Day-Night Cycle Plugin v1.0 for RPG Maker MZ

Greetings RPG Makers!

I’m pleased to present the Day-Night Cycle plugin by McKathlin, for RPG Maker MZ! This plugin allows you to easily add a day/night cycle to your game.

The following features are included:

Have time change based on the number of steps the player takes.
Lighting (screen tint) changes based off the time of day, in any map that uses the “outside” lighting. This is excellent for the overworld or any other maps where you can explore the great outdoors!
Lighting (screen tint) presets can be set for each map. Lighting presets include options such as “outside”, “bright”, “dark”, and “fire”. You can even add your own custom lighting presets!

Download Day-Night Cycle Plugin MZ

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How to Install

Download the file, and unzip it.
Make sure the unzipped file is named McKathlin_DayNight.js and is saved as a .js file.
Open the file folder of your project. Place the file in your project’s “js” folder, within the “plugins” folder.
Open your project in RPG Maker MZ, then go to the Tools menu and select Plugin Manager. Use the Plugin Manager to add and activate the plugin.
I recommend you place this plugin toward the bottom of your plugin list, so it has high priority.

Examples

During the day, the lighting is the default with no tint.

As time passes, day turns to dusk. The tint is reddish like a sunset. For time to progress the <DayNight: step> tag needs to be included on the map’s properties notetag. This is usually used on the overworld map.

Adventure too long and it turns to night in the outside lighting preset. Remember to use the <DayNight: step> tag in the map’s properties notetag.

Fire lighting preset is good for places that use fire for lighting.

An example of how to use the <lighting: fire> map property notetag. Other presets such as outside, dark, and sepia follow a similar syntax.

Gold lighting preset. Could be useful for a treasure room!

Green lighting preset. The zombies love it!

Blue lighting preset. Tint is blue!

Dark preset is good for spooky caves. This differs from night in that there is less blue.

Sepia preset brings back memories. Great for dreams and flashbacks.

Gray lighting preset. Excellent for doggos!

Help Documentation

McKathlin Day-Night Cyle plugin for RPG Maker MZ
v1.0, updated 6/1/2021
This plugin tracks a day-night cycle: it keeps track of time of day as the cycle advances, auto-updates variables and switches based on time of day, and applies screen tones to areas marked as outdoors.
To start seeing results from this plugin, follow these steps:
1. As with any plugin, place it in the plugins folder and add it to your plugin list.
2. Edit plugin parameters to assign any switches and variables you plan on using in your events. For example, you can use the Night switch to make events that only show up at night.
3. For any maps that should advance the day-night cycle when the player walks, add this to the map’s Note: <DayNight: step>
Map Notetag Examples
<DayNight: step>
- Each step while on this map advances the in-universe time by the number of minutes given in the “Minutes Per Step” parameter.
<DayNight: step=15m>
- Each step while on this map causes the in-universe time to advance by the given number of minutes (in this case, 15).
<Lighting: outside>
- The screen tone while in this map will vary depending on the time of day. Day-night element bonuses will also apply. If the map has other notetags granting element bonuses, then the day-night element bonuses and other element bonuses will be added together.
<lighting: dark>
- While on this map, the “Dark” lighting preset’s screen tone will be used, unless overridden by an event. For more map lighting options, see the “Simple Lighting Presets” parameter.
Plugin Command Examples
Set Time 7:05 AM
- Sets the time of day to the specified time. In-universe time passed only moves forward, so setting the time earlier than the present time will advance in-universe time to the next day.
Add Time 2 hours 30 minutes
- Moves the time of day forward the specified amount.
Reset Time
- Changes the time back to game start time on day 0.
Script Call Getter Methods
McKathlin.DayNightCycle.getMinutes();
- The number of minutes past the current hour: 0 through 59
McKathlin.DayNightCycle.getHours();
- The hour of the current day: 0 (midnight) through 23 (11 PM)
McKathlin.DayNightCycle.getDays();
- Number of full days since midnight of the starting day.
McKathlin.DayNightCycle.getTotalHours();
- Number of hours since midnight of the starting day.
McKathlin.DayNightCycle.getTotalMinutes();
- Number of minutes since midnight of the starting day.
McKathlin.DayNightCycle.getMinutesOfDay();
- Number of minutes since midnight of the current day.
For more help using the Day-Night Cycle plugin, see Tyruswoo.com.
Version History:
v1.0: 6/1/2021
- Day-Night Cycle plugin released for RPG Maker MZ

Terms of Use:
1. You joined Tyruswoo.com as a paying member when you downloaded this plugin. You do not have to remain a paying member to use the plugin you downloaded. However, your support is greatly appreciated, and allows me to continue improving and updating plugins.
2. You agree to not redistribute this plugin. You agree to direct others to Tyruswoo.com if they want the plugin.
3. You may use this for any game for which you are one of the main developers. This includes any commercial or non-commercial game you are creating.
4. Adding “McKathlin” to your game’s credits is greatly appreciated, but not required.
5. Likewise, listing which Tyruswoo Team plugins you used is appreciated, but not required.
6. A free copy of your game is awesome, but not required.
Enjoy the plugin!
-McKathlin

Big thanks to McKathlin for this Day-Night Cycle plugin for RPG Maker MZ!

Lawenia

McKathlin

Software Engineer
Pixel Artist
Music Composer
Sound Engineer

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