History Main / EventDrivenClock

* ''VideoGame/TheLastExpress'': It's (in)famous for being one of the few {{Adventure Game}}s that take place entirely in real-time. From the moment you get onto that express and until you either get off or die, the time keeps ticking. If you aren't in the right spot at the right time, it's over, your train is gone.

SubTrope of InUniverseGameClock, when day and night pass freely without it affecting important stuff. SisterTrope of TakeYourTime, when the player has to actively trigger events for time to move. Compare and contrast EternalEquinox, when day/night cycles are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude.

** ''VideoGame/StarControl2'': While the game doesn't notify you of this right away, the whole game is a TimedMission, and while you're playing the game, time passes by and significant in-game events will occur, like the time-frame including a side-quest involving saving the homeworld of the Zoq-Fot-Pik, or [[spoiler: the Ur-Quan Kohr-Ah winning their Doctrinal War against the Kzer-Za, and beginning the Death March]], and while you can affect the timing or outcome of those events, wasting too much time in the game overall will eventually lead to your planet Earth being destroyed and [[GameOver the game ending for good]].

SubTrope of InUniverseGameClock. SisterTrope of TakeYourTime. Compare and contrast EternalEquinox, when day/night cycles are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude.

SubTrope of InUniverseGameClock. SuperTrope of TakeYourTime. Compare and contrast EternalEquinox, when day/night cycles are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude.

SuperTrope of InUniverseGameClock and TakeYourTime. Compare and contrast EternalEquinox, when day/night cycles are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude.

InUniverseGameClock is another form of this, and TakeYourTime is a version of this. Compare and contrast EternalEquinox, when day/night cycles are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude.

As this [[OmnipresentTrope trope is omnipresent]] among video games, please list only aversions.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' goes both ways --the Wild Area always runs in real-time, but the other areas of the base game stay at fixed times of the day based on story progression. After beating the game, the entire game world starts running in real time.

InUniverseGameClock is another form of this, and TakeYourTime is a version of this. Contrast EternalEquinox, when day/night cycles are always the exact same length, regardless of the season or the latitude.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' pulls it twice, once in an exploding castle and once in an underwater dive. In the former, the challenge was less getting out in time and more fighting some minibosses for bonus items ''while'' getting out. In the latter, one had to stall out a PuzzleBoss.

* A central gimmick of the ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' series is that a day's passage happens in a set amount of real-time, regardless of the player's actions, significantly limiting what you can do in one day, even with healing items.
* In the world of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', real time ''is'' game time. If it's 10 pm on the clock on your wall, it's 10 pm in the game. It's a central gimmick of the game, in fact.
* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' models a quite realistic solar system, meaning you have to think about launch windows if you want to send missions further than Kerbin's moons.

* ''VideoGame/DeadRising''. The game is going to end in 3 days. Your actions affect what [[MultipleEndings ending]] you get but not when it comes. Other game events also happen on time regardless of player action, though on a sliding window of opportunity rather than an exact time. As long as you arrive within that timeframe the event happens and it's AlwaysClose.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' averts this trope; time and weather change and march on regardless of progress. You can have the same mission twice, once at night in heavy fog, and another at noon in full sunlight. This can even make missions harder: try flying a plane (San Andreas) in a sandstorm. At night.

InUniverseGameClock is another form of this, and TakeYourTime is a version of this.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastExpress'' is (in)famous for being one of the few {{Adventure Game}}s that take place entirely in real-time. From the moment you get onto that express and until you either get off or die, the time keeps ticking. If you aren't on the right spot at the right time, it's over, your train is gone.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSeed''. There's a game clock that runs independently of the player. You need to sleep at night and be on certain appointments on time. If you miss one, you're screwed. If you miss an action in a day, you're screwed. Thanks to this, the game was almost impossible to complete without a guide.
* Most ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' games have several timed events that occur a fixed number of days after the start. (Elementals and caravans in ''II'', Igor's disappearance in ''IV'', scheduled competitions, poisonings and assassinations in ''V'', etc.) Though the games are rather relaxed in that regard -- the player either has time to prepare, gets advance warnings, or has 3-7 days to figure out what to do. Still, timed disasters [[PermanentlyMissableContent lock portions of the game]] or end the game if the player does nothing. Unrelated to that, the games have a day-night cycle, which determines what the hero can do and who he can encounter.

