▫️The UI for Archive 13 is designed around a retro 1990s newsroom desktop, combinging functional clarity with atmospheric immersion. The interface will prioritise readability, narrative pacing, and player decision-making while maintaining the aesthetic of old CRT monitors and office systems.

The design will support all four gameplay loops: evidence analysis, narrative progression, editiorial decisions, and fieldwork.

Visual Style

🖌️Key elements include:

Soft CRT glow and light screen curvature
Pixel icons
Minimal clutter
grey/blue monitor

This style reinforces the setting and helps immerse players in the world of a tabloid newsroom.

Screen Layout

💻To maintain gameplay flow, the overall screen layout will be divided into four functional regions:

1. Central Workspace

This screen is all on the monitor in a 2D format. It’s for interactive UI such as:

Inbox
Evidence viewer
Archive Files
Photo tools </aside>

2. Narrative Text Box

💻This will be a fixed, semi-transparent box acoss the bottom 20% of the screen that displays:

Player’s inner monologue
Dialogue from other characters
Narrative
System messages

This placement ensures the narrative never covers evidence or UI elements.

3. Choice Bar

💻The Choice Bar appears as a horizontal strip directly above the Narrative Text Box at the bottom of the screen. It spans approximately 80% of the screen width, leaving a small margin on either side to maintain clarity. Each choice will displayed in a clearly separated box with retro-inspired pixel borders, matching the CRT monitor aesthetic. When the player hovers over a choice, it subtly highlights or changes colour to indicate selection. The bar allows the player to make decisions efficiently while keeping the central workspace and evidence viewer fully visible.

4. Risk and Readership meters

💻The Risk and Readership meters will be positioned in the top-left and top-right corners of the screen. They will occupy a small but noticeable portion of the interface so they are always visible but will never obstruct key elements like the evidence viewer or central workspace.

Risk Meter (top-left): A horizontal bar that fills with a warning-coloured gradient as risk increases. It reflects attention, suspicion, and danger levels, rising when risky choices are made.
Readership Meter (top-right): A horizontal bar that fills with a bright, positive colour as readership increases. It reflects story popularity and editor satisfaction.