Real time for game time?

[Gustuv Wynd]

It has always driven me nuts that it takes me a better part of day to walk about a kilometer.

With all the methods to pass time...why do we need this accelerated time? Let me throw a wolf steak on the fire and have it actually take 45 minutes in the real world to cook so that I can go off and actually do something as the new cooking system intended. As it stands, I have to stay close since it will cook in a few minutes of real time. If I don't want to wait...click it and pass time. Every action we do passes time. Clean a fire arm...passes time...repair a sock...passes time...eat a whole jar of peanut butter in what amounts to 15 seconds of GAME time...passes time.

So any time we are actually doing anything...time makes no difference. It happens near instantly in real time. Why do we need time sped up so much while we are walking around? Our movement speed is probably something like one step every five seconds. It makes no sense. What was the original thinking of this? So we could see the hunger and thirst meters dropping faster? So people could get a higher days survived count faster? I don't see the point.

[Lenny Rat]

There is a way to change the game time in Custom settings; however, I have never used it. I have read reports of people changing it for the very reason you cite.

You might want to experiment with it.

[Gustuv Wynd]

Oh gosh...I completely misread what that setting did. I just looked at it and it seems it does slow time down. I was thinking it sped up time even more.

I've never played a custom game before...didn't want to mess with all the settings seeing as how they all default to something that would be near unplayable. Really this setting should be moved to a game setting. I just want to play Voyager or Interloper, but have time be normal. Looks like to do so I will have to research all the settings I need.

Though should this even be a setting? Why would any one actually want time accelerated? What purpose can it serve?

[Gustuv Wynd]

Oh gosh again...thought I'd try it quick at x4 day multiplier and realized that "Custom" at the top of the custom setting screen is not a title, but rather a menu that will fill in the standard templates. In my defense I have not messed with this much at all.

Any way...I selected Voyager and then set it to x4 (the max you can do). One minute in game is 20 seconds of real time. Still far short of what I'd like it to be, but even at x4 it is a whole new game. I spawned by the wolf's Cave in Desolation Point at night. So I popped my one flare you start with on Voyager and ran in to get the rifle since the wolf hasn't spawned yet. That one flare lasted me all through Hibernia and the Riken...that was incredible. Usually they are spent just going through a short cave.

However, 20 seconds per minute still doesn't let you venture too far from something cooking on the stove. Something that cooks in 12 minutes will cook in two. Not really enough time to explore the area or manage inventory or whatever. Once I start cooking meat I should get 15 to 20 minutes to multitask at least, but far from ideal.

What would be so wrong with 1 minute = 1 minute? The only thing I can think of that would be bad is that you do need to wait a bit before adding coal to a fire and there is currently no pass time option for that so that would need to be addressed. Though that is a dumb requirement anyway. A fire is a fire. Once it is burning it doesn't really matter if its been burning for one minute or 20.

[Lenny Rat]

Glad you checked it out...it is pretty common for the Custom settings to make folks nervous, especially since early builds had a lot of weird quirks that could sneak into your game if you changed TOO much.

However, as you mentioned, if you just set the baseline to the mode you like to play, then change just one or two aspects, you are good to go.

[IvantheFormidable]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

It has always driven me nuts that it takes me a better part of day to walk about a kilometer.

It's all about finding balance and to 'simulate' that the game world is larger than it actually is. What does it take to go from one end to the other of a single map? Probably 10-15 IRL minutes at most (assuming ideal conditions). Were one to place a map in the real world it would be tiny. Size of a couple city blocks I'd reckon. So by having it take longer in-game to cover the distance, it creates the illusion that the game's world is larger, and your character is covering much more ground (and using more resources like calories).

And it's also a balancing thing. If the game time were set to real time, you would be able to loot an entire map in well under a day, and resource management would be inconsequential. Imagine having to consume only 600 calories every 10-12 IRL hours in the game. Catch a salmon, and you're set for nearly 72 IRL hours.

As it stands, I can see the merit of a game having its timescale set to real time, but that would require a game nearly being built like that from the ground up.

That being said, that's why I'm glad that custom settings are included, so that folks can find their own balance with the tools given.

[Gustuv Wynd]

Originally posted by IvantheFormidable:

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

It has always driven me nuts that it takes me a better part of day to walk about a kilometer.

It's all about finding balance and to 'simulate' that the game world is larger than it actually is. What does it take to go from one end to the other of a single map? Probably 10-15 IRL minutes at most (assuming ideal conditions). Were one to place a map in the real world it would be tiny. Size of a couple city blocks I'd reckon. So by having it take longer in-game to cover the distance, it creates the illusion that the game's world is larger, and your character is covering much more ground (and using more resources like calories).

And it's also a balancing thing. If the game time were set to real time, you would be able to loot an entire map in well under a day, and resource management would be inconsequential. Imagine having to consume only 600 calories every 10-12 IRL hours in the game. Catch a salmon, and you're set for nearly 72 IRL hours.

As it stands, I can see the merit of a game having its timescale set to real time, but that would require a game nearly being built like that from the ground up.

