User Interface

#1 So, what do you want from other people.... ideas for GUI objects?

#2 This is from a Design Document am working on, and if you think this is good enough, then my job is done. But I think am forgetting some thing, and that I can't see, so I need fresh eyes to see it for me.

#3 If you want some advice from an artist that has both created art from design docs and a gamedesigner who has created the docs themselves, I can say you need much more detail if you expect anyone but yourself to follow these.

What do the menu and short cut bar contain? Are the gauges and windows considered simply graphical overlays on the screen, or are they intended to be the parts of the vehicles? If they are parts of the vehicles, are the gauges digital or analog, backlit or not backlit, is the machinery old or new, beaten-up or well cared-for? If they are overlays, more artistic than realistic, can you vaguely indicate a style you're after or compare your vision to an existing game? Any preference in mood or theme (dark/dirty/clean/soft/fuzzy/fluffy/alien/worn/old/foreign)? What proportions of the screen should the UI elements be? Will they all be onscreen all the time, or only as needed/when chosen? What are the units of the gauges, and do you have a preference on the number of increments? How will these interfaces be different between the vehicles? Certainly a Moon Vehicle won't need a wind gauge and a Space Vehicle won't need a traditional compass. Some of these questions may be answered by your artists, depending on how you're running things, but trust me, they will appreciate any detail at all that you can add to this. If you will be creating the art yourself, it still helps to run through as many possibilites as you can come up with. If you find it difficult to be creative with interface ideas, or you've just hit a mental block, nothing beats firing up some games similar to the one you are creating and evaluating what's been done before.

My girlfriend is a graphic designer (print/magazine/web) and she constantly re-enforces in my mind the necessity to do industry research for inspiration before getting started on a project. You'll answer a lot of questions before they are asked and keep yourself from digging holes that are difficult (or just irritating) to get out of later. Whenever it comes time for designing UIs, which is really not my forte, I've always wished I had a library of snapshots of UIs/HUDs that I've played before (or seen in real life) for inspiration. Maybe someday I'll get around to that. I started one recently for light/particle effects. It's good to have a reference for yourself and the people you work with. Nothing communicates imagery better than imagery! And even if you feel you have no art skills whatsoever, a rough sketch is a thousand times better than none at all.

More detail! :)

#4 Uuuuummm, aaahhh that will do. :):)
It's nice to hear from some one, so I can be at right track, and I thank you for that. I will not considered that way, at this point. But way not, it's hear mutch better with more details to it.