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Comment by Minor49er | Hacker News Reader

The amount of games and screens is impressive, but for a site calling itself a database, it should take things further. Mainly, there ought to be a lot more textual content.

For example, rather than just a screenshot of the options menu for a given game, there should be tables listing all of the options and their possible settings. Rather than just an in-game screenshot, each UI element should be called out and detailed. For example, point out a health meter and explain what happens when the meter is filled, when it's low, etc. Same with the menus. What are the elements and what do they do? And so on.

There are also links to general gameplay footage for any given game, but various UI elements should have their timestamps called out, or even get their own videos entirely.

I really like how easy it is to navigate the site. Everything is tagged well. There's a lot of potential here.

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I'm a UI designer for almost a second decade now. In short textual content is the last thing I need from a site like this. Forgive me but that is just a load of pointless academic pedantry.

Textual content would be used to facilitate searching and to compare the UIs of different game interfaces. For instance, right now, I can't tell what the most common language is for UI buttons in RPGs or see what options are typically available for classic first person shooters without typing it up manually from the screenshots. This would be helpful for non-UI designers who want to make games.

I disagree. I've been a UI / UX designer for various pieces of software and the thing I miss in all the collected screenshots online _is_ text. It makes things more easily searchable and comparable. For example, is a health bar vertically or horizontally positioned? Top right or top left? What's the used color?

All these things could show me the obvious choice when designing a health bar in a specific type of game or interface.

No website with screenshot (or otherwise UI based visuals) in collections has this searchable content.

So for me, as a UI designer, I would definitely benefit from more textual information.

So form over content then?

I love the design of the site, but the first game I checked is Assasins Creed Black Flag, because I know that game has a very clever UI solution present in at least the early games in the series.

There is nothing in this site about that feature and you cannot explain it with a simple tag. The name "Game UI datase" suggests a bit more than mere tags.

For the interested, the UI solution I was referring to is how the functions of the buttons on the right side of a common joypad are communicated to the player. When one of the buttons is pressed, a short description of all their functions will appear in the top right, layed out in the exact position they have on the actual joypad. Press a modifier key that changes the functionalities of these buttons and their descriptions will change while the modifier key is pressed.

This ensures that you will never forget what all the buttons do, which is a common problem for me as I don't have a lot of time to play and can sometimes leave a game for months before picking it up again.

The website only shows the "empty/unpressed" state of this element of the HUD, skipping one of of it's most innovative features.

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