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Author Topic: Easy way to set timescale of each mode  (Read 2303 times)

darkhog

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Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« on: February 15, 2016, 06:23:16 am »

I mean how many ticks in day there are ( as in http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Time#Basic_mechanics ). This may be possible via modding, hexediting binaries or heck, cheat engine if everything else fails, but a nice way to change it would be best. This way less experienced players could get more time before end of the year to build a proper fortress while more advanced players could shorten time even more for increased challenge.
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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2016, 07:26:08 pm »

There's a DFHack thingie for it, and it's not really a vanilla sort of thing. There's already invasion control/caps, migrant caps, etc...

What I'm saying is, it might be a better hack than a feature. It's not realistic, and it by no means furthers the simulation.
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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2016, 08:51:40 pm »

I think it's actually a thing that's planned to be a world parameter eventually.
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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2016, 02:16:39 am »

I cheat engine if everything else fails

dfhack can do everything cheat engine can and much easier, so probably (and already, in fact) that

IIRC from what toady's said the timescale in each mode is super hardcoded, like, there's a whole lot of wildly disparate places that are explicitly programmed with the current timescale in mind... a decidedly non-trivial refactoring to make variable, in other (more verbose, now that i think of it) words.

darkhog

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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2016, 03:29:08 pm »

I guess how easy it would be to change depends if it's a magic number or some sort of global constant. If the former, Toady just lose some of my respect.

Anyway, what's the DFHack plugin/command to change timescale? And if it's not covered by LNP, where can I download it? As I've said, I'd be perfectly happy if it is just DFHack/mod, though would like it as built-in feature eventually.

Quote from: jwoodward48df
It's not realistic, and it by no means furthers the simulation.
.

The current timescale isn't realistic and it's too fast in fortress mode, especially for a newcomer. I mean, a month takes what, an hour? How am I supposed to prepare myself for a first winter while making cool fortress? Meanwhile some DF god could want some extra challenge in the form of shorter timescale, and thus having to think on his/her feet in order to quickly prepare defenses and food sources.
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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2016, 05:01:02 pm »

A year takes an hour at 100 FPS without menus or interruptions.

Fine, it furthers gameplay, but it still doesn't help the simulation aspect.
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IndigoFenix

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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #6 on: March 05, 2016, 12:28:28 pm »

The DFhack timestream.lua (which was included in the old version of Masterwork) works by skipping 'frames' on the calendar.  Many important time-related calculations are updated only once every 10 ticks, so with a bit of math, it is possible to make time go up to 10 times as fast without causing significant problems (you can go faster, but you might 'skip' updates, which is likely to cause problems).  Slowing down time works by keeping the calendar at the same moment for a certain number of frames and is probably less bug-prone.

It seemed to work in the last version and I never encountered any obvious bugs as a result, but that was before the full world activation of DF42.  Not sure what effect it will have in this version.

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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2016, 10:44:58 pm »

I guess how easy it would be to change depends if it's a magic number or some sort of global constant. If the former, Toady just lose some of my respect.

Anyway, what's the DFHack plugin/command to change timescale? And if it's not covered by LNP, where can I download it? As I've said, I'd be perfectly happy if it is just DFHack/mod, though would like it as built-in feature eventually.

Quote from: jwoodward48df
It's not realistic, and it by no means furthers the simulation.
.

The current timescale isn't realistic and it's too fast in fortress mode, especially for a newcomer. I mean, a month takes what, an hour? How am I supposed to prepare myself for a first winter while making cool fortress? Meanwhile some DF god could want some extra challenge in the form of shorter timescale, and thus having to think on his/her feet in order to quickly prepare defenses and food sources.
How does a newcomer prepare themself?

Pause very frequently and, while paused, designate multiple tasks. As a somewhat seasoned player, it's what I do anyway. And at that point, making the game seem to go faster seems superfluous.

I think learning how to use pause and multitask effectively is a normal part of the learning curve.
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NW_Kohaku

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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #8 on: March 30, 2016, 02:50:07 am »

The current timescale isn't realistic and it's too fast in fortress mode, especially for a newcomer. I mean, a month takes what, an hour? How am I supposed to prepare myself for a first winter while making cool fortress? Meanwhile some DF god could want some extra challenge in the form of shorter timescale, and thus having to think on his/her feet in order to quickly prepare defenses and food sources.

What, exactly, are you preparing for?

Anything other than how much food a dwarf needs or how frequently they need to sleep (which are tallied independently based upon ticks, not upon time passed,) would not materially change much besides something like annual sieges.

If you're talking about preparing for the likes of megabeasts, then realize these are based upon fortress wealth and population (which is itself based upon wealth).  You might try just upping the required wealth (it's already an option, worldgen and init) or being more judicious in wealth generation to prevent larger sieges, megabeast attacks, or dwarf migrations.

It might certainly have an impact upon werecritters, although that doesn't seem to be your main concern.

While I could see some people might want "adventurer time fortresses" for some sort of aesthetic purpose, I don't see this as having any significant impact upon challenge, at least as you are describing it. 
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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #9 on: March 30, 2016, 03:34:54 pm »

I guess how easy it would be to change depends if it's a magic number or some sort of global constant. If the former, Toady just lose some of my respect.

I think it may be, quite horrifyingly enough, neither.

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Re: Easy way to set timescale of each mode
« Reply #10 on: March 30, 2016, 09:44:15 pm »

...what? What abomination IS the DF code?
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Quote from: King James Programming
...Simplification leaves us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs it throws open before our frenzied eyes...
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