After looking for inspiration I moved on to the actual designing of the product, starting with some basic GUI maps to plan out where each asset could go on the screen. This included me designing the actual gameplay GUI, the start menu, and a pause menu.
I started off very simple then added on features as I went, as I considered adding on skills and the button to pause the game.
When creating the start menu, I considered making a very classically shaped title screen with all the options in the centre. However, I went on to realise that this may not be the best design for a mobile game as the game is controlled much differently from a game on a PC or console. So I then considered a design with the selectable options on either side of the screen and the title in the centre.
This realisation from the title screen continued into my GUI designs for the pause menu. I kept the interactable options near each end of the screen to consider how a mobile game player usually holds their phone while playing.
Using these basic maps I then proceeded onwards with sketches on top of these plans to create a few mock-ups of how I could design all these visuals.
I decided to go with the first design since the other felt too retro and out of place in design.
At first, the design had a style more similar to my usual one with smooth and well-blended colour. But it was so out of place that I later changed it.
The background was too distracting from the actual health bar, as it was too bright and blended in. So it was then darkened.
A version of the design where the player has taken two hits points:
Using an old background from the original concept art of my game, I then created a more complete and cohesive GUI design:
Considering my game has quite a heavy focus on its artwork and aesthetic I've also considered having almost no GUI at all so that the buttons and extra added on features such as skills and such do not distract from the gameplay. Instead, I considered just having the controls for jump and movement be invisible and taught to the player in a brief tutorial at the start of the gameplay.
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