I was going to make this post in one of the other threads about the topic of wanting a day/night cycle, but then I decided that it probably needs to be its own discussion, because I'm going to identify a specific problem with it.
I guess it's time to address the elephant in the room when it comes to day/night cycle, the actual reason Larian probably thinks it's too much of a hassle to handle: MULTIPLAYER CO-OP..
Multiplayer makes a challenge to manage a variable passing of time since the point of reference isn't "one player character" anymore, but ALL the player characterS.
I see three possible scenarios here (and this is all assuming Larian would be interested to address the issue, which is anything but a given at this point in time):
Solution 1- the Larian Way: the entire world is frozen in a single moment in time and the variable isn't taken into account at all.
Solution 2 - an MMO-like fixed cycle of passing hours: all the players involved are forced into a certain cycle of light and dark hours. There's no way to alter the length of the day.
Solution 3 - We have a day/night cycle AND the option to alter its speed (wait/rest) like in most games of this type, but ONE player, presumably the host of the multiplayer session, needs to be in charge of it and everyone else willing to accept what he decides about resting or skipping time.
No one of the three solutions is flawless and without its share of problems, but for how I see it, the third is by far the most reasonable compromise of the three, the one that makes the comparatively minor "sacrifice" between giving up some individual agency or simply giving up on a world that would feel at least a bare minimum more alive, immersive and dynamic.
There are a couple of things that need to be accepted as premises here.
- It's fine to have someone in charge, because let's face the truth: no matter how much Larian could love to claim that "competitive co-op" can be a thing in their games, there's just NO way to have anything resembling a decent playthrough if the different players involved can't accept to collaborate to some degree.
- Even "Solution 1" as it is comes with its fair amount of incongruences already (why can a group of two players "go to camp and rest", having cutscenes and social interactions in the process, when the other two can roam freely in a world where time is frozen).
Possible objections to this system:
"What about the moment-to-moment gameplay where one player can enter a turn-based battle in an area while others are roaming freely?"
I actually find this somewhat of a fake problem and something relatively trivial to address: time doesn't "pass" while even just one of the players is involved in combat. Easy, right? You "pause the clock". Period.
"But that would make the length of the day erratic"
Yeah, so fucking what? Is a fictional world where time is NEVER a thing a more elegant solution in any way, shape or form?
So far I think this covers most points on this proposition, but I'd like to hear more opinions about the pros and cons. At least as far as pertinent to the attempt to solve the matter and address its structural weaknesses rather than dismiss it.
I'll say outright that arguments about "Not wanting Larian to waste money on this" shouldn't be any of our concern (that's for Larian to worry about).
On top of that let me say bluntly that no one cares if "you don't care" or "it's not a bid deal for you".
That's not the point of this discussion to begin with. Go on the other more generic threads on the same topic to express that opinion, if you really must.
Last edited by Tuco; 05/11/20 08:27 PM.
