A load screen is a special screen that shows the progress of a game being loaded to the player. The a good load screen has three essential parts, the identification, the progress meter, and the freeze indicator.
The Identification
Its important to identify the load screen as a load screen, otherwise the player may not immediately recognize the other two elements, the progress meter and the freeze indicator. Placing the word "Loading…" somewhere on the screen is the bare minimum for load screen identification.
The Tip
Along with the load screen identification, you can optionally give the player a game tip about your game while he is waiting. This practice is considered good game design. Not only does it help your player understand how to play your game faster (especially those that don't read the manual), it makes the load screen a little less boring.
The Progress Meter
The progress meter shows how much of the game has been loaded, and hopefully, how much more needs to be loaded. This is used to give the player some idea of how much longer he has to wait before your game starts or resumes.
The Freeze Indicator
Sometimes, if your game is loading a large file, the progress meter appears to completely stop and make the player think that the game has frozen. To let the player know that your game is still running, you should include a freeze indicator.
A freeze indicator is nothing more than an animated image. 90% of the time, when the game freezes, the animated image will freeze as well. This doesn't work 100% of the time, but it is considered a good practice.
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