A personal passion project in which I designed a concept UX/UI for a FPS RPG set in the Blade Runner universe. It was the year 2021. A rogue Nexus-8 replicant escaped the gruesome conditions of an off-world colony in search of a better life on Earth.
skills
UI/UX Design, Motion Graphics, Iconography, Typography
tools
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects
timeline
Winter 2023
The style of the UI is inspired by the Blade Runner movies and its FUI. I wanted to create a retro sci-fi aesthetic with hard edges and boxy shape language that emphasizes functionality and clarity.
The final screens’ general shape language and layouts were designed in Illustrator, then post-processed in Photoshop. Using biometric textures like scan-lines, inner glows, and measuring lines, I wanted to evoke the feeling of designing a replicant in the character creation process.
Below are some motion explorations done in After Effects, to simulate how the player interactions might work.
Character Models - Ryouta Otsuka, Cyberpunk 2077
Environment Art - Retro Illusion, Manuel Arjones
3D Props - Furqaan Siddiqui, Anthony Tran, Egor Kolobov
/// UX design Process
At the start of my project, I created three player personas based on interviews with RPG enjoyers, in order to better understand the target audience of an FPS RPG game (their play style, priorities, pacing).
I synthesized my findings from player personas and secondary research (similar games) into the key takeaways and translated them into gameplay and UX ideas.
Based on my most robust ideas, I centered the user flow around character-specific functionalities (character creation, in-game stats & gears). I think this flow serves to introduce the world very naturally, as the player gets onboarded via creating their very own replicant character.
Wireframes helped me rapidly test out and iterate on features and layouts. I kept asking myself, what do players care most about at that moment? What kind of layouts would best immerse and engage audiences of an RPG FPS game? Below are some problems I encountered along the way.
Should selecting a replicant model be a fast and easy process or a slow and deliberating one?
Due to this being a single player RPG, the player’s decision here will greatly affect hundred of hours of gameplay later on. As such, this choice shouldn’t be rushed, and the player should be given an abundance of information to help them decide.
How do I organize the structure of a complex character appearance customization?
I listed out all the aspects of the character model that should be customizable, and tried different ways of organizing them under umbrella categories, from general to specific.
At this stage, players care most about how their characters look and figuring out what they can customize. Through wireframe iterations, I discovered that it’s better to display more options upfront than hiding them under general categories. This way, players can get a sense of all the choices they are offered right away.
Prototyping brought the wireframes to life and made it easier to gauge the successfulness of the UX. They revealed problems I haven’t thought of before, made me think deeper on the details of user interactions, and helped me think ahead, such as visual design for different button states or transition animations between screens.
increase Base Stats
Increase character base stats using points earned through leveling up. Higher stats unlock more abilities, which can be accessed as a shortcut on this screen. For an in-depth skill tree, players will need to go to the abilities screen.
view + change Gears
Quick view of character’s currently equipped weapons and clothes. Hover over to see detailed info on each item. Clicking into each item allows players to select alternative options.
