Time … it plays a most important role in our life. We are aging, after a few hours we wish to taste food and water. Many processes in nature also depend on the temporary cycle. But what I started with such reasoning?
The fact is that, despite the importance of this physical value, the developers rarely use it. And it is about how, where and why time is used in games, I would like to talk in this material.
Part one, introductory: general cases
And I will start in the most common case: various missions for the time. You yourself know them: tasks for survival are with a timer, various emergency situations, for example, salvation of people. It is also sometimes necessary to deliver objects in the allotted time, it happens that several and in different places. Such missions are designed, firstly, to dilute the usual gameplay a little, and, secondly, to lift the player. And if everything is done correctly, then the goals set by the developers will be achieved.
A good example will be tasks from the game Mafia 2. In one of them, the player will need to sell coupons for gasoline, since the main character, Vito Skallett, stole them with an almost expired shelf life. It is necessary to sell the product before midnight, otherwise the goods (turn into pumpkin) will depreciate. To make his idea, the player will have to lay the optimal route for all gas stations, otherwise you are unlikely to be in time. This gives the moment the desired dynamics.
The second mission is the salvation of Leo. According to the plot of Henry, a friend of Vito, ordered Leonardo Galante. But the main character is also in friendly relations with Leo, so the player has to save him. It is necessary to have time before the arrival of gangsters. They give a little time, creating the right voltage, so you need to rush quickly.
The first screenshot for the first mission, the second for the second, respectively. The timer is located on the right.
The task for survival with a timer is in the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In one of the missions, it is necessary to keep the defense in the house of Makarov until important data from the computer are downloaded. There is nothing supernatural in this mission: enemies rod on us, we shoot back and wait until it is done.
Of course, it’s hard not to recall the famous mission with a helicopter from GTA: Vice City. It is necessary to deliver a certain amount of dynamite to the barrels indicated by the icon for a certain time. According to many people, judging by numerous tops on the Internet, this task was very difficult. But this myth was refuted on one of the streams of our beloved site Maxim Solodilov, who easily passed the mission.
I myself never passed it and did not even try, but I was heard.
All these cases were added to dilute the usual gameplay. In separate missions (as in GTA, for example), special conditions are added to the timer: a new mode of transport or something else unique. But for the most part, tasks with time limit give only a timer as an additional condition.
In some games, time is one of the many statistics points, both after separate levels/tasks, and after passing. Here are a series of series as Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Silent Hill and others. In these cases, the faster you pass the game or level, the higher your rank will be. Additional awards in the form of powerful weapons are also possible.
Here, for example, level statistics in DMCIV.
Part two, diverse: games over time.
Of course, not to tell about the projects in which the player controls the current time, I could not. But I’ll start from afar.
One of the first games that used a slowdown in time was, without a doubt, Max Payne. The neo-naic detective with a charismatic main character and a chic at the time of 2001 by graphics, many were remembered by high-quality gameplay. The impressive arsenal of weapons, the innovative system of particles, when, after getting into the brick wall, the crumbs jumped out, and the spark was knocked out of the metal, it was delighted. But the most important was the presence of Bullet Time mechanics. At any time, Max Payne could slow down the time, in two ways: either with a cinematic jump, or by pressing the key. This, firstly, made shootings very beautiful, and secondly, allowed the player at a critical moment to facilitate the passage, because aiming in slowdown is easier.
Excuse me for quality.
After Max Payne, some other shooters also adopted Bullet Time. Series F.E.A.P., Some points in the games of the Call of Duty series, in Doom Eternal in the form of a separate rune, when slowing down occurs in the air when using a weapon module (most often for a machine gun). However, players were able to truly manage the time in Prince of Persia, in the "Sands of Time" trilogy.
In the first game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the player could turn the shooter on the watch back. Of course, it is impossible to move to the beginning in this way, it is possible to return back only for a few seconds, and a limited number of reservoirs with sand. However, this allowed, for example, not to start the passage of the acrobatic segment again, or not to die from a blow during the battle. The slowdown in time has not been anywhere, but it was quite useless: since the prince of Persia is not a shooter, and the hero does not accelerate during this, the usefulness of this skill goes to zero. But in fact, immobilization of enemies around is very useful, since they can be killed in this state with two blows.
Find the right piece did not work, so like this.
In Prince of Persia: Warrior Within has changed the slowdown in time: now the prince retains his speed, which helps a lot in battle. Moreover, some secrets and puzzles only with the help of this ability can be found/solved. Also, passing the game, the hero will be able to enter into a peculiar mode of rage, when the speed of striking will increase to very high values. In Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones there were no changes in time management.
It should be noted that the games over time https://majestyslotscasino.co.uk/ in the princes were very well implemented. And it is this series of games that is the most famous if it comes to the management of this physical quantity. The remaining components of the games were on top, which gave them the cult status and love of fans.
