emotiontheory

[emotiontheory]

Cold Showers Changed My Life And It's Easier Than You Think

The benefits of cold showers

Wim Hof explains the power of cold showers in this interview with Tom Bilyeu on Impact Theory.

Wim is a well-known practitioner and advocate of Cold Therapy, and in that interview, he summarises his relationship with the cold rather eloquently with the statement: "the cold is my warm friend"...

Back then, for some reason, those words Wim uttered hit me hard It resonated with me deeply. I wanted that warm friend he was talking about. I wanted that powerful feeling.

So... there I was, deeply anxious and breathing heavily as my hand was placed on the shower hinge set to cold. I closed my eyes and counted down from 5 before pulling the hinge... (5-Second Rule is another life-changer!)

The water hit me with a shock! But almost as quickly as it came, the shock went, and I felt "OK" under the cold water. It felt strangely spiritual. I kind of played it up a bit and tilted my head back and raised my arms -- and then... I actually started crying.

I was sobbing, even. It was a potent emotional moment. I was experiencing this powerful epiphany - all the times I was afraid to do or try things that scared me and held myself back from limiting beliefs were flashing before me.

It may not sound like a big deal, but I felt transformed that day. I felt like I had reclaimed a power that was long dormant. It was this powerful reminder of how strong and capable I am - more than I realise and give myself credit for

I have continued to take Cold Showers to renew and reapply this feeling and reminder as a daily ritual ever since. Our power is inherent to us as human beings and a gift we all have. We are the champions, my friends.

I'm trying my hand at telling and sharing more personal stories like this that relate to health, wellbeing, and happiness. If you enjoyed reading this, you may be somebody I could get along with! Consider joining our community on discord or following me on any of my channels.

Take care, and #BeYOUtiful

[emotiontheory]

Zen parkour game SATORI is launching on Steam

Auckland, New Zealand, June 23, 2021 — Solo developer Emotion Theory is launching its first indie game, SATORI, on Steam for PCs.

SATORI is a flow-inducing first-person platformer -- wall-run, air-dash, grapple-swing, and rail-grind through infinitely generated open worlds and experience the freedom of meditative free-running.

Your pathway to new worlds unlock as you collect Light Seeds planted throughout the playspace, all of which encourage you to flow with speed and grace. Or simply play and move at your own pace - everybodys' journey is uniquely theirs.

Features

Fluid traversal inspired by the best movement systems seen in AAA parkour games

Abilities: Slide, double-jump, wall-run, rail-grind, air-dash, grapple-swing, and slow-mo

Flow: Keep your flow-state by chaining your movements with ease

Beautiful: Colourful, evocative visuals and environment

Playful: Learn to play without tutorials

Infinite: Infinite procedural open-worlds designed for traversal

Progression: Different collectables invite you to play differently, at your leisure

Relaxing: Play at your own pace without pressure -- slow down time at any moment

For everyone: Enjoyable by a wide variety of player skill

You can experience the meditative and liberating zen-like platforming for yourself when SATORI releases later in 2021 on Steam for PCs. (Exact release date TBA)

Wishlist SATORI on Steam.

About Emotion Theory

Emotion Theory is the online alias of independent developer Adam Thompson, based in Auckland, New Zealand. Adam is most interested in exploring meaningful interactive ideas that are playful in nature and evocative at heart. See more of his work at emotiontheory.com

Contact

Adam Thompson Email ► a.adamthompson@gmail.com Presskit ► https://emotiontheory.com/press Twitter ► https://twitter.com/@EmotionTheory Steam ► https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451970/SATORI/ Discord ► https://discord.gg/bZRPSXPHCs

[emotiontheory]

This game is basically Titanfall + Tony Hawk + Sunset Overdrive had a baby (don't ask how that works o_O)

The game is called SATORI and it is still in early development.

It is essentially first person + free-form parkour + open world.

Link: https://emotiontheory.com/

[emotiontheory]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Thompson (@emotiontheory)

Created, saved, and shared right here directly from the Seed of Life app on my phone.

