UI Design is always something I’ve enjoyed. It’s fun making stats for my own characters, giving them a greater sense of purpose and being able to visualise them in a game.
I’ve had a little dabble on the latest Tomb Raider and that really inspired me to work on my own UI designs. I love the bold, new take on such an established character. I’ve not completed the game as of yet but as far as UI goes, I think they’ve nailed it. My first thought was “damn, this looks cool.”
“A good UI tells you what you need to know, and then gets out of the way.”
It is argued that UI design needs a logical approach more so than artistic flair. I guess I’d have to agree but if you can achieve both, you’re onto a winner really.
It’s important to know your user and to empower your user. Immersion is everything with a game and I feel a large factor in this is the fluidity of the gamer’s user experience. It can pretty much make or break a game.
Here are some deigns I came up with last week. I still feel like I’ve maybe taken a greater interest in presentation, rather than thinking purely about what information needs to be on screen. I’m still quite pleased with these though. I’ve found a new interest in taking note of how information is presented and how I feel about it when in gameplay. Sometimes I tend to forget about this aspect of game development and it was playing Tomb Raider the other week that slapped me in the face with it’s importance. In a good way, of course!
GeekchicAlex likes to waffle. 
You’re absolutely right on the way a good UI tells you what you need to know then goes away until it’s needed again.
Plus the images are awesome!