View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0009100Valley 1Suggestion - UI IdeasAug 17, 2012 4:30 pm
Reporterlavacamorada Assigned To 
Status consideringResolutionopen 
Product Version1.203 
Summary0009100: Make it easier to tell the time of day
DescriptionCurrently, it is rather annoying to use spells that only work at a particular time of day. You have to cast Sunrise or Nightfall every time it becomes night or day, and it isn't obvious when that is (for example, the sun can be visible when it's night, and you have to press Escape to look at the clock). This also means that Sunrise or Nightfall takes up an extra slot in your action bar.

I propose adding an option in the UI to automatically cast Sunrise and Nightfall. If this option is enabled, you attempt to cast a spell with an "Only Works During the Day" or "Only Works During the Night" modifier, it's the wrong time of day, and you have whichever of Sunrise and Nightfall is appropriate in your inventory, then you cast Sunrise or Nightfall instead of the spell that you were trying to cast.
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightFeature Suggestion

Activities

lavacamorada

Aug 17, 2012 1:25 am

reporter   ~0027724

The UI option no longer makes sense in 1.206 (since you can now cast the spell even if it's the "wrong" time of day), but it's still a problem that there's no convenient way to tell what time it is. A couple of possible solutions (not necessarily mutually exclusive):

1) Make a clock that is visible without going to the Escape menu;
2) Display a message like "Spell Power Reduced During Day/Night" when you cast the spell, similar to the message you get when a monster is resistant to one of your spells.

Pyrrhic

Aug 17, 2012 4:30 pm

reporter   ~0027732

If you're anywhere but outdoors (meaning inside caves or buildings), I believe it's completely impossible to tell the time of day. You can manage if you're outdoors (judging by whether the background and natural light are bright / getting brighter, or dark / getting darker), but even then it can be a little hard to tell during dusk & dawn. (That said, I don't know if this will significantly change with the upcoming graphical update).

1) An in-game clock would be effective (and also pretty easy to implement), but also runs the risk of confusing the player: The current "real" time is displayed in the message log, and if there's another clock elsewhere, that might get confusing.

2) This seems like the simplest way to get around this. I'd suggest that attention be paid to whether saying that seems to clutter the UI, but I expect that it wouldn't really.

If case the devs are considering just doing away with these daytime/nighttime affected spells: I tentatively advise against that, as this system seems like the foundation for other day/night differences (different monsters coming out at different times, for example). I think getting rid of this would make future day/night effects seem more abrupt.
On the other hand, if that possible future-abruptness isn't a big deal, then maybe removing these effects is the way to go.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Aug 2, 2012 8:28 am lavacamorada New Issue
Aug 2, 2012 8:42 am tigersfan Internal Weight => Feature Suggestion
Aug 2, 2012 8:42 am tigersfan Status new => considering
Aug 17, 2012 1:25 am lavacamorada Note Added: 0027724
Aug 17, 2012 1:26 am lavacamorada Summary Option to auto-cast Sunrise/Nightfall => Make it easier to tell the time of day
Aug 17, 2012 4:30 pm Pyrrhic Note Added: 0027732