The same slowdown. The time code is exhibited, watch only seconds 5-6.
However, the most interesting time in terms of time management seems to me the game Singularity. Released in 2010, she was well perceived by critics (the average score on Metacritic – 76 out of 100), but did not receive great fame. But what did she like me?
Unlike the above games, in Singularity the player controls the time on separate items using the MVP – a mobile temporary converter. With the help of his hero can “rejuvenate” and “age” various objects. It is used for various purposes: destroy shelter, restore boxes with first -aid kits or ammunition, electric cutters. You can also see enemies to the state of the skeleton.
The second function is chronoscope. It is necessary for two things: orientation on the territory of the island of hard labor-12 and the return of objects by materializing them from the past currently. It can be both boxes for solving simple puzzles and explosive barrels for battle.
Another MVP can create a special sphere. The ability is called frost, and for nothing. Enemies and bullets in this area are very slow down, which opens a wide field for use in battle. This function is also necessary to overcome fast -extinguished fans.
Blue "points" actually – slow bullets.
The game will have several special points. For example, it is necessary to restore the old, already covered with rust, which looks very impressive. Also on the island there are breakthroughs in time, which are portals in 1950 and vice versa, in 2010. Thus, we will see the island in the era of the USSR and in the present. The territory is very strong.
In fact, games where they give to play over time, except for the fairly common Bullet Time, not so much. Of course, I have not listed everything, but there are hardly many of them. You can write in the comments what games I did not mention. And we are moving on.
Part Three, complicating (sometimes): Time as a global restriction
There are projects in which the game ends (most often a loss) after a certain time. It varies from several minutes to several hours. Games with a global restriction are different in genre, but there is one similar feature: most games are either old, or from an indie sector. And we will start with one ancient quest.
Advencura The Last Express was released back in 1997, and the whole game passes in real time, which is accelerated by about six times. The adventure begins at 7:14 pm July 24, 1914, and ends at 7:30 pm July 26. It must be remembered that the characters have their own daily routine, which, in turn, affects, firstly, a rather leisurely pace of narration (despite the course of time), and secondly, various events take place in the train. For example, at the beginning of the game you can throw the corpse out the window. Then, some time later, the police will come into the train. If you do not hide, then you will receive one of about thirty endings, of which only one is true.
Game time will be displayed on the clock. By pressing them, you can roll back the time to the last checkpoint.
The second example is a concert lasting 20 minutes of real time. During this period, you can safely listen to him or go about your business (fumble in other people’s things, for example). What to do, you decide, but you can miss something.
The game is actually very entertaining. Unfortunately, I am not a quest lover, and The Last Express was no exception. In addition, the pace of the narrative is too slow for me, which is why it was not possible to do something useful. But for people who love to listen to well -written dialogs, I think the game will like. At least give her a chance.
We move in a huge jump in 2006, when the Dead Rising project from Capcom came out. The game is given 72 hours (accelerated several times, of course). Also, all the events that occur in the game have their own timer, which differs in color: from a large reserve (more than 6 hours), marked with blue, to small (less than 3 hours), marked with red. And sometimes you really can not have time to reach any events. And if you do not fulfill the plot mission, then the game.
Honestly, Dead Rising is playing quite boring now. Yes, shred the zombies with various weapons fun, but soon bored. And besides this, in the game you can save healthy people or fight the bosses who are called maniacs in the game. And this is also not too interesting. However, if you want to relax, the game is.
Before approaching the games of one Russian studio, I will list games that have not been on the list for a detailed description.
Fallout – it is necessary in 150 days (or 250, if you can buy a watering caravan for asylum) find a water chip. Otherwise, a game ovaver.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – Majora’s Mask – the restriction is 72 hours of playing time, which corresponds to about 72 minutes of real time … The player reminds the player how many hours are left, at every sunset and dawn. The clock below the screen count the time, and how much time is left.
Max Payne – on the complexity "time does not wait", in fact, it does not expect.
Project Firestart – initially an hour is given to search for logs, after activating self -destruction – 15 minutes for evacuation. IGN was called the game the first "fully formed vision of the Survival Horror genre, as we know it today".
And, of course, the original Prince of Persia, 2D platformer. In the game you need to save the princess. For the whole game, only one hour is given, so speed is our everything.
Part without digit: Ice-Pick Lodge games
As an ardent fan of projects of this studio, I could not do without a description of the use of time in them. And we will start with the first swallow, mor. (Utopia).
The whole game lasts 12 days, each of which lasts 2 hours of real time. If you do not make the “task of the day” (that is, the main quest of the day), then: a) you will die in the first day out of twelve, or b) one of the close ones from your list will be infected. The ending directly depends on how many healthy groups of important characters (these groups are in the mora. (Utopia) three) will be in the twelfth day. If not one, then you will be deprived of the right to choose in the cathedral. It turns out that the more groups are completely healthy, the more the player can choose.
