The Development of a Menu

THEM is coming along quite nicely as my list of client projects gets smaller. For the next couple weeks I won’t have too much on plate which will allow me to spend all of that extra time working on bringing THEM to life. This morning I set out to finish a part of my game. Yes, other parts are coming along and basically everything is “in progress”, but I wanted that feeling of finishing something. When developing a video game, finishing a part of it is the greatest feeling. Mainly for the simple fact that video games take a long time to develop. I’m being serious here. We’re not joking when we say it takes a long time! Why do the majority of people not know this? First and foremost is that most people have never seen or been part of a video game under development. Second is that most people think that we play all day. Sorry to disappoint, but we really don’t. Developing (and most importantly finishing) a video game takes time (lots of it) and dedication.

What I set out to finish today was the main menu for THEM. Now, a menu is the simpler part of a video game, but it is very important none the less. This is really the users first interaction with your game so it has to be good. The menu also has to blend into the overall style of the video game so that it doesn’t feel disjointed from the rest of the game. The menu should also give a taste of what the gameplay will be like. A menu can’t be too cluttered or users will get annoyed (rather quickly!) not being able to find what they want. For a mobile device, a menu can’t have that many options on it or the screen will feel “cluttered”.

All of these “musts” came into play in creating the menu for THEM. First, I wanted a clean, uncluttered menu. Second, I wanted a menu that matched the style of the game. And third, I wanted a menu that was pleasing to the user and encouraged them to play the game. As you can see above, I feel that I succeeded in all three areas. The final menu wasn’t the first version that I had created at all. After all, developing a video game means testing, testing, testing. I would create one menu and be happy with it. After getting a glass of water and returning to the design, I would absolutely despise it. Starting from scratch I would create a new design only to find  out I didn’t like it. Over the last couple weeks I had been fiddling around with different styles and designs, but today I wanted to get it finished! As you can see, I finished (or so I think). Below is the progression of the menu that I have been working on. It goes from the basic sketch right up to the final menu design.

Tags: ipad, iPhone, logo, menu, THEM, video game

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