[emotiontheory]

Playing with Seed of Life. This is what happens when you animate the parameters in a pattern's algorithm

[emotiontheory]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Thompson (@emotiontheory)

Almost ready to push an update that includes video recording, saving, and sharing. Spiro is an Android app that lets you play with and create these kinds of patterns. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emotiontheory.spiro #spirograph #art #video #pattern #universe #nofilter

[emotiontheory]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Thompson (@emotiontheory)

So far the patterns have been very similar, but there's a huge variety of potential patterns that can be made, and I look forward to sharing them. Get Spiro on Google Play here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emotiontheory.spiro #spirograph #green #math #space #universe

[emotiontheory]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Adam Thompson (@emotiontheory)

A little app I'm working on. I plan on posting more patterns in various colours. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emotiontheory.spiro

[emotiontheory]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCEU6A4vmHs)

[emotiontheory]

Seed of Life dev update 8 - Kiwi Game Starter & the New Zealand Game Developer’s Conference (2016)

UPDATE 8 Kiwi Game Starter & the New Zealand Game Developer’s Conference (2016)

September 15, 2016

Seed of Life is a meditative game about sacred patterns.

Catch up on what the game is in this post.

Seed of Life was a finalist for the KGS scholarship award!

The winners - two wonderful colleagues of mine; Matthew and Cynthia - went on to win the scholarship award with their games Caves and Ten Thousand Coins.

The winners for the funding streams were two other colleagues of mine; the peeps behind Lost Goblin and Team Ninja Thumbs for their games Goblins of Elderstone and Grabity.

Also, props to one last finalist; the game Interdimensional Llama by Team Llama - a delightful little puzzle game by a lovely student team from Wellington.

It was a packed week in Auckland!

I spoke at #NZGDC16 about editor extensions, game design, and being a one-person indie game dev

The room was packed! (Yikes!)

The talk basically glossed over these blog posts (scroll down to “Additional Links”) I had already written while exploring why such decisions were not only helpful but necessary in exploring my game’s possibility space (and making it without taking forever!)

I just kind of riffed. It was a very open, self-centered talk about Seed of Life and what I went through to make it (making it, still). What I had hoped to get across was how I discovered something unique with my game concept and how I attempted to explore it - implying that you too should look for what’s special about your game and try to explore it by writing tools that help you do so.

I think it went well!

Seed of Life was live-streamed during NZGDC

Here’s a shot of Cynthia playing the game! (Ooh, that glare on the tv T__T)

All the while, the game was being streamed live to twitch (here’s my twitch page) with screenshots being posted to my twitter (several screens if you scroll down!) in real time - a large part of what my talk was about.

TODO: Archive the videos to YouTube!

Conclusion

After NZGDC, we celebrated into the night. It was here that many memorable and open conversations took place with several endearing people across the ANZ game development scene. I feel that it was here that I got to properly take in what just happened, and it solidified my enthusiasm and excitement for completing and releasing Seed of Life - which is hopefully not all too far away.

What a packed, heartwarming, eventful, fruitful, and wonderful week. 

[emotiontheory]

3D Platformers that were released in 2015/2016

Bound (PS4 / 08.2016)

Unbox (PC / 09.2016)

Ratchet & Clank (PS4 / 04.2016) 

Grow Up (PC, PS4, Xbox One / 08.2016)

Lucky’s Tale (Oculus Rift / 03.2016)

FreezeME (PC, Wii U / 12.2015)

Trine 3 (PC / 08.2015)

Grow Home (PC, PS4 / 02.2015)

Tearaway Unfolded (PS4 / 09.2015)

Lumo (PC, PS4, PSVita, Xbox One / 05.2016)

Upcoming 3D Platformers

Yooka-Laylee (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U / TBA 2017)

A Hat in Time (PC / TBA 2017)

Poi (PC / Early Access since 11.2015)

Fe (PC / TBA)

Among the Stones (PC / TBA)

Olivia & Spike (PC / TBA)

Clive ‘N’ Wrench (PC / TBA)

Skylar & Plux (PC, PS4, Xbox One / TBA)

Etherborn (PC / TBA)

Psychonauts 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One / TBA)

[emotiontheory]

Seed of Life dev update 7 - Resuming work after a 3-month hiatus

UPDATE 7 Resuming work after a 3-month hiatus

August 29, 2016

Seed of Life is a meditative game in which you deflect colourful elements to create sacred patterns.