That being said, that's why I'm glad that custom settings are included, so that folks can find their own balance with the tools given.

I don't think I really feel like the maps are bigger. The in game time doesn't factor in much since it just the real time passing that determines how big it feels. If I can get from one side to the other in 10 minutes real time...that's how long it takes. It's kind of hard to notice that the sun moved a certain amount. If anything it kind of makes days meaningless. Since I know I can't make it to a spot in a day no matter what, I don't even have any care if it is day or night...I just play like it is night all the time since that is what I have to deal with.

However, the resources usage doesn't tie into this at all...unless all you are doing is sitting still or walking around I guess. We are constantly passing time with every action we do. That would not go away. When you repair a coat and it takes an hour...in a couple seconds your thirst and hunger changes like an hour passed. If you read a skill book for five hours...in a couple seconds your hunger and thirst changes like five hours passed. We are CONSTANTLY passing time. Sure, I could loot a lot in a short time, but I will still use a lot in a short period of time since I will passing time for large share of my game play.

And if we aren't doing an action that passes time? Well, then I can go from one spot to another without having to carry all the water and food I will need for an entire day even though I am only walking about 100 meters. I will still need that food and water if I plan to do anything once I am there...but I could at least use what I carry there instead of having to use it all on the short walk there and then have to. This is even more important now since being overloaded is much more dangerous due to the new sprain system. Carrying the food and water you need for the trip there, for the time spent there, AND the trip back ins't really a viable option if you have to go up or down any hills.

And I don't think many people ever just sit there and do nothing for long without using the pass time option even with the accelerated time. So I don't think there would be changes there at all.

[IvantheFormidable]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

I don't think I really feel like the maps are bigger. The in game time doesn't factor in much since it just the real time passing that determines how big it feels. If I can get from one side to the other in 10 minutes real time...that's how long it takes. It's kind of hard to notice that the sun moved a certain amount. If anything it kind of makes days meaningless. Since I know I can't make it to a spot in a day no matter what, I don't even have any care if it is day or night...I just play like it is night all the time since that is what I have to deal with.

However, the resources usage doesn't tie into this at all...unless all you are doing is sitting still or walking around I guess. We are constantly passing time with every action we do. That would not go away. When you repair a coat and it takes an hour...in a couple seconds your thirst and hunger changes like an hour passed. If you read a skill book for five hours...in a couple seconds your hunger and thirst changes like five hours passed. We are CONSTANTLY passing time.

And if we aren't doing an action that passes time? Well, then I can go from one spot to another without having to carry all the water and food I will need for an entire day even though I am only walking about 100 meters. And I don't think many people ever just sit there and do nothing for long without using the pass time option even with the accelerated time.

The maps being bigger is simply part of the world building. If you don't think they feel bigger because it can take several in-game days to cross a couple of maps, that's fine. I'm just pointing out what one of the reasons could be.

As for the resource management thing, sure, the drain would be the same for passing time. But it would throw off the balance when you can loot an entire region in half a day.

Also, things like weather would be broken as well. It wouldn't matter what the temperature is outside unless you plan on doing something to pass time, and which point you could fill a fire with all the sticks you can gather without a care in the world for the cold. Hypothermia would be nearly inconsequential, since the drain from having your temperature bar low would move so slowly that it wouldn't be an issue anymore.

[Gustuv Wynd]

How would it throw the balance off because you can loot a lot quickly? For example, making one set of deer skin pants would use all the resources in a minute of real time. The only way it would matter is if you just sat around doing nothing and, like I said, people will probably be passing time through that.

In real life, the weather we face in the game is deadly in minutes. The temperture gauge already is dropping in real time or at least pretty close to it. If it were linked to the in game time we would be dead after a few steps at normal settings in some of the worst conditions.

[IvantheFormidable]

Originally posted by Gustuv Wynd:

How would it throw the balance off because you can loot a lot quickly? For example, making one set of deer skin pants would use all the resources in a minute of real time. The only way it would matter is if you just sat around doing nothing and, like I said, people will probably be passing time through that.

In real life, the weather we face in the game is deadly in minutes. The temperture gauge already is dropping in real time or at least pretty close to it. If it were linked to the in game time we would be dead after a few steps at normal settings in some of the worst conditions.

To your first point, it's because on most modes that aren't Interloper, crafted clothes is a luxury, not a necessity. Meaning that if you can loot an entire region in the day, crafting clothes wouldn't matter. Being able to loot an entire region in that amount of time would significantly remove the early game struggle, and even on Loper it would be much easier to get through the very early period if you can scour entire regions for only a couple hundred calories.

To your second point, the weather can be deadly in minutes, that's true. But the temperature gauge isn't dropping in real time, it's dropping in game time. Meaning that your character is outside and suffering the effects for a lot longer than the time we, as a player, observe. The point about whether or not the temperature drop would be appropriate in real time is moot, as my only contention here is that if the timescale were simply made to equal real life, then the timers would be greatly extended as they're tied to the timescale as well. It would require a team to go in and balance everything that occurs in 'real time' around this new scale. It's not a simple switch.