“David is a talented developer and a genuinely good person to work with. He cared about the quality of what he shipped and about the players using it. I'd happily work with him again.”
RuneScape Mobile
At Jagex, David built the touch HUD for RuneScape Mobile, converted 40+ legacy interfaces and decided what a desktop MMORPG could fit on a phone screen.
Summary
- The project
- Jagex set out to bring RuneScape, a desktop massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with almost two decades of interface behind it, to iOS and Android.
- David's role
- As a Technical Developer on the mobile team from 2018 to 2019, David built the mobile heads-up display (HUD) and converted more than 40 legacy interfaces.
- The result
- A screen built around thumbs, with one ability bar where desktop players could show five or more. RuneScape Mobile fully launched in 2021.
In brief
Overview
- Timeline
- 2018 to 2019
- Platform
- iOS, Android
- Public record
- Mod Edge on the RuneScape Wiki, opens in a new tab
- Genre
- MMORPG
- Engagement
- AAA Studio
Built with
- Perforce
RuneScape had almost two decades of desktop interface behind it when Jagex set out to bring the full game to iOS and Android. Every screen had been designed for a mouse cursor and a large monitor: dozens of panels, ability bars and pop-up interfaces, all built to be clicked with pixel precision.
David joined the RuneScape Mobile team in 2018 as a Technical Developer, after a year on the live game. The team started with three developers and two producers, and grew to around five developers, three quality assurance testers and three producers.
David's job was the part players touch every second: the interface. That meant converting legacy interfaces onto a new mobile layer, designing the main mobile HUD and making a desktop game's dialogue and menus work under a thumb. He worked on the project through development and the early alpha and beta testing, before leaving Jagex in 2019. RuneScape Mobile fully launched in 2021.
For the detail of what stayed on screen, what moved and why, read the RuneScape Mobile interface case study. RuneScape is a trademark of Jagex Ltd.
From Former Colleagues
“True to his name, 'Mod Edge' was very mindful of edge cases, taking opportunities to refactor and streamline code alongside player-facing improvements.”
Read full quote
“During David's 2.5 years at Jagex, we first worked together on RuneScape's Ninja team, where he quickly developed an affinity for its complex interface systems. True to his name, 'Mod Edge' was very mindful of edge cases, taking opportunities to refactor and streamline code alongside player-facing improvements. He was highly receptive to feedback and commendably active with players on social media, working with them to understand their needs, refine his designs and build community trust. I later worked with David on RuneScape Mobile, where he was instrumental in rebuilding the top-level interface to support various phone and tablet aspect ratios, and adapting decades of content to be playable on touch-screen devices. His strong communication skills and cross-disciplinary technical proficiency also made him invaluable in liaising with client and engine teams on graphical and performance issues across differing hardware.”
David's Contributions
The Mobile HUD
David built the mobile top-level interface, the HUD players see for almost the whole session. Key actions were placed where thumbs and fingers naturally reach.
40+ Legacy Interfaces Converted
Many older interfaces had never moved to RuneScape's newer user interface system. David converted more than 40 of them, giving them the new system's appearance and the mobile layer on top.
One Ability Bar
On desktop, players could show five or more ability bars at once. On mobile, David limited the screen to one, keeping combat readable and the game world visible.
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