Time-based events in games.

aso · Post by **aso** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:43 pm

The best example of a 'time-based event' game is Christmas Nights, obviously. Depending upon what time of year it is, you might get something entirely different.

I'm wondering if any of their other games have had something familiar. I know that Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast had downloadable 'add-ons' for a few areas in the game (which are, unfortunately, gone forever - unless someone still has one or two on a VMU, in which case I'd actually pay you to be able to see them). I know that SA2 also had costumes for each of the characters, also downloadable.

Have they done anything else, or are these the only games to get this sort of treatment?

And on that note, have any other games attempted to do something similar?

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 8:49 pm

Animal Crossing is like that kind of. It follows the Cubes internal clock and based on the time of year there are different events. Like weekly fishing tournaments during the summer and holiday celebrations.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:16 pm

In Star Wars Rouge Squadron 2: Rouge Leader, in the training level it got dark or light depending on the time of day. That's about it.

I think one or two of the PokÃƒÂ©mon games have a time setting so you can only catch certain PokÃƒÂ©mon during the day or night. I don't know if it follows along with time in real life though.

WhoopA · Post by **WhoopA** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:27 pm

Yeah, Gold and Silver have a RTC built into the cartridge - start a new game, set the clock and the time in game mirrors the real time.

Post by **Delphine** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:33 pm

Light Speed wrote:Animal Crossing is like that kind of. It follows the Cubes internal clock and based on the time of year there are different events. Like weekly fishing tournaments during the summer and holiday celebrations.

And the NPCs get snippy if you ignore them for too long, and if you really ignore them they move away. There are different fish and insects as different times of the year, the musician only comes on Saturdays after 8pm... I loved that game, until I got bored with it.

aso · Post by **aso** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:34 pm

I get the feeling that I should actually get Animal Crossing whenever I decide to take the plunge and pick up a Gamecube.

That is nifty, though. I love that little sort of feature, as it keeps you coming back to play the game again and again for specific moments.

I'm guessing Sonic Heroes has no such features, though, as I haven't heard of any. Lazy Sonic Team sods...

Post by **Delphine** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:35 pm

SH's only feature is that every Sonic fan with a brain HATES it.

aso · Post by **aso** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 9:37 pm

Oh, dear. Will Sonic Heroes still be getting a section on the GHZ?

Also, just remembered: PSO has some stuff for the holidays. Has anyone actually seen some of said stuff?

Post by Bo » Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:04 pm

Seaman. Did anyone play that without cheating by setting the clock?

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:05 pm

Delphine wrote:And the NPCs get snippy if you ignore them for too long, and if you really ignore them they move away. There are different fish and insects as different times of the year, the musician only comes on Saturdays after 8pm... I loved that game, until I got bored with it.

I loved that game too until I got bored with it. Then I started checking up every 3 months or so to see how many weeds were there and who still lived there. Then one day I bought like 12 axes and cut down every tree in the town. I haven't checked up on it since then, but I imagine quite a few moved out.

Oh and the PSO things aren't that special.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:11 pm

Does Sonic Shuffle go by the time of day? I noticed that sometimes it would be either daytime or nighttime when you went to the Sonic room. Was that affected by the actual time?

Oh yeah, Animal Crossing. I was <b>addicted</b> to that game for, oh, say, about a month...
Heheh, I loved that duplication trick...

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 10:46 pm

Oh, dear. Will Sonic Heroes still be getting a section on the GHZ?

Sonic Shuffle has a page.

BlazeHedgehog · Post by **BlazeHedgehog** » Sat Jun 05, 2004 11:16 pm

I only wish more games had time-based events. I love little touches, like time-of-day changes, even seasonal changes. If I had a Gamecube and Animal Crossing I don't think I'd ever stop playing it.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 12:37 am

I'm sure you would. There wasn't much to do in that game at all. Dunno why I played it for a month. I hopped on today since we were talking about it. It is overrun with weeds and I guess the trees don't grow back unless you plant them cause there aren't any. :)

hello.jpg · Post by **hello.jpg** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 4:56 am

I do not have a brain, apparently. Thanks for telling me this, by the way, I never would have noticed otherwise.

You fat whores.

