Possible Menu Concept

[Springheel]

Ok, Pak and I have been swapping ideas...goldfish too. Stealing from both of them, I've come up with this:

 

 

The title would have to be bigger, and the clock needs hands, but what do you think so far? I think something needs to be added to the sides, but I'm not sure what.

 

Comments welcome.

 

Btw, Pak, what did you do to the font to get that effect? I've tried duplicating it, but can't get it exactly.

Edited November 6, 2004 by Springheel

[Renzatic]

Whoa, nice. I like it.

 

A few suggestions, though.

 

I'd make the clock a little more ornate. By itself it looks okay, but with the gears in the background it'd look better if you had a more complicated face to go along with it. The blank spot in the center would be good for adding some extra detail...if we had a symbol for our mod it'd be the perfect place to throw it.

 

Instead of having the thief's shadow cast on the clock, why don't you make a rooftop in the lefthand foreground and have him standing on top looking down at the city, his silhouette marked by the clouds in the background. That way the clock's face won't be blocked and you'll still get your character in the shot.

 

The clouds themselves...I think they'd look a little better if they were less defined and more whispy. A flat storm sky with the occasional moonglow reflected off the clouds might work better.

 

Other than that everything is fine. The city, the gears in the background...you've done an excellent job.

Edited November 6, 2004 by Renzatic

[New Horizon]

I absolutely love it!! The theme really fits quite nicely with the story ideas I've been batting around. I'm really going to put a push on and throw these ideas at you guys soon. I know there will be no serious discussion of a campaign until we finish the tools, but it's something I would like to put on the table.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

I like what you've done, especially with the gears in the background, but aye, i think the thief's shadow doesn't work quite well on the clock. I have an idea for the symbol involving the thief symbol, gimme a sec...

[BlackThief]

Great Work Spring !! love it try to add some of renz's suggestions and it'll be perfect !

[sparhawk]

The title would have to be bigger, and the clock needs hands, but what do you think so far? I think something needs to be added to the sides, but I'm not sure what.

 

Comments welcome.

 

Btw, Pak, what did you do to the font to get that effect? I've tried duplicating it, but can't get it exactly.

Looks nice! I guess the Thief is only a shadow, is it? So it should probably more transparent to let the clok shine through.

 

As to the side. Whoud about adding sketches of machinerey. Pipes(?) pumping up/down Some additional clockwheels turning, such things. And a pendulum somewhere swinging slowly.

[Springheel]

I had another idea while I was working on this. I realized what the above version was missing was a middle-ground. The clock is foreground, and the city is background, but there was nothing in between.

 

Looking at BT's latest wall (very cool) made me think of a city street. The tunneling effect that I liked so much in Ren's parchment picture could be created by a city street using an in-game shot. This would accomplish a few things:

 

1. It gives an immediate feel for what 'our' city is like.

 

2. It has lots of depth (artistically speaking)

 

3. It showcases the engine graphics right away.

 

4. It's fairly simple, and doesn't require tons of art production.

 

5. It can still capture the feeling of the player 'being' the Thief as they look at the menu (at least to some extent).

 

The version below obviously uses the T3 picture, so we'd have to create one of our own. But it gives you the idea.

 

What do you think? Should the clock still be a part of it? If I can put some gears around it that could turn as options were selected, that might be good.

 

[BlackThief]

looks quite cool. I'd keep the clock and add some gears etc - maybe you can even add that to a building, so that it'd be a bit integrated into the background...

 

this would also fit to the loading screen, you posted above, quite well.

Edited November 6, 2004 by BlackThief

[sparhawk]

Looking at BT's latest wall (very cool) made me think of a city street.  The tunneling effect that I liked so much in Ren's parchment picture could be created by a city street using an in-game shot.

 

I like this screen.

 

concerning the street. Don't you think it might be better to shift the street to the side. As the Thief being pressed against the wall observing the guard. I don't know how that would look lik as a menu background. Could be that it might not work so well.

 

What do you think?  Should the clock still be a part of it?  If I can put some gears around it that could turn as options were selected, that might be good.

 

I think the clock fits in very nicely. We could let the torch flicker. When the player moves the mouse to a button we could probably let the hand follow accompanied by a heavy mechanic sound.

[Fingernail]

I love it!

 

Yes, let's get on a mockup of our city street! BT's new textures should be great. Renz, you up to it?

[Springheel]

Don't you think it might be better to shift the street to the side. As the Thief being pressed against the wall observing the guard. I don't know how that would look lik as a menu background

 

The overall concept right now is radially balanced. I couldn't shift things to the side without screwing up the balance.

 

We could let the torch flicker.

 

Well, I was thinking we would use our own city picture...that one is just a placeholder. Ours would hopefully look a little more steam-punk and less medieval. But we could always have moving parts in the background.

