Heads up!

Pay close attention to a game's Head-up display (HUD). Video game HUDs contain graphical elements that usually don't make sense within the context of the game world, but they provide vital information to the player. A great example is the heart health meter in any Zelda game, or the energy bar in any fighting game. The Motherload HUD includes draining fuel and hull bars. It displays dynamic money and depth tallies. Three clickable elements lead the player to the Inventory, Options, and Instructions screens. Finally, a piece of text lets the player know that there are more shops to be found past the borders of the viewable game area.

Unity has great features for building game HUDs. Every HUD item type that you see in Motherload—the graphical bar, the dynamic (changeable) text, the clickable icons, and the flashing helper text—can all be built in the Unity game engine. Skip ahead to Chapter 4, Code Comfort if you're dying to try it!