Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and Tabs): The HUD of Dharma Squadron

Of all of the UI/UX considerations in a tactics game, the HUD is far and away the most important. The HUD is the window into the heart of the game, and the dashboard that the player will use to interact with its main gameplay systems. As such, it has two jobs: 1) To tell the player what they can do and 2) Enable them to do those things without unintended friction.

I’ve pontificated at length about tactics UI and UX and HUDs and all that crunchy, chewy, nougaty stuff, so I won’t rehash all of that here. Instead, I want to talk about the HUD I created for Dharma Squadron — specifically about two innovative solutions that I borrowed from sources outside of videogames.

“Health”y Skepticism

Let’s start with the first element in the visual hierarchy: the HP wheels. This is one of two elements in the HUD that took their cue from not-videogames, and one that, surprisingly, I’ve never actually seen in a tactics game before. (Have you? I want to know about it!) With the exception of The Banner Saga, which uses a variation on the traditional bar that I don’t particularly like, every tactics game I’ve played sticks with the tried-and-true HP bar. Which, hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right?