Good GUI: Diablo III

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            I will be discussing the good game interface designs for Diablo III. Diablo III is a Blizzard Entertainment hack and slash role-playing computer game, where the player can choose from five different classes, Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Wizard, Monk and Demon Hunter. The player plays alone or with a group (2-4 players) and fights against hordes of demons to save the world of Sanctuary. The game consists of four acts, with four unique boss battles. The player has the ability to equip their own armor and choose their own skills and they try to beat all four bosses and reach character level 60 and paragon level 100.

1. When first starting up the game, the Diablo III login screen is very simple and also very cool looking with the background and blood red buttons. The ID and Password bars are in the center with options and or menus in the bottom left of the screen. On the right side of the screen, there is a “Update” box, where Blizzard post Diablo related news. It is very simple to navigate and with the dark background, the screen is very soft on the eyes.

2. Upon logging in, the player is greeted by their character in the center of the screen and a number of buttons on the left side of the screen. The “main” character has its character and paragon levels displayed below, with the “Switch Hero” button. Also next to the character, their banner is displayed. The buttons that are displayed on the left are the “Resume Game,” “Change Quest,” “Public Games” and “Auction House” buttons. Under these buttons there is the chat box with a few chat settings and scroll buttons. In the bottom right corner there are the “Profile,” “Achievement” and “Settings” buttons, with a “Friends List.” When hovering over the buttons, a tool tip appears.

3. When in the “Change Quest” area, the player can choose which act, difficulty and quest they want to play. For players who have the “Monster Power” enabled, they can also choose which Monster Power Level (0-10) they would like to play against. The menu is very easy to maneuver.

4. When in the game, the UI is very easy to read and learn how to use. The main components of the game, skills, health, mana/fury/arcane power/hatred & discipline/spirit and shortcut buttons, are located at the bottom of the screen. If the play doesn’t know what a button or skill does, they just nee to hover the mouse cursor over the item in question and a tooltip pops up and tells the player about the item. This makes it very easy to learn how to play the game on the fly without having tutorials or training areas.

5. The Skill screen in extremely easy to use. When a player opens the screen, a smaller screen pops up that allows them to select skills that are available. The player can also choose which hotkeys the skills are assigned to. Once the player clicks a skill slot, the player can choose from any spell if they have activated “Elective Mode.” Each skill has a description when clicked to help the player figure, which they would like to use.

Thank you for reading my post and I look forward to answering any response or questions.

Daniel Weimer