Progress Report: Weather System, Day/Night System, Location System.

Hey everyone! 

Exciting news, I'm not dying of  sickness anymore and we made it home safely despite the roads being  completely iced over and incredibly dangerous! Seriously there were at  least 10-13 cars crashed off the side of the road and a tipped over  semi! Yikes! Needless to say it was a stressful 6 hour trip. @_@ I was  able to get a lot done on the game too, although, I didn't have as much  time as I normally would have to work on it. Still, some major to-do's  have been erased off my list.

I apologize for the late progress  report too as it is very difficult while visiting family to sit and  write out everything like this as it normally takes me a few hours.  Plus, my little mini-laptop can barely handle being turned on. Anyway!

Weather System + Location System:
The  game officially has a Weather System now --- and quite a little  complicated one at that (at least from a coding perspective). There are  three distinct weather patterns all of which have been described in full  in the game's "Help Guide":

Clear: Clear Skies.  This weather pattern is the easiest one for the player to deal with as  it has no detriments to the environment or to vendors/shops or travel  encounters. It's the most common weather pattern as well and has a 50%  chance of procing. 

Cloudy: Cloudy Skies.  This weather pattern is the next common and by itself has no detriments  to the player or to the environment/vendors/shops/NPCs or travel  encounters. However, there is a 50% chance that when this weather  pattern is activated that it will rain as well. If rain does proc, then  there is a 30% chance that it will stop at turn 100, but if it does not  proc then there is a 30% chance that at turn 100 it will proc.  Obviously, rain has a 3% chance per turn to make the player adopt a  "Cold Status/Condition". Rain will also affect travel as some areas will  flood and force the player to detour, otherwise risking there  lives/health to push through. Some vendors and travel events will also  be cancelled due to rain as well. 

Storm:  Storming Out. This weather pattern is the least common but most severe  and will have several detriments against the player; it affects travel  areas causing them to flood and increasing the risk of crossing, player  agility will be reduced as well, areas that are not prone to flooding  may flood as well and climbing becomes riskier. Some vendors and travel  events will also be affected by stormy weather. Stormy weather can also  refer to lightning and thunder, as well as snow storms (depending on the  player's location). 

Location: Location refers to  the player's current location, whether "Inside" or "Outside". If the  player is Inside a location they aren't likely to be affected by weather  conditions, although the descriptions will change as a result of the  weather conditions. Outside Locations are likely to be affected by  weather conditions.  

Day/Night System:
The  game also officially has a Night/Day Cycle System now. There are four  distinct time of day's now, which will begin affecting the player the  moment they exit "The Edge" and begin the "Whispering Thicket" area. All  times of the day will affect room descriptions. The time of day's are:

Morning:  Early Morning. Most of these are pretty self explanatory, but anytime  that the player exits a room (starting in the "Whispering Thicket" area,  the time of day will shift/change. It will always move in this typical  order: Morning ----> Midday -----> Evening ----> Night  -----> Morning. The time of day will affect some travel events,  shops/vendors/npcs.

Midday: Afternoon. Self-explanatory. The time of day will affect some travel events, shops/vendors/npcs.

Evening: Evening. Self-explanatory. The time of day will affect some travel events, shops/vendors/npcs.

Night:  Night. Night-time will be particularly important to the player.  Generally, most shops/vendors will be closed at night and sometimes  there will be specific night-time events (but once in a while you'll be  able to find certain/specific shops and vendors ONLY at night, so keep  an eye out)! Also, I haven't decided if the player will be able to move  in the middle of the night, but if so, then I might design it that if  you try to travel at night, you'll be moved to a random spot in the area  that you are currently exploring. If I go with not allowing the player  to move, then the player will need to "rest" in order to make "morning"  happen. The player will eventually be able to make fires as well (if  they have the supplies to do so) and in colder locations without as fire  at night, you're character will adopt a "Cold Status/Condition" which  can lead to a "Sick Status/Condition". 

Location:  As mentioned above, this refers to the player's current location,  whether "Inside" or "Outside". If the player is Inside a certain  location then night time conditions might not affect them (like getting  "cold", for example) and will allow them to move around Inside of that  location. 

That's about it for the time being. As a  reminder, the first patron beta will be available on 15JAN17 for  testing purposes and the next public release will be on 1FEB17. That is,  assuming there aren't any major hitches that might prevent the public  release from happening, but this is restricted to game-breaking bugs. 

Anyway! I hope the new year is going well for all of you and I look forward to your feedback! ^_____^

Anonynn.  

PS.  - I'll be doing the St.Jude's Estimate in a few moments as well.