Starting in Autumn

thewhitespark · 2017-01-27T01:11:24.000Z

Hey everyone,

I’m pretty new to DDA, and i want to start in Autumn. Is that going to start me in a game that has evolved spawns, or does the increased difficulty of spawns start not on season but on played days? I assumed it was on days actually played, but then i died to a zombie hulk and it said i had “survived” 63 days but adventured 3 so i had the thought that maybe the spawn was based on time from spring.

Thanks for any info

Ketrian · 2017-01-27T02:08:41.000Z

The game’s clock always starts on the first day of spring, regardless whether you begin play at that point or not. You cannot change the date on which the Cataclysm starts, only the date your personal adventure in it starts. So yes, starting later in the year means perishable food has gone rotten, monsters have evolved, and all associated things with the passage of time.

BorkBorkGoesTheCode · 2017-01-27T03:57:38.000Z

Ketrian:

The game’s clock always starts on the first day of spring, regardless whether you begin play at that point or not. You cannot change the date on which the Cataclysm starts, only the date your personal adventure in it starts. So yes, starting later in the year means perishable food has gone rotten, monsters have evolved, and all associated things with the passage of time.

Is that due to a technical limit? I’d love to customize both the game start and the clock start.

Coolthulhu · 2017-01-27T05:42:01.000Z

Nowadays there are two starting clocks:
The world setting one and scenario one.

The world setting one should not cause accelerated time. It should be as if the cataclysm (the lore event) started just before the current season.
The scenario one should cause accelerated time. It should be as if your character camped out the first few seasons.

I’m not sure if they work correctly together. Trying summer start world + summer start scenario might cause an autumn start or something like that. Didn’t test it, but the code doesn’t look right.

thewhitespark · 2017-01-27T06:26:40.000Z

So if i made my whole world have a 45 day season and start in Autumn, and was a normal evacuee it should not have this progressed Cataclysm that Ketrian mentioned?

thewhitespark · 2017-01-27T21:15:33.000Z

So i just saw how it says on the Initial Season option that “anything other than the default” will mean things have rotted and monsters have evolved.

Is there any way to start in Autumn without having this progression having a occurred?

Wally-kun · 2017-01-31T04:18:34.000Z

From what I can tell there is no way to just start the Cataclysm whenever you want.

I have no idea why it’s so difficult and/or why the devs refuse/are unable to change this, but it’s highly inconvenient for anyone that dislikes bundling up for the 90 day seasons. It’s a very strange tradeoff but you either start out needing warmth or start with zombies potentially multiple tiers ahead of what you would normally get.

I’ve griped this multiple times before. I’d love to hear why it’s this way but I haven’t heard any justification for it.

Coolthulhu · 2017-01-31T15:01:27.000Z

I was pretty sure this was changed, but I guess it was special cased for zombie evolutions, not rot.

Chezzo · 2017-01-31T18:50:58.000Z

Could you load a game in the spring, and use debug time change, to accomplish what is being requested?

Coolthulhu · 2017-01-31T20:18:00.000Z

No, because then rot and zed evo will catch up.

There are two places that need updating: calendar and weather generation.
Calendar needs to understand season 0 not being spring, weather generation needs to stop caring about turn value and start caring about “turn in current year” (starting in spring) time.