Catch up on what the game is in this post.

Some updates and things to mention

I have been finishing up some contract work the past few months. Immediately after that, I spent about 2 weeks on a different and larger scoped personal project with a friend. All the while I’ve been playing a ton of Overwatch, and more recently, finishing up the Blood and Wine expansion in The Witcher 3.

Now that the contract is finished, my other project in a decent place to lay dormant, and my gaming lust sated; it’s time to get back into Seed of Life.

Meanwhile, here are some bits of news worth mentioning:

I am really happy to announce that I have joined the development team of kickstarted game Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption! This is a part-time endeavour while I move forward with Seed of Life. 

I’ll be giving a talk about Seed of Life and the various tools I’ve written for it at the New Zealand Game Developer’s Conference (NZGDC). The talk is called Extending the Editor; Becoming a one-man indie team and will take place on Thursday the 8th of September at AUT in Room WG404.

I have submitted Seed of Life for funding through Kiwi Game Starter 2016 and one other thing. Response to this and further details will be shared in the near future.

I have made some substantial updates to Time Tracker - my Unity Sore asset - which will go live in the next few weeks.

Getting back into things

In my last update, I referenced the game Splice as a specific example of what I’m aiming for when it comes to the look and feel of the menus and UI, and that hasn’t changed. 

Here’s what’s ahead for Seed of Life.

My immediate goals

Get the core game loop going

Splash screens, start screen, mode select, option to quit

Core modes (I want only one playable for now, which is Challenge)

Story, Zen, Endless, Challenge

Refine the menus and UI to fit the new 3d aesthetic

Create a test executable

My medium term goals

Integrate Analytics

This is pivotal for testing and collecting data

Integrate Steamworks

The game is not exclusive to Steam, but getting this done will get the ball rolling for implementing a platform-independent solution for Achievements, Statistics, and Leaderboards

Refine the aesthetics, visuals, colours, and audio

Playtest + iterate (publish alpha version?)

My long term goals

Explore more projectile types and projectile gameplay

It’s important to look more at sacred geometry, the golden ratio and the golden rectangle, the seed of life and the flower of life, Fibonacci sequences, Phi, Fractals, the Millenium Run/Simulation, and so on.

Look at nature: flowers, plants, honeycomb, pinecones, cobwebs, galaxies

Refine all game modes

Story, Zen, Endless, Challenge

Finalise the visuals and audio for the game

Playtest + iterate more (publish early access version?)

My ultimate goal

To create a beautiful looking and sounding game that is fun to play, one that dazzles and surprises its players with the gentle introduction of new mechanics and visuals

In terms of a marketable game, one that should garner a high number of positive reviews and maximise buyer satisfaction:

Screenshots to look pretty

GIFs and videos to look even prettier

Music to sound appropriately emotive

Game to instill a strong thematic vibe (math / geometry, philosophy / theology)

Endless and Challenge modes to feel appropriately fun and challenging

Story and Zen modes to feel appropriately dazzling and mesmerising

Game overall to have elements of understanding and epiphany

ANYONE should be able to pick up and play

design with simplicity and ease-of-use

minimise frustration, friction, and negative reinforcement

maximise communication and positive reinforcement

Conclusion

I hope to continue making development posts weekly. I am still trying to ease myself into an efficient working routine, the details of which I’ll touch upon in my next post.

[emotiontheory]

NZGDC talk: Extending The Editor; becoming a One-Man Indie Team

I'd like to bend your ear a moment and ask for some feedback on my NZGDC talk I'm just about to submit.

