“Congratulations! You have acquired magnetic boots. You can now walk through any part of the ship at a constant speed, even if there is no gravity in that section.”
This is a message displayed when the player finds magnetic boots on the ship. Now, the big question for the game designer/programmer is how do we show this upgrade to the player?
A few different solutions and their pros and cons
1. Leave the player avatar unchanged with no visual indicator that anything is different.
Pros:
- No extra animation work needed.
- No need to create an exponential number of sprite maps based on the different upgrade combinations. (Ex: Only a flashlight, only boots, flashlight and boots, etc.)
- No need for complex programming or storing multiple animations in memory, just change one flag indicating the possession of that upgrade.
Cons:
- Player has no way to tell which upgrades they have.
- Player can’t tell what the upgrades do if they forget after seeing the original message.
- Sense of accomplishment is fleeting as there is nothing reinforcing the fact that the player has more power/ability than before.
2. Change the player avatar to show the upgrade (flashy new boots).
Pros:
- Sense of accomplishment is reinforced as the player goes forward in the game and sees their character growing in power.
- Player can see which upgrades they have at a glance at any time without the need for a separate menu.
Cons:
- Player still can’t tell what the upgrades do unless the animations are very detailed and obvious.
- Extra animations are needed for every combination if using sprite maps
- Complex rigging system needed if not using sprite maps (drawing each part of the character including upgrades on a skeleton)
- Much more programming required
3. Have an “inventory” screen that shows all items the player currently has equipped.
Pros:
- Same sprite can be used from when the item is found for the item icon in inventory
- Details about the item are available when hovering over the item reminding the player of what it does.
- No extra animation work needed.
Cons:
- Some extra programming work needed for the UI.
- Only some visual indication of how powerful the player is, reinforcing their need to find more upgrades and proceed in the game.
4. Show a paper doll status indicator to show which upgrades the player currently has.
Pros:
- Very basic filled or not filled paper doll sprites can be used as indicator. No fancy animations or sprite art needed.
- Details about the item are available when hovering over the item reminding the player of what it does.
- At a glance reinforcement of the player upgrades.
Cons:
- Not as detailed as custom animations, may not be as appealing to some players.
- Takes up more space on the main UI, may make it seem cluttered.
As you can see, most of these solutions either put more pressure on the artists to create more game assets, the programmers to create a rigging system capable of displaying those assets, or the player in relying on their imagination and memory about the upgrades they have.
For an indie developer, and quite possibly any large studio developer, you never want to leave it to the imagination of the player. This would rule out option number one, since it relies too heavily on the player to remember what upgrades they have acquired and what they do.
For an indie developer that doesn’t have any artists, creating a lot of art assets is out of the question. This pretty much rules out option number two. Unless you use a pre-built rigging system with a small number of sprites, and have experience using it already, this would take too much time to do.
Option three is good if you have plenty of time. Depending on how easy it is for the indie developer to implement another screen worth of UI, this may be the best and most engaging solution for the player as well. It would also allow for multiple upgrades in the same “slots” like multiple types of boots. It also reuses art assets, but in a way that would make sense to the player.
Option four is the best solution if time is of the essence. It has the least amount of work involved for the developer, while also providing immediate feedback and gratification to the player.
For my project, I will most likely end up going with option three. If I were to get an artist working on all the art assets for the game, then I would consider option two, as that is I think the best solution if given the resources to do so.
Here’s a little sneak peak at some of the art assets I created in my attempts at option two on my own. This is for a headlamp or flashlight that the player attaches to the helmet of their suit. These are four variations for the same upgrade.
