Heads-Up Display: Difference between revisions

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Originally a military technology, a '''H'''eads-'''U'''p '''D'''isplay is a device which projects supplemental information onto the surface reflection of a transparent panel. This allows the user to view the projection, or view objects beyond the panel without moving his head. The system is a compromise between limiting the user's field of view and forcing him to look away from his primary display to view additional information. Fighter jets use these systems to show targeting information. Systems using this technology are sometimes called "[[Augmented Reality]]".

If it's the first person view of a robot, or otherwise mechanical being, then you're looking at [[Robo Cam]]. When it's actually part of the game environment, it's a [[Diegetic Interface]].

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* Most [[Simulation Game|combat flight simulators]] will naturally at least try to emulate a real-life military-style HUD.

** The ''[[Ace Combat]]'' series models HUDs for military fighter planes on the actual fighter planes. However, the ability overreaches, as the player is able to see targeting boxes around enemy targets at any point in the cockpit, not just through the HUD. This include third person perspectives.

*** Another ''Star Wars'' example is in ''[[Legacy of the Force]]'', where Karen Traviss is more than a little obsessed with the HUD inside Boba Fett's helmet.

** ''[[Dead Space (series)|Dead Space]]'' is an unusual third-person example with no HUD at all. The health meter is represented by the lights along the back of the character's suit, remaining ammo in a gun is shown through a display on the gun itself, and the inventory display is actually projected by the character's suit, with the protagonist looking at the various item boxes and physically pointing to the item he wants to use. The point of the latter is debatable, since the items are kept in [[Hammerspace]].

* ''[[Absolute Zero]]'' had an interesting justification in its [[All There in the Manual|fluff]] for the HUD, and even for the 1st-person cockpit graphics. Instead of actually having windows or internal displays, the pilot cabins and such in all of the vehicles are windowless and featureless. Instead of windows, the pilot wears a VR helmet, which is fed by cameras and other sensors to make a composite of the world outside the vehicle. To keep the pilot from being disoriented, a virtual cockpit with windows and instruments is inserted into the augmented reality.

** ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'' does away with the elliptical shape, but is still very much [[Diegetic Interface|diegetic]] as one of the protagonist's numerous augmentations. The HUD even flickers at first until you get Pritchard to fix it.

* ''[[Mechwarrior]] 3'''s HUD would get more fuzzy as your ;Mech took more damage.

** This also extends to Virtual World ''[[BattleTech]]'' in the arcades, with the various MFDs actually losing vertical hold (they're CRT-based) after a heavy hit.

* ''[[Echelon]]'''s HUD would partially disappear when entering enemy disabling fields.

** In ''[[F.E.A.R.]] 2'', the HUD is part of the players combat eye wear and vanishes when they are removed.

* The ''[[Naval Ops]]'' series uses a HUD that covers most of the screen. Most of it is a radar that shows enemies close to you; the rest indicates things like speed and heading and whether anything is horribly wrong with your ship (like a torpedo taking out your rudder). It can be a little hard to read if the enemy spams missiles or torpedoes.

* In ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'', the HUD is [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|used as an offensive weapon]] by [[Deadpool]], [[No Fourth Wall|natch]].

 

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[[Category:Video Game Interface Elements]]