Breath of the Wild fixed stamina, it's perfect now, we did it

Circle is good.
#breathofthewild #uxdesign #uidesign
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Art by @anglesdraws on Instagram
Edited by Sam Kern and James DeLisio
Written by Sam Kern and Kevin Hayden
Footage from Arlo's "Big Fat Review of Breath of the Wild"

[@Afterthoughts]

Some people are pointing out that I didn't mention the yellow bonus stamina wheels. Here's my thoughts about them: they're fine. They're fine. They're fine. They're totally fine. They're good. They're ok. They're alright. They're fine. In seriousness though: they're a serviceable way to solve a problem. I don't love the extra space they take up, but since they're consumed relatively quickly, it's an extremely time-bounded problem. Having them in the upper corner of the UI also strikes me as a very funny way to remind the player "oh, hey, don't forget, you have extra stamina." Having these UI elements in an unrelated corner is a bit funny to me; I certainly don't think it's an elegant solution. Quite a bit about the bonus stamina wheels makes me go "hmmm." But mostly, they're fine.

[@Therm6000]

I wonder... could they have placed the yellow bonus stamina wheels inside of the innermost green wheels? It would communicate that they'll only be used up after you run out of normal stamina, but perhaps it would be too many circles. Perhaps it would look weird if they're partially used up already.

[@thechugg4372]

There is one thing with this stamina bar that I didn't see you point out because it's the biggest flaw, you have no idea what stamina is being used, when you start running you have a giant red portion of this circle and you have no idea if it's your current stamina level or not, meaning you have no idea how much stamina you actually have, something the skyward sword stamina did really well in comparison. That horrible red bar also conflicts with player information, if you fire an arrow in slow motion it's perfect: red means I'm going to lose all this meter. But when running the red doesn't represent anything, it does't even show your current level, or what you're going to lose.

[@imperiallarch7610]

@@thechugg4372 I don't know what you mean? The size of the flashing red-orange part of the meter indicates how quickly stamina is being drained-the more costly the ongoing activity, the larger the flashing portion. On the other hand, a solid red portion indicates the exact amount of stamina that was used by a discrete action like jumping while climbing. The amount of stamina you have remaining is always the green portion.

[@Potassiumkloride]

Honestly, I actually liked that the bonus stamina wheels stuck out like a sore thumb. Because they're linked to consumables, I don't want to be able to forget I have them and accidentally use them before I'm ready. The bright gold colour not only helps make that difficult to do, it also serves as a little reminder that those wheels are more precious because they won't come back once you use them.

[@amog8202]

You could say they were an afterthought?

[@mr.england5205]

Me before this video - Yeah, the stamina circle is good. Me after this video - ALL HAIL THE CIRCLE!!!! IT IS LOVE, IT IS LIFE!!! LET IT SHINE GREEN IN ALL ITS GLORY IN ALL OF ITS DAYS!!!!

[@ProffesionalIdiot]

PRAISE THE INTUITIVE UI ELEMENT! PRAISE IT!

[@corpsenymph4644]

Literally, I’m actually mad this UI isn’t used in other games.

[@aaronthomas6986]

@@ProffesionalIdiot l

[@fleetwoodemareviews742]

Hexagon is better!

[@jellycore1316]

YESSS AHH XD BELIEVE IN THE CIRCLE AND PRAISE IT

[@wizawhat]

Never thought I'd see someone talk about a stamina meter for 18 minutes but you certainly did and certainly did a great job on this video

[@Afterthoughts]

This wasn't my plan, it just happened. The spirit moved through me.

[@leafyguy2039]

@@Afterthoughts greend is good

[@firewalkwithjuno5421]

@@Afterthoughts The muse was there

[@Nekotaku_TV]

Wow, to me this is really obvious. You can do this with pretty much everything. All you need is the data and interest. I can do this about a lot of things.

[@NeroNyte]

I remember my first time playing, I was curious how it would look when I upgrade my stamina. I thought, maybe I'll just lose stamina slower? Maybe get another wheel on the side? The moment I saw it was starting to add a small extra circle around the outside, I was like, "I am only upgrading stamina now until it's full." It's just so satisfying getting more CIRCLE

[@wisppandemonium8106]

It round :)

[@aeiouandsometimesy]

circle :>

[@moopig_]

CIRCLE CULT

[@ihrnsedai8147]

As a colorblind person I never knew complementary colors were supposed to make each other stand out. For me it makes them harder to see. Fascinating

[@zackbuildit88]

What kind of colorblindness?

[@spectro742]

@@zackbuildit88 Probably red-green colour blindness.

[@WhatsaVaati]

Yeah I'm also colorblind

[@GetterRay]

So sad that you'll never experience the beauty of the full human experience.

[@zackbuildit88]

@@GetterRay that's kinda rude, they're still fully human

[@razbuten]

circle IS good!

[@EragonShadeslayer]

Hello there

[@RealRomplayer]

But hexagon is bestagon!

[@EragonShadeslayer]

@@RealRomplayer Eragon is the bestagon what’re you talking about

[@RealRomplayer]

@@EragonShadeslayer My comment was a response to Razputen and a reference to another great KZbinr, but I have to admit - well done, touché!