The Almighty Bunghole · Sun Jun 06, 2004 7:18 am

I'm wondering if any of their other games have had something familiar. I know that Sonic Adventure on Dreamcast had downloadable 'add-ons' for a few areas in the game (which are, unfortunately, gone forever - unless someone still has one or two on a VMU, in which case I'd actually pay you to be able to see them). I know that SA2 also had costumes for each of the characters, also downloadable.

http://www.booyaka.com

As long as you have the means to download the saves onto your VMU from your PC, I'm sure they will have it. I downloaded some extra PSO missions from there, which I don't know what they are really about since my knowledge of the Japanese language is almost non-existant.

aso · Post by **aso** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 9:22 am

The Almighty Bunghole wrote: http://www.booyaka.com

As long as you have the means to download the saves onto your VMU from your PC, I'm sure they will have it. I downloaded some extra PSO missions from there, which I don't know what they are really about since my knowledge of the Japanese language is almost non-existant.

Ah yes. I do have a 'Massive Memory Card Plus' from GameShark that allows you to do that sort of stuff, via connector - problem is, it flat out doesn't work for me. Never seems to work.

Anyone own this thing, too? I could use some advice.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:15 pm

Anyone own this thing, too? I could use some advice.

Trash it. GameShark peripherals have, from the best I can assess, about a 60/40 percent chance of functioning properly. And then if you do get a working one, there's no telling for long it'll continue working, and there's even the risk of permanent damage to your system. Most retailers have an "all sales final" policy regarding GameShark merchandise. Back at GameStop, it was the one item in the store we absolutely would not take a return on.

In general, you should avoid using third-party peripherals altogether. The only off-brand I'd ever recommend would be Logitech.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 1:21 pm

I think I still have a few SA2 downloaded saves on my VMU. Like an extra car/track for the go-kart racing and some Halloween costumes. I haven't looked at my DC VMU saves in awhile thought so I can't be sure.

Also, Gibbon is right about GameSharks, especially for the DreamCast. I bought one way back when, tried it out and nothing happened. Luckily I bought it from Wal-mart and they exchanged it for another. That one also didn't work, but I forgot about it and it sat in my room for about a month or two. Luckily Wal-mart actually gave me my fifty bucks back. I wouldn't say 60/40 cause the only two things I have ever boughten from GameShark didn't work.

aso · Post by **aso** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 2:11 pm

Woah. I had no idea GS was that bad.

In that case, I'll sniff around on eBay for official VMUs...

Add: Thing is, this one's been working since around 2002-2003 or so (when I originally picked up a used Dreamcast). It also has a few saves on it that I cringe to lose, thus why I hesitate to throw it away. One is a Skies of Arcadia save set at the 'collect 30k monies' point. Another is the Sonic Adventure 2 save which I'm trying to get me A ranks on. City Escape and Security Hall make me cry when it comes to A ranks...

Post by **G.Silver** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 3:39 pm

I had a GameShark for Saturn as a backup-alternative, and the files I had backed up, when copied back to the Saturn, actually corrupted the Saturn's memory and I had to wipe out everything. I do not like the GameShark.

Post by **Squirrelknight** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 8:12 pm

Light Speed wrote:I'm sure you would. There wasn't much to do in that game at all. Dunno why I played it for a month. I hopped on today since we were talking about it. It is overrun with weeds and I guess the trees don't grow back unless you plant them cause there aren't any. :)

Yeah, I hopped back onto mine as well, just to see what was going on... A cow yelled at me for not talking to her for 6 months, but no one actually moved away, and the only thing that changed was that there were more weeds and lots of cockaroaches. Not that it matters, I always kept my town as a dump since I was too lazy to clean up anyway.

As for PSO, yeah, the seasonal things aren't that great. On certain holidays, the rappies change (Christmas Rappies and Love Rappies and shit like that) and they start dropping crazy-ass rares. The lobbies change too, I believe that the GCN PSO has cherry blossoms in the lobbies now. Must be pretty.

Light Speed · Post by **Light Speed** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:59 pm

The lobby's look the same on PSO Xbox, but they are playing the wedding music for some oddball reason.

Oh and Apatite Block 5 and 16 seem to be missing. I haven't checked all the others. Since the hacking has gotten so bad I'm going to start a rumor about a gun that rips a hole in the server. It's funny how rumors spread in that game.

Post by **Squirrelknight** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 9:01 pm

Light Speed wrote:The lobby's look the same on PSO Xbox, but they are playing the wedding music for some oddball reason.

Oh and Apatite Block 5 and 16 seem to be missing. I haven't checked all the others. Since the hacking has gotten so bad I'm going to start a rumor about a gun that rips a hole in the server. It's funny how rumors spread in that game.

Well, I guess the wedding music is there cause it's Spring and romantic and shit. Plus, I think theres some Japanese holiday thats the equivelant of Valentine's Day (White Day, maybe?) thats around this time.

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 9:12 pm

White day is March 14.