Summary

  • Role: UI Designer
  • Timeline: Jan – May, 2024
  • Platform: PC
  • Tools: Unreal Engine, SVN, Adobe Suite
Team:
  • Designers: Sam Sussman, Keegan Buckingham, Sasha Tschernisch, Bryant Koziol, Joshua Guptil, Benton Lane
  • Programmers: Andrew Griffin, Sam Fox, Nicholas Tvaroha, Nathan Desjardins, Harry Dorer
  • Artists: Andrew Kutsup, Will Toth, Jesse Mazza, Davin Pettingill, Khira Dwyer, Lillian Bonnell, Dillon Drummond, Joseph Clemente
  • Sound Designers: Maxim Rasnovski, Andrew Lounsberry, Noah Cichowlas
  • Producers: Mathew Villa, Wolde North

Intent

SYNC, an arena-based FPS, was developed by me and a team of 24 others. Tailored for competitive speedrunners, it features fast-paced combat in enemy-filled rooms, and instant swapping between the three unique characters. As the team’s UI designer, I aimed to create a sleek HUD that matched the game’s aesthetics while offering easily readable information to compliment the high-speed gameplay. As my first project in Unreal Engine and as a dedicated UI designer, I also wanted to learn about Unreal’s tools and enhance my skills in this field.

Design Process

Initial Wireframes

I was onboarded to this project halfway through production, posing a fresh challenge for me. I needed to swiftly integrate into the team’s workflow and understand the project vision before pursuing my goals. In the initial weeks, I analyzed the pre existing UI to identify areas for improvement. Drawing from player feedback and testing, I found the HUD to be cluttered with indistinguishable and unreactive elements. This significantly hindered readability, especially in the game’s fast-paced combat scenarios.

After diagnosing the game’s issues, I began redesigning the HUD. I started by researching similar FPS games, making note of their similarities and differences. I then sketched out a streamlined design that removed much of the unnecessary clutter, and followed genre standards to ensure our target audience would easily understand it. With my wireframes complete, I implemented placeholder assets, utilizing Unreal’s widget system for easy reusability and iteration later on.


Rapid Reiteration

For the project’s duration, I iterated on my work, incorporating player feedback and adapting to the game’s evolving systems. With ongoing additions and alterations to character abilities, for instance, I had to update UI elements to accurately reflect their functions, cooldowns, or charges. This involved rapidly prototyping new UI components to keep up with demands, and communicating with designers and programmers to integrate changes into the game’s architecture

Despite reorganizing the HUD to match player expectations, testers consistently reported losing track of vital information during combat. I recognized that players fixated on their crosshairs and aiming during hectic moments, and addressed these issues by redesigning the crosshairs to incorporate additional functionality. This now displayed essential information in a more accessible location which, when paired with sounds and new effects for player feedback, significantly mitigated the issue.


Project Takeaways

Working on this project with the largest team I’ve encountered was immensely rewarding. It provided valuable practice in communicating within a complex and diverse team, while allowing me to take the time to specialize as a UI designer. I was able to significantly enhance my expertise in this field, and likewise gain much more competence in using Unreal Engine.