[@dugoo3405]

@@EragonShadeslayer General Kenobi

[@bigmanjubb]

It’s impressive that somebody can talk about a green circle for 20 minutes and not make someone like me with a microscopic attention span bored. True talent

[@ThePandaAgenda]

The fact that you can watch a 20 minute video in this generation proves you have a great attention span. Sadly.

[@amamapapsneo5635]

​@@ThePandaAgendaSocial medias like TikTok are slowly killing attention spans, sadly

[@BiteMeh892]

Are u in love , I'm in love . Me too... Me too 😂

[@SecretDiamond64]

In Tears of the Kingdom, when entering Bullet Time (shooting bow in the air) it doesn’t deplete constantly, instead each shot consumes a bit of your stamina, so in it was “Shoot wildly, your on the clock now” to “take your time, and make it count”

[@zeppie_]

I think you glossed over one more amazing decision, and that was to punch a HOLE through it. This is not just a stamina wheel, it's a stamina _donut_ now. Just by that simple change, it's no longer a barometer for your stamina, a compass or clock that points into the direction of it's depletion. With the middle part obscured, the circle has become a line, a path, evoking the visual of a linear draining bar, giving it flow and direction. Calling it a circle would be doing it a disservice. It's a beautiful, rotund, sweet donut.

[@Afterthoughts]

YOU ARE RIGHT, I have been so disrespectful. It is a beautiful delicious green and sometimes red and sometimes gray donut.

[@hannahkosten4040]

I'm convinced. It's a good circle.

[@Afterthoughts]

say it again!

[@dugoo3405]

@@Afterthoughts Good circle, pet the circle

[@samreddig8819]

The circle consumes all

[@etistyle96]

in fact... this is a disc...but hey....

[@crystalcritique]

You can tell that a video is well paced when it’s able to have a fully fleshed out analysis of a green friggin donut, and by the time it’s over, you realize that it went on for 5 minutes longer than you think it did! Seriously awesome stuff!

[@Afterthoughts]

WooHOOOOOOOOOO all I can ask for honestly lol

[@EmeralBookwise]

Honestly, it's got so much to say in such an entertaining and passionate way that half-way through I felt like I must have been here for at least an hour... in a good way. This video about little green circles is almost like a little green circle all its own.

[@JessieIsRawr]

I thought this video was like, 5 minutes long. It's almost 19!!

[@GlyphicEnigma]

🤓 uhm acktuallee, thhats uh torus

[@richardmahn7589]

Your wheel went out at 1 minute, yet you still stuck around....

[@Tralfazz74]

The two UI designers on Breath of the Wild were: Hiroko Nishibe and Daigo Shimizu Nishibe also worked on Skyward Sword, so she likely had some strong influence over the stamina wheel. All her Zelda-related credits at Nintendo are in UI design. Shimizu's prior Zelda experience includes Wind Waker HD.

[@deepfrymeme3937]

This reminds me of the “air meter” specifically in the Mario galaxy games. They drain depletes slowly when flutter kicking, but drains faster when stroking. It also changes to more aggressive colors depending on how low your air is. I think that’s pretty cool.

[@ilovecairns5181]

Stroking 🤨

[@Dado_nastro]

​@@ilovecairns5181 my

[@toekneemart5597]

​@@Dado_nastro ego

[@StopSignButGreen]

@@toekneemart5597 is

[@stormtrooperatt7713]

Nice

[@sammakki6090]

You know, I've always really liked hearing professionals and passionate people talk about the small things in the world. Just... The tiny things they enjoy the most. It's really nice to see there's a whole world out there that I never even thought of, y'know?

[@Speed001]

Yeah :)

[@Speed001]

Yeah :)

[@but_heres_the_homestuck]

Yeah :)

[@2175Nono]

Yeah :)

[@kreeperkiller4423]

ye :3

[@Zeutomehr]

Another nice thing about it is the way it always moves out of the way of Link's animations. It's never fixed on some point on screen, but instead always moves around Link to be close to the centre while not covering Link

[@Afterthoughts]

Does it!? Does it really!? I need to watch closer because I've never noticed that!

[@83ng_min]

@@Afterthoughts if you haven't noticed, that means it's doing its job 😎

[@imperiallarch7610]

I'm rewatching the footage now and can't see this. In fact it often covers Link's hands if he is holding them above his head for whatever reason. The only time it moves relative to Link is when Link's posture radically changes, like when he is thrown off a horse, but that's more a case of him moving away from *it*.

[@Zeutomehr]

@@imperiallarch7610 honestly, yeah same. I rewatched after I had written the comment to try to find a spot where this appears, but couldn't really find one. Which is weird, because I specifically remember standing on a cliff side and rotating the camera around, where it would then move out of the way to not cover link. But I dunno, maybe the movement in the video footage wasn't large enough, or maybe I'm just misremembering, hoo knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@makelgrax]

Yeah, instead of it "moving away", it's more like it stays on a fixed spot that rotates around link depending on the camera angle... It's weird

[@redriolite5232]

As a student in UX Design, this is actually something I haven't paid any attention to until now and it's honestly mind blowing how good this little green circle is at communicating information. I was taking notes during the entire video lmao. Kind of a must-watch for anyone entering this field of design !

[@shinyPikachux]

This video probably taught me more about UI than any other. It reminds me of how in Gears of war, your health is how much of the cog you can see in the middle of your screen and how much gore is obscuring your vision, encouraging you to take cover and heal. Once you can see again, the sight and clarity let's you reassess the fight, and decide how you're going to engage the next target.

