UI Elements

For this update I created a player HUD and AI representation of AI vision cones. For the visual style of the player HUD I aimed my design towards a tactical vest, with the respective information in the same location as it would be for a soldier. The ammo counters are on the pouches with the player health indicator in the shape of a ballistic plate on the chest. I also added a cross-hair to the center of the screen with the current ammo value indicated close by with transparency so the player can still see the target. All HUD elements are hidden until the player aims down sight.

The UI values are displayed by binding text or progress bars to variables in the character blueprint. This is then hidden, checking against a bool that is changed when the player aims.

There is also UI elements displayed for when the player makes noise to distract the enemy. Since I have no sound, this was the best way I could give the player feedback about what is happening. This is also bound to a variable and called when the player performs this action.

Finally I have represented the enemy vision cones using spot lights. Technically this isn't a UI element but it can be seen as a form of meta UI. It is an object in the environment that is providing the player with information. I can also colour code the spot lights to provide additional information about the enemy's state, for example, I can change the lights to Red when the ememy is in the Alert phase.

I stumbled upon the spotlights idea when doing a little research into vision cones. I think it fits the the project well, looking quite stylized for a project with no art work.

Reference: http://www.lindsaygcox.co.uk/devlog/dev-diary-vision-cones-visuals-but-not-really-290616/