Context: [Flash] When a character speaks, I display a dialogue bubble above the character, and display the text in the subtitle. Sometimes, I would display the pictogram alone without any supporting text. For example, when the hitpoint of the main characters is low, the raccoon will say, "You have low hitpoint" the first time, and display only the pictogram afterwards. These are the pictograms I have, followed by their usage: (1,1) - general dialogue, murmurs, 'hm...', boredom (1,2) - surprise, news (1,3) - a genuine question , clueless (1,4) - love, 'I love you', 'I love it', 'Yay!' (1,5) - angry, hate, irritated (the icon shows the nerves on forehead) (2,1) - 'uhh...', apologetic (the icon shows a sweat drop) (2,2) - yes (2,3) - no (2,4) - 'Ok!', 'let's do it!', 'alright!' (2,5) - 'I need beer', 'Let's go to the bar' (the icon shows a mug of purple beer) (3,1) - 'you are almost dead!', 'watch your HP, dude', 'it is almost dead!', 'I need HP' (3,2) - 'go read the book', 'well, according to the book...', 'the book says,...', 'let's get the book', 'I need a book' (3,3) - idea, 'I know!', 'I've got an idea!', 'I get it now!' (3,4) - right, 'go right', 'it is on the right side' Basically, the pictograms do not correspond to any specific message, but they convey the meaning given the context. Some characters will never speak, but uses pictograms. These are the 'TalkBubbles'. I plan to have 'ThinkBubbles' to represent thoughts that are not spoken. (Thoughts the NPCs have that are displayed for the player, but not to the PC.) Questions: What do you think about the pictograms? Do you see how to improve them, or improve the way I use them? Do you see some situation that I should use a pictogram? I think the 'angry' icon is the least understandable. How should I represent, 'I'm angry' ? What pictograms should I use for the following? - /anger - /hunger - 'I want to eat you', 'you look tasty...!' - 'I want you dead', 'I need you dead', 'It's your turn to die' (things that the Reaper would say) - happiness, /joy - being cunning - danger ahead - 'Don't come any closer!' - /panic - /cry, /weep

they look good except I've never really seen purple beer before

I think they're all pretty understandable except for (1,5) and (2,1). I don't know that I would read those automatically as angry or apologetic, but accompanied by subtitles and put in context they might be ok.

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Original post by WorldPlanter I think they're all pretty understandable except for (1,5) and (2,1). I don't know that I would read those automatically as angry or apologetic, but accompanied by subtitles and put in context they might be ok.

Those symbols are often used in anime for the emotions he described. Wai, good job, I like them a lot!

If you're using a heart for health (which is pretty obvious), then perhaps 'low health' should be an almost empty heart with just a small red bit at the bottom. At the moment low health looks a bit like a cigarette. [grin]

I love these bubbles as they've been used in your tests. The heart one made me laugh a couple times (when the raccoon got drunk and did it, and when the bee took the honey and did it).

The only one I wasn't sure I understood in the game was the "low health" (3,1). I had assumed that meant the raccoon was trying to heal me.

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What pictograms should I use for the following?

anger: (1,5) is already good. something with flames could also be good.
hunger: a half-eaten chicken leg would go well with the beer mug.
i want to eat you: anger + hunger
i want you dead: skull
danger ahead: skull + arrow
don't come any closer: couldn't this be the same as i want you dead?

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Original post by OrangyTang If you're using a heart for health (which is pretty obvious), then perhaps 'low health' should be an almost empty heart with just a small red bit at the bottom. At the moment low health looks a bit like a cigarette. [grin]

That's exactly what I thought to [smile].

The "low health" bubble is the only one that I think really needs to be changed; I don't link that with low health at all, although it is possible that in the greater context of the game it is understandable. The empty heart would be better - if you could animate it in an alarming way it might make the point better.

The "purple beer" and "book" bubbles are also a bit ambiguous, although in the context of the game these ones might be clearer.

BTW the Flash animation is great; the bubbles work well.

I'd go with a skull for either "danger" or "dead/wanting dead". For "hunger" you could go with a knife and fork, although I don't know how well that pictogram translates across cultures; the half-eaten food item suggested by SantaClaws is good too. Flames or thunder/lightning could work for another anger pictogram. "Cunning" isn't usually shown in speech bubbles; the indicators I know involve shifty narrow eyes and thin smiles; you could use one of those and see how well it looks. The heart could work for happiness as well, or you could use a smiley face. The sweat drop could also double as panic.

Hmmm...

In a lot of the situations you presented in the flash animation, you can use either one or the other--text or bubble (you don't need, say, somone saying "Ahh!" and having the "!" bubble, or or saying "allright then" and having the "OK" bubble). Rather than emphasizing what you're doing, it gets redundant.

Have you played Golden Sun for GBA? The characters in that game use speech bubbles, some of which are faces. Try some simple smileys to convey some emotions rather than relying on more obscure pictograms.

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Original post by Trapper Zoid ... thunder/lightning ...

Yes! Storm clouds/lightning is a great one for that. Lots of turbulence and violence.

- B5 was a low HP bar. But I am replacing it with B2 or B4.
- B7 represents frustration.
- F6 "I'll strangle you"
- G5 represents embarrassment or blushing


I made alcohol purple so that it matches one of the main characters' hair color. Alcohol is ammunition so I wanted designated it with a specific color. I picked purple so that it look more like grape juice instead of real alcohol.

Row F has the pictograms for threats. I think I can use threats to substitude for the anger icon in some situations. "I'll kill you", "You're dead", "Die now", "I'll beat you up", ...

I haven't played Golden Sun. I tried to avoid plain faces because they are not as associative, and not as colorful. I think that I will almost always need to show the dialogue bubble, because it indicates the speaker. So it is either icon and words, or just an icon. Some icons has text. In that case I think that I should either hide the subtitle or match the exact text in the bubble.