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has the entire day/night cycle occurring in under an hour. Also, some groups of villains only appear on the street during the night in some areas.
* ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' has a term alarm clock op. Since everything in EVE is real-time, sometimes that tower comes out of reinforced at 3 am local time, Tuesday. Also, Eve time is GMT. So Daylight saving time changes can really screw things up.

* ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' averts this, you may complete quests or just run around in circles, but the wars between AI factions will carry on.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' plays this straight most of the time, but an early mission sees you setting up the bomb with a timer set up to go off in five minutes. You have to get out within those minutes, and the timer keeps ticking even in combat, ''even during the cutscenes''!
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' pulls it twice, once in an exploding castle and once in an underwater dive. In the former, the challenge was less getting out in time and more fighting some minibosses for bonus items ''while'' getting out. In the latter, one had to stall out a PuzzleBoss.
* During the first full moon in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', you get about nine minutes to get to the front of a train and destroy the Shadow controlling it. The clock only stops when you're on the menus. Oh, and the boss is a MookMaker. Good luck.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', then again in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''. Like in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', real-time is game time; the time of day has a factor on what Mons you can capture as well as some other game-related events, as does the day of the week. ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' goes both ways- the Wild Area always runs in real-time, but the other areas of the base game stay at fixed times of the day based on story progression. After beating the game, the entire game world starts running in real-time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' is a partial aversion; it isn't completely real-time, but day and night come and go every few minutes, and the world (i.e. characters, quests, and conversations) changes accordingly. Once you learn the brushstrokes, though, you can force day or night to occur or continue and [[TakeYourTime keep the world in perpetual day/night as well]]. The only time you can't TakeYourTime is when [[spoiler:you must make it to Oni Island before sunset, or else the island will disappear. And it ''will'' disappear if you take too long, making you start the whole sequence over.]]

In most VideoGames time seems to be based around the main character's progress, rather than any sort of actual time. This leads to the FridgeLogic of you apparently going through an entire night in the course of a few hours. This also goes the other way in that if you stay still for several hours nothing will change at all. Very much among AcceptableBreaksFromReality, as the time of day has an large effect on the mood and atmosphere of specific scenes, along with the massive technical difficulties to which the alternative leads.

As this trope is omnipresent among video games, please list only aversions.

!!Aversions

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Action-Adventure Games ]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Adventure Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLastExpress'' is (in)famous for being one of the few {{Adventure Game}}s that take place entirely in real time. From the moment you get onto that express and until you either get off or die, the time keeps ticking. If you aren't on the right spot at the right time, it's over, your train is gone.
** It's not exactly real time. Time runs about 5 minutes game time to every 1 minute of real time, and there are time skips(such as when you sleep). Furthermore, you can't accerate time, but if you miss a key event, you can rewind the clock to an earlier point, at the cost of not being able to undo the time reversal after about 30 seconds.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSeed''. There's a game clock that runs independently of the player. You need to sleep at nights and be on certain appointments on time. If you miss one, you're screwed. If you miss an action in a day, you're screwed. Thanks to this, the game was almost impossible to complete without a guide.
* Most ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' games have several timed events that occur a fixed number of days after the start. (Elementals and caravans in ''II'', Igor's disappearance in ''IV'', scheduled competitions, poisonings and assassinations in ''V'', etc.) Though the games are rather relaxed in that regard -- the player either has time to prepare, gets advance warnings, or has 3-7 days to figure what to do. Still, timed disasters [[PermanentlyMissableContent lock portions of the game]] or end the game if the player does nothing. Unrelated to that, the games have a day-night cycle, which determines what the hero can do and who he can encounter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: [=MMORPGs=] ]]

* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has the entire day/night cycle occurring in under an hour. Also some groups of villains only appear on the street during the night in some areas.
* ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' has a term alarm clock op. Since everything in EVE is real time, sometimes that tower comes out of reinforced at 3am local time, Tuesday. Also Eve time is GMT. So Daylight saving time changes can really screw things up.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Role-Playing Games ]]

* During the first full moon in ''VideoGame/Persona3'', you get about nine minutes to get to the front of a train and destroy the Shadow controlling it. The clock only stops when you're in the menus. Oh, and the boss is a MookMaker. Good luck.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', then again in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''. Like in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', real time is game time; the time of day has a factor on what Mons you can capture as well as some other game-related events, as does the day of the week. ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' goes both ways- the Wild Area always runs on real time, but the other areas of the base game stay at fixed times of day based on story progression. After beating the game, the entire game world starts running on real time.

