Animated HUD when switching between Characters
The ability icon changes to reflect whether character can use their ability, based on light.
Controller/Keyboard icons change based on the active input device.
First pass of the Switching HUD, we knew we wanted the switching to reflect the face buttons on a controller.
The Odessa Tree is a 3D puzzle platformer where you control three vessels that are controlled by a single soul. As you explore an abandoned village, you must switch between the vessel characters, and use their light-based abilities to traverse the environment.
Early on, we wanted each character to be bound to the X, Y, and B buttons on an Xbox controller. The HUD was built to reflect the layout of those buttons.
Each character's ability is based on whether or not they are standing in light. The mushroom's ability is active in darkness, while the robot and plant's abilities are active in light. This was confusing to some players, so the ability indicator shows when an ability is available.
This HUD and the entire UI were built using CommonUI in Unreal. Using it, I was able to integrate controller UI navigation and input device icons, which change with the active input device.
The HUD icons were created by @maurasolis (https://www.artstation.com/maurasolis).
NOTE: The HUD size and placement was changed for these recordings.