Monster status effects displayal rework

[sidav]

Currently, poisoned/irradiated/tormented/etc enemies just emit particles. This is not very readable. I think it's better to display some icon above their heads.

[tukkek]

One of the reasons Doom was so successful and is still being played 30 years later is its immersion. Adding arbitrary icons to the game world is a Pandora Box better left unopened.

A picture is worth a thousand words so what if Ubisoft made Elden Ring, https://old.reddit.com/r/Gamingcirclejerk/comments/tkhdk4/elden_ring_gud_ubisoft_bad/?

Unfortunately many developers go with this route and I genuinely find these unplayable, https://old.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/sc4glr/anybody_has_a_mod_for_this_hud_specifically_all/.

I hope this doesn't come across as an exaggeration but I feel strongly that a weapons module should not fundamentally alter how the game looks.

You could consider adding monster movement sound effects to represent the effects. This would enhance immersion rather than detract from it. You could use https://pixabay.com/sound-effects/ or even free AIs that can create sound effects.

I don't mind simple particle effects or even a color tint over monster sprites but if you want to do more please don't sacrifice Doom's excellent immersion. As they say, just because you can doesn't mean you necessarily should. Thanks for reading!

[Someone65]

That's an absolutely wild take but this is coming from somebody who plays DoomRPG... Still, it's kinda funny to bring up Ubisoft when the HUD for Doom you linked was for Doom's prototype, which predates any of this stuff.

I think icons would be fine if they were small yet readable. Nioh 2 and 3 do this by putting very small icons near the monsters' health bars (whether it be over their head or the full screen boss health bar) and it doesn't look any crazier than when the icons AREN'T there. What it DOES fail in is readability, as the icons are so ridiculously small and tinted red that you can't tell what any of them are without squinting real hard. I recommend when you implement tiny icons that are distinct not by their silhouette, but their color. Each of the status effect icons should have very distinct colors so there should be any dark orange and then red status effects or indigo and dark blue. If you really wanna go the extreme minimalist route, they can be literal circular dots if done this way.

[sidav]

That's an interesting take, but how should those statuses be displayed otherwise? Color tints are used for monsters' rarities as for now.