* ''VideoGame/DontEscape'': You start the game with a limited amount of time (until nightfall in the first two, oxygen supply in the third) to perform various actions to prevent your escape. Most of these actions consume small amounts of time (mixing ingredients, digging traps, etc.), others extend the limit. Moving from room to room doesn't consume any time, though the second game as you move from different locations (even with a car it's reduced to a few minutes).

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Simulation Games ]]

* A central gimmick of the ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' series is that a day's passage happens in a set amount of real time, regardless of the player's actions, significantly limiting what you can do in one day, even with healing items.
* In the world of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', real time ''is'' game time. If it's 10pm on the clock on your wall, it's 10pm in the game. It's a central gimmick of the game, in fact.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Wide Open Sandbox ]]

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' averts this trope; time and weather change and march on regardless of progress. You can have the same mission twice, once at night in heavy fog, and another at noon in full sunlight. This can even make missions harder: try flying a plane (San Andreas) in a sand storm. At night.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: MMORP Gs ]]

* Pick an MMORPG, any MMORPG, natch.
** ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has the entire day/night cycle occurring in under an hour. Also some groups of villains only appear on the street during the night in some areas.
** ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' has a term alarm clock op. Since everything in EVE is real time, sometimes that tower comes out of reinforced at 3am local time, Tuesday. Also Eve time is GMT. So Daylight saving time changes can really screw things up.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', then again in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''. Like in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', real time is game time; the time of day has a factor on what Mons you can capture as well as some other game-related events, as does the day of the week.

* During the first full moon in ''{{Persona 3}}'', you get about nine minutes to get to the front of a train and destroy the Shadow controlling it. The clock only stops when you're in the menus. Oh, and the boss is a MookMaker. Good luck.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' runs in real time regardless of your progress. You have three days' worth of game time (around 72 real-world minutes, [[spoiler:unless you use the spell which slows time down...]]) before the moon crashes and destroys the world; it's virtually impossible to accomplish everything that needs to be done during such a short timeframe ([[SelfImposedChallenge but it has been done]]), so the crux of the game is a GroundhogDayLoop where you have to complete several specific tasks (which ''don't'' reset) before time runs out.
* Predecessor ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has certain parts of the world where you can TakeYourTime and others where TimeKeepsOnSlipping.

* ''TheLastExpress'' is (in)famous for being one of the few {{Adventure Game}}s that take place entirely in real time. From the moment you get onto that express and until you either get off or die, the time keeps ticking. If you aren't on the right spot at the right time, it's over, your train is gone.

* A central gimmick of the ''HarvestMoon'' series is that a day's passage happens in a set amount of real time, regardless of the player's actions, significantly limiting what you can do in one day, even with healing items.

[[AC:Action-Adventure Games]]

[[AC:Adventure Games]]

[[AC:{{MMORPG}}s]]

[[AC:Role-Playing Games]]

[[AC:Simulation Games]]

[[AC:Wide Open Sandbox]]

* ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', then again in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite''. Like in ''AnimalCrossing'', real time is game time; the time of day has a factor on what Mons you can capture as well as some other game-related events, as does the day of the week.

* In the world of ''AnimalCrossing'', real time ''is'' game time. If it's 10pm on the clock on your wall, it's 10pm in the game. It's a central gimmick of the game, in fact.

** ''CityOfHeroes'' has the entire day/night cycle occurring in under an hour. Also some groups of villains only appear on the street during the night in some areas.
** ''EVEOnline'' has a term alarm clock op. Since everything in EVE is real time, sometimes that tower comes out of reinforced at 3am local time, Tuesday. Also Eve time is GMT. So Daylight saving time changes can really screw things up.

* ''DeadRising''. The game is going to end in 3 days. Your actions affect what [[MultipleEndings ending]] you get but not when it comes. Other game events also happen on time regardless of player action, though on a sliding window of opportunity rather than an exact time. As long as you arrive within that timeframe the event happens and it's AlwaysClose.