Alarm Clock/Timer

[Buldric]

It would be nice to have an alarm clock/timer that sends an alert (and perhaps auto-pauses the game) after a specified time in-game.

I find myself frequently starting a project, setting a long process into motion, and then getting absorbed in something else and forgetting to check on it. This can have major consequences with, for example, farms.

[AlexRou]

Why not just use a phone app? I don't think klei would want to make it easier for people to AFK.

[Buldric]

I mean a cycle timer. A phone app can't factor in pausing, speed changes, or lag (which I presume actually slows down the simulation).

I don't see why Klei would be against people playing AFK. It presents an interesting engineering challenge- if I tried to play AFK my base would melt down very quickly. If for some reason they are against AFK play, though, they could just not add the auto-pause feature.

Either way, I don't want it for AFK play, but to allow myself to fully focus on one project without having to try and remember what other things I need to check up on. If I think something is going to take 10 cycles, I can just set the timer for 10 cycles and put it out of my mind. A phone app doesn't do that for me at all, because I sometimes go multiple cycles without pausing, and sometimes pause the game for 3-5 minutes straight.

[AlexRou]

You should have said it was a cycle timer in the op then, that makes so much more sense than a real time timer.

Most game companies wouldn't like afking since that would mean their game isn't fun enough so they tend to figure out and solve why people are afking instead of making afking easier. Tho of course there are exceptions like games specifically designed for afking.

From your description it sounds like it would be better to have event based sensors with notifications, so like more sensor switches and a special building that sends a notification to the UI in some way when turned on by those sensors. The timer could even be a circuit switch so that makes it more useful and more sensible than a pure UI timer. I can imagine timers being used for other purposes than just giving you a ping.

[Buldric]

 

5 hours ago, AlexRou said:

that makes so much more sense than a real time timer

That's why I didn't feel the need to specify.

5 hours ago, AlexRou said:

they tend to figure out and solve why people are afking instead of making afking easier

This is kind of complicated. The game actually does have ultra-high-speed modes (ctrl + z and ctrl + u) to help with this exact issue, but they're kind of broken. As in, dupes forget to breathe and machines barely function. If they fixed those, there would be no need to AFK play.

Or, they could improve framerates so that players can use more dupes without the game locking up, which would reduce the need to afk by allowing tasks to be completed in fewer cycles. Currently I limit myself to 12 dupes... I tried 16 once and the game was unplayable.

5 hours ago, AlexRou said:

From your description it sounds like it would be better to have event based sensors with notifications

I don't understand this. Half the time when I post something in suggestions, someone tells me "it looks like what you're actually asking for is [feature x]". No, that's not what I'm asking for.

I used farming as an example because it's a clearly defined task that most players have experience with... and yes, event triggers would make farming easier. However, most of my projects are broad or complex enough in scope that a useful event trigger would be hard to define.

Also, sometimes I want to check in on a project halfway to make sure it's going smoothly. If I expect a task to take 10 cycles, and at 5 cycles it's only 1/6 done, I want to know about it right then, not after another 25 cycles.

 

5 hours ago, AlexRou said:

The timer could even be a circuit switch so that makes it more useful and more sensible than a pure UI timer

This is like saying a hammer is "more useful" or "more sensible" than a screwdriver. They're different tools for different purposes.

None of the things you mentioned are necessarily bad ideas, but they don't replace the feature I'm asking for.

[AlexRou]

1 minute ago, Buldric said:

This is like saying a hammer is "more useful" or "more sensible" than a screwdriver. They're different tools for different purposes.

None of the things you mentioned are necessarily bad ideas, but they don't replace the feature I'm asking for.

Well a timer switch that activates a building that has a UI notification/alert would be exactly what you asked for no? Minus the auto pause of course. 

[Buldric]

5 minutes ago, AlexRou said:

Well a timer switch that activates a building that has a UI notification/alert would be exactly what you asked for no?

That's true, but it adds two extra layers of unnecessary complication. They could add a separate UI alert building as you suggest, but that seems inelegant to me. There's no reason a UI timer couldn't be handled directly through the UI, without the game world needing to explicitly acknowledge the presence of the player.

[AlexRou]

Just now, Buldric said:

Yes, just with two extra layers of unnecessary complication. They could add a separate UI alert building as you suggest, but that seems inelegant to me. There's no reason a UI timer couldn't be handled directly through the UI, without the game world needing to explicitly acknowledge the presence of the player.

Well I just feel like a alert building feels more natural than a new alarm UI. So since there should be nothing much we could add I guess let's leave it to the devs which if any they want to implement.

 

Just thought I'd explain this part for you

12 minutes ago, Buldric said:

I don't understand this. Half the time when I post something in suggestions, someone tells me "it looks like what you're actually asking for is [feature x]". No, that's not what I'm asking for.

If this happens it means you either didn't describe your use case well enough or someone misunderstood your use case or someone wanted to take your idea and add his use case. Or in some cases it could mean someone didn't like your solution for that use case. Suggesting a different solution to your ideas isn't necessarily a bad thing, it gives the devs more viewpoints to look at a problem. 

In this case I thought a new alarm UI feels too limited in it's uses, and since you didn't described in detail your use case I thought maybe new sensors could cover it. But after you explained it, yeah I agree a timer is prob the best thing they could add for those hard to define situations. 

So I hope you understand this now, as long as the other person is being civil just try to understand where he is coming from and who knows his ideas might even influence yours a little.

[danskspiller]

This game is so addictive and absorbing, I think I need an alarm that saves, kicks me out and blows raspberries at me if I try to play again within an hour.