Time-Skip World Manipulation

Catalog of the systems a mod can mutate to fake elapsed time while a cover window (lander capsule, fake loading screen, ragdoll pause) hides the transition. Reach for this recipe when designing a "skip ahead" event: the systems table names the APIs, the APIs reference lists the non-obvious camera / helmet / input / loading / ragdoll / timescale handles you pair with them.

When to use

• A mod wants to advance world state by hours or days of simulated elapsed time in a single server tick.
• A mod wants a catalog of "here is what you can move forward" to design a coherent time-skip.
• A mod wants the non-obvious handles (camera shake, helmet frost, fake loading screen, ragdoll toggle, Time.timeScale) that pair with the world-state mutations for visual coherence.

Prerequisites

• Server-side code path for anything that mutates world state.
• A cover window: the lander capsule (see TriggerLanderCapsule.md), fake loading screen, stun + ragdoll, or similar. The table's effects are not network-synced cosmetically in every case; hide the frame where the mutation happens.

Systems that can be modified to fake elapsed time

System	API	Notes
Sun position	OrbitalSimulation.SetDayTime(float) (public static, 0-1 range)	Moves sun to target time, updates all orbital bodies
Day counter	WorldManager.DaysPast (public static uint, settable)	Triggers WeatherManager.OnNextDay() and per-day events
Player hunger	Entity.Nutrition (public float, auto-syncs)	Clamped 0 to 50 (Human). 0 causes starvation damage
Player thirst	Entity.Hydration (public float, auto-syncs)	Clamped 0 to 8.75. 0 causes dehydration damage
Player hygiene	Entity.Hygiene (public float, auto-syncs)	Clamped 0 to 1.5
Player mood	Entity.Mood (public float, auto-syncs)	Clamped 0 to 1
Battery charge	BatteryCell.PowerStored / Battery.PowerStored (public float, settable)	Call UpdateBatteryState() after to update visuals
Food decay	item.DamageState.Damage(Increment, amount, DamageUpdateType.Decay)	Check item.CanDecay first. Iterate Item.AllDecayingItems
Plant growth	Plant.Stage (private setter, needs reflection)	Iterate Plant.AllPlants. Setter triggers StageChanged()
Room temperature	atmosphere.GasMixture.TotalEnergy (read-modify-write struct)	Slight energy reduction simulates heat loss
Pipe gas	PipeNetwork.AllPipeNetworks (public static list), each has .Atmosphere.GasMixture	Small quantity reduction simulates slow leaks
Suit air	suit.AirTank.InternalAtmosphere.GasMixture	Read-modify-write the oxygen Mole
Item wear	thing.DamageState.Damage(Increment, 3f, DamageUpdateType.Brute)	Pick random subset. Keep damage small
Weather	WeatherManager.ImmediatelyActivateWeatherEvent(string id) (public static)	Storm IDs depend on world type
Lights	OnServer.Interact(light, InteractableType.Activate, 0)	Toggle off a few random lights
Doors	OnServer.Interact(door, InteractableType.Open, 1)	Suggest someone walked through
Spawn objects	OnServer.Create<DynamicThing>(prefabName, position, rotation)	Drop tools/debris near repaired items
Player position	OnServer.MoveInWorld(human, pos + offset, true)	Slight shift, under 0.3m
Days lived	Entity.DaysLived (public ushort, settable)	Per-character age counter
Trader contacts	TraderContact.EndLifetime = Time.time	Expires contact immediately
Chat messages	ChatMessage with HumanId = -1 via NetworkServer.SendToClients	Post fake timestamped event log entries
Room pressure	atmosphere.Remove(quantity, GasType)	Slight depressurization
Console messages	ConsoleWindow.Print(string, ConsoleColor)	Client-local only. For server broadcast, use ChatMessage

Camera / helmet / input / loading / ragdoll / timescale APIs

Camera manipulation

• CameraController.SetCameraShake(float intensity): public static. Intensity 0 to 2.5, decays over time. Used by explosions.
• CameraController.Instance.SetThirdPersonCamera(bool): public. Forces third-person view.
• CameraController.SetFieldOfView(float fov): public static. Extreme values (130+) create fisheye distortion.
• CameraController.Instance.RotationX / RotationY: public fields. Can spin the camera.

Helmet frost

FirstPersonHelmetOverlay.CurrentFrostSetting: public static float. Set to -1 for full frost overlay, 0 for clear. Driven by atmosphere temperature in InventoryManager (maps 0C to 20C range).

Input lock

KeyManager.SetInputState(string key, KeyInputState state): public static. String-keyed stack.

• KeyInputState.Paused: blocks game input, shows cursor. Player can look around but cannot move, interact, or use items.
• KeyManager.RemoveInputState(string key): restores previous state.

Fake loading screen

ImGuiLoadingScreen.SetActive(true): shows fullscreen loading screen with random background. ImGuiLoadingScreen.SetState("text"): sets status text. ImGuiLoadingScreen.FakeProgress(): auto-advances progress bar.

Completely blocks the view. Pair with KeyManager.SetInputState for input lock.

Alert messages

AlertMessage.Show(string text, float duration): centered text overlay with fade in/out.

Ragdoll without unconsciousness

Entity.SetRagdoll(bool active): public. Disables animator, enables ragdoll colliders. Can be called independently of entity state. Player retains camera control but body goes limp.

Time scale

Time.timeScale = 0.1f: slows everything. The game normally only uses 0 (paused) and 1 (normal), but fractional values work. Affects all simulation including atmospherics.

Verification

• For each system you mutate, snapshot the relevant field before and after (see InspectorPlusUsage.md).
• Confirm visual followups: battery meters need UpdateBatteryState() after a PowerStored write; plant stage changes trigger StageChanged() through the setter; weather changes are driven through ImmediatelyActivateWeatherEvent.

Pitfalls

• Server-side only. Anything that mutates world state must be server-gated or it will desync multiplayer.
• Time.timeScale affects all simulation including atmospherics. Fractional values work even though the vanilla game normally uses only 0 and 1.
• ConsoleWindow.Print is client-local only. For a server broadcast, use ChatMessage.
• Some setters have extra effects that are not obvious from the field name. Plant.Stage triggers StageChanged(), BatteryCell.PowerStored needs UpdateBatteryState() for visuals, WorldManager.DaysPast triggers WeatherManager.OnNextDay() and per-day events.

Verification history

• 2026-04-20: page created from the Research migration; verbatim content lifted from F0093 (systems table) and F0095t (APIs reference) in Plans/LLM/RESEARCH.md.

Open questions

None at creation.