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Pixel-art UI redesign

Status: planning. No direction or implementation has been approved yet.

Goal

Make menus and gameplay easier to understand while keeping Tiny Chaos's pixel-art identity. Plan for one or two players and for keyboard, mouse, and gamepad use.

Visual review

The screenshots and concepts show the screens captured so far. The concepts are illustrations, not working UI. Their names, numbers, locks, portraits, text, and settings are placeholders, not promises of new game content.

The current two-player reward flow uses a shared set of cards. Each player chooses one; a player cannot confirm a card the other player has already confirmed. Preserve those rules unless the owner chooses a change.

Proposed direction

  • Reuse pixel-art frames, readable text, and the game's purple and cyan colors. Use player labels as well as color to tell players apart.
  • Keep the center of the gameplay view clear. Put each player's health, stamina, ammo, and other needed information in a consistent area.
  • For rewards, show compact cards with icon, name, category, and rarity. Show the selected card's description separately. For two players, show both players' selected descriptions and confirmation states at once.
  • Group settings into clear sections. The current controls-page prototype supports pressing a key or button, with conflict and cancel handling; its layout and real-device behavior still need review.
  • Keep animations small and reusable. Check that text and focus remain clear at smaller resolutions.

Order to discuss

  1. Review the captured screens and ask the owner which concept and references they prefer. Capture populated states and other settings tabs later if needed.
  2. Agree on one sample screen and the look of reusable buttons, panels, text, selection, and player markers.
  3. Plan small batches for title and menus, character and stage selection, settings and controls, gameplay, rewards, and results. Integrate each affected scene and verify it separately.
  4. Check each batch with a short test-stage setup. The owner checks the feel and real keyboard/gamepad behavior.

Open questions

  • Which sample screen should be designed first, and which colors, fonts, or references should it follow?
  • How should the shared reroll be displayed while either player has confirmed a card? Keep current rules until agreed.
  • Where should the future per-character shop and runes appear when their requirements and new portraits are ready?

Related tasks: reward screen, character and progression, controls and remapping, and gamepad re-detection. Card locking remains a separate future task.