Welcome to the first Dev Blog for Pompeii: The Legacy!
In this inaugural post, I’m excited to take you behind the scenes and provide a detailed look at the development of my game. From the initial reveal to the intricate design of game user interface, this blog will offer insights into the creative process and the features shaping our city-building adventure set in ancient Rome. Join me as we explore the foundations of our project and share the journey of bringing Pompeii to life!
In this dev blog, I’ll be diving into some key aspects of the game’s User Interface (UI), starting with a closer look at the Main UI window.
Overview of the Main UI Window
Here’s a sneak peek at the UI design for the main game window:
- Top Bar: This area displays essential resource quantities, including money (Denarii), food, wood, planks, stone, and more. It also shows the current in-game year and month. Additionally, the top bar provides information about the three different classes of citizens in the game.
- Bottom Bar: This section includes various construction object types, which opens a panel for selecting different buildings you can construct in the game. It also features additional buttons for demolishing buildings, collecting resources, moving structures, and manipulating the grid.
I’ve aimed to keep the UI as intuitive and straightforward as possible so that players can easily understand it at a glance. While there will be a tutorial at the beginning of the game, it’s crucial that the core UI remains user-friendly and doesn’t overwhelm players with too many unknowns.
Additional UI Elements
Here’s a glimpse of the Main UI window with added elements, such as Objectives and a Dialogue Window:
- Objectives Line: Positioned on the left side of the screen, this area displays the current task that the player needs to complete. In this example, it’s part of the tutorial, and completing these tasks is mandatory for progressing through the tutorial. If there are multiple tasks, each completed task will be marked as finished.
- Dialogue Window: Located on the right side of the screen, this window shows the portrait of the character currently speaking with the player. Most dialogues will be available in both text and voice-over formats. The portraits are created by selecting a character from a 3D photo database and editing them in Photoshop. Sometimes, I combine several photos into one portrait and then overpaint to achieve a semi-realistic look. Given the scope of the campaign, there will be a large number of characters.
In conclusion, while the current UI design might seem quite classic, rest assured that Pompeii: The Legacy is far from a mediocre city builder. The next Dev Blog will focus on city management, providing a deeper look into the game's management system and showcasing its complexity.
Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for your continued support!
