06.05.10: Retail Therapy

With a couple of weeks until hand-in, I am now going through tidying up each of the half dozen Flash menus which will be accessed from the main hub. I began with the shop, which I felt I had made big progress with even if it still needed a lot of material. First up, I drew using ink the 10 shop items and scanned and edited them until they suited the theme of the project. They were then added to the place-holders I had created earlier; the planning saving me loads of fuss now. I created a button to hide behind each which was the exact same size, with different levels of shadow when you roll-over and press so that the user has a range of feedback.

For each of the items I created this little info card. With simple gradients, text, icons and images as well as the trademark parchment texture, I think the cards look quite effective: being detailed but simple and easy to understand. I created them wanting to alter the interface of the game and make navigation more aesthetic than the angular boxes before, and have continued the style of the cards throughout the other menus.

When you select each weapon or upgrade, the following box appears with detailed information from my design document, a much larger image, the costs and your money as well as a button to purchase. I spent a while making the box simple and clear while similar to the cards, so there is continuity.

I continued the cards through the conversation system with the blacksmith. The cards also shuffle neatly on the screen, again trying to make it visually pleasing. The concept of these cards could carry on into the real world with the popularity of collector’s cards, especially with films and games. This might work well with the lower age range I am aiming at with the cartoony style. Even if there isn’t intended to be a range of collector’s cards about the game, the audience would understand the visual appearance and maybe find it appealing.

I have overhauled the robbing option in the conversation so that the blacksmith now moves back and raises his hands. I was able to animate this rather than snap from one image to another as I had built the character out of individual pieces as described previously.

After the blacksmith quivers for a while, this box appears informing you of your robbing loot and the impacts on your other stats. I think this should give the user a flavour of how the game would feel and the mechanics within it, even if it is a simple menu.