The other day, while working on GatD, I realised that while I had written the script with the puzzle breakdown, while I had character descriptions and an asset list, while I had a map, I hadn’t put a sliver of thought into UI design. This became REALLY apparent when I started to think about how to have the player move between rooms. Did I want context-sensitive mouse cursors throughout? What about the “look-at” function? Should they “look at and pick up” if they can? And what would the inventory look like??
Suddenly, it wasn’t just about UI – User Interface (aka GUI or HUD) – but it was about UX – User Experience.
So I’m remembering the importance of creating and maintaining a thorough GDD (Game Design Document). I guess I’d better go and work on that now!
Ellen Jurik 