MINECRAFT LEGENDS
WORLD MAP UX DESIGN
WORLD MAP UX DESIGN
ROLE
Lead UX Design
Lead UX Design
Working closely with the Art Director, Game Design, UI Art, and Programming teams, I played a key role in bringing everyone together. I made sure all the different needs were met through a clear UIUX process, helping the team create the best Map experience for the players.
CHALLENGE
In Minecraft Legends, the World Map is a vital tool for exploration and one of the game's most frequently used features. It assists players in navigating the dynamic environment, leading them from one point of interest to the next, and plays a crucial role in their mission to fend off the Piglin invasion. In Campaign, as the world evolves overtime, it is crucial to ensure players can easily understand and interact with the changing game environment and its story-driven components.
RESULTS
In Minecraft Legends, the World Map is a vital tool for exploration and one of the game's most frequently used features. It assists players in navigating the dynamic environment, leading them from one point of interest to the next, and plays a crucial role in their mission to fend off the Piglin invasion. In Campaign, as the world evolves overtime, it is crucial to ensure players can easily understand and interact with the changing game environment and its story-driven components.
RESULTS
Despite the World Map in Minecraft Legends having a high information density, the UX team's efforts on clear presentation and usability across all possible game states have been fruitful. The team managed to offer an intuitive and helpful map experience, encapsulated within an authentic Minecraft wrapper.
Evolution of the Map Presentation
The initial version of the World Map, designed as a straightforward 2D vector-based interface, was practical but fell short in delivering an immersive experience and celebrating the IP's unique DNA.
With Minecraft being focused on "crafting" and being very hands-on, we wanted to reinforce the idea of the Hero physically holding a piece of object in the hands, just like how the "Map" and "Recipe Book" are used in the original Minecraft. To pay homage to this origin, we developed a hybrid presentation, integrating a flat render of world with 3D icons representing POIs and objects in the game world. This redesign helped improve player immersion and reinforce the concept of the Map being a piece of "magical" paper in the player's (Hero) hands.
Readability & Clarity of Map Information
The Single Player Campaign in Minecraft Legends showcases an evolving game world filled with numerous Points of Interest (POIs), narrative events, and dynamic information for players. This scenario poses a unique challenge for UX, as the main concern becomes how to effectively present this extensive and complex information to players in a manner that is both clear and easy to understand.
In the Campaign mode, various Piglin base factions can execute multiple actions each night, including preparing for attacks, upgrading bases, building new ones, or directly assaulting nearby villages. To clearly convey these Piglin activities and their consequences to players, both before and after they occur, I assisted the team in translating these complex world events into straightforward, understandable System Status Charts. These charts detail how different locations should appear under various conditions, akin to a UX chart for different UI button states, making it easier for players to grasp the impact of these events on the game world.
Piglin Invasion Visualization
In addition to ensuring the static World Map's status is easily understandable, it was crucial to clearly design the event flow and their interrelationships. I collaborated with the Game Design team and developed a "sequence diagram." This tool not only significantly aided in designing the Piglin Invasion feature but also facilitated the subsequent UI art exploration and engineering implementation, ensuring that all interaction states executed to specification.
Putting Designs into Context
Given the complexity and potential high cost of iterating some of the World Map systems, clickable interactive prototypes are developed to help Tech Artists and Engineerings understand how the designs would behave in context. This approach allows the team to iterate rapidly and efficiently, minimizing unnecessary tech churn and cost.
Other Map Design Details
The World Map's functionality and enjoyment are greatly enhanced by additional interactive details. To achieve this, I worked closely with the team to develop several key features, such as a tooltip legend, waypoint system, day-night indicator, and more, making the World Map not only complete but also more engaging and user-friendly.
A Fluid Map Experience
Despite numerous minor design adjustments from the initial concept to the final execution, I am incredibly proud of the accomplishments of the UIUX team. We managed to create a Map experience that is both functional and enjoyable, as evidenced by numerous playthrough videos. From the dynamic presentation of Points of Interest (POIs) to the nuances of the Map cursor and zoom behavior, which I spent countless hours refining, everything came together seamlessly to achieve a refined Map experience.
