TimeWalk Event System – Spec (v0.1)

User Stories / Scenarios

• Battle of Long Island (August 29, 1776)
  • 4:00pm-8:30pm: cannon explosions heard, smoke and flames on Brooklyn Heights
  • 10:45pm-6:00am: fog covers the East River
  • 12:12pm-10:45pm: 6 British ships anchor in East River, retreat with fog
• Crickets Chirping
  • Crickets begin chirping at sunset and stop at sunrise.
• The Great Fire of 1776
  • Fires ignite and rage through Manhattan on the night of September 21, 1776, starting at 9:10 PM, progressing through specific areas over time.

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Core Features

Central Event Manager

• Single manager (Blueprint/C++) processes all registered events per frame.
• Objects do not poll time-of-day independently.

Event Registration

• Any object can register timed events (appearance, disappearance, actions).
• Events attach Blueprint or Unreal Object handlers.

Scheduling

• Events specify:
  • Absolute times (e.g., "Sept 28, 1776, 9:10 PM")
  • Variable times (e.g., "sunrise", "sunset", or dynamic offsets by season/date)
• Central system resolves dynamic times each simulated day.

Actions

• Supported: Spawn/despawn, move, trigger Blueprint logic, start audio/FX (e.g., fire, crickets).
• Examples: Ship movement, ambient sound triggers, progressive fire outbreak.

Performance

• Central manager evaluates all events per frame.
• Only fires events relevant to the current time.
• Optimized using sorted/timed lists or equivalent efficient structure.

Extensibility

• Supports arbitrary triggers, conditional logic, and event sequences.

Debug/Control

• Manual override and visualization for debugging, timeline scrubbing, and cinematic use.

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Ready for more user stories, requirements, or clarifications.