[@paulpickett4522]

I know, right?! This video is like a mini "master class" =)

[@CourteousH]

This. This is what video essays should be. You talk about what is on the screen. You make cohesive points about your subject. You say interesting things to inform and describe. Superb!

[@Afterthoughts]

Happy you liked it!!

[@azsazazsa]

This is like a personal attack on CJtheX LMAO

[@xai1251]

@@azsazazsa omg no!!!! Not the CJ slander!!! 😭

[@jibjibs9401]

@@xai1251 I’m checking him out cus of this

[@jibjibs9401]

@@Afterthoughts I love the animations to make your point like the mockup horizontal bar.

[@kumicables]

i cant believe that one of the most well-paced, interesting, engaging, and just generally well made video essays ive ever seen is about a green circle

[@anac.4801]

for real! it's just that good!

[@Lucky_Dagger]

it's honestly an interesting choice to have link shooting an arrow in midair consume stamina because it isn't just him drawing his bow and aiming but him basically increasing his mental processing in a state of heightened awareness and adjusting his movements in a split second. mental stamina is combined with physical stamina. and in real life someone can feel exhausted trying to process a problem within a certain time frame (which is why taking timed tests in school can be so stressful).

[@stalecheez-it1034]

it works like that now in tears of the kingdom

[@h20dynamoisdawae37]

Yes, unfortunately ;-;

[@ShiranaiNeko]

Yea nah it’s for balancing reasons lol.

[@Mightylcanis]

@@stalecheez-it1034 It worked like that in Breath of the Wild as well, it never changed between the two games. That's why the comment above, and Afterthoughts both talked about it months before Tears of the Kingdom came out.

[@stalecheez-it1034]

@@Mightylcanis i meant that in breath of the wild, your stamina drains for as long as you're in bullet time, but in tears of the kingdom your stamina is only drained when you fire an arrow

[@axelotlee_]

Another thing that makes the heart containers pleasantly placed is that whenever Link gets hit, they flash white. They become so noticeable that even when you're focused on the enemy you don't have to look over! You just see them! You see how many hearts you've lost without even looking! Beautiful. 😗👌

[@geomancer64]

I'd like to add, the player can understand the function of the thin outer circles because they've had time to get accustomed to the thick base circle. They understand the original function. By the time they level it up, they need less real estate to keep track of it and inform them.

[@TheSarahmns]

And because we only have to actually worry about stamina when it is on the thicker wheel, because it means its close to depletion. So as the two thin wheels deplete, the game is basically telling you "don't worry, you're fine!", giving you a smaller contrast on the ui. But when it gets to the thick wheel its like "heeey, attention here, ok?", similar to when it gets red right at the end

[@hoodiesticks]

The pulsing effect on the red parts is especially important for people with red-green colour-blindness.

[@wegny10]

I never realized any part of it turned red, even though my brain still told me that after completely depleted, the stamina wheel was red while slowly refilling... colorblindness is crazy

[@m4rcyonstation93]

@@wegny10 it is red while slowly refilling

[@SJNaka101]

@@m4rcyonstation93 i believe Logan was saying that he is color blind so he couldn't *know* it was red but somehow his brain still told him it was red. Brains are so weird.

[@monke8718]

Something I like about the extra lines being thiner is that they not only prevent clutter but they also keep my expectations of it grounded, if they were thicker it would look like I have a obscene amount of stamina but when you would go to use it it would look like the stamina Is draining at different times depending on which circle is being used because they are different sizes, but since they are thiner than the first one it makes sense that the thiner ones would rotate faster than the first one.

[@paulpickett4522]

Yeah, it evens out and results in a more equal area of green changing per second. =)

[@casperdewith]

@@paulpickett4522 For that, I think the outer rings would have to be thicker than they are now.

[@amokriinprolgiid3409]

In this same vein, another brilliant piece of video game UI that I love is the health bar in Dead Space. If you've never played it, the healthbar is part of the character model, as a glowing piece of Isaac's armor along his spine. It was so cool to see this because it was subtle, non-intrusive, and clearly indicates how much health you have based on how much of your spine is glowing. There was no need for a dedicated health bar, because health was already communicated to the player using a part of the main character's character model. If we could combine both of these ideas, then UI wouldn't need to be constantly on screen at all.

[@Mightylcanis]

I also really liked how ammo was an on-weapon display, instead of a separate UI feature. It really makes it more "immersive", for lack of a better word. After extensively modding Skyrim years back, I have grown to really dislike that word.

[@dred_dreamr]

I think there is also some praise to be given to the additional stamina wheel you get when you eat certain foods, too! The golden colour lets you know that it is a privilege, something which shouldn’t be wasted and the familiar shape and position instantly lets you know what it’s for. Additionally it’s separation from the main wheel hammers home the idea that it is a temporary luxury, alongside the fact that it is physically smaller letting you know that it is ‘lesser’ than the main wheel.

