David Candland spent about 18 years at Bungie, working on the Halo and Destiny franchises. By the time he left Bungie, Candland was the UI Design Lead at the developer, leading much of the design of Destiny’s user interface.
In a video posted on his personal website, Candland shows the evolution of the user interface in Bungie’s sci-fi looter shooter from the first pass to the final iteration. Not only does the video give an interesting look at the user interface, but it also allows fans to see back to the early days of Destiny’s development.
The user interface went through numerous stages of iteration. It’s interesting to see the first pass of the UI, which shows close ties to the Halo franchise, which Bungie was just coming off of after its separation from Microsoft. The dual weapon setup and grenade throw mechanics show clear connections to Halo, while the health and shield UI have begun moving towards incorporating some of the graphic designs that have become a part of Destiny’s visual DNA.
There’s also a shot of the Tower earlier in its development. While it looks similar, there are clear differences from the social hub that players eventually ended up with in the final game.
Throughout the process of the video, keen-eyed fans will be able to spot the common elements in the user interface (weapons, ammo counters, super bar, abilities, and the experience bar) and all the ways they were arranged throughout the iterations before the final design that players now know was settled on.
The video provides an interesting look at the development of Destiny for fans of the original game, allowing them to peek behind the curtain of development a bit. Candland currently works for Monolith Games, most recently the developers of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War.
Destiny is available for PS4 and Xbox One.
Source: David Candland
