Rivals of Aether 2

• Platform: PC
• Time Frame: 2024-2025
• Company: Aether Studios

Rivals of Aether II is the sequel to the popular indie platform fighter, Rivals of Aether. I was brought onto the project as the UI Lead with the mandate to update not just the UX of the game, but the overall UI art style.

As the UI Lead I guided the team in defining UI art pillars that would meet players' expectations of what a modern-day platform fighter game would be. The new UI art style needed to not just look exciting and cutting edge, but also elevate and expand players' understanding of the 'Aether' IP. In addition, I led several UX updates, educating the team on UX design basics and insight strategies.

The final UI art style fixed several UX issues, such as players losing which button was focused and their overall place in the UI menu structure. The new UI art style also expanded on the Aether universe by having the focused state be a bright, cleansing focus against an evil purple 'Abyss' texture throughout the game. Essentially expanding the fighting experience of the game into the menu navigation itself. The UX/UI update was met with wildly positive reactions from players and long-time Aether fans. The response was more overwhelmingly positive than any other UI update I'd done to date.

UX flows and wireframes were created with Figma. Assets were created using Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, After Effects, and implemented in Unreal/UMG.