Best prototyping tool for games console UI?

February 10, 2016 3:45 AM

A large part of my role is the development of UI for use on consoles. From a usability standpoint, our team is split between experience in Flash and Axure for prototypes. Currently the most difficult thing is finding tools that are not focused on App or Web development but something where we can use a Controller to navigate rather than a touchscreen or mouse. Is there anything obvious that I'm missing that people can recommend? Thanks in advance!

We generally mock them up from a purely visual standpoint in Photoshop or Illustrator and then either Cinema 4D or After Effects to set an art bar, produce render targets for animations and transitions etc. This works perfectly, purely looking for something to produce rapid prototypes to navigate with a controller, even if they are super rough.

posted by stackhaus23 to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Maybe try Unity3D's UI tools? Assuming you aren't creating complex menu gadgets, you should be able to slot in art exported from Photoshop almost trivially, with next-to-no code. Then again, a pro Unity license is awfully expensive to use for just this (if your company earns above a certain cap, you can't just use the freebie).
posted by Alterscape at 7:41 AM on February 10, 2016

Response by poster: Hi Alterscape, thanks for the advice. Firstly — semi complex I guess. A few layers of depth, navigation controlling content in other frames etc. Without saying too much, it sounds like Unity won't be suitable : )
posted by stackhaus23 at 8:00 AM on February 10, 2016

I think Autodesk Scaleform is intended for exactly this. I haven't used it myself, but it's used ubiquitously in many games. Scripting is done in ActionScript, and I think the workflow is designed to integrate well with Flash.
posted by strangecargo at 12:30 PM on February 10, 2016

Best answer: The HTML5 Gamepad API?
posted by cyclicker at 1:44 PM on February 10, 2016