Time Mechanic

[MasterLagger]

What do you guys think about having Time implemented in a game? Like if the game can switch from Day to Night using an event allowing some NPC's to be added or removed? I've been toying with the idea in my project, but I'm curious what others think about it.

 

[Omnimental]

In games with a slower paced plot, a day/night cycle can be a great addition if implemented properly.  Day/night cycles in games with a faster plot tend to make less sense, because they just highlight the fact that yes, your best friend is being held by the BBEG, but you just spent two weeks picking flowers to get that really cool hat.

I think the best way I've ever seen a time mechanic handled was in Majora's Mask.  Granted, that only worked because of artefacts introduced by the plot (the ocarina, the moon, Termina as a whole...), so it might not be suitable for your game.

Now, if it's a timed game mechanic (ala Pikman)... no thank you.

 

[MasterLagger]

The change of time that I'm experimenting with in my project is triggered by resting in a bed in the protagonist's house or at an Inn. Kind of similar to Skyward Sword, except the player isn't limited to a small area to explore.

 

[kerbonklin]

As long as there's plenty of nifty things that involve events based on the current time, or even possible enemies that appear at certain times.

Also for future replier-reference, this discussion is not aimed towards time-travel by the looks of it.

 

[Tai_MT]

Time mechanics need to be a major feature of the game if you are implementing them at all.  That means, they need to do more than simply change the tint of the screen and close down shops.

My opinion on these things has always been "never implement a feature in a game unless you plan on doing a lot with it".  If you don't think about making something a major feature in a game, it's just a gimmick that most people will neither care about nor remark upon.  Unless, of course, it's done badly.

 

[Eschaton]

Does your game need day and night? Only you can answer that.

 

[MasterLagger]

Time mechanics need to be a major feature of the game if you are implementing them at all.  That means, they need to do more than simply change the tint of the screen and close down shops.

My opinion on these things has always been "never implement a feature in a game unless you plan on doing a lot with it".  If you don't think about making something a major feature in a game, it's just a gimmick that most people will neither care about nor remark upon.  Unless, of course, it's done badly.

Certain areas and situations can be only accessed or seen at night. Same goes with during the day. I do have other things I want to try (changing monsters that appear, possible environment changes, the list goes on). If I can't do most of the stuff I want to try with the time feature, I'll probably scrap it.

 

[Eschaton]

If you have a time feature for the sake of immersion, then your NPCs need to keep schedules. At night, shops need to be closed, bars need to be full, and NPC houses need to be locked.

Go the extra mile, not the extra inch.

I swear, that sounded better in my head.

 

[MasterLagger]

Yeah, I already made Day and Night switches to control NPC's spawning and doors that are affected by the time of day. Houses and other buildings are locked at night, usually. But wouldn't bars be empty instead of full at night? But, then again, I've never been to a bar at night so I guess I'll take your word for it.

 

[Omnimental]

Bars fill up after people get off work.  Having a nice drink and socializing after a hard day's work.  They won't be there until morning comes, but they'll be there.

Honestly, I'd suggest instead of day/night for your triggers go day/day/night.  First day segment is 08:00-16:00, this is when shops are open.  Second day is 16:00-24:00, this is when people close shop and head to the bar.  Night would be 24:00-08:00.  This is when people are asleep at home.

 

[MasterLagger]

I think I'll try that out. It gives me a few more ideas to work with as well.

 

[Eschaton]

Bars are usually open to 3 or 4 AM.  Unless the students/servicemen have a curfew, in which case these bars would close around 12.

 

[Ocedic]

Day/Night adds life to your game, but it can also be distracting and feel superfluous if it's just added as an afterthought. I felt the N64 Zelda games did a great job of implementing day/night, especially since time played an important part in the game's story/gameplay.

 

[C-C-C-Cashmere]

@Ocedic Majora's Mask is a fantastic example of a great time system.

Stick RPG 2 is another fantastic example of a well-functioning time system that people often overlook. That or other dating sims that use the time function.

Time is used in the game to limit the amount of actions you can do each day. So say you do an action that takes 1 hour, then 1 hour will be taken off your time. But it isn't realtime, so the time won't tick down when you're walking around and stuff. This is probably more useful in a time-dependent gameplay setting, however I recmomend you play the game anyway to give you some ideas.

 

[MasterLagger]

I've added an Afternoon switch to the game. This also gave me the idea to add part-time job mini-games for the player to earn some money. It'll also make time pass after the player finishes the mini-game.

 

[Zeriab]

I really love the way time is implemented in Achron. It requires you to think in such strange ways.

 

[aozgolo]

In games highly dependent on time, I think they are a great addition, such as the Harvest Moon series where time management is a core gameplay aspect. In a linear story though it tends to muddy things up since time is generally abstract and the amount of time you spend on inventory, battle, or even wandering the field isn't necessarily indicative of how much time the character actually spent doing those activities and is usually easily brushed under the rug for the sake of story. It also allows for greater immersion to NOT have a time mechanic in certain stories where you can frame your narrative by means of time of day, certain events happening specifically at night for example.

If implemented in only situational places it can become a scrappy mechanic, while some may have enjoyed the time-based missions/battles in Final Fantasy VII, I found them unnecessary and a rather cheap way of adding tension or challenge.

So if your game is more laidback and less quest-driven then I think time-based gameplay works well, while I know some more modern RPGs use real time like The Elder Scrolls to rather great effect, there's a considerable difference in engine, and the RPGMaker Engine isn't really best suited to that style of gameplay.

I'm a big proponent of having your systems line up. If you have a turn based battle system which is based off planning and tactics for example, don't include Quick Time Events (QTE) in your game. If you have time move freely forward and responding AI packages to time of day, either incorporate that as a primary system similar to Harvest Moon or perhaps plan on having a mostly action based game.

 

[MasterLagger]

The time in-game isn't going to be moving like time in the real world. But it's not going to be like FFVII either. I think Time can be a factor in 'quests,' but it depends on how it's used and how the player uses it.

For example: Say there's a location only accessed at night that has undead monsters roaming around. After exploring and opening a shortcut in that area, the player can now access the area during daytime (sleeping in a bed would trigger time to pass), which removes the threat of undead enemies, but may add other obstacles to overcome.

Sadly, I haven't thought out combat. I can makes enemies attack and kill the player in the overworld, but I don't like the idea of having turn based battles pop-up while trying to figure puzzles out. (My game is more focused on problem-solving.)