Darkness

[kaka]

Perhaps darkness could be implemented as just a blue overlay rather than a total reduction in light.

I told them (or maybe just Loftar) this in the beginning, but they/he wouldn't hear it. :P
Maybe they'll think differently know, though.
I remember Jorb saying that "the night should be mysterious, not annoying".

[Peter]

You know what would make night and darkness less annoying? If it cycled around! I'm tired of playing during the dark!

All that has to be done is decrease the length of an hDay by 1rHour. Or increase it, for that matter. Then each play session would be a few hHours later or earlier than the other. Yes, this would make for an uneven number of hDays to rDays. So what?

[Jackard]

personally i just disable lighting since its a pain in the ass and poor game design to boot

and before i figured out how to do this, i would edit the gamma contrast and brightness of my monitor to achieve the same thing

[Peter]

That's part of the problem; it's too easy to cheat. The server should only send tiles you can see.

[Jackard]

And why shouldnt we cheat in this case? Nights can often become pitch black, rendering the game unplayable. Let's have a look at what this adds:

All lightsources have a small radius. Even smaller when in caves.
There are 3-4 levels of illumination, so lightsources cannot even fully illuminate the small areas they affect.
All lightsources do not last very long.
Some lightsources are costly.
Portable lightsources take up important hand/helm slots.
Lightsources are not affected by quality.

Night does not affect tracking.
Night does not affect sleep.
Night does not affect creatures.
night does not, in fact, do much of anything besides piss people off

So all it adds, is tedium and frustration. Maybe this is something you enjoy! I know Erik the Blue does. It sure doesnt belong in a game, though!

[jorb]

Jackard, I do not say this often enough, but I love it when you're mean.

[Fluffy]

I like the night. I just hate the shades inbetween. The red and orange really is hard on mah eyes.

[niltrias]

And why shouldnt we cheat in this case? Nights can often become pitch black, rendering the game unplayable. Let's have a look at what this adds:

All lightsources have a small radius. Even smaller when in caves.
There are 3-4 levels of illumination, so lightsources cannot even fully illuminate the small areas they affect.
All lightsources do not last very long.
Some lightsources are costly.
Portable lightsources take up important hand/helm slots.
Lightsources are not affected by quality.

Night does not affect tracking.
Night does not affect sleep.
Night does not affect creatures.
night does not, in fact, do much of anything besides piss people off

So all it adds, is tedium and frustration. Maybe this is something you enjoy! I know Erik the Blue does. It sure doesnt belong in a game, though!

This is a pretty awesome list of what I do NOT like about night. Night should not just be a time when it is hard to see and play...if it is, the what we have is a game design that says "half the time, this game will be a PITA to play! wheee!" Night should be a time when the play style is different. Some of my thoughts:
(Jackard, I know a lot of these will like like me just reversing your comments, but just take it as agreement with your post. Ive been thinking about night for a while, and your post spurred me to write this down.)

At night, some things should get easier and some harder. Easier...escapes me at the moment. If we had more ancestor/mystic stuff, I would say that, but..
All perception-based actions, like tracking, finding herbs, should be more difficult.
Aggressive critters should get buffs, and also give more LP. Maybe only aggro critters over a certain level, so that newbs arent hunted down every night.
Some critters should only spawn at night, and disappear at dawn.
Maybe herbs, although more difficult to find, would have higher q? Fresh midnight mushrooms, anyone?
light sources should change power and range based on q. This would add another trade option for people.
Implementation of sap could lead to not only better torches/laterns, but also maple syrup
Possibly, when stealth is fixed, a bonus to stealth if the deed is done in black of night? This would be kinda fun, with everyone boarding their windows and repairing their palisades just before a moonless night.
And more. Basically, more fun stuff at night, less hassle.

[CG62]

You know what'd be awesome for night time?


Zombies

(And yes, I firmly stand behind my belief that H&H could possibly be one of the best platforms for a zombie survival game int he history of everything.)

[Jackard]

To be more helpful, here's two ways to fix current problems with darkness.

Buff lightsources, keep nightvision the same
Have them fully illuminate within their radius.
Extend radius of lightsources based on quality.
Extend lifespan of lightsources based on quality - have them last on average a full night in game.
Add "bonfire" construct that has large radius and lifespan but costs wooden blocks.

Buff nightvision, keep lightsources the same
This would make lightsources more useful for indoors and underground environments.
Give lightsources a use beyond visibility, such as "auras" that buff when a character is in range.

for both there should be additional things affected by night and day to make it actually interesting - diurnal/nocturnal creatures, tracking, sleep, harvesting, mapping, foraging