How long does each level really take when players pause or leave the game open?

A level that seems to take an hour may have taken ten minutes of play and fifty of a menu left open. This entry shows how to time the climb through the levels so that breaks do not make the slow parts look slower.

Why this works

Wall-clock time measures the clock, not the play. A level feels as long as the time spent actually playing it, so pauses must be taken out, and a pause that spans two levels has to be split at the boundary, otherwise its seconds are counted against the wrong level.

When not to use it

Skip it when your game has no real pauses or the pace is set by the clock on purpose, such as waiting for a timer to run down. And it times the climb, not the fun: a level that is quick but dull needs other questions, such as where players stop.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 29 lines of example code with 3 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "How long does each level really take when players pause or leave the game open?" (read_entry rpg-level-up-pace-active-time) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

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