Local Space: The Visuals of 4-Player Chaos

Welcome to Local Space.

Hi everyone. One of the biggest hurdles in local multiplayer isn't the code—it's the eyeballs. When you have four players, sixteen projectiles, and a dynamic camera all fighting for attention on one screen, "visual noise" becomes your biggest enemy. If a player has to ask, "Wait, which one am I?" even for a split second, the flow is broken.

This week, I’ve been refining how we identify players in the heat of battle. Feel free to jump on discord and show me how you're handling player UI. I’m always looking for cleaner ways to show health without cluttering the view.

In this blog, we’re looking at Player Identification & UX (User Experience). We're moving past "just give them different colors" and building a system that ensures every player always feels "found."

1. The Color Palette Manager (Technical Deep Dive)

Hard-coding colors into materials is a recipe for a maintenance nightmare. If you want to change "Player 3 Blue" to "Player 3 Cyan" across your UI, VFX, and Sprite, you need a single source of truth.

We use Material Property Blocks. This allows us to use one shared material across all players while changing individual colors via script, which is much better for performance (Draw Call Batching) than creating unique material instances.

public class PlayerColorApplier : MonoBehaviour
{
public int playerID; // Assigned on Join
[SerializeField] private Renderer characterRenderer;

public void ApplyColor(Color playerColor)
{
    MaterialPropertyBlock mpb = new MaterialPropertyBlock();
    characterRenderer.GetPropertyBlock(mpb);
    mpb.SetColor("_BaseColor", playerColor); // Or "_Color" for built-in
    characterRenderer.SetPropertyBlock(mpb);
}
}

Technical Deep Dive: By using a ScriptableObject to hold your ColorPalette, you can inject that data into your UI and Particle Systems simultaneously. When Player 2 joins, the system pulls "Index 1" from the palette and broadcasts it to every component on that player's prefab.

2. The "Found" Effect (Systems Spotlight)

When a match starts, or a player respawns, they need an immediate visual "handshake." A tiny arrow isn't enough.

The System: Implement a temporary "Spotlight" or "Pulse" that triggers on spawn. We use a simple UI ring that shrinks toward the player and then disappears.

// Simple logic for a "Find Me" pulse
public void TriggerSpawnPulse()
{
GameObject pulse = Instantiate(pulsePrefab, transform.position, Quaternion.identity);
pulse.GetComponent<SpriteRenderer>().color = myPlayerColor;
// Tween scale from 5f to 0f over 0.5s
}

This small system solves the "where did I go?" problem instantly. If you combine this with a World-Space Canvas that follows the player but "floats" above them, you give the player a constant anchor point.

3. Mapping HUDs Dynamically (Architecture Pattern)

Don't create four separate HUDs in your scene and try to find them. Instead, use a UI Manager that maps Player IDs to "UI Slots."

Architecture Principle: The Player should notify the UI of its existence, not the other way around. Using a Dictionary<int, PlayerHUD> allows you to support any number of players (1 to 4) without manually toggling UI elements on and off.

This keeps your gameplay logic decoupled from your UI. Your PlayerHealth script just calls an event, and the UIManager knows exactly which corner of the screen needs to shake.

4. The Squint Test (Game Design Theory)

Color is a secondary identifier. Silhouette is primary. If you turn your game to grayscale and can't tell Player A from Player B, your design is failing the "Chaos Test."

• Varying Heights: One heavy character, one slim character.
• Distinct Headshapes: Helmets, hats, or glowing eyes help track movement.
• Exaggerated Animations: Each character should have a different "run" profile.

The Rule: In a 4-player brawl, players rely on peripheral vision. If they have to focus their eyes directly on their character to know what they're doing, they've already lost the match.

5. The "Readability Checklist" (Save This)

Before you ship a demo, run through this list with four people on the couch. If any of these are "No," you have a UX bottleneck.

• Spawn Recognition: Can I find my character right away after spawning?
• Health Clarity: Can I see my HP without looking away from the action? (Use world-space bars!)
• Action Feedback: Is it clear who just dealt damage and who just took it?
• Off-Screen Handling: Do off-screen indicators clearly show who is off-screen (by color/icon)?

Designing for the "shared space" means designing for the lowest common denominator of focus. Make it bold, make it bright, and make it unmistakable.

// When you are ready

Local Space is a production of Faktory Studios.
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