Toontown HUD
The HUD offers many indicators as to what is going on in the world around your character and what actions are available. The HUD changes depending on your situation and status in the game - changing both graphically and in function.
The "cow" icon indicates that the catalog is available at your "home," and there is new content available to you. Once you complete this task (ie. go to your home and call the catalog on your phone) the icon disappears. The icon next to it is the friend icon. While this icon doesn't change in appearance, it's function changes as you make friends with other player characters. Even if you can't see your friends, you can open this menu and chat with them, go to them, or make them a "best friend," which is only available to paying subscribers.
Another important HUD feature is the player character indicators that float around the perimeter of your perspective. These "icons" contain the name of the player character and an arrow that points in their direction in relation to your camera's position.
The chat icons in the upper-left corner of the screen are probably the most important in the game (depending on the players personal priorities). They allow you to communicate with other player characters in the Toontown world. If you sign up for the Speedchat Plus feature, then the blue icon will appear. This function allows the player to type in a personal message into a dialog box and when entered, will display above the avatar's head. The downside is that the vocabulary allowed by the software is very limited, often making it difficult to communicate. The green icon, on the other hand, only allows the player to choose words and phrases from a pre-approved list. Though limiting at time, this can be a quick way to get a point across.
Lastly, the health indicator, or the Laugh Meter, is located in the lower-left corner of the HUD. As your character takes "damage" in the game, the meter goes down. Though there is no graphical feedback (with the avatar) that shows your character is getting hurt or even "unhappy," this icon allows the player make decisions based on his or her current status.
I decided to check out this place in There called Hula Gulch because I heard there were zombies. It ended up being a "ghost town." I ended up chatting for a while - experimenting with the expressions and other chat options. After a while we got hot so we took off our clothes. Good times. Eventually we got bored and made our way to this supposedly haunted graveyard.
Next to the zombie arms was a sign that was exceptionally funny. I had to have spacerdead post for a screen shot. Even thought the graphics turned out to be a little dissapointing, the humor more than made up for it. It actually reminds me of a video game that came out some time ago called "Stubbs the Zombie" by Wideload Games.
