Hi,
I was thinking about the passage of time in adventure games.
Things like how it affects the gameplay, and which system is the best, and what are the ups and downs of the passage of time in adventures.
After some thinking I came to the conclusion that there are 4 different models for time in adventure games:
1. Time doesn't pass at all in the game, or time only passes between different chapters or parts of the game. This is the most common.
2. Time passes all the time in real-time. This is very uncommon in adventure games. One example was the game KGB, where you had to do things at the right place at the right time. Another example, if it can count as an adventure game, is Zelda: Majoras Mask. There was a three-day cycle and a special calendar system, where some things only happened at certain times. You had to meet people and do things at a specific time, so that new things could happen etc.
3. Time only passes when important things happen, like when you talk a certain person or take an important object. So if you meet that person or find that specific object, or do something important, time passes for example 10 minutes. But you have to play it cool, because you can only talk to some people at certain times, and there are doors that are only open at specific times, etc. So just like real-time adventures, it can be quite annoying if you miss important clues or forget to talk to someone, or do something else really important. I've only seen this time system used once, in "Cruise for a corpse".
4. Time passes in the game, but only in between different time blocks. Each time block can be for example two or three hours (10:00-12:00, 12:00-15:00). And within each time block time stands still, and you only move to the next block when you have done everything you're supposed to in the present time block. New things will also happen in each time block, and people are at different locations, and so on. This model was used in Gabriel Knight 3, and maybe also some other GK game.
So, in your opinion, which is the best model?
What are the pros and cons with using time in adventures?
And will it just frustrate and confuse the player, or can it also add to the gameplay?