Day-Night Cycle Plugin v1.0.1 for 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!

In this post, we will cover the following topics:

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!

1. Download the file, and unzip it.
2. Make sure the unzipped file is named McKathlin_DayNight.js and is saved as a .js file.
3. Open the file folder of your project. Place the file in your project’s “js” folder, within the “plugins” folder.
4. 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.
5. I recommend you place this plugin toward the bottom of your plugin list, so it has high priority.

In the list of maps (in the lower-left corner of the editor window), right-click a map name and select “Edit”. This opens the Map Properties window.

In the Map Properties window, find the note box. It is a text box labeled “Note”.

In the Map Properties note box, note tags can be written to apply special lighting pre-sets to the map. Use the angle brackets < and > around each notetag.

For outside lighting to work, include the following note tags in the Map Properties note box:

<DayNight: step>
<lighting: outside>

• The Day-Night step note tag ensures that each step while on this map advances the in-universe time by the number of minutes given in the “Minutes Per Step” plugin parameter.
• Outside lighting allows screen tone of the map to vary depending on the time of day. By default, the Day-Night plugin assumes all maps are outside.

To change the tone/tint of outside dawn phases, daytime, dusk phases, or nighttime, or to change other plugin parameter settings, use the Plugin Manager.

These simple lighting pre-sets will help you easily get started on your game’s lighting. You can modify any of the included pre-sets, or add your own pre-set, by modifying the plugin parameters. To change plugin parameters, use the Plugin Manager tool.

Several lighting pre-sets are included, but can also be modified within the plugin parameters. Here are the Map Properties note tags for several included lighting pre-sets:

<lighting: bright>

Bright lighting is the same as default RPG Maker lighting, showing all colors vibrantly, with no tint. This bright lighting matches the “Normal” tint of default RPG Maker’s Tint Screen event command.

<lighting: fire>

Fire lighting gives a reddish tint. This is useful for maps that are to appear as if lit by candles, a campfire, an incandescent light bulb, a forest fire, volcano lava, or other warm lighting.

<lighting: blue>

Blue lighting gives a blue tint. This blue lighting matches the “Night” tint of default RPG Maker’s Tint Screen event command. This blue lighting also matches the Day-Night plugin’s nighttime outside lighting. Blue lighting is useful for maps that you want to always appear as if it is nighttime.

<lighting: dark>

Dark lighting is good for maps intended to be dark, but that should not appear to be outside. This dark lighting matches the “Dark” tint of default RPG Maker’s Tint Screen event command.

<lighting: sunset>

Sunset lighting has a bright reddish tint, similar to the final bright sun rays at the end of the day. This sunset lighting matches the “Sunset” tint of default RPG Maker’s Tint Screen event command.

<lighting: sepia>

Sepia lighting has a muted brown tint that is useful for nostalgic cutscenes or dream sequences. This sepia lighting matches the “Sepia” tint of default RPG Maker’s Tint Screen event command.

<lighting: gold>

Gold lighting gives a yellow-gold appearance that could be useful for a treasure room or gold palace.

<lighting: green>

Green lighting gives a green tint that could be useful for a suffocating swamp or forest.

<lighting: gray>

Gray lighting removes all color, so only whites, blacks, and grays are seen. Useful for viewing a map with the vision of a dog, or as if through a black-and-white monitor.

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

Lawenia