[@syrelian]

Its also worth noting that the decisions done contrast and are inverse to the decisions involving Temporary Hearts, which while similarly yellow, are depleted first, rather than last, and are simply appended to your HP bar, rather than spawning their own UI part, Temp Stam could easily have been extending the small thin rings, but it doesn't, both to reflect its mechanical dissimilarity from Temp Hearts, but also to make utilizing it much clearer

[@luna010]

The color yellow is just of green+red; the addition of red shows the ephemeral/volatile nature of the stamina, while keeping the green component unchanged. Orange draining stamina is also between green and red, but contains less green. unused stamina = green Stamina that is going away soon = red Unused stamina that is going away soon = green + red

[@amt253]

How did your stamina for insight, jokes, visual rhetoric, and just plain fun not deplete long before the end of this video? A totally lucid, thoroughly engaging, profoundly considered whirlwind! Loved it

[@Afterthoughts]

See you just gotta take 4 months to release a video! 😂

[@thespeedyyoshi]

“It’s an intuitive expression of Link’s capabilities and seamlessly unifies the physicality of exploration with the physicality of combat” This is pure poetic genius level of writing DEAR GOD.

[@paulpickett4522]

^ yup. she words REAL gud!

[@zigzaghyena]

It’s always fascinating to get a look at someone else’s very specific object of wholesome obsession. Time well spent, and a new appreciation for circles.

[@nj8833]

Honestly this made me feel ashamed for never appreciating the stamina wheel before. Like I was ignorant to how elegant and important it is. It's big and obvious but ironically adds to the naturalism of the game because your eyes don't constantly jump around to check your stamina. Huge risk by the design team to slap a UI element right on top of Link but it paid off huge.

[@Tvtig]

Listening to someone talk so passionately about something they care about is always so much fun. Even when they're talking about a circle.

[@simplyeyeronic1443]

I also appreciate the hole in the circle. It makes it feel just a little bit less like something that's taking up space, and makes the transition to the other rings of stamina smoother-theres no jump between wedge and strip of circle, it's all just strip of circle.

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

13:09 “…but ingraining that feeling of progress on more than a mathematical level is hard to achieve with UI alone” This is a very important statement

[@hatti...]

Nintendo always does a fantastic job communicating mechanics to players in a much more simple and understandable way than so many other games. Instead of showing numbers, it has more intuitive visual representations of things happening. A great example is BotW's XP system that most people don't even know about, because it's completely invisible. Instead of making you focus on numbers and levels (which often funnels players into a "grind" type of playstyle), Zelda instead shows you the way enemies and weapons scale over the course of the game, so you get the same feeling of progression in a way that keeps immersion intact and allows anyone to understand it without dedicating brainpower to arbitrary number systems.

[@triplebog]

I actually think your point about "out of mind, out of sight" actually has some really interesting implications if it is played out a bit further. One of the ideas that I have knocking about in my game design notebook is the idea that UI is a manifestation of the character's subconscious. This is an interesting enough tool when used for analysis. Ie: what do specific UI elements tell us about what the pov character is thinking? (and likely, what the player is also feeling in the moment) But it also has some really interesting implications when applied the other direction: how can we use shifts in the UI to help tell a narrative. This idea came about when I was playing halo CE a while back and encountered a glitched objective marker that was always pointing to some fixed point a million miles away. Like with any piece of UI, Pretty quickly the marker dissovled into background noise in my mind as I filtered it out. However, every so often I would look at it and wonder if that was the direction I was supposed to be going, before turning back to my objective at hand and pushing the glitched marker "out of my mind" to the edge of the screen. But it struck me as I was playing that this was a brilliant depiction of homesickness. It made my version of master chief feel like he had just been shipped off his homeworld to fight and die on some far off alien world. And he was always distracted thinking of home, wondering if he'd made the right choice, or if he should just give up on it all and try to head home. Obviously this is just one, suboptimal example, but I think the narrative potential for UI is vastly unexplored right now

[@jlco]

That's... actually really interesting.

[@9nikolai]

Now, anytime I get the chance, I'll use this as inspiration for showing homesickness.

[@smirglepapier531]

I don't know if it counts but Nier:Automata does it beautifully. System chips have to be used to depict certain elements in the HUD and because you only have limited space you have to prioritize what you want to have shown. Things like Mini-Maps, save points, text log, hp gauge and many other things can just be turned off.

[@syrelian]

FF7 Crisis Core plays with this a bit, while most of the UI is Very Gamey, one of the mechanics is a always-active slots-machine that occasionally depicts the protagonist's memories and empowers him for thinking of his bonds and friends, the finale of the game involves this system visibly crumbling and breaking down, struggling to force things that simply won't come in last moments

[@johnmcgetrick6430]

I think the final mission of halo reach does a great job of telling a story though ui changes

[@ironclad9498]

Had no idea that an 18 minute video about explaining every single thing about a circular stamina meter could keep me so entertained and invested

[@rhizophysa]

the moment you won me over was the exhilerated, breathless whisper at 4:48. i've absently noticed the fact that the stamina wheel ui is pleasing somehow, but i had never given intentional thought to it outside of paying attention to it as needed (which, as you said, is what makes it perfect -- operating so smoothly it just feels like an extension of the player that they don't even think about). but now everything has changed. i have never been more excited about a circle in my life

[@FelicityUwU]

17:29 was the perfect build up, and the bit after it just killed me. "Im getting married to thus green circle next weekend. All of you are invited."

[@LiamTriforce]

DAMN this was a great video. Articulated some things about the Stamina Wheel that I couldn't put into words myself. Definitely appreciated the perspective of a UX engineer here and super entertaining and informative for me (who takes all of that for granted most of the time). Thank you so much for making this!!

