Posted April 18, 2025 by AnthonyTartagliaFSU
Part 1: The Problem
Our game theme we have is very unique compared to other games that have a common theme, so there's not a lot of assets around for us to use. I'm making the UI for our game and wanted to find some unique buttons to add to the menus. The problem is there's very little free UI assets, and none of them fit the theme of our game. We can't have our players look at and click bland buttons, that would take away the user experience. How could I possibly fix this?
Part 2: The Solution
It's time to put my horrible graphic design skills to the test! I wanted something that would fit our theme, so I decided to make something from scratch. I was thinking of different ways to make our buttons and settled on a patch of dirt with grass growing on the top. I started by using the default button and changing the colors to a brown. This is mostly as a placeholder, so I'll have to update it to a dirt texture later. Then I went searching for a freeware grass texture to add on the top. The one I found fits with the grass model in-game, so it helps fit the theming. Finally I added a text element with a custom font that looks metallic for the "Steel" look. Overall I think I did pretty well with it and my team members like it. It still needs a bit more work but this should better the user experience.