Re: (GUI) Playfield aspect ratio

I think it depends on games, I think in general FPS games for example is
more important the wide than the height because u usually fight on almost
your same level(as u  move horizontally, in other games an square is
preferred, I think it is a matter of what the game is about

Fer
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Hook" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 11:22 PM
Subject: [GD-Design] (GUI) Playfield aspect ratio


Okay, this is one of the more esoteric observations I'll make, but I
have to ask since it's been bugging me.

For games with HUD elements, the typical choice you see is to either
place the elements along the bottom, or possibly along the bottom and
one side.

To me, placing elements in an L or reverse L makes a lot more sense,
since you get a playfield area that is much closer to square than a
typical 4:3 or 16:9.  This is desirable because it gives you an equal
amount of play room in both directions.

However I've noticed that some games, such as Warcraft 3, put all the
GUI elements along the top and bottom, and this in turn actually
accentuates the rectangularity of the playfield.  You get an extreme
letterbox effect, which I would intuitively find undesirable.

The main reasons I can see for preferring this layout are:

1.  Text prefers to be wide, so for chat dialogs, etc. it's better to
have it along the bottom.

2.  Letterbox is perceived as more "cinematic".

But I still don't think I like it.  Are there other obvious reasons
I'm missing?

Brian




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