Game Interface Design (Paperback)

by Brent Fox (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The interface is the heart and soul of a video game: it is the integral piece that allows a player to interact with the game. In order to create a great interface, you must carefully plan every detail. "Game Interface Design" helps you outline each step and define the goals for your interface. It covers the interface from the first image that appears onscreen to the information displayed during game-play. You’ll cover basic design and art principles, explore the world of interface buttons as you learn how to create your own functioning button, and find out how to substitute images and icons for onscreen text. You’ll also learn how to incorporate animation and use Flash to create an amazing, interactive interface. Along the way, you'll get a glimpse into the video game industry, including developer and publisher relationships, schedules, budget constraints, and politics of the industry.

About the Author
Brent has worked in the video game industry for over seven years both as an art director and a project manager. He has mastered the art of game project management and art direction, managing large teams with up to 27 members, and successfully managing two very diverse projects simultaneously. Brent has experience directing projects on multiple platforms, ranging from Game Boy Color to GameCube. While managing teams, he had responsibilities over wage increases, employment termination, project estimates, and even co-designed several games. He served as the liaison between developer and the publisher on each project. In addition to his leadership abilities, Brent is a talented artist who contributes greatly to production on his projects. With a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Brigham Young University, Brent has been responsible for the interface design on many successful games. His designs not only look good but also are easy to navigate. Brent has also founded and directed several video game development studios. He currently is the art director at Wahoo Studios. He runs a busy and successful art studio named Bla-Dam Studios and is a co-owner of Furious Games.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592005934
• ISBN-13: 978-1592005932
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #985,857 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing..., July 13, 2008

By	D. Hoelck (Chico, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a game designer and art director, I was hoping to get some insight into the psychology of designing user interface for optimum usability and effectiveness. Instead, I got tutorials for optimizing web graphics in Photoshop. This book is strictly and completely for beginners, another collection of tutorials aimed at capitalizing on the market of aspiring designers that would like to make games, if only they knew how to code and draw. And, as usual, the book falls short even for them. It should go without saying that if you can write the code for a whole game in Flash, you don't need someone to teach you how to write the code for a button. Fox, however, devotes several pages to coding a simple button in Flash.

There is some professional insight in the book- i.e. making more important buttons stand out by increasing their size or their contrast in color value- but even that is all more or less common sense. Skipping past pages and pages of introductory photoshop tutorials just to learn that players don't like to read text in video games feels like a waste of time, and a waste of money.

To be honest, I can't think of anyone that would benefit from all the information in this book. Even someone who's never used Flash before would be better off learning from Adobe's built-in tutorials.