Day length

[SgtEmissary [Kane's Will]]

I'm curious what day length everyone plays and their overall thoughts. I love to theory-craft. I have been doing 1 hour days since I first played years ago and its been a fine balance for me so far. I have thought of maybe playing 30 minute days to simulate The Sims. In The Sims their days are 24 minutes long.

[sebu]

1 hour its my usual, sometimes i feel like 2 hours its better because you can do a lot more but if you in mp nights with 2 hour days feel like an enternity and i need that vitamin d.

[Shurenai]

2 hours, I like taking my time and not having to micromanage quite so much. More is way too slow(I don't know how anyone stomachs playing on 24hrs/realtime), less is way too fast.

[Autoro]

1-2 hours, depending on mood. Lately, I've leaned 2 hours.

[Shady Allie]

2 hours days is nice. in multiplayer it makes cooking drag on a bit though. no fast forward.

[Prowler™]

Night in zomboid varies a good amount tho...
During the night hours your vision cone is reduced significantly but the sunrise/sunset alter the light levels between 4am/6am and 7pm/9pm...the light level is also massively effected by weather and season.
You cannot see the sky box unless looking in reflections but if you leave the EBF radio channel on you will get detailed weather each day. Overcast, cloudy, storms make the night almost pitch black. Clear makes the night really bright. Thunderstorms light everything up also.
You can also adjust the darkness in the options menu if you wish...i make it even darker because my server uses better flashlights and night vision mods.

As for duration...2 hours is fine in multiplayer, it gives everyone lots of time to explore day or night. Sadly the weather system is not getting much love, i'd love to have more dynamic and engaging weather. Modifying the limits to make it more extreme hot/cold/dry/wet does mix things up a little...you have to wear more suitable clothing and monitor your body temperature.

In vanilla weather is super mild, you can wear whatever and not care at all.

[Armagenesis]

2 hours day is the sweet spot if you want to do a long game.

I personally have tried running a 3 hours day once. In a year, I have turned the entirety of Rosewood and March Ridge into a secure compound with walls surrounding their perimeter. Got a nicely decorated base in both towns. And almost looted them clean.

[LostSoul]

I don't like the standard short day, so I never play any of the default modes anymore. With 1 and 2 hour days, I always feel ridiculously rushed, especially when the game also expects me to routinely pick through hundreds of bodies for valuable resources.

I find 4 hours to be plenty of time to 'engage' with whatever I need to do. But I'm also certain I wouldn't feel the same way in MP.