TITLE

Extending The Editor; becoming a One-Man Indie Team

BLURB

In this talk, Adam goes through the various tools he wrote in Unity to achieve the rich and numerous levels in his game Seed of Life; including that of Level Generation, a play-testing AI, tools for Streaming and Social Sharing, Documenting and making use of Analytics, and general automation and efficiency tools. He also discusses how he stumbled upon such a rich design space for Seed of Life and how he was able to explore it to its fullest potential.

TAKEAWAYS

Work like a team as a lone developer

Automation tools YOU can write to maximise efficiency

Find and explore interesting design spaces

----

I've already blogged about the subject, and about the game itself, which you can read here: http://emotiontheory.tumblr.com/tagged/seed-of-life/chrono

If you scroll down to "Additional Links" in that first post you'll see links to all the tools and cool stuff I've created to help me make the game.

I've listed the talk under Design. Let me know your thoughts!

[emotiontheory]

Seed of Life dev update 6 - UI/UX Philosophy

UPDATE 6 UI/UX Philosophy

June 4, 2016

Seed of Life is a meditative game in which you deflect colourful elements to create sacred patterns.

Catch up on what the game is in this post.

UI / UX is important to me

While there’s still plenty to do for the actual game, UI/UX is my current focus. For me; it’s a really big deal. The opening screens and start menu are the first things a user sees when engaging with a game, and are key components in setting the tone of the game and the expectations of the gamer. The UI is the means by which humans continually interface with a game, and is important to get right in order to feel a sense of cohesion with the overall experience. It’s not just about alleviating any frustrations - though that is important - but also about equipping the user with ease of use; it’s a communication that we, the developers, have taken all available steps to make the experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible. When players interface with a smooth and aesthetically pleasing UI, they feel this assured sense that they’re in for an incredible experience. Once they’re invested in the game, the UI should not ever betray them of that first impression; it should always be painless and easy to use, offer them what they expect, and behave as expected.

UI design - 1st pass

I wrote about UI designs in a previous update. I had iterated on a single design and came to what I thought was a good design candidate. What I did not do was consider drastically different designs, which is important when looking for the best solution.

UI design - 2nd pass

I’ve redesigned the menus to be slightly simpler. 

There are no longer any iOS style page swipes - everything is neatly presented on single screens for each game mode. In all honesty, I felt like a screen-swipe type of menu system would be a little challenging to do. In addition, I chose this as an anticipatory response to Steam users feeling this is a derogatory “mobile game”. I also didn’t feel it suited the tone of the game. In the end, it feels less like a compromise and more like the right choice.

UI design - where I want to take things

After seeing this new design in action, I’ve come to terms with something I’ve ignored for a while, now. 

Everything lacks cohesion.

Seed of Life has a bit of a 3D feeling, most notably in the camera and level transitions. When you transition between levels, the camera zooms out, making it look like you are traveling through space.

This is a really neat effect, and I’d like to keep it since it fits the fractal and sacred geometry theme of the game.

The kicker is that the UI doesn’t really layer on top nicely.

I considered having a separate minimalist background for the menus. This sample screenshot looks a little bland, but I did think this made a good case for having a minimalism-inspired menu system. 

However, this would separate the game into two visual styles and worsen the cohesion of the game.

In other words, I feel I’d need to go fully minimalistic, or fully three-dimensional. Right now, the case is strong for sticking to the 3D feel.

The good thing is there is a game out there - Splice - that has a beautiful and similar aesthetic that I can look to for inspiration.

I find it maintains a minimalist feeling with two-dimensional gameplay and overlaying UI while looking and feeling very three-dimensional. It’s very cohesive and aesthetically pleasing while suiting the tone of the game. Brilliant!

This 3D inspired UI and menu system may be a possible avenue for Seed of Life.

The process of finding the “best solution”

I’m constantly in a tug of war battle between choosing the “easy solution” and committing to a longer process of finding the “best solution”.

