A world that keeps moving

The sky in Project Tourge is not a static backdrop. Time continues to move, weather develops instead of switching instantly, and rain leaves a road that takes time to dry. Together, those systems make the same route feel different without changing the road itself.

Time is more than a rotating light

The time system tracks a full date and local time. By default, one real second advances the world by one simulated minute, but time can also be paused when a fixed condition is needed. The current time and date persist between sessions, so the world does not always reset to the same hour.

Sun position is calculated from the date, time, latitude, longitude and UTC offset. That gives us a solar path rather than a light spinning around the map at a constant angle. Sunrise, sunset, day length and the height of the midday sun all follow the inputs to that calculation.

As the sun approaches the horizon, its intensity blends into twilight instead of snapping off. The moon takes over the night side of the sky, and shadow ownership moves between the two celestial lights. Building and street lights also follow their own evening and morning schedules, allowing the world to respond to the clock rather than relying on a single global switch.

Weather as a continuous state

The current weather range includes sparse clouds, cloudy conditions, overcast skies, stormy weather, light rain, medium rain and a heavy thunderstorm. Those names are presets, but the values underneath them are continuous.

When weather changes, cloud shape, cloud lighting, fog, wind, rain, storm severity and lightning blend together over thirty seconds with a smooth transition. Rain begins to build before the transition is complete, while the sky and atmosphere move toward the same target. A storm therefore arrives as a developing condition rather than a sudden replacement of one scene with another.

Automatic weather also moves through neighboring levels of severity. A clear sky does not jump directly into the heaviest thunderstorm. The system works through the states between them and gives each condition time to remain active, producing a more believable progression.

Rain has somewhere to land

Rain is affected by the world's wind direction and produces contact where it reaches visible surfaces. Exposure is evaluated locally as well: a position under a roof or other shelter should not receive the same rainfall as an open section of road.

That distinction matters because the visual rain and the state of the ground are connected. Rainfall accumulates wetness while exposed areas are being hit. When the rain stops, that wetness drains and dries gradually instead of disappearing with the last drop.

The road remembers

Active rain changes available grip immediately, and accumulated wetness keeps affecting the car after the weather begins to clear. Longitudinal and lateral grip are handled separately, with lateral grip losing slightly more at full saturation. Different tyre compounds can also carry different levels of sensitivity to water.

The result is a weather system that changes the drive, not only the image. Braking, acceleration and cornering can all feel different on a wet road, while the drying period creates a useful tail between a storm and fully dry conditions.

Time and weather share the same sky

Weather does not replace the time of day. The calculated sun position continues to define where the light is coming from while cloud and storm conditions filter its strength, colour and visibility. A storm at sunset is still a sunset; it simply has a darker, heavier atmosphere than the same hour under sparse clouds.

Keeping the clock and weather connected is what gives the system range. The same preset can look and feel different in the morning, at midday or during the final light of the evening, while the road carries the recent history of the rain beneath it.

The goal is a world that changes continuously: the sky develops, the light follows real solar time, and the road remembers what the weather just did.