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Day-Night Cycle
April 4, 2026 at 10:51 AM
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The city of Hethereau has a dynamic day-night cycle and weather system that continuously transforms the environment throughout each in-game day. Time progresses from morning through afternoon, evening, and night, with smooth transitions that change the sky, lighting, ambient sounds, and NPC behavior. Weather conditions including rain and snow layer on top of the time-of-day system, creating a wide range of atmospheric states that affect both visuals and gameplay.
The system is built on Unreal Engine 5 with Global Illumination support, producing realistic lighting at all times of day. The launch roadmap confirmed that the lighting system was revamped for the April 29 release with "more realistic day-night cycles and weather effects," including improved water physics and detailed texture refinement.
On PC, the day-night cycle benefits from full ray tracing support. When ray tracing is enabled, lighting changes throughout the day produce physically accurate shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion. Sunrise and sunset periods are particularly striking, as rays of light scatter realistically through the urban geometry. Even without ray tracing, the baseline Global Illumination system delivers convincing lighting at all times of day across all supported platforms.
Hethereau transitions through distinct periods as the in-game clock progresses. Each time period changes the city's visual character and the types of activities available.
Period | Atmosphere | Gameplay Notes |
|---|---|---|
Morning | Warm sunrise lighting, long shadows, golden tones | NPCs begin daily routines. Shops open. Traffic starts building. |
Afternoon | Bright, full daylight with clear visibility | Peak NPC activity. Most activities fully available. |
Evening | Sunset colors, neon signs begin to glow, transitional lighting | Some NPCs return home. Street activity shifts. |
Night | Dark streets lit by neon, streetlights, and vehicle headlights | Reduced NPC presence. Certain anomalies become more active. Night-specific encounters. |
Weather conditions change dynamically and independently of the time-of-day cycle. Rain and snow can occur at any time, layering additional visual and gameplay effects on top of the base lighting conditions.
Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
Visual Effects | Puddles form on streets after storms. Surfaces become visibly wet with realistic reflections. Neon signs and streetlights reflect off wet pavement, creating the cinematic rainy-night aesthetic that has become one of NTE's signature visual moments. |
NPC Reactions | When rain starts, NPCs collectively cover their heads and seek shelter. Pedestrians pull out umbrellas or run for awnings. This reactive behavior applies to the general population across all districts. |
Vehicle Handling | Rain makes road surfaces slippery. Vehicles lose traction during turns, braking distances increase, and the risk of losing control during high-speed driving goes up. Each vehicle responds differently to wet conditions. |
Anomaly Connection | Some anomalies are directly tied to rain. The "Anomaly Rainman" enters an active phase during rain events. The game's lore includes rain that can turn people into violent husks, connecting the weather system to the supernatural threats at the heart of NTE's narrative. |
Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
Visual Effects | Snow covers surfaces during winter conditions. The game uses advanced snow rendering with real-time PBR materials and subsurface scattering, making individual snowflakes appear lifelike and translucent. |
Vehicle Handling | Snow affects traction and alters drift behavior. The cruising line changes on snow-covered roads, requiring drivers to adjust their approach to turns and braking. Snow makes handling trickier than rain, particularly at high speeds. |
Surface Persistence | Snow accumulates visually on the environment and persists until weather conditions change. |
Hethereau's NPCs follow daily routines that change with the time of day and react to weather events. The system is designed to make the city feel alive and populated by people with their own schedules and habits.
Behavior | Description |
|---|---|
Daily Routines | NPCs go about their lives on schedules. They gather in groups to chat, walk while checking their phones, visit shops, and commute between locations. Different NPCs appear in different areas depending on the time of day. |
Weather Reactions | When rain begins, NPCs seek shelter, pull out umbrellas, or cover their heads and run. This reactive behavior is immediate and visible across the city population. |
Player Reactions | NPCs react to the player's actions as well. They honk when the player blocks traffic, flee when the player drives dangerously, and swerve to avoid collisions. These reactions feed into the crime and wanted system when the player's behavior becomes destructive. |
Prison Schedules | The detention center operates on its own daily schedule, moving inmates between activities (dining, work, recreation) at set times during each in-game day. |
The anomaly system has connections to both time of day and weather conditions. Certain anomalies are more active or only appear during specific conditions:
Anomaly Type | Description |
|---|---|
Rain-Linked Anomalies | The Anomaly Rainman is specifically tied to rain events, becoming active when it rains and dormant during clear weather. Rain in the game's lore carries supernatural significance. |
Night Activity | Some anomalous encounters and events are more likely to spawn during nighttime hours, when the supernatural elements of Hethereau's world become more prominent. |
Investigation Atmosphere | The game pulls out horror media tricks during anomaly investigations: disconnected telephones ringing, shadows following the player, fog limiting vision, and the feeling of being watched. These effects are amplified during nighttime and poor weather conditions. |
The day-night and weather cycle significantly affects vehicle gameplay. Driving at night reduces visibility and requires headlights. Rain and snow change road surface physics, affecting braking, drifting, and cornering for all vehicle types. Weather conditions impact street racing competitions, taxi driving shifts, and general open-world travel.
Condition | Visibility | Handling Effect |
|---|---|---|
Clear Day | Full | Normal traction and braking |
Clear Night | Reduced (headlights required) | Normal traction |
Rain | Moderately reduced | Slippery surfaces, longer braking, increased drift risk |
Snow | Reduced | Low traction, altered drift lines, trickiest handling |
The day-night cycle is powered by Unreal Engine 5's Global Illumination system, which produces dynamically accurate lighting at all times of day. The technology enables:
Smooth, continuous light transitions from sunrise through sunset and into night.
Realistic reflections on wet surfaces during and after rain.
Neon sign glow that interacts naturally with surrounding surfaces and atmospheric conditions.
NVIDIA DLSS 4 with Multi-Frame Generation support for maintaining high frame rates during visually complex weather scenarios.
Advanced snow rendering with PBR materials and subsurface scattering for translucent snowflake effects.
One of the defining aspects of the day-night cycle is how seamlessly the game transitions between normal city life and supernatural events. Anomaly encounters can trigger at any time of day, pulling the player from an ordinary afternoon stroll or a nighttime drive into a warped, otherworldly version of the same street. These transitions happen without loading screens, preserving the current time of day and weather conditions within the anomaly space. The result is that the day-night cycle does not pause during supernatural encounters; it continues flowing, further blurring the line between the everyday and the extraordinary.
Rainy nights in Hethereau are visually stunning. Take time to explore the city during rain to see the neon reflections at their best.
Pay attention to rain events if you are tracking the Anomaly Rainman, as this anomaly is only active during rain.
Reduce your speed during rain and snow, especially on turns. The handling physics are realistic enough that weather can cause unexpected slides.
Nighttime is when certain anomalous encounters become available. If you are looking for specific investigation content, try exploring at night.
NPC daily routines mean that certain characters appear in specific locations only at certain times. If you are looking for a particular NPC, check back at different times of day.
Certain activities and encounters in Hethereau are tied to specific times of day. Some anomalies become more active or only appear at night, making nighttime exploration more dangerous but also more rewarding for players seeking supernatural encounters. Side activities and NPC interactions may also vary depending on the time. For example, nightlife venues open after dark, certain quest triggers activate at specific hours, and the density of pedestrian traffic on the streets shifts throughout the day. This design encourages players to revisit locations at different times to discover content they may have missed.
