I'm making a post-apocalyptic text adventure in Unity. One of the gameplay features I've added is a quick time events on certain parts. Whether a part is a quick time event is defined inside the story json data like this:
"PartName": {
"text": "",
"choices": {
},
"timer": { // if this key exists, the timer event will be triggered..
"time": "10",
"nextPart": "" //what part it goes to when the timer ends.
},
"background": "" //background of part
},
When the timer runs out, you'll be forced into a part where the player dies or a unfavorable decision is made that will effect you later on in the game.
Here's a screenshot of a part that contains a quick time event:
Notice anything? The timer is the circle(radial timer) in the right hand corner. My main problem is trying to make sure players know there's a quick time event happening. These will be rare occurrences since I don't want to over-do them(ex: a quick time event every couple of parts) so I feel like the average player will not know that there's a quick time event.
One way I've thought of addressing this issue is by stating what a quick time event looks like in the how-to-play section of my menu, but since that's "locked" away by a button (you have to click a button to get to the section), people may just skip it entirely since text adventures aren't really known for the most complex controls in gaming.
Other ways I've thought of addressing it:
Music cues
pros: I have complete control over what music I can put there
cons: Since some parts have a defined background music, it might not be noticed by the player
Background tints (changing color of background)
- pros: Easily noticeable change and will be unique only to timed parts.
- cons: Might look ugly or players may not notice the significance of why the background suddenly changed color
Large timer in the middle of the screen
- pros: Easily noticeable and players will notice it's a timer
- cons: May be obscured by a text and or look ugly.
So I need help either deciding which the best course of action will be to address the issue from the list above over