Rail route | Armando Mendoza Art

Ui -Game Art

Rail Route simulator

This project was a unique journey, collaborating with indie developers in the Czech Republic to create a train dispatcher simulator inspired by the signal boxes used to control railway traffic.

The game allows players to design and manage their own railway networks, offering a deep and strategic simulation experience. As an artist, I had two key responsibilities: first, to provide art direction for the game, as it had a working demo but lacked a cohesive visual style; and second, to design the entire UI.

Released on Steam in 2021, the game has been a success, fostering a dedicated community where players can design and share their own maps through Steam Workshop.

Responsibilities

Game Art, Art Direction, UI.

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite, Unity.

Game Art

Initial gameplay

The game developers had a clear vision for the gameplay and had worked with previous artists to achieve it. While early mockups incorporated abstract elements, they didn’t fully align with the developers' expectations.

I took the time to understand their brief and successfully delivered a design that matched their vision.
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Canvas

The canvas serves as the game's background, enhancing the player's visual experience through layered textures.
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Ui - Ux

After analyzing the game loop and player journey, I focused on refining the UI wireframes to create a more intuitive experience. My goal was to guide players more effectively throughout the game. Based on my observations of the game's current state, I prepared mockups and color variations to present a redesigned UI to the developers.

Place holder Ui and orignal flow by the Developers

To further illustrate my vision, I created a short animation showcasing the player's journey, providing a clearer sense of the proposed changes.

The developers successfully integrated the new look and feel into the game, which was then shipped in the release version.

You can visit the Rail Route devblog to know more about the Ui implementation.

“Armando is a creative force of nature, a truly one of a kind multi-talented art dynamo! His energy and enthusiasm for innovation and drive to always improve both what we were creating and how we were creating them was never short of inspiring."

Charmie Kim

Game Lead at Space Ape Games