Menu Concepts

Thanks for the suggestion, let me try something like that!

Have any of you played battlefield 3? Maybe we can make a menu with a similar form. Heck, maybe we can ask some artists from deviant art to make some of the back ground and we can handle the effects. Not exactly like battlefield 3, but with a stationary image with some kind of glare and glow streaming in the lighter parts of the image. I know I already completed one concept, but if you guys vouch in for my second idea I can see If I can make it happen. also if anyone can refresh me on the dimension size for the background, this would be most appreciated. Sorry about not being very active, I have college and im going to make time on friday to do some of this stuff.

Don't worry about time, everyone's here a student (I think), and i'm really busy as well with Uni (thesis and all), so I will only start coding in May.

IMO, not to slam your work or anything, but it feels still too I dunno, kind of off. I really appreciate your patience though man.
Yeah something like BF3 would work nicely, though I like COD's and Mass Effect's main menus as well (they have 3d background, COD's Black Ops, is actually a level).

Dimension need to be multiple, since we will support multiple resolutions.

I guess we need for sure: 1024x768, 1920x1080, 1440x900, you know, the usual resolutions, then we scale in between.
But work on the highest (Full HD: 1920x1080), then scale down.
Unless you want to go to 2K display as well.

You know, better make more concepts than too few. The main menu isn't a priority right now, so you can test out some more ideas etc.

UI elements in CE can be aligned (top, left, center, bottom, stretch) so you can split the menu up in parts which will then be aligned relative to the screen. Like the actual menu could always be on the left side whereas the logo is on the top. That way there won't be any stretching.
And remember that the menus are in flash, so we can change layer fx and the likes dynamically.

Okay well here is the first of this BF3 like concept. Its uses some concept art from Battlefront Elite squadren and is currently a place holder. Im liking how this one is turning out.

Yes, that's more like it!

If we can come up with an epic background like that and make it slightly animated or move around a bit (even a slideshow?), it'll look ace.

Looks nice, consider the resolution tho. Right now if you upscale this to 1920x1080 the font's gonna be all IN YOUR FACE.
Better make the designs in 1920x1080 from the start.

Nice work man! I really like this. it simple and no frills.

And I will say it again. The front menu could just be another level, but with player control turned off, and some scripted cam going around and a battle going on in the background with AI. The main menu would just be like the in game menu, but with different functionality.

So you dont even need to worry about backgrounds, jsut the fonts and layout

I.e like Half Life 2 Main menu.

I do like the idea of having a really slowly animated background though, basically a movie with the particles and stuff moving really slowly (but smoothly).

I think we could try:

a) A static background,
b) A slideshow sort of thing
c) A slow animation background
d) Gameplay footage in the background
e) Some sort of 'in-game' overlay (perhaps like an interactive view of the cabin of a starship?)

Why slowly?

I personally prefer d) and e)
We could have the last played map show when you are in the main menu, or it could be randomized.
d and e are the same thing from a technical point of view. They are both a menu constantly displayed. Just like an in game menu, but this one has special functionality.

We have a powerful engine, use its potential.

Well, for the slow-mo idea, I have this image in my head of a particular game where there were lots of explosions and things happening on top of this kind of '3D' effect.

All the particles and things happening in the menu were unfolding really slowly, but it looked beautiful and really atmospheric.

This is worth a read too: http://kotaku.com/5955855/the-ten-commandments-of-video-game-menus

I think a combination of D and E would work nice. A sort of Overlay based on the cockpit of a fighter or airspeeder with the various screens, switches, buttons, etc, representing different options. Then, behind the cockpit is a continuous flyover montage of some of the maps during battles.

A horrible pixel mockup of that:

You guys are thinking of Star Wars Empire At War's main menu. That's exactly what it is, a TIE fighter overlay, with game footage playing in the background but I think it is real time gameplay, so that when people change the graphics they can notice the difference in the main menu.

There's tons of ideas we can do with this main menu. I honestly just think it's by preference. I just don't like the slideshow type main menu that uses pictures, I prefer either gameplay footage (either real time, or rendered) or a static main menu where it's like a holoprojector or something kind of like that. The problem I see with the cockpit view is that Battlefront is both land, space, and air. It wouldn't make sense to have an x-wing/TIE fighter or whatever ship cockpit view and then show land based gameplay, especially from a third person point of view.