[@jpdude98]

I saw the title and thought "There's no way this is filled with 18 minutes of interesting content" but boy was I wrong! The whole thing was so interesting, and the invisible choices the devs made are really fascinating! Great video :)

[@overjoyedleaf]

I never thought I would be this invested hearing someone talking about a small green circle. The passion you bring into this makes it incredible and engaging. Thank you

[@Smumbo]

As a fellow UI designer, this video was enlightening and excellent. Great stuff.

[@Afterthoughts]

Hello, fellow UI designer! :) Glad you liked it!

[@Hephera]

congratulations on the engagement. I wish you and the circle many happy years of matrimony. one of these days one of your videos is going to convince me to actually play breath of the wild. could it be today? :O

[@Afterthoughts]

Hold strong! >:O

[@Goatfooted]

I highly recommend it, one of the best games I've played

[@hector6264]

if you want, you can play it for free in cemu, a wii u emulator for windows. Though I would still recommend getting the game on a switch.

[@shrimpchris6580]

The game is infinitely better on Cemu than native hardware

[@hector6264]

@@shrimpchris6580 there is a bit of a problem with the gamma... at least on my screen the shrine of resurrection looks like the typhlo ruins but outside, 1440p@120 looks really nice

[@thecluckster3908]

I love how one tiny minuscule detail of a massive game can lead to an 18 minute video on it.

[@GhostyBob]

Man I never knew that this green circle had so much personality! Here I was just dismissing it as a representation of how much cardio Link does. Beautifully done. 👏👏

[@innocentbystander1993]

This is probably my most hated issue with Terraria. You get hit way more often in that game and my eyes have to give themselves whiplash every time I want to look at my health. Same with magic, which is tucked away *behind* the mini map on the *other side* of the screen. Both critically important things and there's no way to tell where you're at without dragging your eyes across the screen in a game where you have to be watching your surroundings for projectiles and stuff all the time.

[@korunova]

i had never thought about this, as to why i felt like terraria was hard to digest during bosses at least for me, you put it into words perfectly. terraria redeems itself with the amount of freedom and variety with weapons bosses/biomes etc

[@korunova]

imo😁

[@Afterthoughts]

Yeah eye travel is a part of UI that definitely needs more discussion! It’s cool that games still have a lot of room to grow, it keeps the work interesting!

[@Afterthoughts]

Terraria’s UI bums me out a bit. I contemplated making a video on it but I’d rather show positive examples than ones I don’t like as much 😅 especially for such a beloved game!

[@innocentbystander1993]

@@Afterthoughts I don't think it'd necessarily be negative if you showed some ways it could be improved. I think there's even a mod that shows health and magic (situationally) above your character as well as in both corners. I haven't played terraria in a while so I'm not sure if there were other gripes I had with its ui, though

[@JessieIsRawr]

I love hearing people nerd out over things, especially in such a well thought out and fun way. I felt myself wanting to say screw it to hearts and just going full stamina LOL

[@monkeyporcupine9203]

You know I never thought about this until now but no it made me realize how huge it is. Also don’t worry about your video schedule it’s fine no matter what it is.

[@Brixster]

In Tears of the Kingdom, when Link is stepping on gloom and starts losing hearts, what do the game designers do? that's right, they move your heart containers to the middle of the screen to urgently show that "Oh no! you are quickly losing hearts! get out of the red stuff, quick!" once again, this design philosophy proves to still be solid, and, while some argue that it's a very jarring transition of your heart containers immediately moving to the middle of the screen, I believe that's the intended effect!

[@iljk]

Note that, in botw, the rupee counter is ALWAYS at the top right corner of your screen, be it in the menue or when buying aomething.

[@jlco]

13:53 I believe the stamina drain is based on angle, rather than apparent length. It does visually seem like the outer rings drain faster, but I'm fairly certain each ring drains in the same amount of time.

[@syrelian]

You're correct, the point was that the visual movement is faster, not the 100 to 0 time

[@Sabagegah]

True. We love theta.

[@jlco]

@@syrelian Yes, I only figured out it was (probably) based on angle because the apparent speed difference caught my eye very quickly, so I paid close attention to it. The biggest contributor to that is probably the thickness of the center wheel.

[@mirabilis]

I thought this was obvious.

[@jlco]

@@mirabilis That's nice.

[@itshaitime2089]

This makes me so so happy to be an art nerd. The way I can also nerd out about the smaller aspects of a video game, spend literal hours talking about them, comparing design to other games out there. This video makes me believe maybe I sound just as fascinating when I'm passionate about something.

[@__-be1gk]

I love how the simple flat greens and reds, keeping it securely in your brain as a UI element, actually have the ironic effect of it not taking away from your immersion because they're not trying to make it fit into the game world with gold or jewels or shit, It FEELS like a visual representation of a concept, like you're looking at your own thoughts.

[@squishcat4539]

Another thing i love about stamina in this game is the way dashing/leaping in water or on a cliff actually goes a farther distance when in the red, i think it portrays a last ditch effort to get somewhere using all the strength that link has left

[@FanNotANerd]

It also makes it just that little bit more satisfying to make something by the skin of your teeth. Kinda like the system shock logic of the last bullet in the magazine doing double damage.

