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Many survival games such as Rimworld will announce when significant events happen in-game. For example, when a raid, a disaster or a significant event occurs, the game will send a notification and even allow the game to be paused for the played to read about what's about to happen.

I'm also making a procedurally-generated survival game where nights will be prime opportunities for terrifying night creatures to spawn. There might be a few of them spawning, or a whole pack of them capable of presenting a serious threat to the current playthrough.

My main priority is keeping the game immersion high, but I also think having the game announcing major events may create more tension and excitement for the players because they know something significant is about to happen. However, I'm worried that it might break immersion and realism and perhaps give away information that should've been discovered naturally (such as the player not knowing how many night creatures are about to attack, or when).

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of announcing certain events happening, and when should they be used?

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    \$\begingroup\$ This sounds like a decision sensitive enough to the particulars of the experience that you'd want to playtest it. Design a set of questions that measure how much players are feeling what you want them to feel in your game, and test your game with and without these notifications. Check whether there's a statistically significant change in the reported scores between the two versions. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 12, 2021 at 20:08
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    \$\begingroup\$ Have you considered non-textual signals instead of announcements? Say a sound effect(ie howling monsters) or mini-cinematic(ie BoTW Blood moon) or notable graphic change(ie shifting the bg/screen color dramatically). \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 12, 2021 at 21:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SomethingSImple Yes. This was the main idea I had as a complete replacement for the event announcements. Could still do the trick but isn't as obvious. Thanks! \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 5:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ @DMGregory Thanks for the reminder, I'll definitely do it in the future, but right now I was more interested in theory since I don't have enough content to test it with people. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 5:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ It sounds to me like you already understand the potential benefits and risks in theory. The unknown is whether those benefits are worth the risks in practice, in the particular context of your specific game and the audience it attracts and your unique goals for the experience. So what I think you're likely to get from answers here is opinion. We just don't have a theory precise enough to predict the exact emotional responses of players, down to whether anticipation of the unknown or dread of the known-but-unseen is more enjoyable in this play context. That may well vary between similar games. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 11:22

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Announcing events has two purposes, and both boil down to giving the player the information they need when they need it.

One is to explain to the player what is going on. Rimworld, for example, is a game which lacks the visual language to tell the player that the block of rock which suddenly appeared on the map was a meteorite impact, or whether the group of people who just appeared at the edge of the map are here to trade or to fight. So the easiest solution is to simply tell the player what just happened, so they can properly contextualize what they see.

Another is to grab the players attention when it is required. A lot of disasters require that the player reacts to them immediately. When the player is currently micromanaging a complicated construction project on the east-side of their base, then they would not notice that a hostile raiding party appeared on the west-side a minute ago and that they already killed half of their people. Sure, you could try to train the player to regularly look around the map, and after a couple frustrating game-overs they might even start doing that. But making the player unable to focus on anything because they need to be always vigilant might not be the playstyle you are going for. So when an emergency situation occurs which requires that the player deals with it immediately, then the game should tell them.

Some disasters might require the players attention not just when they happen but even before. This is the case when the disaster requires that the player takes preparation. For example, an especially strong raid might warrant an early warning if no reasonable player can be expected to be prepared for it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks, this clears it up for me and gave me an idea. In my game, there are lifeline sensor chips built into every character. If they get attacked, instead of sending a regular event notification, I could inform the player that the "stress levels" of a particular characters are exceeding norms, therefore not breaking immersion. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 20:43
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A balanced approach could be some in-game mechanism that lets the player know the event is happening. e.g. An item that tells the player if a pack of creatures are spawning or perhaps a change in lighting or music. This would allow for the player to receive the information without breaking immersion.

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