The second screenshot shows the “Letters” menu, about which they will not tell you anything. And here they remind you that the game lasts 12 days, and not during the day more.
It is also worth noting that every day has its own tasks, conversations, situation in quarters. For example, today one district is infected, tomorrow it will already be ruined, and after – healthy. Each state has its own characteristics, so the new day brings new survival conditions, from which the player proceeds.
Mor. (Utopia) – a game about survival, so it is necessary to monitor the state of our protagonist: health, hunger, fatigue, immunity and infection (if you are infected). Time works here, but there is no special in this case-in any survival there are almost the same rules.
The problem of the first project of ice axes is that there are too many hours. It is very simple not only to complete all the tasks, but also to rummage through all the garbage of the city (here it is the basis of survival), exchange with passers -by, hunt bandits at night (which, given the local combat system, is very simple), go shopping and sleep. This drawback was corrected in the sea, a slurry, a rethinking of the original game, published in May 2019. But more on that later.
The next project is called turgor, and in it the time also takes an important place. Again – a global restriction, but this time measured in the cycles. There are 35 of them, each lasts 100 heart beats. But, unlike Mora, time can slow down and accelerate. And, believe me, it will come in handy.
The heart is in the right of us shoulder. Reminds … the liver?
You can manage the frequency of heart impacts only in the interval, on the global game map, in other words. Slowing the time, we can relatively calmly think through the further path: where to go, whether to start a battle with his brother (boss, in other words) and so on. Acceleration will help to quickly achieve the right peace or develop the desired color – a local universal resource, which is necessary for literally: our health, cartridges, a resource for feeding sisters and other. Competent time and resource management is the key to survival in the friendly world of the interval.
On top are: chapter (which 7), cycle number and number of hearts before its end.
There seems to be a lot of time in Turgora, but due to the fact that the amount of color is very limited, and its presence in the hearts is mandatory for survival, you have to plan further actions a few steps forward, because at the end of each cycle a certain number of different types of universal resource are born, chosen by accident. This, firstly, holds the player in suspense, and, secondly, gives a lot of scope for reiglable. In general, time here acts as conceived. And yes, after 35 cycles there will be one of the five endings, and not a game vel.
The conversation continues with a small game tuk-nree. There are several interesting finds in it. According to the plot, the main character after the next awakening from sleep discovers that time has stopped. Literally. And therefore it is necessary to manually rotate the arrows on the clock, thereby bringing the dawn. This happens in safe levels marked by the sign "House".
Locations with the symbol of the "eye" are flooded by various guests – strange creatures that are better not to touch. The goal in such levels is the same – to live until dawn. But there are nuances: time moves itself, and if it hides from monsters (the hero cannot do anything to them) that the arrows will begin to rotate in the other direction. The touch of the guest will roll you away a few hours ago, up to the restart of the level.
Buke comes from a certain moment – a huge creature that will gradually approach the house of the tenant. From this time a white strip of life will appear, which is reduced only from the number spent on the passage of the type of "eye". The level speedran becomes relevant more than ever, since the devastation of the scale will lead to the game-swore, it is a bad ending. Again, here the time works quite well and as the developers were conceived.
And the levels of the "eye" are transformed in appearance: the green moon, for example.
The last (so far) creation of ICE-Pick Lodge was their first game, now called just mor. In the game, a lot of things have changed (because of which it is incorrect to call a 2019 sample, in my opinion), including the course and amount of time. This is done by increasing the number of events that are divided by the day, but by acts. They last different times – from one to 5 days, and quests can last both, let’s say, the chapter, and much less. Moreover, it is often unknown how much the assignment lasts.
I note that the card of thoughts is very comfortable and concise.
If at the original time it went the same throughout the game, then in the non -shade the stroke of the shooter on the clock (which work in the city) will accelerate from a certain day. This, in turn, will spur the increase in hunger and fatigue, which will complicate the already not the simplest passage. But, it should be noted, this move is explained plot, so you can’t complain.
In the sea of 2019, it really became enough of time (especially in the first passage) than it differs favorably with the original 2005. The idea of the authors, which implies the player’s premises in an almost unbearable situation, was a success. Perhaps not completely, but if you did not have enough canonical complexity, then go through the game on maximum, you will not regret.
Conclusion: Little left
Despite the high value of time in our lives, in games it is not so often used. Basically-as a variety of the main game, where in a certain time it is necessary to complete any task. Less commonly, which I did not devote a full part of the material about, the behavior of NPS in large RPGs depends on the time of day: they sleep at night, imitate life during the day. As a global restriction of the movement of clock arrows, mainly, either in old games, or in an indie segment. Implementation is different – from extremely appropriate, drivers, to unnecessary or unnecessary. One way or another, I personally would like more AAA-IGR with such mechanics. This will make the games more lively and dynamic, the main thing is to use the time correctly. Both in virtuality and in real life.