It’s never as if the best solution is obvious-but-requires-more-work. The best solution usually comes from exploration and experimentation. The best solution is decided after several solutions have been tested - it is the “best” as proven by a process of science, not because it’s the most elaborate (or because one *think* it’s the best).

Sometimes, I feel like just going with a simple solution without exploring for the best one. As my first solo and independently published game, I feel that keeping things simple is the pragmatic choice. However, I’m constantly unsatisfied with the half-baked solutions that come to mind. I feel the game deserves better and that I’m doing both myself and any potential players of the game a huge disservice by not creating something that is the best I can make it. 

Perhaps that is a good work ethic to have, or perhaps it is an unhealthy one - I could work many hours obsessing over small details that do not matter in the end. I’m not quite sure whether any of this would pay off other than through personal satisfaction, but, for now, I’ll accept that and choose to live and learn.

Conclusion

I’m going to try and attempt a 3D menu system as inspired by the game Splice. I’m hoping it will work out beautifully, but I can never really know until it’s done. If it works out; great! If not, I’ll likely just roll with my 2nd design pass - unless I discover another solution somehow.

[emotiontheory]

Seed of Life dev update 5 - feedback from an open gaming event

UPDATE 5

Feedback from an open gaming event

25 May, 2016

Seed of Life is a meditative game in which you deflect colourful elements to create sacred patterns.

Catch up on what the game is in this post.

Seed of Life was present at WOPAW  - Week of Play and Wonder (16/05/2016 to 22/05/2016) - an open gaming event at the MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) here in Auckland. The Friday of that week (20/05/2016) was the night when other developers and games-people visited for a mingle and get-together.

I had set up a small demo made for the event, which was a simple endless mode that would serve you levels at random one after the other. The only difficulty curve in place was the game started out slow and got a little faster as you performed better - slowing back down if you missed a lot of elements. 

The demo, made in haste, was undeniably flawed in its sense of level progression. The final game is intended to have a proper difficulty curve where levels are curated to appear in an appropriate order. However, it was nice to see people take an interest in the game and try it out. Most people were captivated enough to stay for more than a few minutes, which was nice to see, too. I didn’t really gauge many of their opinions - I silently watched while taking notice of how they played.

I did, however, speak to some colleagues of mine. Thankfully, much of the conversation was validating the game’s core idea, which was a nice conversation to have. We explored the aesthetics and themes, and how it all meshed well together in an experience that looked great and was satisfying to play. I was thrilled to get this sense by talking to the people I did.

Here were some of points of feedback I took note:

Elements could have a speed boost when deflected to create a more satisfying deflection.

Elements could change colour on deflection to visually communicate which are deflected and which are not.

The paddle could accelerate a little slower up to its maximum speed to allow for finer movement.

“Difficulty scaling” could include the rotation of the screen. At its lowest, the screen does not rotate at all, while at its hardest it could rotate at its maximum speed.

“Completeness” in Challenge mode could simply be the number of elements you’ve successfully deflected (eg. 8/8 - 100%). This would remove the need for the cool rewind effect in the game, but might still allow for progression on tougher waves. Having a wave “incomplete” could be a visual indicator for it not being completed 100% - incentive to beat all waves fully is almost like filling in a sticker collection with completed patterns. (Maybe the rewind effect could happen when levels end?)

“Difficulty scaling” concept - is it patronising for the game to become easier when you’re struggling? I think this is a pre-emptive question, and I personally don’t think it’s an issue, but I want to explore this a bit.

