Jovian Calendar
A configurable in-game calendar and world clock system for Unity. Supports custom day lengths, hours, minutes, months with variable lengths, named months, week tracking, and a serializable date-time struct. No external dependencies.
Requirements
- Unity 2022.3 or later
- No additional package dependencies
Quick Start
1. Create a CalendarSettings asset
In the Unity Editor, go to Assets > Create > Jovian > Calendar > Calendar Settings.
Configure:
- Seconds Per Full Day: How many real-time seconds equal one full in-game day (the 0-1 cycle)
- Hours Per Day: In-world hours per day (e.g. 24)
- Minutes Per Hour: In-world minutes per hour (e.g. 60)
- Days Per Month: Array defining the length of each month. Array length = months per year
- Month Names: Display names for each month (must match Days Per Month length)
- Days Per Week: Optional week length (0 to disable)
- Start Date: Starting year, month, day, hour, minute for the clock
2. Create and tick a WorldClock
using Jovian.Calendar;
// Create the clock from settings
var clock = new WorldClock(calendarSettings);
// Each frame, feed it a 0-1 normalized day progress
clock.Tick(normalizedDayTime);
// Query the current date and time
WorldDateTime now = clock.Now;
Debug.Log($"Year {now.year}, {clock.GetMonthName()} {now.DisplayDay}, {now.TimeString}");
3. Display the date
// Individual fields
int year = clock.Now.year;
int month = clock.Now.DisplayMonth; // 1-indexed
int day = clock.Now.DisplayDay; // 1-indexed
string time = clock.Now.TimeString; // "HH:MM"
// Full display string
string full = clock.FullStringNamed();
// e.g. "14:30, 5th day of Frostmoon, year 3"
CalendarSettings
ScriptableObject defining calendar rules. Create via Assets > Create > Jovian > Calendar > Calendar Settings.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
secondsPerFullDay |
float | Real-time seconds for one full 0-1 day cycle |
hoursPerDay |
int | In-world hours per day |
minutesPerHour |
int | In-world minutes per hour |
daysPerMonth |
int[] | Days in each month. Array length = months per year |
monthNames |
string[] | Display name per month. Must match daysPerMonth length |
daysPerWeek |
int | Days per week (0 to disable week tracking) |
startYear |
int | Starting year |
startMonth |
int | Starting month (0-indexed) |
startDay |
int | Starting day (0-indexed) |
startHour |
int | Starting hour |
startMinute |
int | Starting minute |
Computed properties:
MonthsPerYear-- derived from daysPerMonth array lengthTotalDaysInYear-- sum of all daysPerMonth entriesMinutesPerDay-- hoursPerDay * minutesPerHour
WorldClock
The core clock class. Feed it a normalized 0-1 day progress each tick. It accumulates world-minutes internally, handling day wrap-around and fractional minute accumulation across frames.
var clock = new WorldClock(settings);
// Tick with normalized time (0 = midnight, 0.5 = noon, 1 = next midnight)
clock.Tick(normalizedTime);
// Manual time skip (sleep, rest, cutscene)
clock.AdvanceMinutes(480); // skip 8 hours
// Queries
WorldDateTime now = clock.Now;
long elapsed = clock.TotalElapsedMinutes;
float normalized = clock.NormalizedTimeOfDay; // 0-1 for lighting/skybox
int weekday = clock.DayOfWeek; // 0-indexed, -1 if disabled
string monthName = clock.GetMonthName();
string display = clock.FullStringNamed();
WorldDateTime
A serializable struct representing a point in calendar time. Implements IEquatable<WorldDateTime> and IComparable<WorldDateTime> for collections and sorting.
WorldDateTime dt = clock.Now;
// 0-indexed fields
dt.year; dt.month; dt.day; dt.hour; dt.minute;
// 1-indexed display properties
dt.DisplayDay; // day + 1
dt.DisplayMonth; // month + 1
// Formatting
dt.TimeString; // "14:30"
dt.DateString; // "5/3/1"
dt.FullString; // "5/3/1 14:30"
// Comparison
if(dateA < dateB) { ... }
if(dateA == dateB) { ... }
var sorted = dates.OrderBy(d => d);
Integration Example
// In your game state initialization:
var calendarSettings = Addressables.LoadAssetAsync<CalendarSettings>("CalendarSettings").WaitForCompletion();
var worldClock = new WorldClock(calendarSettings);
// In your time handler's Tick():
float normalizedTime = localTime / dayLength;
worldClock.Tick(normalizedTime);
// Update UI:
dayText.text = $"Day {worldClock.Now.DisplayDay}, {worldClock.GetMonthName()}";
// Use NormalizedTimeOfDay for visual effects:
float t = worldClock.NormalizedTimeOfDay;
skyboxMaterial.SetFloat("_Blend", t);
directionalLight.intensity = sunCurve.Evaluate(t);
API Reference
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
CalendarSettings |
ScriptableObject defining calendar rules (day length, months, weeks, start date) |
WorldClock |
Core clock class. Tick with normalized time, query WorldDateTime |
WorldDateTime |
Serializable struct for date-time values. IEquatable, IComparable, operator overloads |