[@vyor8837]

The last bit of HP also has extra defense

[@user-jj4oi8fs6r]

​@@vyor8837 actually, in normal mode, there is a system in place the prevents one hit kills leaving you with a quarter heart, it also is removed on master mode.

[@vyor8837]

@@user-jj4oi8fs6r tell that to all the times I got one shot with 3 to 4 hearts

[@QuestingRefuge]

I love this! The circle is sooooo good and little UI choices like this make SUCH a difference. Absolutely loved how you described all the emotions it managed to evoke as well. It's so true, I can remember the feel of relief just closing a gap or making it to the top of a climb!

[@Afterthoughts]

It’s amazing when UI can achieve that!!

[@eleanorrhodes2416]

while playing breath of the wild the design of the stamina wheel never even crossed my mind, but after watching your video its suddenly so eye-catching and cool. your video was so interesting and brought to light a whole new category of things to think and wonder about when playing video games. I also love how you explained it in terms that my previously-unknowledgeable brain could understand and keep up with. please keep doing what you're doing!

[@poseygirl101plays]

the person(s) who designed the *pefect* most *chef's kiss* green circle: "you heard them i should get a promotion"

[@iisbatmann]

So good! Your excitement is contagious and It’s so satisfying how granular your analysis gets, love it

[@Afterthoughts]

Hooray! :D I am here to be excited about things!

[@marcelostringer]

Thanks Razbuten for highlighting this awesome channel. The editing and narration and concepts and EVERYTHING are so good!

[@Afterthoughts]

Glad you think so! :)

[@d73w80]

It's wonderful to hear an expert in a specific niche topic talk about how someone else within that field did their job very very well and how the world's all the better for it. It's a very specific genre of video and I love it

[@catmaster8232]

i like how they did something similar with gloom hearts in totk, they’re changing rapidly, keep an eye on them!!!

[@yanderbae6706]

Your burning passion for this UI element fills me with joy. I'm glad I just randomly stumbled on this channel

[@Tuxlion]

As someone who wants to go into game design and development, I love video essays like these. As you said, people think a lot of things are an obvious choice but there's so much that leads up to it before we realize it. Helps make me think outside the box.

[@vyor8837]

Aaaand sometimes the older way is better. Like the "progession" thing? The flashing red thing she spent like half the video talking about? Demons Soul did it.

[@paigemalloy4276]

Oh my god, I love this lady ♥️ Her manic level of nerd excitement is so joyful! It's contagious!

[@oowatwat]

just appreciating how much work you put into this video. the editing, the custom graphics... amazing. also, your video singlehandedly convinced me to get breath of the wild haha

[@ncliff1109]

i never knew how much i appreciated the circle until you broke it down like this. AMAZING explanation, great pacing, 18 minutes felt like 5 and i love how passionate you are about it :) subbing rn, fantastic video!!

[@Afterthoughts]

“Good pacing” is the BEST compliment, thank you! 😂 so glad you liked it!

[@julendanonino8431]

Girl, this is is the single greatest video essay I've ever watch. It was funny, I learned so much about UI (and a fricking green donut?), and at the end I though this video lasted for half the time it did. You are amazing and I'm gonna watch all of your videos right now. Keep up with this, because it's just awesome

[@BrBill]

And she never once sounded like she was reading! Natural delivery, almost like she KNOWS WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT

[@kingfisherc9608]

I really like the fact that you use little mock ups to prove a point instead of just talking with some random background images

[@joey_pasquariello]

This is genuinely such a good video, completely opened my eyes to how UI elements are designed I didn’t even know this much went into it

[@Afterthoughts]

THIS VIDEO TOOK ME SO LONG FOR SOME REASON

[@QuestingRefuge]

Probably all of the amazing animations and little details! This was seriously so well done.

[@lusupongo]

you_can't_rush_art_toy_story_2.png

[@Justforvisit]

Because your stamina circle was running out all the time

[@Packbat]

Love this! Also, another note on the color thing: a lot of people can't distinguish between red and green, so making it have a *brightness* contrast as well doubles as an accessibility thing!

[@krysivory493]

I just love how quickly it fills up. It's the BEST.

[@LucTheSlug]

The way you explain and talk about UI design is SO MUCH BETTER than how it's taught to me in school, where it's one of the most boring and annoying subjects. These videos are CRIMINALLY underrated. Keep it up! :D

[@amanofnoreputation2164]

