If you are really interested in how to support many display settings, look into good web design. The graphical tricks that are used in web design can be applied to anything. That is one of the best places to look. Again, you can also look towards how OSs handle things.
Making things doc to the left and right and center of a bar, that never needs more space than the minimum. Also, evenly spaced items on a bar, these are good HUD options.
Showing more of the playing field can effect gameplay, if it doesn't have a large effect, you can do that. If that would have an effect, another option is something like what Ultima Online does. It has an 800 by 600 pane, that you can move around like a window. It has all the other tools as floating windows. This kind of thing was done a lot back when resolution was much smaller. Sim Tower, Sim City 2000.
These are all good options.
Don't lock yourself into traditional view schemes. If the game is single player and having a bigger view will effect the gameplay. That is of much smaller concern than in a multiplayer game.
It is part of the game design. Gameplay isn't just genre, story, and details. It is everything.
Making things doc to the left and right and center of a bar, that never needs more space than the minimum. Also, evenly spaced items on a bar, these are good HUD options.
Showing more of the playing field can effect gameplay, if it doesn't have a large effect, you can do that. If that would have an effect, another option is something like what Ultima Online does. It has an 800 by 600 pane, that you can move around like a window. It has all the other tools as floating windows. This kind of thing was done a lot back when resolution was much smaller. Sim Tower, Sim City 2000.
These are all good options.
Don't lock yourself into traditional view schemes. If the game is single player and having a bigger view will effect the gameplay. That is of much smaller concern than in a multiplayer game.
It is part of the game design. Gameplay isn't just genre, story, and details. It is everything.