Out of interest, what do you people think to game menu design? What do you prioritise in a good menu? I've seen a couple of games that I really like the menu design of, such as Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and Red Alert 3. Have you seen any games with good menus, and what was so good about them?
A good menu is a menu where you can do everything without loading screen. So If i want a deathmatch with certain settings it lets me custimize them all before launching. The amount of games that you have pre-lobbys, pre-game lobbies and then just before start settings, It should all be available in one menu. A menu also needs to be able to come up ingame, not a mini-menu, but the full blown menu. Also there should always be a navbar somewhere so they people can see where they have come from, and can go back, so if I press settings and then click audio, somewhere on the side it should show Settings > Audio in some view. Just a few pointers (A)
I like call of duty 4's menu because I can put the disk in the xbox and be in an xbox live match within 10-15 seconds.
The Orange Box, it has everything that you would need to change in game. Unlike some games where you have to go to the main menu just the map the controller differently. Over-G, though it doesn't have much of a menu, its simple and easy to navigate. (Both 360 games)
The multiplayer menu system on Gears of War 2 is a great example on how not to do a menu, you have to go through about 3 different menu’s before you can even begin to play, i belive the game even has to load between menu’s... that’s a big no in my book. You want something simple with all the options on one page, it should also remember the players choice to these options so the next time game is played the player can just click ok and start playing. If all the options can’t fit on one page you want a screen that can easy popup, e.g. a list of maps. Any additional screens should be easy to navigate on a console, the player shouldn’t have to press down, down, down, down, right, ok just to get to it. If you need to bring another screen up have a button as a shortcut. An example of a good simple menu that works is the first Gears of War, the only thing its letdown on is you can’t really modify the options in game, like Nimrod says it would be nice to have a full menu in game without the need to quit back to the main menu.
I'd say Valve make excellent menus judging by what people have commented here. Doesn't take you out of the game. May have to load for graphical changes but that's understandable. Everything else is just a few clicks away and you don't have to go through too many menus to start playing.
I agree Trebor. Valve has some really good menus that are easy to navigate. Left 4 Dead's menu is very simple to use, and it is easy to get into a game quickly.