ABOUT
PROJECT OVERVIEW
World of Warships is a free-to-play naval warfare-themed multiplayer online game that offers various battle modes, including PvP battles against other players, cooperative battles against bots, and PvE mode. Additionally, there are seasonal competitive modes for more skilled players.
The players will engage in intense battles across realistic maps, strategically manoeuvring your ships and utilizing their firepower and defensive capabilities; choose from various ship classes, unlock upgrades, and research new vessels; participate in PvP battles against other players or PvE scenarios, showcasing your tactical skills and teamwork. With a mix of historical and fictional warships, World of Warships offers immersive naval combat and a dynamic community-driven experience.
Studio: Wargaming, Lesta Studio
Year: 2013-2016
Platforms: PC
MY ROLE
UX Designer/UI Technical Artist
It was my first project in the game development industry, which took place more than 10 years ago. I began my journey with 3D modeling and texturing and quickly transitioned to UI/UX. During this period, Wargaming employed an in-house framework that all designers used. This work involved a combination of UI technical art and UX design, with each designer independently implementing prototypes.
FEATURES AND SCREENS
Although the project lacked specific use cases and problem-solving scenarios, I will be showcasing the screens I worked on along with brief descriptions.
STATISTICS SCREEN
Battles Statistics screen aimed at providing players with a more intuitive and insightful post-game experience. The primary goal was to present complex statistical information in a clear and visually engaging manner, enhancing player understanding of their performance while maintaining a seamless and immersive transition from gameplay to the post-battle analysis.
Challenges and Solutions
1. Data Presentation Complexity:
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Challenge: Displaying a wide array of statistical information from battles without overwhelming the player.
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Solution: Prioritized key metrics on the top and key stats with bold font, employed clear hierarchies, added infographics to interpret information easier (nations, ship types, ship tiers)
2. User-Friendly Navigation:
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Challenge: Designing an intuitive navigation system to facilitate easy exploration of different battle statistics and timeframes.
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Solution: Utilize tabbed interfaces (Service record, Achievements, Summary, Ranks) and dropdown menu to categorize statistics by game mode, allowing players to navigate effortlessly between different datasets.
HUD
The HUD in World of Warships plays a pivotal role in providing players with essential information during intense naval battles. Designed to enhance the gaming experience, it serves as a critical interface between the player and the dynamic battlefield. It was developed by multiple UX designers, and here are some challenges we faced and solutions we found.
Challenges and Solutions
1. Information Overload:
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Challenge: Balancing a vast amount of information on the HUD without overwhelming the player.
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Solution: Prioritize essential data: weapon types, minimap, ship doll, speed widget and team state as permanent widgets and others appearing occasionally.
2. Strategic Minimap Design:
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Challenge: Designing a minimap that provides strategic information without cluttering the HUD.
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Solution: Used distinct symbols, colours, and scale for different elements on the minimap, allowing players to quickly interpret the battlefield.
3. Feedback Clarity:
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Challenge: Providing clear and immediate feedback on ship status and damage without causing visual noise.
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Solution: Use a ship silhouette to display the ship health, a ship doll to display available weapons, a small and clear widget to display ship gears.
CAMOUFLAGE AND FLAGS
The Camouflage and Flags screen serves as an interface allowing players to customize the visual appearance of their ships and improve in-game performance by selecting camouflages and flags. During development, the primary focus revolved around UI Technical art tasks. No significant challenges were encountered in the process from the UX perspective.
CONVERT XP SCREEN
The Convert XP screen enables players to convert earned experience points (XP) from battles into free experience (FXP), which is a versatile resource used for unlocking ship modules, researching new ships, or expediting commander training. The interface is straightforward: players can choose to convert XP from all their ships or select specific ones by ticking each ship. The conversion rate and player balance are displayed at the top of the screen for easy reference.
RESULTS
The project was my big start in gaming and a major change from making 3D models to working on UI/UX design. Taking on World of Warships was like jumping into a fast-moving river. I had to learn a lot and learn it fast. It was like a crash course in gaming. I picked up new skills and got better at problem-solving in no time. It was learning and adapting every step of the way. I'm very grateful for the Team that believed in me and helped me with patience and understanding.