A Video Game Interface Element found mainly in Stealth-Based Games and Role-Playing Games that offer stealth as a possible venue: a graphical indicator how well-hidden from the enemies the Player Character currently is. Can range from realistic, possibly even diegetic, measuring things like the surrounding's illumination level and how much noise you make, to outright magical, telling you exactly what's going on in the enemies' heads (that is, whether they actually notice you or not). Alternatively, it can be a temporary fixture added to the interface for a single Stealth-Based Mission.
See also Wanted Meter, which shows how much the law enforcement wants to find you. Sub-Trope of Status Line (a display element showing the current disposition of the player, e.g. score, health, ammo, etc).
Examples:
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Action-Adventure Games
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has an Audibility Meter that serves the same purpose. Many enemies are just as receptive to nearby sounds as much as Link keeping out of cover, so there's always a noise meter in the bottom-right corner displaying how much sound he's making while moving around. Any time he does anything to dampen his ambient output (such as equipping items that create less noise or being buffed with stealth elixirs), it will be reflected in the meter to let players know that they have more room for error.
- The DS version of Ratatouille has an "Exposure" Meter that appears depending on if you're being seen by humans. When is it yellow, the player is now visible to either Mabel or Skinner. Once the meter is full, the player will have tomatoes thrown at them.
First Person Shooters
- In most parts of the Battlefield 4 single player campaign, enemies aren't aware the player is infiltrating them. However, as he exposes himself, a small white arc with a sound effect starts fading in and expanding, relative to the enemy's position. The sound effect abruptly stops and the indicator gains a solid color style (alongisde a small horizontal stretch) as enemies rally from all places and start firing at the player. Depending on the cover and the enemy's difficulty level (affecting his detection / reaction ability), the cue might appear faster, and can turn into "you're found out" mode all of a sudden.
Role-Playing Games
- Both The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim make use of an eye symbol that replaces your aiming crosshair at the center of the screen when you go into stealth mode, which opens wider the more attention you have drawn from enemies and other creatures. When the eye is fully open, you have been detected. Stealth is crucial for those who play thieves (who steal from others) and assassins (who kill people from stealth).
- Like with the Elder Scrolls examples above, starting with Fallout 3 the Fallout series make use of a stealth indicator that appears while crouching and indicates if you've been dectected. This version takes the form of text, showing "hidden" if no one can see you, "detected" if a non-hostile NPC is currently aware of your presence, "caution" when a hostile is searching for you but hasn't found you yet, and finally "danger" when a hostile NPC is aware of your presence.
Simulation Games
- The MicroProse flight simulators F-19 Stealth Fighter and F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter 2.0 had a "EMV" (Electro Magnetic Visibility) indicator, showing how stealthy your plane was flying. Low speed, low altitude, and a level flight path made for a lower EMV. This would be set against the radar strengths of enemy SAM and airborne radars.
Stealth-Based Games
- Dishonored displays an enemy's awareness of your presence with an icon. When the icon turns fully white, the enemy will go on alert. When the icon turns red, it means you've been spotted.
- Divinity: Original Sin II: While the player character is in sneak mode, neutral and enemy characters' fields of vision are shown as red cones, even if the character themself isn't yet visible to the player. Stealth is broken when the PC moves into a sight cone while not invisible.
- Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell has a "stealth meter": a slider that shows how exposed he currently is. Justified by the fact that the stealth meter is one of Sam's in-universe gadgets connected to dozens of light sensors sewn into his stealth suit that dynamically measure the illumination around him. in Chaos Theory the meter is expanded to include the amount of sound Sam is making against the ambient noise of the environment.
- The Thief games feature the Light Gem, shown on the bottom of the screen to tell how visible Garret is. When Garret sits still and hides in darkness, the gem turns dark and he is as well-hidden as it gets; when he stands up, starts moving or breaks cover, it turns bright yellow which means he can get caught. In Deadly Shadows it also functions as a compass, which was a separate item in the previous games.
- In Hitman (2016) when Agent 47 is trespassing, or performs other illegal tasks, a small arrow will appear around him to point on a person that might spot you. The arrow will become bigger and more oppaque the more likely the person is to spot you. If you are spotted you get a notification and the arrows disappear.
Survival Horror Games
- 3D Monster Maze: You will receive different warnings depending on how close Rex is to you. From farthest to closest: "REX LIES IN WAIT", "HE IS HUNTING FOR YOU", "FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING", "REX HAS SEEN YOU" and "RUN HE IS BESIDE/BEHIND YOU". Notable for being possibly the very first instance of this trope, ever.
- Mr. Hopp's Playhouse: You have one labeled "Status", which can go from "Hidden" (green) to "Visible" (yellow) to "Danger" (red) depending on where you are and how much noise you make. As of Mr. Hopp's Playhouse 2, this has been upgraded to an actual volume meter that will either increase or decrease depending on how much noise you make.
Wide Open Sandboxes
- One mission in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has you tail a reporter, with a Spook-O-Meter that goes up if you get too close. If too high, the reporter runs off and the mission fails.
- Far Cry 3 has an onscreen indicator showing when an enemy spots you, how well they can see you, and which direction they are seeing you from. This carries over to Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
- The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series includes two separate bars to depict detection, though it's absent in Clear Sky only to return in Call of Pripiyat. One is a simple measure of how much noise you're making, while the other tells you if a hostile has detected you. The latter fills in as an enemy first spots you, being full when a hostile is actively in combat mode.
- Watch_Dogs 2 has this as well, as when inside a restricted area and in someone's line of sight. The more Marcus stays exposed, the more the indicator grows, then it blinks and induces a cover status change, signaling Marcus has been busted. More often than not, enemies are scattered as individuals who can be easily taken out one by one, keeping the situation under control.
