Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design

User Interface Design

Adventure games, more than most other genres, try to hide the fact that the player is using a computer. By comparison to vehicle simulators, sports games, or RPGs, the user interfaces of adventure games are very simple. The player needs to move through the world, talk to NPCs, and manipulate or collect objects in an intuitive way that does not interfere with his sense of immersion in the story.

Avatar Movement

The movement interface that you design depends considerably on the perspective you choose. In first-person and third-person perspectives, the player needs a way of steering her avatar around the world, as in an action game. We suggest that you look at Chapter 9, “Action Games,” for a discussion of avatar movement in ...