Peak 43 is a (concept) exploration driven game taking place in a mysterious 70's inspired backcountry. Players interact with the world through their self-maintained and customizable snowcat, solving puzzles and managing resources. I was the sole designer and artist on the project.
Keeping their snowcat in working order is priority #1 for the player. Besides the mech health bar, the speed and smoothness of the rotating gears reflects the snowcat's status. This helps the peripheral reading for the player while they're focused on another task.
In extreme freeze-risk conditions like blizzards or river crossing, the mechanical health can be entirely arrested. The player knows how quickly their snowcat is going to be shut down by ice by seeing the progress of ice overcoming the UI element.
The player is traversing extreme mountainous environments and have to always be aware of tipping the snowcat. An intuitive bubble-level type indicator gives the player constant feedback as they traverse.
© Jacob Whitlow