shattered Galaxy, which swept the 2001 Independent Games Festival and was recognized by GameSpot as the Most Innovative Game of the year. Kevin has worked as a designer on Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds, Far Cry, Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour, Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth, Knights of the Old Republic 2, and Neverwinter Nights 2.

Jeannie Novak is Lead Author and Series Editor of the widely acclaimed Game Development Essentials series. Through Indiespace, an interactive entertainment company she founded in 1994, Jeannie consults with creative professionals in the music, film, and television industries to help them migrate to the game industry. Jeannie is the Program Director of the Game Art & Design and Media Arts & Animation programs at the Art Institute Online. She has been a game instructor and course development expert at UCLA Extension, Art Center College of Design, DeVry University, Westwood College, ITT Technical Institute, UC Berkeley, and the Academy of Entertainment and Technology at Santa Monica College. Jeannie holds a BA in Mass Communication and an MA in Communication Management. She currently serves on the MMOG and Online Excellence committees for the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS).

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 1 edition (November 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1418016209
• ISBN-13: 978-1418016203
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #224,974 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars It's not about design, April 25, 2008

By	Dmitry Nozhnin (Moscow, Russian Federation) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is very colourful, well written, structured and history extensive book.

But within those 271 pages only last 16 are about design. Other 255 feed you with obvious information well known to any gamer.

Such book might be great for some artists who never played any computer or console games. Everybody else should keep away from it.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Appalling, March 14, 2007

By	Katrin Kaehler (Frankfurt am Main) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm deeply disappointed. I've been working in the games industry for a few years now, so I've read quite a few books about game development and, I must say, this one takes the prize for worst book in the industry by a landslide. Absolutely awful.

The information contained in this book is irrelevant, aggravatingly repetitive, dead obvious and hardly pedagogic. The actual, useful information about user interface design in this book could easily fit in a napkin, so 271 pages of ranting, countless students' opinions and the history of consoles, hardware and whatnot feel like nothing more than fluffy fillers to a book that should have never been published due to lack of material.

CONCLUSION: If you're looking to learn anything about UI design, this book is most definitely not for you. If you're looking to be reminded about the most evident things common sense could possibly dictate, then by all means, go ahead and get it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good resource, August 3, 2007

By	M. J Roberti "Mario Roberti" (San Diego , CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent book. For those of us one and two-man programming operations as hobbyist programmers, we don't always have the artistic skill or aesthetic intuition to just whip up a GUI. This book explains concepts behind an interface SPECIFICALLY FOR GAMES. THIS is what I found awesome. All the books and articles I've looked up have been for interface design FOR WEBSITES, or stupid, dry, tasteless business-app type programs. This book focuses on game interface design ONLY.

It cites examples of interfaces in games you've played most likely, from the ancient consoles and computers of yesteryear (Atari 2600, colecovision, intellivision, commodore 64) to the more modern consoles (PS, Dreamcast, N64, PS2) and cites examples of what makes a good interface and a bad interface.

They make some good points too, such as interface design for the disabled. (This cool example they gave was for a healthbar that only changed color. What happens if the player was color blind? If the bar went from green to red, the color blind user would have nothing to gauge his health by; so they reccomended making the bar shorten, and/or change color.)

THERE IS NO SOURCE CODE. This book only focuses on concepts and design ideas. Its nice and abstract. It's made to push push push the ideas into your head, even if it is a bit repetitive.

Bottom line is, if you're already Joe Game Programmer for a big company, don't buy this book. Have your art department and UI design team make your game interface for you.

If you're like me, a hobbyist programmer of a small team with dreams of making it big someday, GRAB THIS BOOK. The more resources you can get, the better.

This book doesn't disappoint.

Get it.

Now.