How about if the above ideas are combined. If you put characters representing the sounds of different enemies on the four sides of the screen, using different colors for intensity (could represent distance and/or number), that would probably work. These characters would be displayed or changed anytime a sound would be played normally. The sound messages would be more thematic, but they would clog up the messages system, I think. This way, a quick glance at the sides, top, and bottom would give you the same information that you would get from hearing the sounds - general direction and proximity.
My main problem with this is that I'd like to see a very clean, relatively unobtrusive indication of sound, and your idea in its current incarnation will result in too many symbols popping up where none did before. I do agree that a clogged up message log is also contrary to our agenda.
To begin with, having one symbol per side seems to me the most convenient. Then, possibly, instead of (or in addition to, though I doubt that will be necessary) having a key to correspond with each direction, there could be one key which accesses a single screen, split in a 3x3 fashion, where each one of the 8 outer sections is an independent message log containing the, as you put it, thematic sound messages :) The central section could then be reserved for some other interesting feature we'll think up, possibly one requiring a trait to access.
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Topic: Substitute for sounds for the hearing impaired (Read 7381 times)