Small and/or in weird fonts. The books in Skyrim are only about half a page long most of the time, but take me so long to read because of the hard to parse 'norse' font.
I think these kind of things are extremely underappreciated. With the amount of games that have text in them, from "just" subtitles to in-game books and codexes, you'd think more attention would be drawn to this information. So many times I've wanted to get deep into a game's lore and balked at the wall of text, rather than it being presented as another part of the overall story and plot that I can enjoy. And the font size is something I too can rant about for hours! Not only is it an accessibility issue for those with poor eyesight, but it can even put off those who have decent eyesight! Even with my glasses, I've found myself shuffling closer to the screen so I can try and read important information. And if its in a non-standard/easy to read font? Even worse. Also pacing IS hard. Whether text based or otherwise, pacing is often something that a lot of games struggle with and it can really hinder the storytelling taking place. As for animation, I think that while it CAN add to the overall experience, there's also the chance that it will take away. I've been known to get motion sickness and headaches from moving text (much to my own despair) and it can be helpful to have an option to turn it off. When that happens, I sometimes have to take a break from the game - which I hate, because usually I'm having fun otherwise! (And to finish off, Heaven's Vault is still one of my favourite games! I've played it multiple times just because I enjoy translating the ancient language and seeing it get more complex - and adding extra pieces to the world building of the game!)
I've actually played Heaven's Vault and when I saw that this talk was done by the same people, I was instantly interested. That game had a very unique and memorable presentation to it that I would not mind seeing replicated in other projects.
Awesome talk, thank you! I've been struggling a lot lately with reading and writing on screens and this one hit a few key points I think i've been missing. Cheers!
Really great insights. Must watch along with Disco Elysium's UX advice for games with strong emphasis on narrative. Will be keeping all of this in mind for the game I'm working on.
A bit unrelated to the video, but still about the text in game - please, oh please don’t make your text auto forward in your games. Especially if you put the text in text boxes far away from the action. Especially if the text and the action are happening simultaneously. At best it’s way too much strain to keep up with. At worst I’ll lose the storyline, get confused, lose interest in the story, and drop the game.
Good talk! But this examples with the Elder Scrolls books are quite questionable. This books exist in the game not be read. They are props that help players to immerse into the game. When you read it - it feels like some fantasy manuscript, and you starting to feel yourself like an elf of something reading it. When you convert it to modern generic text - it loses all the magic. Witcher's subtitles on the other hand are truly awful - no question about it! :)
He brings that up explicitly and provides a half-way "solution". That is to say, err on the side of readability but there are options that maintain the feel with a minimal loss of readabilty.
12:52 finally someone talked about this elephant in the room. Font size in most games is ridiculously small.
Small and/or in weird fonts. The books in Skyrim are only about half a page long most of the time, but take me so long to read because of the hard to parse 'norse' font.
I think these kind of things are extremely underappreciated. With the amount of games that have text in them, from "just" subtitles to in-game books and codexes, you'd think more attention would be drawn to this information. So many times I've wanted to get deep into a game's lore and balked at the wall of text, rather than it being presented as another part of the overall story and plot that I can enjoy.
And the font size is something I too can rant about for hours! Not only is it an accessibility issue for those with poor eyesight, but it can even put off those who have decent eyesight! Even with my glasses, I've found myself shuffling closer to the screen so I can try and read important information. And if its in a non-standard/easy to read font? Even worse.
Also pacing IS hard. Whether text based or otherwise, pacing is often something that a lot of games struggle with and it can really hinder the storytelling taking place.
As for animation, I think that while it CAN add to the overall experience, there's also the chance that it will take away. I've been known to get motion sickness and headaches from moving text (much to my own despair) and it can be helpful to have an option to turn it off. When that happens, I sometimes have to take a break from the game - which I hate, because usually I'm having fun otherwise!
(And to finish off, Heaven's Vault is still one of my favourite games! I've played it multiple times just because I enjoy translating the ancient language and seeing it get more complex - and adding extra pieces to the world building of the game!)
I've actually played Heaven's Vault and when I saw that this talk was done by the same people, I was instantly interested. That game had a very unique and memorable presentation to it that I would not mind seeing replicated in other projects.
Oh, this is a really important topic. Thank you for hosting this talk, Joe. Good work. 👍
Amazing talk! Text UX are so important but obviously so many games ignore it.
Awesome talk, thank you! I've been struggling a lot lately with reading and writing on screens and this one hit a few key points I think i've been missing. Cheers!
OMG the talk is so important. I think mass effect one and dead space , before i had an hd tv i just gave up on reading anything. :P
Fucking FINALLY someone addressed the topic! THANK YOU
This advice is pure gold! Thank you!
amazing talk - it really helps immersion in game worlds.
Really great insights. Must watch along with Disco Elysium's UX advice for games with strong emphasis on narrative. Will be keeping all of this in mind for the game I'm working on.
A bit unrelated to the video, but still about the text in game - please, oh please don’t make your text auto forward in your games. Especially if you put the text in text boxes far away from the action. Especially if the text and the action are happening simultaneously. At best it’s way too much strain to keep up with. At worst I’ll lose the storyline, get confused, lose interest in the story, and drop the game.
YES. That is all
Animal Crossing could work on their pacing with all their menus.
Oh my god yes. ACNH has the worst UX of any AAA game I can think of, so much unnecessary wasted time.
@@tristanneal9552 It has to do with ACNH's game design.
Dumb-dumb asking here: is text in books just some sort of static decal?
Formidable.
Good talk! But this examples with the Elder Scrolls books are quite questionable. This books exist in the game not be read. They are props that help players to immerse into the game. When you read it - it feels like some fantasy manuscript, and you starting to feel yourself like an elf of something reading it. When you convert it to modern generic text - it loses all the magic. Witcher's subtitles on the other hand are truly awful - no question about it! :)
He brings that up explicitly and provides a half-way "solution". That is to say, err on the side of readability but there are options that maintain the feel with a minimal loss of readabilty.