UI Technical Designer
Key responsibilities:
Key responsibilities:
- Designing User Interface elements
- Implementing UI in proprietary engine
- Implementing basic interface functionalities
- Coordinating with several design and art teams
- Creating UI animations
- Maintaining project structure for UI
- Feedbacking UI designs
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open world, action-adventure role playing game set in the dystopian universe of Cyberpunk. It was developed by CD Projekt RED and released at the tail end of 2020 for Windows as well as generation 8 & 9 console platforms. Initially receiving a mixed reception due to technical issues, the game eventually recuperated thanks to multiple patches and an excellent expansion in 2023’s “Phantom of Liberty”.
For Cyberpunk I’ve held a UI Technical Designer position. I was mainly responsible for adapting the ideas of artists and designers from different departments into functional game features. I was maintaining project structure when it comes to UI composition, implementing features on various levels, creating documentation and requesting features from programmers. I was closely involved with the functionality and look of HUD, journal & inventory, to name a few.
The title was created with the proprietary REDengine, which at the time didn’t really have a proper UI toolset yet. I was creating most of the UI animations in scripting language. Fortunately I was able to leverage my programming experience to implement some basic functionalities the engine was missing, like button states & styles, tooltip containers or scrolling content.
User Interface in Cyberpunk played a big role, bigger than in most games. For one, as expected from an open-world RPG, there was a lot of mechanics, statistics and modifiers that had to be conveyed to the player. Secondly, in this futuristic tech-filled setting, we wanted the UI to be diegetic meaning “a part of the world” and not a layer of artificiality on top of it. It had to fit in style but still clearly communicate all of the crucial information. The multiplayer component was also on the horizon back then, which only elevated the design challenges.
A different thing entirely characterizing the project was employee turnover. People leaving nearly every week diminished morale and the effects of the brain drain were palpable. This has significantly impacted the production process in a negative way, creating a situation where efficient planning was effectively impossible. Multiple partially documented systems in the backend competed with each other, with frontend struggling to pull fully functional features out of them.
I left the project soon after the completion of the demo for 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo conference. I was approached by a colleague with an interesting offer, which I decided to take hoping to find myself in less chaotic environment. Despite the troubled launch, especially when it comes to previous generation consoles, the game turned out to be a huge critical and financial success. I’m especially in awe of all the colleagues who have seen the project to completion and later tirelessly worked on patches and the fantastic expansion. Without them I’m sure the game would not achieve the impact it did.
For Cyberpunk I’ve held a UI Technical Designer position. I was mainly responsible for adapting the ideas of artists and designers from different departments into functional game features. I was maintaining project structure when it comes to UI composition, implementing features on various levels, creating documentation and requesting features from programmers. I was closely involved with the functionality and look of HUD, journal & inventory, to name a few.
The title was created with the proprietary REDengine, which at the time didn’t really have a proper UI toolset yet. I was creating most of the UI animations in scripting language. Fortunately I was able to leverage my programming experience to implement some basic functionalities the engine was missing, like button states & styles, tooltip containers or scrolling content.
User Interface in Cyberpunk played a big role, bigger than in most games. For one, as expected from an open-world RPG, there was a lot of mechanics, statistics and modifiers that had to be conveyed to the player. Secondly, in this futuristic tech-filled setting, we wanted the UI to be diegetic meaning “a part of the world” and not a layer of artificiality on top of it. It had to fit in style but still clearly communicate all of the crucial information. The multiplayer component was also on the horizon back then, which only elevated the design challenges.
A different thing entirely characterizing the project was employee turnover. People leaving nearly every week diminished morale and the effects of the brain drain were palpable. This has significantly impacted the production process in a negative way, creating a situation where efficient planning was effectively impossible. Multiple partially documented systems in the backend competed with each other, with frontend struggling to pull fully functional features out of them.
I left the project soon after the completion of the demo for 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo conference. I was approached by a colleague with an interesting offer, which I decided to take hoping to find myself in less chaotic environment. Despite the troubled launch, especially when it comes to previous generation consoles, the game turned out to be a huge critical and financial success. I’m especially in awe of all the colleagues who have seen the project to completion and later tirelessly worked on patches and the fantastic expansion. Without them I’m sure the game would not achieve the impact it did.