Common Menu Screens

Legal screen.
This can be a short sentence or a screen full of text. It will include legal issues like copyright notices.

Publisher logo screen.
It can be a requirement to show this screen before the developer logo. There may also be a requirement for how long it needs to be displayed before the user can move on.

Developer logo screen.
This is where your company logo is seen.

Console logo screen.
Some consoles require or encourage developers to display the system logo.

Title screen.
The name of the game appears here. It can also include interactive options.

Options.
An option screen allows the user to change many game settings.

Credits.
This is where everyone who worked on the game is listed.

Environment or level select.
This is used in games where the user can choose a level of loca- tion to play.

Player editor.
A player editor will allow the user to change the look and attributes of char- acters in the game.

Information.
This screen can have extra information, such as story, maps, and so on.

Save / Load game.
This screen lists how many games are saved and allows the user to load and save games.


Before you move on to creating art is a good time to make changes to the flow.

■ How many options appear on each screen?
■ Are they logically grouped?
■ How fast can a new player get into a game?
■ How fast can an experienced player get into the game?
■ Which options will the player want to adjust often?
■ Which options will be changed rarely?
■ How does this menu compare with similar games?
■ How many dead-ends are there? (When the user must back up to start the game.)