I personally don’t think this is an issue, though I can’t speak on everybody’s behalf. Usually, the way to pull this off right is not to “make it easier for struggling players” but simply to implement some kind of feature inherent to the game’s design. An example is in games where you’re thrown into slow-mo mode when you’re about to die; with one last chance to score some kills to regain your health. The game becomes easier in that moment, but it feels an inherent part of the game’s design. This idea is not a good fit for Seed of Life, though. I don’t want struggling players to constantly be teetering into a limbo mode of sorts, as it will only bring them further anxiety. The idea here is that skilled players will rarely if ever notice a difficulty adjustment. To more casual or unskilled players, the difficulty adjustment will feel natural - only very keen players will even notice it’s happening (ideally!). But even if they did, it should come as a relief that they can complete the wave and the game without jumping through any hoops - they’re here for the ride, so the ride should be a smooth one. That’s what Story mode and Zen mode are all about. Those looking for a challenge can play Challenge or Endless mode where difficulty scaling is not present.

Summary

The game has legs, apparently! I need to keep at it.

Right now I’m finalising some of the menu designs and general user experience of the game as noted in my last dev update. From there I’ll be completing and fine-tuning each game mode simultaneously (they all sort of co-exist) with all feedback points in mind. After that, it’s a steady road of playtesting and polish while implementing audio.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that it is never a simple or steady road to the finish line - things always crop up and more work always comes to your doorstep. So, as always, we’ll see how things go!

[emotiontheory]

Seed of Life dev update 4 - menus and user experience

UPDATE 4

22 May, 2016

Seed of Life is a meditative game in which you deflect colourful elements to create sacred patterns.

Catch up on what the game is in this post.

I’ve been working on the game’s presentation and menus; what the player sees when they first switch on the game, how the start screen looks, how they move between pages, and so on.

Some rules I’ve kept in mind:

The very first time the player starts the game, they will automatically begin playing a short tutorial that then progresses onto Story Mode, without navigating any menus.

User-interface should be compatible with Mouse, Controller, and Touch. This is to maximise compatibility across multiple platforms.

Minimalist button prompts should appear on the screen (or should they?)

No important rollover states (touch screens don’t have them)

Buttons should feel natural and touchable/clickable.

Utilise as little text as possible.

Minimal localisation.

Maintain a minimalist aesthetic.

Design to be visually intuitive.

Don’t over clutter the screen + maintain good spacing between elements.

Here are the different menu screens you can navigate through.

Opening splash screen(s)

This is not something I’ve done yet, but some possible elements could include:

Unity logo

Emotion Theory logo / a game by Adam Thompson

This game saves data automatically.

Best played with headphones.

Start screen

A simple screen the player should engage with before they continue. Leaving the game on this screen could enable the game to play itself - a demo mode.

Press any button / Press any key / Click anywhere / Touch anywhere.

At first I felt there was too much text, so I chose to replace the “Press Any Button” text with icons

Here’s a revised edition with unique icons for each input / platform:

Mode Select / Main Menu

Once you’re in the game, you select the mode you’d like to play. 

Story - Chapter Select (paginated)

Endless - Difficulty Select (paginated)

Challenge - Set Select (paginated)

Zen - Play

At first I kept the game’s title in the screen, but it felt it was unnecessarily obstructive at this point in the menu. 

Immediately I felt that the button prompts at the bottom could utilise icons rather than text.

The B button feels appropriate using an icon for “Back”. However, pairing up A and the Arrows with icons for “OK” and “Select” felt strange. Alternatively, I opted to leave them without any icons, since I believed it felt intuitive enough that they reprsent navigation and confirmation. 

I still felt there was a strange disconnect and that there could still be a better way.

The arrows appearing on the sides was a step in the right direction, but I still felt they took up an unnecessary amount of screenspace given their innately intuitive and obvious functions.

I strongly feel this solution is the right way to go. It communicates the function yet does not feel overly obstrusive or visually verbose.

Some may forego this attention to detail given how obvious these functions seem to be. Yet still, even without playtesting this, I know from experience how players at times can completely miss a menu function if it is not explicity offered or displayed to them, even if it is as simple as the functions seen above.

Some additional thoughts / notes:

Icon designs should be revised.

Story mode icon could maybe use a simpler lotus made of three strokes, or a different icon entirely.

Challenge mode (triangle) could instead be a 3x3 grid of painted dots - symbolising the multitude of waves you can pick and play.