 

When the player moves the mouse to a button we could probably let the hand follow accompanied by a heavy mechanic sound.

 

Sure, something like that would be good. I added some gears around the clock (will look for more) and they could move as well when things are selected.

 

For loading screens, could we do something where the clock and title remain, but the background changes to a screenshot of whatever map is loading? The hands of the clock could keep track of the loading time.

 

Something like this:

 

Edited November 6, 2004 by Springheel

[BlackThief]

For loading screens, could we do something where the clock and title remain, but the background changes to a screenshot of whatever map is loading?  The hands of the clock could keep track of the loading time.

well that's one option - maybe for our campaign, but we should provide a basic loadscreen for the fm-authors. I'd keep the loading screen you posted above, as our basic loading screen

[sparhawk]

well that's one option - maybe for our campaign, but we should provide a basic loadscreen for the fm-authors. I'd keep the loading screen you posted above, as our basic loading screen

The loading screen will stay the same. And for serious authors they can provide their own stuff easily.

 

As for the loading. We could add some small meters at the top (like in T2) and they can show the progress or move randomly and the big clock could show the advancement.

 

Maybe for loading the menu buttons could fade out and be replaced by gears or meters.

[Springheel]

I can't do anything more until I talk to the person who will be coding this. I sent Napalm a PM a few days ago.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

I had an idea that had the city in the background and a clocktower in the foreground, with the clock thing and a thief's silhouette in front of it. I'll try and get that done this weekend.

 

(It won't be the exact same as the T2 dvd case)

[sparhawk]

I can't do anything more until I talk to the person who will be coding this. I sent Napalm a PM a few days ago.

I sent PM to him three days ago for an update on the progress and got no response.

 

I guess I will have to do this myself.

[jay pettitt]

The 1st offering is teh cute springers. If you could use the more ornate clock face as suggested. Clockworks is awsome.

 

No need to add anything to the sides. The image is well balanced as is. I don't want to look at the sides.

[Springheel]

Spar, I have a question about resolution. You've said that Doom3 resolution is at 640x480 (or something like that). So why is it that when it is stretched out to 1024x1280 (my monitor's resolution), it doesn't look pixelated? Is there something specific that needs to be done to keep it looking sharp?

[sparhawk]

Spar, I have a question about resolution. You've said that Doom3 resolution is at 640x480 (or something like that). So why is it that when it is stretched out to 1024x1280 (my monitor's resolution), it doesn't look pixelated? Is there something specific that needs to be done to keep it looking sharp?

I'm not sure how this works. From what I read so far it seems that Doom 3 calculates with a resolution of 640x480, but that doiesn't mean that the images are scaled down and up when you are providing larger images. I have to read on this and see if I can find more information about that.

 

It seems that this is just an internal thing of D3 and doesn't have a visible effect for us. But still we have to test the screens on different resolutions and see how they work.

[SneaksieDave]

I was hoping to prepare/test this before revealing it, but I'm not sure how long that may take, and since this topic has been a bit hot lately (several mentions in the past few days), then I'll spill the idea now.

 

Oh! And it'll work with a realtime map view too, if that's desired.

 

Picture a city layout like that of citytest2.map, only better of course,

From up on the thieves highway looking slightly down and forward,

A light is behind the Thief, so his shadow is cast into the foreground,

In the distance down the road, beyond the city, a castle looms on the highground.

 

And of course, the realtime map part would include people walking around the streets below. Whaddya think?

 

I started adding a castle wall to citytest2 last night and man, the framerate just doesn't drop! It must be other factors... it must be!

[Springheel]

Sounds good in principle. I'm still not 100% married to the above concept (and by that I mean mine, not yours) if someone could come up with something better.

[sparhawk]

I started adding a castle wall to citytest2 last night and man, the framerate just doesn't drop! It must be other factors... it must be!

I hope you don't intend your citymap as the mainmenu background concept.

 

Would be an overkill and of course it adds to the loadingtime.

[SneaksieDave]

No, since it would only be for a shot (moving or otherwise) it could be just a detailed street, with varied rooftops as filler (no buildings, etc - optimized in other words) with the view in the distance. No need for it to be a full map.

[Springheel]

I haven't seen the HL2 menu, but I'm not sure I like the idea of an in-game shot...it could wind up just distracting from the interface. A few pre-chosen animations (like flickering torches or something) should suffice.

 

Actually, as I'm reading up on GUI coding, I'm starting to get some new ideas. I'll have to see if I have time this weekend to put any together.

[New Horizon]

I haven't seen the HL2 menu, but I'm not sure I like the idea of an in-game shot...it could wind up just distracting from the interface. A few pre-chosen animations (like flickering torches or something) should suffice.

 

Actually, as I'm reading up on GUI coding, I'm starting to get some new ideas. I'll have to see if I have time this weekend to put any together.

I agree, it would be best to have a few animated objects.