Clock, Time, & No Arms Mackenzie

[TattooedMac]

Interesting discussion, but ill leave the snow melting to those with cold weather experience.

I go back though to Alan and the suggestion of a clock . . . I think there really needs to be one somewhere on the screen, as I'm always finding myself going into the menu's to see what time it is, and hence even this time takes time off the day. If we had in in a HUD then you could look and make decisions in a split second instead of going into the menu to see it.

Maybe a keyboard shortcut that brings Mackenzie's arm up and you get to see the analog watch on his arm giving you the time of day or night ??

I back this reason with being in a Blizzard and its dark and dank, and cold and blinding, you have no way to see the sky or sun or moon to know what time of day it was. I just have a vision of his voice when ever he looks at his watch and him having some smart arse comment about the time of day. Brings a little humour to the game too

[Raphael van Lierop]

Brent -- why do you feel it's important to be able to know what time it is at all times?

I'm asking because often people ask for things, produce solutions, but really when you dig down, they want or need something else.

So, I need to know the WHY, and then we can figure out the HOW.

(And yes, bringing up a watch in the world is on the list. But, it also requires something to stick a watch on (ex. wrist), which means hands/arms, which you might have noticed Mackenzie currently lacks...and for good reason...

[logang]

means hands/arms, which you might have noticed Mackenzie currently lacks...and for good reason...

Yeah, freakin' wolves is the reason

[TattooedMac]

Brent -- why do you feel it's important to be able to know what time it is at all times?

I'm asking because often people ask for things, produce solutions, but really when you dig down, they want or need something else.

So, I need to know the WHY, and then we can figure out the HOW.

(And yes, bringing up a watch in the world is on the list. But, it also requires something to stick a watch on (ex. wrist), which means hands/arms, which you might have noticed Mackenzie currently lacks...and for good reason...

I can understand him having no arms, because some people would be looking at there guns (muscles) all day because of their vanity lol

The way I look at it, is he is a Aviator, and being a Aviator, they ALWAYS rely on their watch for the correct time. Being everything in the cabin is electronic, if they fail, he still has his watch for precise timing.

With that, having crashed in the wilderness, he awakes from the unconsciousness and the very first thing he would be doing is looking at his watch (what time of day is it)

He knows when the sun sets and rises, because of his aviator skills, so he know how much time he has to do what he needs to do.

Having to go into the HUD all the time (which I found myself doing) to check time of day takes precious time away. I don't really want the time to be showing all the time, as in on the screen all the time, but I would like to see a keyboard shortcut where we can press it, hold it down and it brings up the time in the form of a watch face, indicating Willis looking at his watch. You release the key and it fades away and he continues with what he is doing.

As it stands, need to tab into the HUD and your eyes are busy with everything else that is also in the HUD, and then I find the time, and then hit escape and then I continue on my way. I check the time all the time IRL, and especially in a game like this, it would be good to be able to check the time of day, without having to go into the HUD.

Time is a Killer, and having a quick reference to it, would be priceless IMHO

Either a quick reference Key, or maybe Will gives us a time reference like he does when he is starving, or freezing, when the time passes for example 0600 | Sun is coming up, good time to move, 1200 | Hmm Sun is high in the sky, 1700 | Do I have enough wood to get through the night, 2300 | ?, 0400 | Be daylight in a couple of hours, I need the sun to warm up ???

But in short, lol, having a quick reference, I would be able to make that split decision quicker which could be the difference in freezing to death, or hunkering down and resting.

Having said all that, now that the time of day and night has been increased, 1. you won't have to make those quick decisions quicker as you have a little more time, but then 2. because the day is longer, it will be easier to loose track of that time as you go and do the things you need to do . . . .

My 2¢

[logang]

I just got done playing my first playthrough since version x.01 and it is still amazing, in some ways better. A couple of things Mac;

While I agree that a watch feature would be nice, I think that the environment gives you enough hints as to when things are changing, the sun set can be seen most of the time, the wind starts picking up as weather blows in and the wolves begin to howl. I don't necessarily think that while running around, being aware of what time it is, is that important. I do find it useful to see what time it is when I am resting, but that shows up when you click on the bed/bedroll and cycle through the number of hours you want to rest. I think that the troubles of having to occasionally check the time in the hud has been even further reduced with the recent elongation of the in game day/night time, as time passes slower and small things like a quick hud check doesn't eat up as much time.

[TattooedMac]

I see what your saying, but the thing is there is a clock/time action already in place, so saying all that stuff about the environment is mute. IRL you have ALL your senses to tell you what time of day it is, (and BTW I can tell to within 5 minutes what time of day it is) but in a game, your in a senseless environment apart from visual and hearing. Although the sounds are magnificent, and you do get a lot of cues, when it comes to visual, you don't have peripheral vision, and you can only see whats in front of you, so you are very limited, as you can't in this game move and look at the surroundings at the same time . . . I still stand by my above post.

Im not asking for a clock/time to be on the screen all the time, just a different way of delivering it to the player. . .

[logang]

you can turn your head while you're walking, you just need to strafe while you look so you continue moving in the desired direction. I understand what you are saying about the limited amount of input you have from the game, compared to actually being there in real life, I just think that the game does a good job of giving you signs that help you determine the conditions such as weather patterns changing and daylight passing.

Also, while I agree that the time function already exists in the game and could be made more front and center via a quick glance watch or what have you, I guess I just don't see it as a necessity like you do.