Thanks for playing! Do you think it would be better with an upcoming window in the middle and an indicator of which side they will drop or two small ones that are on the edges of the room displaying the drops for that side?
352 days ago(+1)
Could work, yes. It might be a bit too much information though. When having the complete information, the player will be able to prepare everything before the drop and it might not be so enjoyable (there would be no surprise, nothing to react to).
I was personally thinking about some indicator on top of the screen where exactly something will enter the screen. It would appear only a few moments before the minions drop. Then you’ll do some playtesting and if it is still not enough, you can play with the timing, or even add different indicators for various minions.
I was trying to find some examples. There are several games (side scrollers or similar genres) that utilize something like this. It is there to prepare the player to react to something that will enter the scene momentarily. The only example I could find from the top of my head was Jetpack Joyride:
There are exclamation marks in the locations where a projectile is about to enter the scene.
Exclamation Marks would be a great way to warn the player without giving away too much information! Perhaps I could have three different versions signifying small to great danger. This way I can still prepare the player without fully revealing my hand and maintaining a bit of panic and tension. I do plan on updating and hopefully releasing an android version after the jam ends. Thanks for the feedback, it means a lot! :)