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**JeremyIV** · 12-21-2006, 06:38 AM

I was just thinking to myself...would it be possible for developers to create single player games with accurate night/day sequences and accurate seasons based on the user playing the game time/location?

ie. I'm playing "Max Payne 3" at 1:30am in the middle of winter. So in the game it's night time (no matter what level I'm on) because it is 1:30am where I am playing the game at, and it's snowing and all the in game characters are wearing "winter" time clothing because I am playing the game in December...make sense?

I understand that would be pretty hard for developers to do but is it possible with todays technology?

It'd be possible, but the more important question would be weather or not (ha, pun!) you actually want to have this in your game design. For instance, Max Payne's atmosphere is largely dependant on the blizzard that's present throughout the entire game. It's an integral part of the game design. Same with Far Cry: a lot of its appeal lies in the sunswept island vistas. You don't want what's essentially a pretty random weather pattern ruining a game that's designed with a particular atmosphere and feel in mind.

Some games could be suited towards weather effects that accurately mirror the real world, but even then it's doubtful it'd be a very meaningful feature. Whether or not the in-game weather is dependant of in-game random weather, or real-life random weather doesn't matter much: so long as the game world is believable.

Grand Theft Auto comes to mind as a game suited for "real" weather, as the games emulate a world we could be living in right now (GTA3 in particular). However, you'd have to wonder, if it's winter... Do you really want a GTA3 stuck in winter just as long as real life, or would you prefer an artificial pattern, possibly an evolved version of the random patterns that are done now? And if you'd apply a "switch" to choose between random, pre-set or real weather in practice it'd come down to most people using one particular mode with the other two becoming useless "fluff" features.

Technically it's possible, perhaps even in the advanced state you portray (in-game character behaviour, world physics, aesthetics adapt to local weather changes), but the more important question is: does it fit with the game design and, considering it's a game, is it desirable?

12-21-2006, 06:38 AM	#15
JeremyIV Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 393 Senior Member	I was just thinking to myself...would it be possible for developers to create single player games with accurate night/day sequences and accurate seasons based on the user playing the game time/location? ie. I'm playing "Max Payne 3" at 1:30am in the middle of winter. So in the game it's night time (no matter what level I'm on) because it is 1:30am where I am playing the game at, and it's snowing and all the in game characters are wearing "winter" time clothing because I am playing the game in December...make sense? I understand that would be pretty hard for developers to do but is it possible with todays technology? It'd be possible, but the more important question would be weather or not (ha, pun!) you actually want to have this in your game design. For instance, Max Payne's atmosphere is largely dependant on the blizzard that's present throughout the entire game. It's an integral part of the game design. Same with Far Cry: a lot of its appeal lies in the sunswept island vistas. You don't want what's essentially a pretty random weather pattern ruining a game that's designed with a particular atmosphere and feel in mind. Some games could be suited towards weather effects that accurately mirror the real world, but even then it's doubtful it'd be a very meaningful feature. Whether or not the in-game weather is dependant of in-game random weather, or real-life random weather doesn't matter much: so long as the game world is believable. Grand Theft Auto comes to mind as a game suited for "real" weather, as the games emulate a world we could be living in right now (GTA3 in particular). However, you'd have to wonder, if it's winter... Do you really want a GTA3 stuck in winter just as long as real life, or would you prefer an artificial pattern, possibly an evolved version of the random patterns that are done now? And if you'd apply a "switch" to choose between random, pre-set or real weather in practice it'd come down to most people using one particular mode with the other two becoming useless "fluff" features. Technically it's possible, perhaps even in the advanced state you portray (in-game character behaviour, world physics, aesthetics adapt to local weather changes), but the more important question is: does it fit with the game design and, considering it's a game, is it desirable?
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