You can kind of reverse engineer the design process from the actions the player takes to the UI innovation by comparing BOTW to it's predecessor: in Skyward Sword, Link could only climb at a fixed rate, whereas in BOTW he can make sporadic leaps which drain a chunk of stamina ll at once. So the team needed to figure out a system that could cleanly depict both, leading to all of these design sensibilities in terms of how the wheel depletes and recovers. There are hints of this system in _Twilight Princess_ as well in the form of horse stamina: you can spur Epona to make Link ride faster by depleting little stamina symbols. If you deplete the total pool of stamina units, they come back one by one, but if you burn the whole meter at once -- you have to wait until they all come back at once -- which is exactly how BOTW works. This really stood out to me when I played the game myself because it felt organic somehow. It wasn't like charging your phone or waiting for Master Chief's shield to come back online; you _had_ to let Epona rest because she's a living animal. -- But this also created an interesting dynamic which encouraged players to liberally spam quick bursts of stamina and make swift progress, but always presented a risk when a challenge really tests Link's endurance. Similarly, the stamina wheel remained a fixed size throughout Skyward Sword, so the quantum leap of turning the magatama into an apple-flavored fruit winder didn't need to manifest in the same way that the heart gauge gets more hearts added to it. "How do we make a circle bigger?" we can imagine one designer saying. "Literally making the circle bigger wouldn't do anything and just take up more space;" says another, "making a circle bigger doesn't cause a given fraction of a circle to represent a larger value in proportion to the circle as a whole, so we can't just make it longer like we would with a stamina bar." "Hrrm. . . then I guess we could. . . have more circles? Like, have a cluster of them that deplete sequentially?" "That would do it, but would look really messy." And then the first designer finally has his epiphany. "What if . . . we layered the circles on top of each other!?" "You mean like a wedding cake?" "Yes like a wedding cake. It would be just like one huge circle but we could directly represent improvements to the players stamina!"

[@syrelian]

Circle Get Bigger can work, but it takes a certain goal and form of intent Shadow of the Colossus does such, but part of the trick for that game is that your HP and Stamina growth is very quiet, nothing announces it to you, you just eventually notice "Wait thats uhh, bigger?", or are observant in watching the small growth when you grab a Lizard Tail, Wander's growth is quiet and silent, its not the goal because the player keeps having their focus match Wander's, match his fervent goal to chase down the colossi Many people will likely only realize the difference when they engage with Time Attack, since TA resets your stats to the minimums they would be when attempting the fight normally

[@nickrogers3624]

The amount of satisfaction I feel in someone else describing the benefits of a proper UI when, I myself have gushed over stuff like this, is immeasurable. I truly appreciate your understanding and wish I knew you irl for things like this lmaoooo

[@thetophatguyandroid5959]

It's amazing how the stamina wheel after a few hours while playing is almost invisible Like sometimes I don't even realize i spammed the climb jump and lost 80% of my stamina just like that It really is amazing how it works

[@starbunny7301]

I never expected a video about a lil green circle to be so informative and engaging, yet here we are. I enjoyed it a whole lot :)

[@LambHoot]

man I could listen to UX breakdowns like this all freaking day, worth all the work 🔥 quick q - what did you design those alt stamina mock-ups in?

[@Afterthoughts]

I used Premiere!! I refuse to learn After Effects! They'll never catch me!

[@BrBill]

@@Afterthoughts Makes sense. After Effects' stamina indicator design is awful.

[@sku11ss10]

Circles are now my favorite shape

[@Afterthoughts]

YES EXCELLENT

[@sourdoebread]

My notes (taken after finishing the video so I may be forgetting things): - Shape is good, using a ring instead of a bar allows more information in smaller space! - Putting it near Link makes it more noticeable and also easier to look at while doing other things. - Conditionality is great. It only shows up when it's relevant, which reduces clutter. - Green with bits turning red or pink before turning gray emphasizes the amount of stamina an action takes. The red stands out against the game's color palette which makes you notice it. - Circle with more rings around it as you upgrade stamina makes it more noticeable when you progress, as opposed to the stamina wheel just depleting more slowly which would not emphasize the progression as much and would also be annoying to players who were used to it depleting at a specific rate. - They made it simpler than in Twilight Princess, which makes it easier to use and more unobtrusive. - They had never done this same thing with a Zelda game before, so they weren't sure it would be well received. They took a risk and it turned out really well! - And perhaps most importantly... This stuff is completely unknown to most people! We don't usually think about why game UI looks the way it does. A lot more thought goes into every little detail than I could have imagined.

[@1kili2]

I was about to say "i still sometimes dont see it" (in totk) but then you continued to explain "its always where youre looking" and thats when i went "youre right, i dont notice it when im gliding around and looking where to land instead of where i am"

[@lifeonleo1074]

Never did I think I would be intrested in watching an entire video about a stamina wheel, but I DID. Great job, great video.

[@Whiezelf]

I've never thought I *needed* a video on the green stamina circle in botw. But now I think I am in love with it.

[@Bannertbird]

How on earth did you get us all to watch a video about a circle, and how is it so good

[@anodin.i]

Discovered your channel with this video and i actually LOVE your commentary style, it’s easy to follow your thoughts and you make complex ideas seems so simple! Thank you

[@doorprince3760]

There's a few other things I want to point out specifically about the "chunk" effect you mentioned at 12:20! The single solid color that it uses for "snap" actions that happen in a single moment contrasts with the flashing colors of continuous actions, making it less urgent and less of a warning; you've *already* spent that stamina, and there's nothing you can do about that. It's just letting you know exactly how much it cost. Plus, since pink is in the same colorspace as red-and-white, both types of stamina depletion are aesthetically unified. There's also charge actions, like the spin attack, that have a pink chunk that grows until you release it. Since it's technically the charge that costs stamina, not the release, it *could* have used the normal red-and-white drain-over-time effect, but it didn't, because the growing chunk just naturally symbolizes what's happening in a few different ways. There's the anticipation of it slowly growing before the entire piece is removed from the meter in an instant, with bigger chunks giving more visual satisfaction at the payoff, tying into "look big, feel strong". There's the way that the chunk is, in a way, it's own individual meter of how much energy is being put into the attack, and shows your stamina *literally* becoming the power in your swing, with the inherent risk-reward of "more energy equals less stamina" that comes with them sharing a meter. Maybe not all of the symbolism was specifically intentional, but it was definitely intentional that the way it looks is the way it feels. Also, the spin attack hits maximum charge at exactly one full wheel, which, because circles, has the super easy visual shortcut of when the end of the chunk wraps back around to the start of it, and it's really nice to have that for the *one* stamina-draining action that can cut you off before you actually fully run out of stamina.

