Planet time

[Harakeen]

Was looking around the lorescape and i got interested about the K-9WD Gamma time clock.

From lorescape 3:

“Length of day: (one full rotation based on Earth Standard Time (EST))
 18.41 hours”

“Length of year: (one complete orbit around the star)
 421.27 Local days ........... 323.15 Earth days”

So this means that we gonna have an unic in game time (no GMT+5, GMT-8) and celebrate the new year sooner (41.85 days to be more precise)?  Hehe 

[Hamilton]

You know...  I think I'll let you the players figure that out.  Its going to be your world, so should Earth Standard Time (EST) be used or just use the 18.41 hours of K-9WD as a day (with more days in a standard month), or both?  And how would the times of other worlds be done?

A good source to read about that dilemma is the novel Red Mars.  Mars has 24 hour and 39 minutes per day.  Fortunately 39 minutes isn't much to worry about really, it just means another 39 minutes worth of sleep...

[Harakeen]

Personally i prefer the 18.41 hours of K-9WD planet, because it will give us a better sensation that we are in an alien world.

And how would the times of other worlds be done?

Hmm...i leave that for the physicists 

[Falcon]

In a 'world' of interstellar travel, any watch/clock/timekeeping apparatus should ideally have a minimum of two time displays. Local Time, and Standard Time. Standard time should be the same universally, for the convenience of the interstellar traveller, while local time is decided by where you are, and how the authorities have decided local time should be measured. Calendars should also have this dual measure.

[stratzvyda]

I'd prefer the 18.41 time so that people who have jobs etc. wouldn't be locked into only night missions 

[Kellzz]

I agree on the 18.41 hours.
I have a question on lighting though. Lets say that teleportation has been developed, i teleport from on side of the planet (day) to the other side, will that side have night? Or is there some sort of mapping issue that prevents that?

As terraforming continues, will the planet start to experience seasons?
What about a calender? Will there be months? or some other unit of measurement?

[Hamilton]

So far a dynamic skybox has not been applied, so there is no change of day/night.  That is to be addressed however.  As to how a dynamic skybox will work with such a large map... I don't know really.  I would like to say that it is possible for some places to have light and other places would be dark.  But there may be just a single global setting...  of course the easy way out would be to use zones and forgo having a single seamless world...

Seasons are expected for use when terra-forming efforts reach that point.

For calender or time keeping, hummm...  well depends if the scale of time is set to a 1:1 ratio; but the time scale may change to a 1:4 ratio (one second of game time equals to four seconds of real time).  This is to allow for fighters to reach speeds past supersonic otherwise "rubber-banding" occurs when using a 1:1 scale.  That is just one example.
But when using a different time scale, then a game world to real world calender is not possible. 
I guess we could use two calenders; real world and game world...  A good question though, need some more thought to that.

[Kellzz]

So far a dynamic skybox has not been applied, so there is no change of day/night.  That is to be addressed however.  As to how a dynamic skybox will work with such a large map... I don't know really.

I was having the same thoughts.
The simple way of thinking is, "Just make the planet stationary and the sky box rotate around the planet, or vice versa." but then you remember how big everything will be and... yea..

I dont know how familiar you or the other devs are with the unreal editor, but here goes. (another lame dev idea!)
UED uses torches to place lighting. you can use small torches to fine tune lighting or huge torches to cover entire areas. Could these "torches" (talking FOA now) be programmed to dim after a time, and re-ignite after another time?
All you are left with now is just the animation of the sun(s)/moon(s)

  But there may be just a single global setting...  of course the easy way out would be to use zones and forgo having a single seamless world...

pfft.
thats the easy way out! And detracts from the immersion of being on another planet.

But when using a different time scale, then a game world to real world calender is not possible. 
I guess we could use two calenders; real world and game world...  A good question though, need some more thought to that.

Im sure some of the hopefuls here have some ideas on how to arrange a calender with the 400 some odd days involved.

[/quote]

[texmechs]

Not sure why Ham missed this, but....

The top of K9-WD is locked in perpetual daylight, while the southern pole is shrouded in an icy darkness that lasts forever.  If you want dark, hook up with an ice grousing posse and head down south to rustle up some drinking water.   

I'm for the dual clock/calendar system as well. 

[Kellzz]

But that still does not solve the dynamic lighting issue.



If the planet does have to have zones to solve the issue of one side of the planet being night, while the other side is experiencing daytime, design the planet as a polyhedron.
since we will be on the ground, its not like we can tell it isnt a perfect sphere, and when space exploration opens up, im sure that will be its own deal, so the texture that is the planet will be a sphere.
Unless space and atmosphere will be as one. (which if i recall was mentioned that space will be a separate zone.)

[texmechs]

But that still does not solve the dynamic lighting issue.

Yeah, it solves it perfectly.  The "north pole" points directly at the sun, and therefore 3/4 of the planet is in perpetual daylight.  The southern pole is constantly dark.

No zones, but there is a surprise in there.  Somewhere.   

[Kellzz]

oh okay. Hamilton had me thinking that it wasnt, and that it was something that still needed to be solved.

As to how a dynamic skybox will work with such a large map... I don't know really.  I would like to say that it is possible for some places to have light and other places would be dark.  But there may be just a single global setting...  of course the easy way out would be to use zones and forgo having a single seamless world...

apperantly i fail at making pictures. the one i tried to post was 640x480, but when i posted it, it would explode to 1024x768