Clocks and calendars needed!

[Sasha Densikoff]

I wish to put in the suggestion that a clock (well, a selection of clocks would be nice) and a calendar would be a great thing to put in the game, as I really would like to know what time of day it is in my world.
I think it is really important.
Same goes for calendars too. 

I used to have both of these as some separate mods, but since they fell out of date, no one has seemed to pick them up or created another one.
It'd be nice to have this as a standard thing ingame, so the mod for something so crucial doesn't break with every damn update, lol!

Anyway, what do you think?
Can we have clocks and calendars in the game as a permanent thing without having to resort to mods?
Pretty please, devs?

[coolAlias]

Not sure if you know, but if you press 'C' to view your character, it displays the current time, date, and year in the little info box down below it.

[The Lerf]

7 hours ago, coolAlias said:

Not sure if you know, but if you press 'C' to view your character, it displays the current time, date, and year in the little info box down below it.

It's in game, but it's part of a UI overlay. What OP is suggesting is a diagetic way of determining time and date. 

With the recent moves towards diagetic procedures in 1.22 (such as scraping hides on the ground instead of the crafting interface), I think an in-game clock/ calendar is inevitable, just a matter of when or how. I can see it being a class exclusive item to the clockmaker, because.... of course... but also hopefully something that can be purchased from a trader.

Some questions to ask though: should it be a 1x1 block like the Resonater? Should it be a bigger, multistep/multiblock build like a large wooden gear or water wheel? Does making it an end game item make sense? Clocks are complicated after all, but it would be much more useful to the player in the early game. Perhaps as a gift from talking to your first trader? 

[LadyWYT]

I don't know about calendars, since we already have changing seasons to indicate the passage of time on that front, and the paper calendars as we know them today weren't really a thing in the medieval period.

Clocks I would like to see though, especially as some sort of unique craftable for the Clockmaker class.

1 hour ago, The Lerf said:

Some questions to ask though: should it be a 1x1 block like the Resonater? Should it be a bigger, multistep/multiblock build like a large wooden gear or water wheel? Does making it an end game item make sense? Clocks are complicated after all, but it would be much more useful to the player in the early game. Perhaps as a gift from talking to your first trader? 

I would say perhaps a large grandfather clock version(3x1), a small basic clock(1x1), and a pocketwatch cosmetic that the player can wear. I'm not sure that they need to be end game items really; mid-game should be fine since the player should have access to brass and quartz at that point.

A "temporal clock" item that's craftable by all classes would also be rather nice. The main idea behind a temporal clock is being able to tell when the last temporal occurred versus when the next one is due to arrive. It's probably also the kind of thing that would require temporal gears and a couple of Jonas parts to create, and temporal gears to fuel. As for why it's craftable by all classes? It could be a clockmaker exclusive, but it's the kind of utility that every class should have access to, I think, especially given how other class-exclusive items tend to work(that is, mildly useful but easily skipped).

[The Lerf]

I'd just loop calendar functionality into the clock too, just for streamlining. A typical analog style clock face for telling time, and then a mouseover tooltip for the date. I don't think it's unheard of for a clock to do that, especially if it's a design from the Jonas Era.

I don't even think you'd need to make 3 individual clock designs. If the 1x1 clock face was clean enough, let players chisel around it to create what they want with it. Drop it on a table for a small basic clock, chisel a lower structure for a grandfather, but I personally think a wristwatch is a bit out of the player's engineering capability. If a wristwatch is added, it shouldn't be crafted, only found out purchased as a Jonas tech antique treasure. Maybe one found at the Resonance Archives? 

[coolAlias]

6 hours ago, The Lerf said:

It's in game, but it's part of a UI overlay. What OP is suggesting is a diagetic way of determining time and date. 

For sure, it just sounded like they might really need to know the time and date, so I mentioned the info is already available just in case they didn't know.

A functioning in-game clock we can find or craft would certainly be cool, too.

[Nathan Flaminio]

I'd love to have functioning clocks in the game! 

Timeline-wise, they fit the narrative, as far as I know. 

They'd be aesthetically pleasing, and add something else to build that you don't have to have, but would be nice to own.