Breath of the Wild Weather Systems in Zelda U

[Dio]

I love it when there is a thunderstorm in a game, and the rain is chucking it down and every so often a flash of lightning appears and you hear the rumble of thunder. It is just so atmospheric. In the Wind Waker I know this is present, but not in TP. I hope with the more powerful Wii U they can create a game with dynamic weather systems as well as a day and night cycle.

Is weather something that makes an impact on the atmosphere of a game for you? And do you have any examples of games where you feel weather has been utilized to create a great atmosphere?

 

[JuicieJ]

Perhaps it could be similar to Metal Gear Solid V's system where the weather actually has a temporary effect on the environments.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Perhaps it could be similar to Metal Gear Solid V's system where the weather actually has a temporary effect on the environments.

That would be pretty cool.

Yeah I like there to be different types of weather and a day and night cycle, so if they add those things I wouldn't mind.

 

[Mr Reaper]

I enjoyed how many different types of weather were in GTA V (instead of just a generic rain/storm/sun/cloud cycle), so would like it Nintendo took some notes from that. I think it would also be pretty cool to see weather having a huge impact on the different types of environments, for example, an increase or decrease in the water level of a lake (Lake Hylia possibly) due to rain or drought allowing you to reach previously impassable areas would be interesting, mud could block certain areas off, lightning from a storm could light a forest on fire etc. There are so many easter eggs and cool things Nintendo could toy with by doing this, and I certainly look forward to it and I hope it doesn't end up being generic and boring like Wind Waker's weather system was. Doing this could open up doors for Nintendo to try things that have never been done before, and I certainly hope they take advantage of the opportunity.

 

[Justac00lguy]

Even though weather systems have sort of made an appearance, they've never really been in any way realistic. Weather should change, it should be spontaneous and, like JJ said, it should have a direct effect on the environment. Damp grass should be harder to navigate through, thunder should strike down trees, snow should make water sources freeze and so on.

It's not necessarily a must have by any means, but I think it's very important to create a living breathing world and to just give the world a sense of variety instead of same old same old.

 

[Évariste]

I love the weather changes in The Wind Waker more than I should, probably. As a component to the atmosphere of the game, it makes the world a little more vibrant and interesting.

As far as incorporating weather into gameplay, there are a couple ways I'm hearing that it could be incorporated. One way is to just alter the environment to change what happens when the player crosses the environment. This would be nice for atmosphere, but that's really about it. Another way is to have game events triggered by the weather. I don't believe I saw anyone mention this in great detail, but I think it would be quite difficult to incorporate such events into a Zelda game, since it might make it excruciatingly difficult to reach 100%. Perhaps if you let events occur based on time of day and weather such an idea could work:
{ (Day,Clear), (Night,Clear), (Day,Storms), (Night, Storms) }.

 

[Mr Reaper]

Perhaps if you let events occur based on time of day and weather such an idea could work:
{ (Day,Clear), (Night,Clear), (Day,Storms), (Night, Storms) }.

Evariste basically said it, "random" events occuring in a Majora's Mask-esque manner would be a very interesting idea, side quests triggered by being at a certain place at a certain time in certain weather conditions would add a whole new layer of content for the player to go through, making the game feel much more alive (a theme from Majora's Mask that should've stayed in the titles that came after).

 

[Snow Queen]

All this talk of weather and dynamic open worlds is reminding me of Metal Gear Solid V.

 

[JuicieJ]

All this talk of weather and dynamic open worlds is reminding me of Metal Gear Solid V.

Perhaps it could be similar to Metal Gear Solid V's system where the weather actually has a temporary effect on the environments.

HMMMMMMM, I WONDER WHY?? ;p

 

[Aero_Dynamic]

Seeing as how a day/night/weather system was implemented back in The Wind Waker for Gamecube and even some more past Zeldas/systems and considering that we're now at the Wii U, it doesn't pose a problem for the hardware to utilize such said system. However, little things like puddles after rain, footprints in accumulating/melting snow and small sound effects of stepping in puddles and snow would be a nice touch.

 

[Deleted member 14134]

I'm down for whatever weather effects they throw in the game as long as we get to play the song of storms again.

 

[Mr Reaper]

I'm down for whatever weather effects they throw in the game as long as we get to play the song of storms again.

We can only dream...