Phase 1 design · UI direction · mockup

Trail UI Directions

The same moment three ways: arriving at the Kansas River crossing. All UI is drawn at the game's native 640×360 in pixel fonts, over the live scene, so what you see is how it would ship. Use the bar to check legibility at night and in weather.

Time
Weather

A · Classic Ledger

Faithful

Principle

The 1985 layout, made handsome: scene on top, a ledger underneath, numbered choices, and "What is your choice?"

Good

  • Instantly recognisable to fans
  • Keyboard 1–5 play, very accessible
  • Dense information, easy to build

Costs

  • It is a screen, which works against the Phase 2 "no screens" goal
  • Loses 30% of the vista

B · In-World

Diegetic

Principle

No panels. Information lives in the world: a depth pole in the water, a length on the ferry rope. Choices are signs hung on the things you'd act on.

Good

  • The vista stays whole, so it's lovely left open in a tab
  • Native fit for Phase 2's continuous scene
  • Teaches by looking

Costs

  • Hard for complex choices (store, trade)
  • Signs can clutter; needs strict rules
  • Keyboard and controller navigation needs thought

C · Trail Journal

Hybrid

Principle

A slim status ribbon, and decisions arrive as a page in your trail journal: a hand-inked sketch of the problem, then choices written as notes.

Good

  • Room for real information (the cross-section shows why fording is risky)
  • The journal doubles as the diary, ledger and "while you were away"
  • Scales to store, trade and map

Costs

  • Covers part of the scene during decisions
  • Every decision needs a small ink illustration (procedural where possible)

Recommendation

B while travelling, C when a decision needs thought, A as an optional "Classic mode". The scene stays whole for ambient play (Phase 2's promise). The journal handles anything with numbers, so store, trade and rivers stay honest. Classic mode is cheap because it's the same data in a ledger layout, and it's a love letter to fans.

RenderAll UI at native 640×360, integer-scaled with the scene. No hi-res text layer, so UI and art share one pixel grid.
HeadersJacquard 24 at 24px: pixel blackletter, 1840s print feel
BodyTiny5 at 8px (about 5px x-height, very compact). Micro5 at 11px for dense stats.
LabelsSilkscreen at 8px, caps
SurfacesParchment (Apollo 17/16, ink 18/13) and oak (12/13/14, nails 41). All panels procedurally 9-sliced from palette colours.
Legibility ruleUI is never colour-graded; only the world is. Ink on parchment keeps at least 7:1 contrast at night.