Human-Computer Interfaces
Human-Computer Interfaces
HCI stands for Human-Computer Interface. This refers to the hardware that the player uses to interact with the game, examples can include mouse and keyboard, joystick, gamepad, etc. I am going to learn about the different types of HCI’s, their effects and their importance. This will help me decide what I want to implement with my own game, will help me gain new knowledge and will help me with my future in the games industry.
The technology that is used is a big part of how a player will interact with the game. The aim is to make the player feel as immersed as possible, so choosing technology that feels natural with the type of game and how it plays is important. There are general defaults depending on what system the game is made for, for example, mouse and keyboard for computer games and game pads for consoles, but additional types of controllers can be added for specific games, e.g. steering wheels for racing games, instrument controllers for music/rhythm games. With many games being available across different devices (various consoles, computer, mobile) and many systems allowing for different custom controllers, the choice of controller isn’t as limited for game developers as it once used to be.
Keyboard and mouse are often used for computer games. Some advantages of designing a game for keyboard and mouse are: the player doesn’t have to buy any extra hardware – they will already have a keyboard and mouse if they have a computer, there are a lot more buttons than there are on alternatives (e.g. gamepads) so it is good for games that have a lot of commands (e.g. fantasy rpgs games that have a lot of different spells / attacks / items) and while it might take a while for players to get used to where each command is on a keyboard, once they are used to where everything is it can be used quickly and intuitively. However, there are some disadvantages of using keyboard and mouse: it doesn’t lend itself well to local multiplayer – another player would have to have a completely separate system, or some games get players to share a keyboard (this doesn’t work very well), keyboard and mouse is only used for computers so the game controls would have to be changed if the game was released on console / mobile, keyboard and mouse are a clunky piece of hardware – they aren’t very portable and while there are standardised keys for movement (WASD), the other keys aren’t standardised, so the player has to re-learn to navigate the controls for each game and it can seem complicated if there are a lot of commands.
Undertale is a good example of a game that uses keyboard well. It uses the arrow keys and a few other keys to control the game. Undertale was released in 2011 but has a very retro feel to it, and the keyboard controls feel very natural for that game and fit the style of the game. As an RPG, the game uses the arrow keys to control the movement of the main character and then other keys such as <enter> or <shift> to do other tasks like confirm or cancel, etc.
I am not going to use keyboard and mouse as my main technological interface for my game, however, I may set it up as a secondary choice. I want something that is more intuitive from the get go and doesn’t take as much learning from the player to get used to it, also I would like to use something that players can use on a variety of platforms – keyboard and mouse limits them to a computer.
Joysticks are a specialised style of controller. Although they have a long history of use in gaming, they aren’t used very often now. They are a simple piece of equipment with one control stick and sometimes one or two buttons or they come as part of a gamepad that includes a joystick and a few buttons (an example of this is the special Street Fighter game pad). For this reason, they are better suited to games with simpler controls, such as arcade games. A couple of popular games that utilize a joystick are Pacman and Street Fighter.
Game Pads are the most common piece of hardware used to control console games. They are generally lightweight and intuitive to use. The placement of the buttons on controls are designed especially for where hands would naturally sit and even though different game pads might be labelled differently (e.g. start versus options, they essentially have buttons in the same place, so the player doesn’t have to completely retrain themselves when using a new gamepad. Gamepads also have an extra layer of feedback that they give to the player through vibration. The controller vibration can be utilized in different ways, for example, when a button is pressed, when something important is happening in the game or when the player needs to pay attention to something. A downside with controllers is that there is a set number of buttons, so you need to create actions / commands for the exact amount of buttons on the controller. There are ways around this however – if you have less commands than buttons, some buttons could be idle or more than one button could have the same function, and if you have more commands than buttons, you could use button combinations for different commands (most fighting games utilize game pads this way).
Some games that I think use game pads well are Tales of Symphonia, Zelda and Mario Kart. I really liked how the battle system controls worked in Tales of Symphonia and would like to use a similar set of controls in my game. When the game went into a ‘battle scenario’, the controls would change. I am going to use game pads in my game; these work well with consoles and can be added as option for PC gaming, they are relatively intuitive, people with consoles already have controllers – so it’s not an extra expense they would have to get for the game and they work well with the genre of my game.
Headsets are often used for co-op or multiplayer games for players to interact with each other and are sometimes used to control elements of gameplay through voice command. Headsets are useful because it creates extra interaction and can help for online / multiplayer games create more of a community. However, if they are used for things like voice recognition in games, there can be issues like background sound or different accents, dialects and languages affecting how effective the gameplay is (as voice recognition still struggles with strong accents – this might not be as much of an issue in the future). Games have implemented headsets and voice interaction with mixed results. Games like World of Warcraft and Call Of Duty are examples of games that a lot of the community use headsets for – with different results: World of Warcraft players often talk about making connections with other players and working intensely as a team for raids, and Call of Duty players often complain about the amount of abuse players get from each other (however, there will always be exceptions to both and some gamers might enjoy being part of a more hostile community). An example of a game that has tried to use voice recognition but with poor results is Hey You Pikachu. In this game, the aim was to talk to and give instructions to Pikachu, and then he would interact with the game based on the player’s instructions. However, many people had problems with the game’s voice recognition to the point that it was un-playable. Interaction with headsets isn’t something that would be essential for my game, but it would be interesting to keep the option open for a possible co-op story mode.
