0
\$\begingroup\$

In my game, when the player enters a battle, they have 4 options: to move around the field, to do an active move(like a healing spell, a punch,...), to use an item, or to look at their passive abilities.

I wanted to put them in a 4 button panel, similar to how pokemon has them, but I can't come up with good keywords that will be shown on the buttons: I can't name the active moves "moves", because it would get confused with the act of actually moving. I also can't name them "abilities", because the player also has passive abilities, and "casts" represents their meaning greatly but a fair amount of the moves are just physical attacks, with nothing to do with magic.

Right now I have them as "move" for movement, "bag" for the items, and "status" for the passive abilities. Any good idea for what the keyword for the moves could be?

\$\endgroup\$
3
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ You could just name it action. But to avoid confusion, the easiest would be to introduce it with a small tutorial that actually tells what to expect in a button. Oncew you used it a few times, you dont actually read the buttons anymore \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 16, 2024 at 8:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Zibelas that looks like an answer to me. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 16, 2024 at 12:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Zibelas I can go with that, I'll have to change some things since in the scripts I had the 4 options named as "Actions", but it does sound like the best keyword for that meaning \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 16, 2024 at 12:07

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4
\$\begingroup\$

Action as an option is fine.

But if you worry that the player can be confused with what is behind a certain button or if you want to help them ease easier into the fighting system, the better approach is to give them a small tutorial that explains what each button does or what is behind them. Complex fight systems usually also unlock further options when you progress in the game to not overwhelm the player. Probably the player does not really starts with items. Once the first one is aquiered, you could/ should do short introduction where it can be found in your menu.

After a while, you don't actually read anymore the buttons, you press them as you play (kind of like a muscle memory).

Keep in mind, it does not matter how you name them in the code, since that is mostly for yourself. If a name like actionButtonAction comes out, nobody else will care as long as you know which button is which. Just keep in mind that if you game ever will get some translations to other languages, you should not do the lookup of your button by the name you gave it in the UI. It might be now named "Action" but if you ever rename it to something else and your code does something like button = FindByDisplayName("Action"); it can break.

\$\endgroup\$
2
\$\begingroup\$

Spellbook: If the game leans more into magic and supernatural abilities, this term gives a strong magical vibe, making it clear that the player’s active moves are spells or mystical in nature.

Arsenal: If the active moves are predominantly physical or weapon-based, this term highlights the player's collection of attacks or combat techniques, emphasizing a more action-driven or weapon-oriented approach.

Tactics: If the game has a strong strategic element, where using active moves requires more thought and planning, "Tactics" would emphasize the strategy behind each action.

\$\endgroup\$
0
\$\begingroup\$

Try "icons" (glyphs) for your buttons.

There is the colored font (Segoe UI Emoji); and the black and outline ones you can "forground color" (Segoe Symbol; Segoe MDL2). MDL2 can also be used to create multi-colored icon overlays. (Same icon; multiple colors)

  • There are "fists" and crossed swords (fight).
  • "Red crosses", beds and hospitals for healing.
  • Wizards and spell icons.
  • For "custom" cases, I created my own 32x32 (image) icons ... which gets surprsingly easy after a few tries (seeing pictures in a few pixels).

I group similar functions (buttons) with just a border ... it just becomes self evident without an explanation. The buttons themselves have tool tips.

For "gait", I used "feet" (walk), a drum for double time, a horse for gallop(ing).

Using icons (pictures) for your buttons makes your app more "universal".

(I use the Button's .Tag and Enum's to identify buttons at "click" time.)

\$\endgroup\$
8
  • \$\begingroup\$ The identification of button sounds not great considering that you could use icons directly on the button or even in combination with text - like Attack (sword icon). \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 18, 2024 at 5:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Keep in mind that the "Red Cross" symbol is a brand, and they don't want their logo to be used in video games. This is why the healing cross symbol has often a different color than red. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 18, 2024 at 7:19
  • \$\begingroup\$ Specifically it violates the Geneva Conventions to use a red cross symbol when not marking actual real-life medical personnel/facilities. This catches a lot of game developers off-guard! Frequently indie games that use this need to be updated with a patch to flip the colour scheme or make the cross green once they get popular enough to get noticed for misusing the symbol. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 18, 2024 at 10:31
  • \$\begingroup\$ Another good source of icons, especially for prototyping, is game-icons.net. They have a large searchable collection of Creative Commons (attribution )licensed icons, available in any colour combination or as SVG vectors. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 18, 2024 at 10:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ Re: red cross. I expect everyone to abide by local "copyright" laws. That said, the "red cross" was used by the Union forces to designate the first Division of the 6th Corps. There is the concept of "fair use" one should make themselves familiar with. A "cross" is not protected; neither is "red". Implying one is affiliated with "the" Red Cross, is another matter. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 19, 2024 at 19:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.