I’m starting to find that HUDs in games clutter the screen and take away from being fully immersed in the game. I like games that force you to pay attention to what’s going on in the game and not numbers/markers on the edges of the display. What are some of your favorite games to play with no HUD? Here are a few of mine:
Astroneer - this game has tool tips on screen but that’s about it. There isn’t even an inventory, all objects are interactive and you can physically place them on your backpack.
Battlefield 1 - super gritty and immersive, but playing without a HUD really puts you at a disadvantage online.
Red Dead Redemption 2 - I liked that you could hide the HUD, but the mini-map was a tap on the d-pad away if you get lost. It was a super immersive experience!
Grand Theft Auto 5 - maybe not designed to be played without the HUD, once you get used to the layout of the city this becomes a lot easier, and you focus more on landmarks to navigate and again this really increased immersion. Sometimes finding things in missions wasn’t obvious and required consulting the map but otherwise this was enjoyable.
I used to play Overwatch with no HUD. The game is definitely not designed around that, but I found I did decently well, and many characters have displays on their guns that relate the same info.
I know Jurassic Park Trespasser infamously used a tatoo on your characters chest instead of a healthbar to avoid using a HUD.
I did the same as you in GTA, very different and fun way to experience the game.
I always thought it’d be cool to make a no UI fighting game, with health being related by the characters appearance (ie more and more beaten up) rather than the usual top of the screen health bars.
Yessss I feel like developers really have room to get creative with visual elements like that for fighting games. For first person games even just the redness on the edges of the screen is good enough in most cases!