Week 2: Design Characteristics of the Western Genre

-

This week, I collected examples of Western game UI from Gun, Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Revolver, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, and Desperados III. 


Gun

I like how the UI in Gun incorporates decorative flourishes, as these were commonly used in American designs during the 19th century. I also like how the minimap takes inspiration from 19th-century map designs, adding a sense of authenticity and immersion.


Design characteristics: brown and earthy tones/decorative flourishes/authentic Western typography/bold typography/worn textures/bold outlined illustrations/stylised minimap/glow and gradient effects. 





Red Dead Redemption

I like the striking visual style of the pause menu and loading screen graphics, as I believe the strong contrast between red and black complements the overall tone of the game. I also like how a pocket watch is used to display the day and time to players, opposed to just using text, as this design choice further communicates the time period the game is set in. 


Design characteristics: contrasting tones of red and black/paint stroke effects/Western typography/stylised map design/speckled textures/authentic illustration style/jagged paintbrush stroke lines. 






Red Dead Redemption 2

The map design strikes a balance between being authentic for the time period, while also being simple enough to provide the player with lots of information without overwhelming them. I also like the diegetic interfaces for the gun shop as they accurately embody the Western design style, which is often cluttered, while also providing the player with digestible information. 


Design characteristics: red, black, and grey tones/paint textures/flourishes and borders/authentic Western typography/old photograph effect on the pause menu and story menu/detailed illustration style. 






Red Dead Revolver 

I like the use of paper textures and decorative flourishes in the UI, as they make the UI feel aged, and therefore enhance player immersion. 

Design characteristics: dark reds and earthy tones/decorative flourishes/Western typography/paper textures/authentic illustration style. 






Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

The save icon and the skill menu are cleverly inspired by the chamber of a revolver. The use of paint strokes and textures also adds to the distinct character of the game. 

Design characteristics: yellow and black tones/paintstroke border around the HUD/Western textured typography/worn textures/paint textures/bold etched-style illustrations. 






Desperados III

I like the use of Western-style borders and flourishes throughout the UI. I also like the hand-drawn style of the map design, as it looks authentic to the time period and therefore adds to the player's sense of immersion.

Design characteristics: dark and earthy tones/decorative flourishes/Western-style borders/etch texture effect/paint stroke typography/hand-drawn style map/bullet hole effects.




Later in the week, I collected examples of Western designs and Western maps from the Internet Archive and various library archives, to have examples of typography, illustrations, and other design elements from the Western Frontier time period to use as inspiration and ensure I create authentic UI designs. 


I also identified common visuals associated with the Western genre to help me generate ideas for my UI design concepts. For example, I could use sheriff badges to represent the wanted status of the player. 


Location: Preston, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sem 3 Submission

-
Image
Semester 3 Learning Agreement: : Western Project (UI Design) Research + Development Blog Posts: Week 1: Planning the Looting System Week 2: Design Characteristics of the Western Genre Week 3 + 4: Collecting Inspiration Week 5 + 6: Initial Concepts Week 7: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 1) Week 8: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 2) Week 9: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 3) Week 10: Creating Loot Icons Week 11: Adding Pop-Up UI Elements Week 12 + 13: Creating Mission Passed/Failed UI Week 14: Improving the Lighting + Final Touches Knight Light (UX Design) Research + Development 
Read more

Semester 2 Submission

-
Image
At the start of semester 2, I had no prior experience with Unreal Engine 5. To broaden my skillset, I set a goal to learn the fundamentals of the engine and create functional UI elements within the engine, each with a unique design style. I initially planned to create a health bar, speedometer, and item collection counter; however, as I became more confident using Unreal Engine 5, I shifted my focus towards creating more complex UI prototypes tailored to three distinct game concepts, each with unique genres, themes, and gameplay. To achieve this, I dedicated most of semester 2 to learning about Blueprint scripting within Unreal Engine 5 in preparation for creating my 3 UI prototypes in semester 3.  Learning UE5: Throughout semester 2, I used tutorials and courses to learn the fundamentals of Unreal Engine, and then applied this knowledge by creating a variety of systems within Unreal Engine, such as health bars, door animations, item pickups, and more. Creating a book of common nod...
Read more

Week 7: Creating the Western Prototype in UE5 (Part 1)

-
Image
Creating a New Level I created a new level and called it 'my_saloon', and then I imported the following assets that I will use to build the environment: Saloon Interior ,  Old West VOL.1 - Interior Furniture ,  Old West - VOL 2 - Tradesmen Tools and Props ,  Old West VOL.3 - Travel Supplies and Goods ,  Old West - VOL 4 - Goods and Supplies ,  Old West - VOL 5 - Town Props and  Old West VOL. 6 - Town and Industrial . I then used the modular wall meshes from  Saloon Interior  to start building the layout of the saloon.  Creating the HUD I created a simple crosshair widget by adding a small white box and aligning it to the centre of the canvas panel. In the character blueprint, I used a 'Create Widget' and 'Add to Viewport' node to make the crosshair visible at the start of play. I promoted the return value to a variable so I can reference the HUD widget later. Creating a Working Door To enable the player to pass through an open door, I had to...
Read more