Comments on: When is it okay to be confusing? http://www.heimburg.com/blog/2007/07/31/when-is-it-okay-to-be-confusing/ A developer's perspective on development Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:19:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Nikos Beck http://www.heimburg.com/blog/2007/07/31/when-is-it-okay-to-be-confusing/#comment-232 Nikos Beck Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:17:52 +0000 http://www.heimburg.com/blog/2007/07/31/when-is-it-okay-to-be-confusing/#comment-232 There are times when instructions make things harder to understand. On the "Indie Gamer" focums I started a thread about "select player" screens. One person suggested "click on a name to edit the name" which is logical except it's extra text on the screen that can be learned by the player. When hovering on a name in the list, add a blinking cursor. The player can start typing and see that the name is being edited. In many cases there are intutive clues that can replace dialogue and text. I plan on my games never being so complex as to need a paper clip as an assistant. There are times when instructions make things harder to understand. On the “Indie Gamer” focums I started a thread about “select player” screens. One person suggested “click on a name to edit the name” which is logical except it’s extra text on the screen that can be learned by the player. When hovering on a name in the list, add a blinking cursor. The player can start typing and see that the name is being edited. In many cases there are intutive clues that can replace dialogue and text.

I plan on my games never being so complex as to need a paper clip as an assistant.

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