But then that's like any good powerup. There's an advantage as well as a disadvantage to using it.
There's the advantage of being quicker, but you have to think a lot faster.
Like in a racing game, if you get a speed boost; You go much faster, but you have to react to corners quicker.

[edited by - Lucidium on October 26, 2003 4:16:31 AM]

Personally I don''t believe a game should have seasons and stuff unless its going to directly change the story. This could vary the monsters seen during the game, such as certain armies fighting only in summer/fall, but not in the winter. Tactics could vary in this, so quests could take place during the winter to add challenge and threat to the players. Who''s ever seen a man in full armor and horse with armor going through the snow?

Thus using seasons would add realism, but if it shows no valuable change to gameplay (i.e. Medal of Honor Spearhead, you don''t go slower running through the snow as you do in normal terrain), it should only be time-period specific or not at all there.

Even little cosmetic changes like freezing rivers and colerful foliage would definitely have an impact on gameplay. Sure, you could get to the city via a bridge any time of the year, but bridges are bottlenecks, chokepoints. Horatius could never have held the entire Tiber. So you can sneak in, invade, or escape a city or territory more easily when the water is frozen. A tree with no leaves is a crappy hiding spot, and it''s nice to know that all the bears are asleep for a few months.

Ambient critters could become territorial and aggressive during mating season, mountain trails could be rendered impassable my winter storms or springtime avalanches, and at the height of summer, plains could become arid wastelands, devoid of water and life. Heck, we''ve all seen what can happen just from the day/night cycle. Add in astrology, which could impact magic as has been suggested, and holidays, and harvests, which can effect commerce, if that''s an element of the game, and the world comes to life.

Lunar cycles are a central element of many ancient magick systems, and can be a feature in-game as well.

Just a few ideas. I think that any game system could be enriched by this feature, MMO games most of all.