The time in the game is set in a looping summer of 1995 in Finland. The time of the game is 12 times faster than real life, meaning a whole in-game day is 2 hours of real life. You can also advance to the next even hour in-game by saving your game (except when in jail).
Time-related events only happen every two hours (every 10 minutes of real time). Time is rounded up to the next increment of 2 hours when saving.
In-game time[]
Here is a table which converts in-game time into real time:
| In-game time | Real time |
|---|---|
| 1 minute | 5 seconds |
| 5 minutes | 25 seconds |
| 30 minutes | 2.5 minutes |
| 1 hour | 5 minutes |
| 12 hours | 1 hour |
| 24 hours | 2 hours |
| 1 week | 14 hours |
Time-related events only happen every two hours (every 10 inutes of real time). Time is rounded up to the next increment of 2 hours when saving.
Clocks[]
- Main article: Clock
The game has some clocks that the player can use to check the time:
| Location | Object | |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Kitchen | Clock with the shape of Finland |
| Cottage | Main room | Clock with the shape of a spruce tree |
| Teimo's shop | Near the cash register | Clock with the H-group logo |
| Wristwatch | Obtained from the Drunken Brawler | Wristwatch |
| TV | Teletext | Time display |
| Bus | Above the windshield | Clock |
| Gifu | Combined with speedometer | Clock gauge |
| Satsuma | Dashboard meters | Clock gauge (installable) |
| Camera | Middle mouse button when equipped | Time in the bottom right of the screen |
Other ways to know time[]
Night before the sun rising
Beautiful sunset
The nights in the game are very dark, making navigation without a light source nearly impossible.
There are alternative ways to know what time is it from other game elements:
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 06:00 | Sun rises in the southwest end of the map |
| 14:30 | Sun is directly overhead |
| 22:30 | Sun sets in the northwest end of the map |
| 00:00 | Last glow of twilight ends, the night is pitch black |
| 02:00 | First glow of twilight starts, the night is no longer pitch black |
Note; This is incorrect, in a real-life Finnish summer, the sun should rise in the northeast, circle around via the south, and set in the northwest. At solar midnight it should be just below the northern horizon, providing a significant twilight glow in the sky which is perfectly adequate to see by.
You can also know what time it is from the ambience sounds:
| From | To | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 06:00 | Cuckoo |
| 06:00 | 12:00 | Loon |
| 12:00 | 18:00 | Chaffinch |
| 12:00 | 18:00 | Chainsaw |
| 18:00 | 00:00 | Crow, pigeon |
| 18:00 | 04:00 | Howling dogs |
[]
Various events in My Summer Car are related to time. Here is the list of them:
| From | To | Days | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | Monday-Sunday | Night Chill plays on the radio | |
| 02:00 | Monday-Sunday | Jouko calls for a ride (random chance) | |
| 06:00 | Sunday | Grandma calls for a ride to church (every other week) | |
| 06:00 | 22:00 | Monday-Sunday | Jouko sits outside and buys Kilju |
| Firewood guy stands outside his house (only after calling to ask for the delivery) | |||
| 08:00 | 16:00 | Monday-Friday | Fleetari Repair Shop is open |
| Lindell's inspection office is open | |||
| Wastewater treatment plant is open | |||
| 08:00 | 16:00 | Monday-Sunday | Grandma sits outside (when weather is clear) |
| 10:00 | 18:00 | Saturday-Sunday | Rally event plays on TV |
| 10:00 | 18:00 | Saturday-Sunday | Rally event is on (Saturday - first stage, Sunday - second stage) |
| 10:00 | 20:00 | Monday-Saturday | Teimo's Shop is open |
| 10:00 | 22:00 | Monday-Sunday | Kids play football at the sportsfield |
| 10:00 | 22:00 | Monday-Friday | Topless Gun/Marjatta plays on TV |
| 18:00 | 22:00 | Saturday-Sunday | |
| 12:00 | Random | Luonto kutsuu or Kansanrunot radio shows are played | |
| 16:00 | Random | Tietokonepelit radio show is played | |
| 18:00 | Random | Merisää weather report is played | |
| 20:00 | Random | Marko Kahjo radio show is played | |
| 20:00 | 02:00 | Monday-Saturday | Pub Nappo is open |
| 22:00 | 10:00 | Monday-Sunday | TV test screen plays |
Trivia[]
The distant light that is confused with UFOs
- As the nights in My Summer Car are very dark, a stray light source can be blinding. This is often confused with Paranormal activity, though its most commonly either the train or Pena.
- In older versions, time could glitch and the sun could set earlier than 22:30 and rise earlier than 6:30. This was fixed by making clocks re-sync every 2 hours.
- For some reason, the boundary tapes and crowds of rally spectators hang around until 10:00 on Monday.
Patch notes[]
| Update | Changes |
|---|---|
| 2014 | |
| 12 July 2014 |
• Set sun rotation interval to 10 secs to avoid shadow wobbling |
| 29 August 2014 |
• Sky adjustments |
| 1 November 2014 |
• New ambience sounds • Lighting improvements |
| 11 November 2014 |
• Added timing for going around the lake • Updates on environment |