[@JerryGLoveless]

“I’m getting married to this green circle next weekend.” -Afterthoughts 2022

[@Afterthoughts]

WE ARE IN LOVE AND NO ONE CAN STOP US

[@LeightonJohn]

I hadn’t thought about the stamina wheel in such a way until now, but I really like the way it stands for and I’m able to appreciate it so much more now, so thanks! Also, this is your first video that I’ve seen from you and I’m subscribed now! 😅 good job on the vid and I look forward to seeing your other ones!!!

[@KairaisnotaLiopleurodon]

Dude you are SO good at these video essays. The writing - phenomenal. The editing - phenomenal. And your voice narrations are so fun and engaging! Just found your channel and youve easily become my favorite for game essays. Keep crushing it!!

[@DanielSantosAnalysis]

First video of yours I've ever seen and wow! I love how enthusiastic you are over something that most people would gloss over. Your pure glee over UI is presented in such a fun way which makes it incredibly infectious and got me to think about these elements of game design that I hadn't really considered before.

[@firstcanonkill1767]

I fucking LOVE THE UI in this game! The hearts containers flash when depleted or restored in a way that indicates something is changing without having to stare. The champion abilities have a small amount of UI space and vertical replenish animation but that’s okay because it isn’t as frequently observed, and I love the simple lvl up in the DLC. Many games would have changed to a more elaborate icon as a reward to the player. BOTW just added a plus. Not to mention pro HUD display options in the settings.

[@mictony999]

i love the question and exclamation marks on the enemies. i like how the question mark fills up as the suspicion level increases.

[@jessevazquez8984]

Your enthusiasm and attitude along with your knowledge makes this video. Instant subscribe!

[@geno_stars]

This is a beautifully crafted video on such a minute but huge thing... So glad that TotK kept it! You've earned yourself a sub from me... analytic videos like this make me act up... Plus adorable art for visual aid is an excellent choice!! Keep at it gorl!!!

[@HenrikMyrhaug]

9:38 Seems like you missed the fact that in SS, most the HUD elements can be turned off, such that the UI is nearly identical to the "pro mode" HUD in breath of the wild. Unfortunately, the game doesn't allow you to access that setting until about an hour of playtime into the game, so when you initially see the terrible HUD and immediately check the settings to see if you can turn it off, the setting won't appear, giving you the impression you will never get to change it.

[@Voxridian]

You made me really appreciate how great they made BotW's UI and the feeling we get playing the game. You are absolutely right throughout the whole video. Also, your enthusiasm and attention to detail is totally my vibe. Instant sub.

[@vyor8837]

Ehh, I have some issues with it. Like the idea that the UI should always be hidden from you and that needing to move your eyes a lot is always bad(as it can increase the skill ceiling).

[@vyor8837]

Also the "you just used this resource" in terms of stamina has been done many times before.

[@seccozcubez]

I adore this kind of video! It's clear you're passionate about this and it made me really interested in the topic *with* you! Amazing job :)

[@tommybakersmith4732]

This is one of the best video essays on BotW on the most overlooked aspect. You bring incredible attention to this detail and give it the praise and respect it is due. I could watch a whole series on small bits of the game like this that make it so great. Fantastic job with the video, it is your first that I have seen. I will be checking out your other work!!!!

[@kuppy4014]

Such an in-depth analysis, I never thought about it like this before, and as someone looking to go into game design, this is so helpful to have a perspective on!

[@Zeldrake]

Nice! Breath of the Wild's UI is genuinely amazing and you only covered a single green circle! There are three things I wanted to point out in conjunction to what you said: - BOTW's stamina circle has no embossing. There's no fancy outline, funky-looking metal hooks at the end, no notches, no gold dial clock-like outline. This keeps it from becoming too distracting, like if you put any other UI element from all the examples you showed right next to the character. - The exterior wheels being much smaller are marvellous not only for saving on screen real estate, but for another reason: Stamina doesn't actually _matter_ till it runs out. If you make it to the top of the hill on 1 or 100 stamina - you made it to the top! Thus, while it's important to have a gauge of how long it might last, what's even more important is whether the last bit is about to run out. By keeping the very last circle the big one, this is always shown. - The one time BOTW's stamina let me down were the instant refills you get during Flight Range, Attack on Vah Medoh, and (I think? Been a bit) Dragon encounters. You're so used to the wheel draining and then slowly puslating to refill that it instantly jumping back to green was really weird. It made it hard to understand and almost meaningless: low on stamina for your paraglider? just cancel it and re-open it for a weird instant refill! Although one could argue that's more a function of them being odd (why is there even a 3minute timer on Flight Range anyway?) and less of the stamina design.

[@paulpickett4522]

I love how your fan-girling is SO deserved by this piece of UI ^.^

[@maxteeth]

sam more ux videos please, i loved all 19 minutes of this circle deep dive