The idea is sound but that interface is horrid. What I’d suggest is to get rid of that silly sidebar direction indicator(I’ve never liked it), and just write the monster plus distance indicator at the edge of the map viewport. Instead of a number, you could have a little arrow(or rather, triangle character) that changes color depending on how close the monster is to actually crossing into the viewport.
CIB: I think that’ll be a great interface if we can make it work. How do you indicate what monster it is without making the player think it’s a real monster? The way I see it, the compass gives several important pieces of information at a glance, and we can’t lose them, at least without very good justification. Adding distance to the monster somehow would be a bonus.
Direction to the monster so you can navigate around them.
Identity of the monster so you know what monster it is.
Whether the monster is coming after you (highlighting compass direction and name of monster) (this is one that we maybe can lose)
What about showing the smallest number for the whole TYPE. E.g. three zeds to the south, min. distance 12 tiles(meters). So, just show color-coded 12m on the compass(same color as the zombie) and “Z-zombie” on the sidebar.
This way, the victim-players can see the threat without thinking about it(“That thing is too close!!”) and attack-players can see what to attack first(“That hulk is far away, but there are a splitter and a boomer nearby”)
Oh, and this distance thingy should be toggleable. I don’t think that crazy car-maniacs care where another soon-to-be-dead-again zombie will stand.
Off-topic: SLEEP.Damn insomnia. Everyone thinks I’m drunk while talking with me.