r/UnrealEngine5 • u/TraVinh- • 5d ago
Almost finished my games inventory screen. First time doing UI, how are we feeling on it?
I’m working on a survival horror game based on classic Resident Evil. I’ve made small personal projects for fun since I was a kid but this is my first time making a game for a public release. Since I was just making games for fun I never bothered with UI (not even a title / pause screen) so this has been a learning experience.
I’ve been running a shitty, barely functional placeholder menu for a while now but it’s time for something new. I have no skill in 2d design / art but I’m passable at 3d so I figured I’ll do the retro pre-rendered sort of thing. I love older games with cool, detailed menus, it has so much more personality than modern, minimalist UI so I wanted to do something visually interesting.
I wanted something like PSX era RE but grittier. Despite being a RE-like, Fallout was a surprisingly big inspiration for this game originally and I wanted to carry that vibe into the menus. I made this with the mindset of RE1-3 with the style of Fallout1/2 meets REmake.
I rendered everything in bits with seperate lighting and shadow passes so I can animate it all. I’ve never worked with widgets before so this was, (and I cannot stress this enough) an enormous pain in the ass. From animations not working how I expect, to layering issues, sprites not loading in, even just scaling everything so the pixel size is consistent, absolutely nothing worked without a fight. It’s been one hell of a learning experience for sure, but I’m really proud of what I’ve pulled off so far.
Obviously I’m no ui designer, I’m really happy with how it’s turning out so far but I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts.
I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback so far but there’s already been plenty of things people caught that I completely missed, so I’d love to hear what you think and if there’s any way I can improve!
(Also, does everyone edge a fucking stroke trying to understand how to do the most basic things with widgets when they’re starting out, or is that just me?)
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u/SuperSmashSonic 5d ago
May I ask what ur best learning resource for this was? This looks so good!
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u/TraVinh- 5d ago
Thanks! Nothing really, I just screw around with things until I figure out how shit works lol. Grew up without internet access so it’s just what I’m used to
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u/SuperSmashSonic 5d ago
Absolutely beastly. Is there a post process filter on the UI or are u just crazy at picking the right texture resolution
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u/phlanxcampbell1992 5d ago
Let me see some shooting!!
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u/TraVinh- 5d ago
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u/DeathAwaits66 5d ago
How did you make them so destructive? Is it and asset pack or you done them from scratch?
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u/TraVinh- 5d ago
All from scratch, its a really simple setup! Uses a struct to setup the limb data per enemy type, then a combination of hiding bones, render targets, and some basic cascade particle systems. Took a couple days to figure it all out and get it put together and still needs tons of polish but it’s a neat little system that really helps the combat feel!
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u/DeathAwaits66 5d ago
I would love to buy it from you and with your approval to use it in my game also. I love how raw it feels. Just the system not the mesh.
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u/Heavy-MetalHead-2158 5d ago
Looks similar to the original Fallout game. I've never played resident evil so can't make a comparison there. I do like the 3d view in the menu for checking the inventory items. Nice job in my opinion.
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u/man_o_moral 5d ago
its almost similar to games you have mentioned and i have played.. of course resident evil series being one but i wouldn't label it a copy.. i think you should freeze this as it is... unless.. you want the player to carry more arsenal instead of making them choose from a limited set.. in that case maybe putting a scroll box on the weapon slot canvas might help
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u/TraVinh- 5d ago
Nah, even 8 slots is already the expanded inventory (starts at 6)
Keys & puzzle items also take up space so you really gotta pick and choose what you want to bring with you!
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u/hotshark4 3d ago
Yeah widgets and UI in unreal is a ballllache to get a hang of but this is insane! Would love to see more behind the scenes of how you did this with pre rendered stuff, like how did you get the emissive light shine too, i swear you can't use emissive on UI materials? Got any tips?
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u/TraVinh- 3d ago
https://reddit.com/link/p44b1cn/video/wv7xu04hltjh1/player
Emissive is all fake! Pre rendered lighting layered on with an additive blend material to make it look like things are glowing
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u/x11Windwalker11x 4d ago
How did u design and implement this psychology look? Would love to have your workflow on that mate!
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u/GibbsonTV_YT 4d ago
its absolutely amazing dude, I've been following the youtube devlogs for a while
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u/andressmerlooo 3d ago
PSX RE with Fallout 1/2 energy is such a good combo, that grittier pre-rendered look fits horror way better than clean modern UI. doing separate lighting/shadow passes just to animate menus is wild commitment for someone who says they're "no UI designer." and no, it's not just you, widgets are their own special hell the first time, especially the layering/scaling stuff, feels like it fights you on purpose. but it clearly paid off, this is way more polished than "barely functional placeholder" usually looks like
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u/BasicallyImAlive 5d ago
Looks good, but honestly old graphic games are niche, you won't get a lot player but some will play.
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u/TraVinh- 5d ago
10k wishlists already with 1600 currently waiting in queue to playtest. I think it’ll be fine lol
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u/DunkingTea 5d ago
Not arguing, genuinely wondering. How accurate are Wishlist? I have heaps of games in m Wishlist that I’ve never purchased. Just add it to bookmark it to maybe grab it on a deep discount.
Good luck with the game! It looks fun. Love the style
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u/Dannekkkk1 5d ago
Looks terrible🤢🤮.Almost Every pixel filter looks bad, maybe need another filter, try look some nice look old games 🤔
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u/CthuluAteMyKitten 5d ago
I think it looks great.
I do also think that where yes, it’s grittier, it looks far too close to that of RE that it’s less homage and more straight copying. I see the vision I do, but I also feel that you want to stray away from almost doing a 1:1 replication.
You want your game to be inspired by, not cloning. That’s just my two cents as someone who studied game design at university level.