In terms of human experience, I would want an easy to navigate menu. Menus are often designed in terms of how experienced the player is at playing games, navigating menus, changing settings, etc. I would like anyone to be able to navigate my menu so I will give it a simpler design. Less options, a cleaner look, understandable type and indicators for the player are all factors that help create an easy to use menu. A good game menu will also take into account the demographic that the game is designed for – factors like age, gender, culture, disabilities, etc, as the menu can be designed with the right demographic in mind.
My game would be designed to the young western demographic. I would also like to cater to people with various disabilities, as I believe that people’s disabilities shouldn’t have to limit their enjoyment of various media including games. Options of closed captions and audio description would help for people with hearing and sight disabilities. While closed captions and written descriptions can be utilized in almost any game, audio description works best in games that aren’t very fast paced. MMO’s and fast paced fighting games for example wouldn’t work with this as the player’s reaction times need to be better. With games like these, maybe different vibration patterns could be utilized to help people with poor sight. While there will be a default button set, in the options I will allow the player to customize their own controller settings and allow for the use of specialised controllers, this means that people with disabilities will be able to edit the controls so they can comfortably play the game.
Feedback is important as it directs the player and lets them know that the game is responding to their actions. If there is no feedback for the player, then they would assume that their action hasn’t been registered. Feedback comes in a variety of different forms, this can include: colours, camera techniques, lighting effects, vibration, dialogue, music, etc. A very common example of feedback is the 3 stages of a button being pressed. A button has 3 states: idle, hovered and pressed. Without feedback, the player wouldn’t know important information like which button they were pressing or whether the pressing action had been registered at all. While there is normally no feedback if the button is in the idle state, there is usually feedback if the player hovers over the button (e.g. colour change) and then more intense feedback when the button has been pressed (e.g. colour change and vibration). I will use different types of feedback to help guide the user and make their experience as fluid and easy as possible.
Controls I will create for my game (on an Xbox One controller)
Default:
Left Control Stick – Movement
Right Control Stick – Camera
A – Jump
B – Use Weapon
X – Interact / Talk
Y – Use Held Item
RB – Switch Held Item
LB – Inventory
LT – Look Left
RT – Look Right
Options – Pause Menu
Select – Open Map
D-Pad
Left – Put Weapons Away
Up – Draw Short-Range Weapon
Right – Draw Mid-Range Weapon
Down – Draw Long-Range Weapon
Battle Controls
Left Control Stick – Movement
Right Control Stick – Camera
A – Jump
B – Use Mid-Range Weapon
X – Use Short-Range Weapon
Y – Use Long-Range Weapon
RB – Switch Held Item
LB – Use Held Item
LT – Switch Target
RT – Aim
Options – Pause Menu
Select – Open Inventory
D-Pad
Left – Dodge Left
Up – Roll Forward
Right – Dodge Right
Down – Block
What a game’s HUD includes and how it is displayed is very important in a game and can completely change the player’s in-game experience. The HUD usually includes stats or maps – things that the player needs to see regularly. The HUD shouldn’t break the immersion of the game, so it shouldn’t be too overbearing. Games aimed at more experienced gamers can have more on their HUD but this can be confusing to new players, so it is important to keep the game’s demographic in mind. For my game, I want to use a simple HUD, with a mini-map in the bottom left corner and currently held item at the bottom right corner. When in a battle scenario, this would change to show your HP and the enemies HP.
References
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[PXN-2113-Hot-PC-USB-Flight-Joysticks-Vibration-Joystick-Rocker-Flighter-Simulator-Game-Controller] (n.d.) [Online]. Available athttps://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1wbosNXXXXXbeapXXq6xXFXXXp/PXN-2113-Hot-PC-USB-Flight-Joysticks-Vibration-Joystick-Rocker-Flighter-Simulator-Game-Controller.jpg_640x640.jpg (Accessed 20th September 2018)
[tumblr_nzjg0c2VwA1uwsxz2o5_640] (n.d.) [Online]. Available at https://78.media.tumblr.com/0901191fe24cc442a2986f417fa36588/tumblr_nzjg0c2VwA1uwsxz2o5_640.png (Accessed 20th September 2018)
[undertale carrot screen] (n.d.) [Online]. Available at https://media.playstation.com/is/image/SCEA/undertale-carrot-screen-03-ps4-us-13June2017?$MediaCarousel_Original$ (Accessed 20th September 2018)
[video-game-1.jpg?resize=400%2C264&strip=all] (n.d.) [Online]. Available at https://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/video-game-1.jpg?resize=400%2C264&strip=all (Accessed 20th September 2018)