Game HUD

For my programming class I had to design a HUD to be used within my racing level.  I want it to be as simplistic as possible.  Below are some examples of my goals.

This is the speedometer of the car I modeled, it's for a Gallardo Superleggera.  Since it has a radial design I want to focus on matching that within my HUD.

In Crash Racing the HUD takes up very little room, and there are no numbers displayed, I feel this is especially nice for giving a sense of immersion since a number can make you question either if the game is lying to you, or make you feel as if you're going slow.

 I don't know the game this is from, but I liked how condensed all the information is.

 In Yoshi's Island, the life is displayed as a flower, it's confusing at first, but once you get hurt the petals fall out.  I want to play off this mechanic, so I'm going to have petal that become colored as you speed up.  The player might not understand at first when they're at the rest position, but once the player starts moving I feel it'll become apparent what the petals mean.  I plan on doing the same with my boost mechanic.

 

While it is simple, I believe this is a fine HUD for my level, it goes with the jungle theme, while also staying minimalistic.  The smaller leaves are for speed, they colorize as you speed up.  The larger leaves are for the boost, when you boost the leaves will disappear, then as the gauge refills, the leaves will come back.