Time
Time in SamsaraMOO moves differently to time in the real world. Each hour is 7 and a half minutes real time, and each day is 3 hours. Each measure of time in-game is equal to an eighth of its real world equivalent. This means that each in-game week is 21 real life hours long.
Effects of Time
Time is still very important to some areas of the game, however:
- Shop hours. Not all shops are open 24/7, and some will close at some point in the night so that the shopkeeper can sleep.
- Age. Your character will age as time passes. Other things, such as dying, will also increase age, but the passage of time is the most inevitable cause. Getting old sucks; past 60 or so you'll get heart attacks and other nasty things. Fortunately, age can be reset by rerolling.
- Ability cooldowns. You can check the cooldowns on your current abilities with cooldown. These use real life time rather than in-game time.
- World cooldowns. Some objects in the world can only be used every so often. The Matter Compiler, for instance, requires that some time pass between each usage.
- Weather. Depending on the time of year, the environment can be hotter or colder. Summertime Coventry Island is hot enough for people to spontaneously combust, while winter's Weezer Dam blizzards will freeze the unprotected to death.
Daylight Hours
Time also affects natural lighting; during the day, daylight will brighten areas that are exposed to the sun. Interior zones are mostly unaffected, and most zones are dimly lit at night anyway, but certain zones (like the Sea of Dunes) become impenetrably dark at night. Navigating in these circumstances will require a light source. Xray Vision mutants must be extra-cautious of this lighting effect, while anyone with a rhodopsin implant ignores it altogether. Chud vision is more complicated, but chuds will generally see quite well at night and poorly during the day. Vampires, however, are more concerned about daylight than any other mutation; vampires who are caught in sunlight will take damage and other penalties, unless they a equip a parasol.
The day is divided into six stages: dawn, morning, day, evening, dusk, night. Of these, dawn and dusk are sometimes dimly lit and night is darkest. Dusk, dawn, and night are sunlight-free and safe for vampires; morning, day and evening are sunlit. Daylight hours vary depending on the month of the year; during the summer, sunlit hours are longer, while in the winter, darkness is extended. A reference table is below; "dark hours" refers to the number of hours which are safe for vampires.
| Month | Morning | Dusk | Total Dark Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 09:00 | 18:00 | 15 |
| February | 08:00 | 19:00 | 13 |
| March | 07:00 | 20:00 | 11 |
| April | 07:00 | 20:00 | 11 |
| May | 07:00 | 21:00 | 10 |
| June | 06:00 | 22:00 | 8 |
| July | 06:00 | 22:00 | 8 |
| August | 06:00 | 20:00 | 10 |
| September | 07:00 | 20:00 | 11 |
| October | 07:00 | 20:00 | 11 |
| November | 08:00 | 19:00 | 13 |
| December | 08:00 | 19:00 | 13 |
The Moon
Time also affects the phase of the moon, as well as when it rises and sets. Dia actually set up an external server (Artemis) to ensure that, at any given moment, the moon's state aligns as accurately as possible to the predicted ephemeris data for the current in-game date.