Best and simplest way to make time pass

[Dymdez]

Does anyone have a simple method for making time pass that doesn't involve anything too in-depth? I wanted to add a system where the player can invest in a bank and get returns but I wanted a reasonable method measuring when the interest will accrue but couldn't come up with anything readily obvious to me -- any input is appreciated!

 

[Zevia]

You could do a clock with variables that's run via parallel process.

Create the variables Seconds, Minutes, Hours. In a parallel process, do a conditional branch that checks if Seconds is less than 60. If it is, then add 1 to Seconds. If not, then set Seconds equal to 0 and add 1 to Minutes. Then do a conditional that checks if Minutes is equal to 60. If it is, set Minutes equal to 0 and add 1 to Hours. At the end of it all, put in "wait 60 frames" (since 60 frames is 1 second).

What this will do is give you 3 variables that can tell you, not including battles (or menus, maybe? Not sure what scenes stop parallel processes), how many seconds, minutes, and hours have passed since you started the parallel process.

 

[Dymdez]

I would need at least one other factor or else someone could just leave the game running while they make dinner and then make like 1000 gold

 

[Mysticphoenix]

How about counting a walk step instead of time?

The player get x money every z steps.

 

[Knighteriius]

How about counting a walk step instead of time?

The player get x money every z steps.

And make it a lot of steps or else they'd spam the running buttons

 

[Dymdez]

How about counting a walk step instead of time?

The player get x money every z steps.

This is an excellent idea! Now I just need a good accrual formula I'm sure there's one around here..

 

[Zevia]

Yeah, there was a game I played where you could get money from an NPC and an ability gained more damage for each step you took - but that was pretty prone to being abused by just running in circles for awhile.

Perhaps you could set a maximum amount of gold that can be earned either via time or steps each screen? Something like, in your parallel process, there's a condition for switch MaximumReached = OFF. Each transfer to a new map sets "MaximumReached" to off. Then, in your parallel process that accrues money for each minute or hour or step or whatever, you have an additional variable that tracks how much gold they've made on that map, and once it reaches a certain amount, it turns "MaximumReached" on.

This would still be abuseable by anyone who knew that's how your system works, but it would prevent people from just going AFK in the case of time or running in circles in the case of steps. Or, if you go the step route, perhaps you can only earn money by walking in dungeons - so if they run in circles, they'll end up getting in a bunch of random battles.

 

[GrandmaDeb]

In the big picture, you may want to think about the progression of your game in general.


If your game progresses through distinct steps, or phases, you may very well be using a variable to track the progression through this and that variable can be used to allow interest to accumulate - or limit the accumulation of interest within a certain level just from walking around. =]


another way t do it is to allow interest to increase with status changes. When you level up, you get an interest payment.

 

[bgillisp]

Might and Magic 4 (and 5) did it where time passed per step in a city, dungeon, or overland map. I think it was 1 minute per step in town, and 10 minutes per step on the overland map? Maybe something like that could work? Though, they did also have the characters age, so if you did this too long your characters were too old to fight.

Or, you could just do where time passes at natural plot points only (for example, advance the game one week after you are done with the battle in the castle). It will be a little unrealistic, but it will stop the whole problem of leave the CPU on for 12 hours and become a millionaire.

 

[Dymdez]

I've developed this a little bit and I think I am going to heed the advice to consider character steps up to a limit. If anyones interested, if the player reaches a threshold amount of gold in their deposit account, they'll be robbed and will have to apprehend the thieves in an awesome quest (ff7 anyone?)

 

[Fredashay]

Earthbound used a system that you got money each time you leveled up. 

But I'd use a combination of time and steps.  For example, Zevia's clock runs only when the player is moving.  Then design your levels so that there aren't any long straight paths anywhere so the player can't just mash the walk keys while AFK.

 

[Wavelength]

I'd recommend having it work based on battles completed (or, if your game isn't meant to be battle-heavy most of the time, something like quests completed or places visited), rather than steps taken.  Some of your other details sound cool, though.

 

[Tsukihime]

When it comes to time systems, you should consider how time will affect your overall game.


If time will literally be based on how many steps you're taking, then you may need to take that into consideration when you design things like your dungeons, perhaps distances between different cities, and so on.


For example, if you're spending 50 in-game hours inside a dungeon, would that seem realistic?


Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. It largely depends on the rest of your mechanics and whether they have anything to do with time.


If the only thing that matters when it comes to time is just to accrue interest, then it is an easier problem to work with.