Game UI and UX

Dead Space removed the health bar and put it in the suit's spine. The Last of Us Part II added 60+ accessibility options. Both decisions expanded the audience and critical reception. Good Game UI/UX is invisible - bad UI/UX breaks immersion.

**The Last of Us Part II** (Naughty Dog): 60+ accessibility features, blind mode with full audio description, 18 months of development on accessibility alone, Game Awards 2020
**Microsoft Xbox Adaptive Controller**: USB HID device with 19 3.5mm jack ports for any assistive device. USD 100M revenue, opened the market for 33 million gamers with disabilities
**The Witcher 3** (CD Projekt Red): localization into 15 languages with full voice-over, 450+ voice actors, 950,000 words of dialogue

HUD: Interface as Part of the Game World

Dead Space (2008). No health bar in the corner of the screen. Instead - the spine of the suit glows red. No inventory with a button. No minimap overlaid on the scene. All of this is diegetically embedded in the game world. This changed the standard: UI became part of the narrative.

HUD (Heads-Up Display) is divided into levels: **Diegetic** - exists inside the world (Dead Space suit screen). **Non-diegetic** - classic overlay elements (HP bar, minimap). **Spatial** - attached to world objects but does not exist in them (floating markers in The Division). **Meta** - physically impossible, but conveys state (red screen vignette when wounded).

Nielsen Norman Group research shows: players make 80% of in-game decisions based on HUD information. An overloaded HUD (more than 7 elements simultaneously) reduces reaction time by 23%. Dark Souls deliberately hides part of the HUD - this is part of its design philosophy of 'ambiguity'.

What is a 'diegetic' HUD element?

Menu Systems: Navigation and States

Elden Ring's main menu - black screen, logo, three items. 30-second load. No unnecessary animations. This is not minimalism from poverty - it is a deliberate decision: nothing distracts from the beginning of the journey. PlayStation 5 loads in 2 seconds - and FromSoftware redesigned the menu for that.

Menu navigation must work without a mouse - with a gamepad, keyboard, arrow keys. Focus management: which element is active on open, where focus goes when a submenu closes. The same principle applies in web accessibility - WCAG 2.1 requires keyboard navigability. Game menus are accessibility-first by architecture.

Why must game menus support navigation without a mouse (keyboard/gamepad)?

Localization: Text, Audio, Cultural Context

The Witcher 3 is localized into 15 languages, including full voice-over in Polish, English, German and others. 450+ voice actors. 950,000 words of dialogue. Budget for localization alone: several million dollars. This is not optional - it unlocks 60% additional market.

Technically, localization is more than text translation. German is 30% longer than English on average - buttons must expand. Arabic is written right-to-left - the entire layout changes. Chinese does not use spaces as word separators - word wrap works differently. The Unity Localization package and specialized systems handle this through string tables and locale-specific rules.

Why does the German language create problems for UI in games?

Accessibility: Design for All Players

The Last of Us Part II received 60+ accessibility awards. Blind mode with full audio description. Colorblind modes (3 types). Subtitle customization (size, color, background). Motion sickness reduction. Full remapping of all controls. Naughty Dog spent 18 months on accessibility alone.

15% of the population lives with some form of disability. In games: colorblindness affects 8% of men, motion sickness in VR affects up to 40% of users. Accessibility is not charity - it is a market. The Microsoft Accessibility Gaming Report shows: the adaptive Xbox controller generated USD 100M in revenue.

Game Accessibility Guidelines (gameaccessibilityguidelines.com) - a standard of 120 recommendations in three tiers: basic (subtitles, pause anytime), intermediate (remapping, colorblind modes), advanced (full screen reader support). Most AAA titles from 2020 onward cover the basic tier.

Accessibility means adding subtitles and a few settings at the end of development

Accessibility requires architectural decisions from the start: input through an abstraction layer, UI through data-driven systems, audio without being the sole information channel

Adding full remapping to hardcoded keybindings means rewriting the input system. Adding a screen reader to hardcoded text means reworking the entire UI. Accessibility built into the architecture costs 10x less than a retrofit

Why is a colorblind mode particularly important for multiplayer shooters?

Key Ideas

**HUD types**: diegetic (in the world), non-diegetic (overlay), spatial (attached to objects), meta (physically impossible). Dead Space is the diegetic design reference.
**Menu navigation**: keyboard/gamepad first, explicit focus chain, stack for back navigation. Console certification requirement plus accessibility.
**Localization**: not just text translation - RTL layouts, font expansion (German +30%), word wrap without spaces (Chinese). Unity Localization Package.
**Accessibility**: 15% of population with disability = a market. Colorblind modes, remapping, screen reader - architectural decisions from the start of the project.

Вопросы для размышления

Dead Space chose diegetic HUD, sacrificing readability for immersion. When is this trade-off justified?
Arabic localization requires RTL layout for the entire UI. How does this affect component architecture from the start of a project?
Accessibility features are often used by players without disabilities (subtitles are on for 80% of all players). How does this change prioritization?

Связанные уроки

gd-15 — Audio feedback is part of the UI/UX system
gd-11 — Input system affects UI navigation and rebinding
gd-17 — Understanding UI/UX leads to project polish and feel
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