And don't forget the Quit option in the main menu.

Yeah, I figured the clips would be flyovers of the maps, so it actually looks like the vehicle is moving over the action. (exiting the Hoth hangar and flying over the hill towards the walkers with the other aispeeders, etc). In EaW the TIE cockpit overlay just panned around like a normal camera and looked kinda odd.

sceluk wrote:

Nice work man! I really like this. it simple and no frills.

And I will say it again. The front menu could just be another level, but with player control turned off, and some scripted cam going around and a battle going on in the background with AI. The main menu would just be like the in game menu, but with different functionality.

So you dont even need to worry about backgrounds, jsut the fonts and layout

I.e like Half Life 2 Main menu.

rock, i really like sceluks idea. would this be hard to script? Image the menu font and what not with the rebel base in the background with computer and radar noises coming from those rebel computer things. Or a view from a window from a star destroyer?

Gen_Rhys_Dallows wrote:

Yeah, I figured the clips would be flyovers of the maps, so it actually looks like the vehicle is moving over the action. (exiting the Hoth hangar and flying over the hill towards the walkers with the other aispeeders, etc). In EaW the TIE cockpit overlay just panned around like a normal camera and looked kinda odd.

^ your a mad genius. a static background wouldn't be bad at all, but what you described would be so much more bad ass.

So..... so far we have three options that we like:
1st - A Half-Life 2 type of menu, where the menu just pops up with whatever map was last played and it just showcases a battle happening in the background. This could be scripted/ or just randomized AI gameplay, but I think a prescripted battle would be the best option for this type of menu, kind of like how Half-Life 2 does it but with more action. I personally think this would work pretty well, it's fairly simple, cool, and the hardest part would be to script the action sequences in the background of each map. e.x. [Hoth] camera is stationary, and it shows rebel troopers running towards one of the trenches and then being shot at by At-At's, probe droids, snowtroopers. And then some other action stuff happens, kind of similar to a Command & Conquer Generals action sequence, but it's like a mix of the Half-Life 2 and C&C Generals menu sequences.

2nd - We have Delante's flyover type of menu, where we have a cockpit overlay that has the menu embedded on the ship's layout. It could change from a TIE cockpit or X-Wing cockpit depending on the last faction played. The ship would also simulate what it would be like to be in the ship, taking off from a hangar or launchpad, and then flyover the map showcasing either prescripted battles or live AI controlled battles of the maps last played. This could also be really cool, but again it would be hard to script that action sequences on each map.

3rd - We have the Battlefront 2 basic static menu, where it's just the options on the screen, with either a video clips of gameplay prerendered, or clips from the movies being played in the background. Simple but effective.

I personally like option 1 and 2, and since we have the CE3 engine at our disposal I think we could pull it off. Maybe mix the two, where land based maps use option 1, and space/air maps use option 2.... Just some things to think about....

Take a look at the menu used in this vid:

http://area.autodesk.com/2014unfold/products/gameware.html#scaleform

That's a cool program! Autodesk is just getting into everything aren't they.

Oh yeah, Scaleform, that's all the rage today in games. I think it is the menu system used in CryEngine.

we could have a combo of 1 and 2, where a free cam roams around the battlefield.
If we were making a starfighter sim, i'd go for 2, no argument. but since its a 3rd person shooter its kind of..i dunno..to focus on starfighters when the majority of players will not be in vehicles.

That's what I was thinking too, Sceluk.

Interesting, actually this is a great tool. Do I need to pay for this if I wanted to give it a try? Maybe ill just leave that UI intergration and process to the skilled people here and supply the high resolution tga and png files I have created so far. Almost done with it!

Scaleform is integrated in CryEngine AFAIK.
just an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMsFB6aZpV0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5wSnn_MFfA&feature=youtu.be

:p early test. The current png and tga files are a go. Well I might have to touch up on the bottom.

1. Remember it will all have to be assembled in Flash.
2. The menu entries are weird. What we'll need is most likely: Multiplayer, Options, Credits and Quit.
3. On the topic of 1 again, it would be best if you could provide the layer style for the text. So we can use an actual font instead of images (easier for localization, too).
4. You should get the new logo in there. The current font of the menu entries fits the old logo but it might not fit the new one.
5. (just to have five) This still looks like a relatively small resolution to me. Most people have 1920x1080/1680x1050 today, so please check out how your design will look with those resolutions.