Star Citizen - Developing the HUD
Star citizen is a crowd funded space simulator from the creator of Wing Commander, Chris Roberts. It looks like a really cool project, and reminds me of an experience similar to Star Wars KOTOR where you get to navigate through space and travel to different planets. Cloud Imperium Games, the game's developer, have released a video showing the development of the spaceship HUDs, featuring lead UI designer John Likens, who has previously worked on The Avengers and Iron Man 3.
There were some interesting things that I got out of the video. Firstly, I love how John references the ship's design when developing the interface and HUD for it. It's a really fantastic way to marry the two up to make the two feel like they belong together. Secondly, I like the reference to how FUI in games is different to FUI in films. In games, the FUI has a functional requirement for the user, so usability is a major consideration. In saying that, it still has way more flexibility than a real (non-virtual?) project. No one needs to develop the technology to display a hologram, so you still do away with all those technical restraints.
The other thing I liked about the Star Citizen HUDs was the ability to customise the colour scheme of the interfaces. A great piece of functionality, particularly for players who are colour blind. Lastly, I like that they are developing individual styles to distinguish the ships by their particular ship manufacturers.
Looks like an awesome game!