Your opinion -- Day and Night system

[zane203 8]

alright, so in my time system we have this:

 

every real life 5 minutes = 1 hour in game.

 

there are 24 hours a day in the game.

 

every 4 hours, changes the tint of the screen ; I.E. 6 stages of the day.

 

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Do you think i should add more subtle screen changes for the day?

 

the time system also include a connection to a energy, hunger, hygiene systems as well as some other stuff. but yeah what do you guys think about the multiple tints aside from the 6 stages.

 

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the 6 stages are some big difference in tints, while the subtle ones would be very little lol...

 

or what are your suggestions?

[Broken Messiah 20]

Well I doubt that anyone will play the game for 4 straight hours, so if I were you I would increase the speed of day/night so its more noticeable. In Oblivion I believe that for every 2 hours it was a day.

[zane203 8]

4 hours in game, not real life... lol

[Bob423 52]

or, how about you make every real second, one game minute, and every real minute, 1 game hour? and every game hour, the tint changes slightly, but not enough to notice, similar to how i never notice the gradual change in the amount of light outside, it just happens.

[FranklinX 37]

Five minutes is pretty shot for an hour. I would make it between every 10 to 15 minutes. Then again that will make me feel rushed. Is there anyway the game will save the "time" if the player decides to turn the game off?

[zane203 8]

I definitely dont want to do that. I started the system out that way the first time, but i didnt like making every minute a game hour. It didnt fit with making the different time of day exploration worth it.

 

but eh

 

[edit]

@Rated:

well i've never tested to see if wait commands actually save with-in the game, but because the game saves it's variables, i know for a fact that the game will save the stage of day.

 

keep in mind there's 24 hours a day in the game, so basically 1 day is 1hour and 25 mins lol. I doubt you'd feel rushed with that.

Edited May 24, 2011 by zane203

[ShinyToyGuns 29]

I recommend looking at other games with successful day/night systems for inspiration.

 

For instance, "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" uses a 1:30 ratio to decide the in-game time.

 

What does this mean? 1 minute real time = 30 minutes game time.

 

For more info, check the UESPWiki article

 

Good luck,

~Steven a.k.a. ShinyToyGuns~

[Bob423 52]

The 3D Zelda games have decent day/night systems. i don't know the time increments, but it's easier to tell in Majora's Mask since there is a clock.

[zane203 8]

Eh, i guess i'll just have to gage it from what testers will say after i release a beta testing demo for it.

 

The time consumer will come with the NPC programming. I plan to have a various unique set of conversations that change depending on your actions, and time of day, and even the state of the country that they reside in.