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[overthinkinggamer]

[overthinkinggamer]

I will be doing a retelling of Prometheus in a pottery esque style.

[overthinkinggamer]

[overthinkinggamer]

With my Character selection UI, i made a lot of shifts from the beginning. Firstly i added a large amount of space between elements separating the player section from the selection section and separating the two major area within selection. this really seemed to relax the look from the original allowing a more casual and relaxed viewing of the screen. my second major shift was in the font used, to allow for easy reading of smaller text without breaking my intended hierarchy. i found a font to use on my smaller text that created more space and added a blockier shape to the letters so each letter can be easily separated from the rest. i made a few minor changes to allow buttons on the screen feel more button like using normal added features and creating a three dimensional feel to other part. My final major shift involved color. i worked mostly in the grey scale until late in my iterations i used highlighting color for specific sections and for selected areas but shifted away from it for the structure. in the need i took my main highlight color the golden yellow hue and darkened it and reduced its saturation until it felt like it fit naturally into the structure without clashing or over blending and i really like the result. the small color hue really allowed for a softer viewing without a forced contrast between color and gray scale. 

[overthinkinggamer]

[overthinkinggamer]

[overthinkinggamer]

[overthinkinggamer]

above are the weapons tables from firstly advanced dnd(first edition), and fourth edition dnd. These show a definite increase in understanding of how much information can really be displayed and what the job of the page is. the second page no longer tries to tell absolutely everything and thus actually gets more across.

[overthinkinggamer]

Quantitative Issues

The greatest points I read within this section were firstly the idea of too much information and too many numbers. Especially in games where UI and rule books have to communicate everything that a game can do. The idea of information overload is common and always being balanced. In a large physical game it is easy to have a person explain things step by step but in something like a compact board game with many different pieces, information starts crowding out action, add in a situation where no one has played before and suddenly hours are spent reading and re-reading the rules looking for hints on the board as to how everything works. Information overload is a common balancing issue and deeply important in games. Secondly was the idea of appearing correct or being mathematically correct as displayed by the pyramid. This is something that I debate a lot since starting this class. Of course one might be able to avoid situations by using more clear shapes or better imagined volumes but still the idea remains should it look right to the reader or actually be measured out? Is the contextual meaning or the literal interpretation more important in communication?

 When it came to the large section pertaining to geographic representation, it felt interesting but not as important to the particular UI systems the class is focusing on, finding interesting and accurate ways to depict quantity is definitely important but the issue of working around misleading sizes and shapes seems minimal in areas like UI in games and portfolios.

Tl�

[overthinkinggamer]

This most easily explains the issues with lines and with color values. Which parts of this map are roads? which are buildings? what even is the purpose of this map? it is very hard to read and discern what each line means. 

[overthinkinggamer]

Qualitative Issues

The Reading was well broken into several sections. Each one discusses an idea that relates heavily to the ideas of interface design. The ones i found most influential to me were the discussions of lines, in explaining how they can be used, and how they were misused. the idea that outlining can actually create an issue in interpretation. similarly with the use of shapes, as these most basic elements have a deep and easily missed effect. 

The connections between people section was confusing both in its explanation and in its placement within the article, it seemed to have little to do with actual interface design and only made use of a single paragraph.

[overthinkinggamer]

The issues i have are that the screen says almost nothing about each character, their is now full display to even hint at their play style only a close portrait. i hope to improve the representation of character strength and weaknesses so as to not depend on prior experience. 

[overthinkinggamer]

I really like that this character screen puts the characters in a environment like the game itself. the full display of the character especially against the backdrop gives a good sense of their personalities and hints at how they will play in the world. i’d like to adopt the clear personalities, full display and environmental representation. 

[overthinkinggamer]

Interface Design

Character Selection screen.

Represent each character clearly along with a sense of their personality. 

Scrolling,  selection, stat checking. 

People playing the game. or watching others play. 

[overthinkinggamer]

[overthinkinggamer]

Final Logo

Ultimately the choices i made were focused on bringing focus to the center pieces, the letter marks, while allowing the overall shape to be present. this resulted in me radiating both the alpha and the color to become lighter on the “light rays” emerging from the center so as to stop the eye from wandering to far from the center. The colors of the letters were then made less saturated to allow them both to pop forward reducing a bit of the focal pull that the tunnel effect has without abandoning it.

i made the logo very simple in color and shape as the YouTube logo is generally fairly small and recognized more by shape and name then by any more complex system and the use of simple shapes to make a full scene was really important to the medium i will be presenting on.

[overthinkinggamer]

Semiotics: The Theory Behind Media Literacy

The text was very simple  and seemed more to go into detail on what was already discussed in class. its philosophic approach made it feel not so much “Valuable, or helpful” but very interesting to think about. the idea that a symbol is not itself but defined by what it isn't and the idea or reality tie in well with the theory of “the shadow cave” but are very philosophical in nature and do not truly talk about symbols in a constructive way. The second section of the reading however was very helpful in its break down of several smaller terms in symbols, especially metonymy and synecdoche. 

Finally i would say i disagree with the idea that ideas and concepts are entirely out there in the world and controlled by an outside source “manipulated by the media”. One might be told what it means to be patriotic, it might be shown or explained or presented in specific ways, a definition might be made in a logos or pathos way, but personal context and subtext persist. one can be told that Guy Fox was a terrorist or hero, and it has been shown in both lights many times over, but that doesn't change someones view on his actions in its entirety each piece of media can influence person context and subtext but it will not wholeheartedly change it, outside sources can only influence how the individual presents external symbols not internal.