I’m happy with the icons for Endless and Zen mode since they both accurately represent their respective concepts.

An alternative display would be to have pages where each mode encompass the entire display. Not sure I like this as much, though.

Maybe the Story Mode icon (leftmost) could be bigger and more pronounced. My problem is when players return to the game to continue their progress in Story Mode and see this menu - since there are no words - they won’t likely know that it’s the leftmost icon that is Story Mode, the mode they’ve been playing...

This could be countered by locking the other modes initially. The icons could play an “unlock” animation when they are first unlocked.

Story Mode could possibly benefit with a Continue button somewhere... then again, it will always load up on the most recent chapter, so this is not likely a problem.

Level Select

When you’ve selected a mode, you will be presented with a Level Select screen. This is a paginated view with a single selection taking up the whole screen (eg. Chapter I, Chapter II... etc). For Story mode, you will select the chapter. For Endless, the difficulty - and so on.

Circles at the bottom representing page number

Arrows on the sides to navigate pages

Play Button

Level display

Story Mode

Functionally, this concept feels right. You will switch pages, and each page represents a chapter. You can play the chapter by pressing A from its page. 

I think that each page will need some kind of embelishment, as well as possibly some meta data for each chapter, such as Best Score and what not, similar to Endless Mode.

I’m using roman numerals for each chapter number, which fits the language agnostic approach (sort of). I’m not sure about the font used though, which has more of a brush stroke feel.

In general, I’m beginning to see a mix of zen/brush type design along with flat minimalism. I’m not sure if the two work together and whether or not I should stick to one style - and if so, which style to choose.

Challenge Mode

Immediately I could see that the navigation felt a little cluttered, particularly since now we’ve added up/down arrows to it.

I pondered whether it was necessary at all. Should I keep them on the main menu but omit them in the mode sub menus? Would this be considered inconsistent and thus confusing? By this point players should know to use the arrows for navigation, so perhaps it will make sense? Or should I omit them from *all* menus?

I’m not sure what the solution is, but for this menu specifically, I tried it without the arrows and it feels much less cluttered.

I feel this is close, but I might get further opinions before settling on a final design. 

Endless Mode

Endless mode is a case where I’m OK with using text. This is for the “Best” and the “Last” labels as well as the scores you got. It’s quite possible to use a BEST icon (such as a scoring medal or a star) and a LAST or RECENT icon (such as a clock?). 

Animation could really drive home these concepts. When you finish a game, your score can flash and tween into the LAST position, reinforcing the fact that this is your most recent score of the game you just played. Same deal with BEST; beating your own high score will place it into that slot too, emphasising the fact that you’ve just made your personal best score.

I feel the icons actually work quite well. For the BEST icon, we could instead use a badge or a winner’s up icon. Thoughts?

Lastly, there’re the icons representing the difficulty levels. It was tough thinking of what could work, but what I’ve got - and what I think is really interesting - is a fibonacci spiral on a pinecone. Each difficulty adds another spiral, up to a total of four. This fits the game’s theme perfectly and is a pleasant looking image. Of course, what’s in the image above, as with all images, is just a blueprint with a placeholder graphic. This will be reconstructed suitably.

Zen Mode

There’s nothing to really display here except a Play button. Maybe there could be different types of Zen modes, but I think that’s overcomplicating things. 

I really feel tempted to put the Zen icon in the center... but that doesn’t really make sense. 

Should Zen mode play instantly when you select it from the main menu, rather than enter this sub menu?

Summary

Well, I’ve got about 80% of these menu designs locked in. I’d still like some feedback on some of them before finalising their designs, but for the most part this exercise was really helpful - I feel like a lot of work has been cleared up.

Once the designs are all locked in, I will look at polishing the look of each menu. Things to consider are fonts, colours, icon graphics, layout and positioning, embelishments, etc - all of which are currently placeholders.

[emotiontheory]

The aim and final reason of music should be none else but the glory of God and the recreation of the mind

Johann Sebastian Bach

From a BBC documentary on Bach