Time is constantly passing. The same is true in The Void. Time in Fringe Planet is measured in four ways: hours, days, seasons and drifts. Time can play an important factor in many aspects of the game providing unique bonuses and opportunities.

Hours

Every day consists of 25 hours. Every hour has a specific name, which is chosen during world generation. The names of the hours will indicate any bonuses/game changing effects that will occur during this time. These are mostly very small changes, for example, a bonus percentage to farming during this hour. You won’t know the name of the hour before you start doing research. Any research which is completed in the hour will also grant you the name of the hour. You can also discover information about hours in mounds as well as in the dreams of peons. This is mostly for balance, as you won’t be running research at night while the peons are sleeping.

Days

Days are split into four parts –  sunrise, daytime, sunset and night. Though these don’t have any mystical purposes, there are some common sense changes that will effect the simulation. Peons can see further in the day, plant growth will change and temperature increases during the day and it gets colder at night.

Seasons

There are four seasons in Fringe Planet – with each season changing every 20 days:

The awakening

The base season compared to the others – and the easiest to survive. Temperatures are relatively mild, days are long and nights are short. By default this will be the first season you start playing in.

The maturation

A great time for crops. Plant growth will increase during this time, nights start to become longer but the temperature is still fairly mild. The chance for Aspect events are increased during this time – so it isn’t all good news.

The watching

This is a scary time for the peons – the Aspects will be incredibly active during this time, increasing the difficult of the game greatly.

The darkness

Hopefully by the time you reach this point, you have a steady income of food and materials – the nights are incredibly cold and long and the best thing for a peon to do is to stay indoors and keep warm.

The Drift

Every four seasons (and normally triggering a few days into the awakening) – a Drift occurs. Something happens to change the path of the floating island. Peons caught outside during a Drift have a chance to go quite insane – so it’s normally a good idea to try and keep them inside. The Drift will change an aspect of the game in a very large way applying a global effect to the island. This may not always be a positive thing – reducing the base levels of sanity for the peons for instance. Or maybe a good thing can happen, such an increase in global temperatures. It will be possible to undo the effects of a drift through a costly ritual, but generally the Drift is designed to mix the game up a bit.

There is a lot more to read about Fringe Planet… why not try:

• Time and Seasons in The Void – Dev Blog 23
• Research and Books – Dev Blog 22
• The Peons – Memories – Dev Blog 89