TimeCyc Definition

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The timecyc.dat file contains the information for how to display the sky, weather effects and time of day. It is split into the many sections. There is one line of data per hour in the game, per weather type (except in San Andreas, where there are hours Midnight, 5AM, 6AM, 7AM, Midday, 7PM, 8PM, and 10PM. In the Vice City and San Andreas timecyc.dat, there is an extra section at the bottom of the file named "EXTRACOLOURS". These extra colours are used for building interiors, but should function the same.

A comment in the timecyc.dat file is preceded by a series of slashes ("//") and they will precede each type of weather, and time of day in the file.

File Format

The following lists describe format of the timecyc.dat in each game.

Grand Theft Auto III

Column Name	Data Type	Description
Amb	Color	Controls amount of ambient color on static map objects, such as most buildings, structures and landmasses.
Dir	Color	Controls amount of direct light on pedestrians and vehicles.
Sky top	Color	Color of the top of the sky.
Sky bot	Color	Color of the bottom of the sky.
SunCore	Color	Color of the sun's core image.
SunCorona	Color	Color of the sun's corona image.
SunSz	float	Size of the sun's corona sprite.
SprSz	float	Size of the sun's core sprite.
SprBght	float	How bright sprites will be.
Shdw	integer	Intensity of pedestrian, vehicle, and lamp shadows. 0 is transparent, 100 seems to be about "normal", and values past that make the shadow darker and darker. 500 will produce almost pure black shadows.
LightShd	integer	The cast light alpha on traffic signals and lamp posts. Changing produces no visible results.
TreeShd	integer	Unknown
FarClp	float	The clipping plane that limits maximum visibility. Setting the value to a smaller number produces a short visibility range, whereas larger numbers mean you can see further. If the number is set too low (I tried 20.0), the game will get glitchy, and may not load textures! The average value for this entry is 2000.0 and most of the map is visible with this value.
FogSt	float	Fog start position relative to camera? Negatives allowed. Untested.
LightOnGround	float	Effect unknown, changing produces no visible results.
LowCloudsRGB	Color	Sets colour for low thin clouds. Untested.
TopCloudRGB	Color	Sets colour for topside of large clouds. Untested.
BottomCloudRGB	Color	Sets colour for underside of large clouds. Untested.

Vice City

Column Name	Data Type	Description
Amb	Color	Controls amount of ambient color on static map objects, such as most buildings, structures and landmasses.
Amb_Obj	Color	Controls the amount of ambient light on dynamic objects, such pedestrians and vehicles.
Amb_Bl	Color	Effect unknown, changing produces no visible results.
Amb_Obj_bl	Color	Effect unknown, changing produces no visible results.
Dir	Color	Controls amount of direct light on pedestrians and vehicles.
Sky top	Color	Color of the top of the sky.
Sky bot	Color	Color of the bottom of the sky.
SunCore	Color	Color of the sun's core image.
SunCorona	Color	Color of the sun's corona image.
SunSz	float	Size of the sun's corona sprite.
SprSz	float	Size of the sun's core sprite.
SprBght	float	How bright sprites will be.
Shdw	integer	Intensity of pedestrian, vehicle, and lamp shadows. 0 is transparent, 100 seems to be about "normal", and values past that make the shadow darker and darker. 500 will produce almost pure black shadows.
LightShd	integer	The cast light alpha on traffic signals and lamp posts. Changing produces no visible results.
PoleShd	integer	Lamppost shadow alpha. Changing produces no visible results.
FarClp	float	The clipping plane that limits maximum visibility. Setting the value to a smaller number produces a short visibility range, whereas larger numbers mean you can see further. If the number is set too low (I tried 20.0), the game will get glitchy, and may not load textures! The average value for this entry is 2000.0 and most of the map is visible with this value.
FogSt	float	Fog start position relative to camera? Negatives allowed. Untested.
LightOnGround	float	Effect unknown, changing produces no visible results.
LowCloudsRGB	Color	Sets colour for low thin clouds. Untested.
TopCloudRGB	Color	Sets colour for topside of large clouds. Untested.
BottomCloudRGB	Color	Sets colour for underside of large clouds. Untested.
BlurRGB	Color	RGB values for Trails. If you have not somehow enabled trails on your game, then the values will not be noticeable. 0 for no trails, 255 for a pure white screen. If your going to change them, follow the pattern R* set with their setup, as a little bit goes a very long way.
WaterRGBA	Color	Controls the color of the water. In the PC version of the game, the water texture is greenish-blue. It needs to be converted to grayscale to fully see the effect of changing the water color in the timecyc.dat, as the colors defined in this file, are multiplied by the water texture color ingame. The last part of RGBA, the A, is the alpha channel and it controls the level of transparency for the water. 0, will make the water totally transparent, while 255 will make the water as opaque as the game will allow.

San Andreas

In San Andreas the format is nearly the same, but some of the sections are left out, while new sections are introduced.

Column Name	Data Type	Description
Amb	color	Controls amount of ambient color on static map objects, such as most buildings, structures and landmasses.
Amb_Obj	color	Controls amount of ambient color on dynamic objects, such as pedestrians and vehicles.
Dir	color	Controls amount of direct light on pedestrians and vehicles.
Sky top	color	Color of the top of the sky's gradient.
Sky bot	color	Color of the bottom of the sky's gradient.
SunCore	color	Color of the sun's core sprite.
SunCorona	color	Color of the sun's corona sprite and lens flare.
SunSz	float	Size of the sun's corona sprite.
SprSz	float	Size of the sun's core sprite.
SprBght	float	How bright sprites will be. This also affects the brightness of the lampposts and traffic lights. Values over 1.00 will cause color problems. Due to a glitch in San Andreas's game engine, this value will also affect the brightness of all other corona sprites, including the sprites of headlights, lights on buildings and runways, vehicle sirens, and any other coronas on vehicles or objects.
Shdw	integer	Intensity of pedestrian, vehicle, and lamp shadows. 0 is transparent, 100 seems to be about "normal", and values past that make the shadow darker and darker. 500 will produce almost pure black shadows.
LightShd	integer	The cast light alpha on traffic signals and lamp posts. Changing produces no visible results.
PoleShd	integer	Lamppost shadow alpha. Changing produces no visible results.
FarClp	float	The clipping plane that limits maximum visibility in meters. Setting the value to a smaller number produces a short visibility range, whereas larger numbers mean you can see further. If the number is set too low, the game will glitch, and may not load textures. The values for this entry range from 150 to 1500, and values higher than that will make parts of the map flicker and disappear when looking directly down; high values also may create "holes" from far away due to the map's short draw distance limit.
FogSt	float	Controls the distance from the camera at which distance fogging will begin in meters. Although mostly positive, negative values are allowed and can be used to achieve a "foggy" effect. If the number is a higher value than the clipping value, the distance fogging will begin beyond of what is rendered and thus no fogging will be visible. This can cause graphical glitches. The average value for this entry is 100.
LightOnGround	float	Amount of light on the ground of the sea.
LowCloudsRGB	color	Sets colour for low thin clouds.
BottomCloudRGB	color	Sets colour for underside of large clouds.
WaterRGBA	color	Controls the color of the water. This value multiplies the texture's color and the last value 'A' is the alpha: 0 will make the water totally transparent, while 255 will make the water as opaque as the game will allow.
Alpha1	integer	Alpha for RGB1.
RGB1	color	Color correction 1.
Alpha2	integer	Alpha for RGB2 value.
RGB2	color	Color correction 2.
CloudAlpha	color	Defines alpha level of the clouds: 0 - no clouds 255 - opaque clouds.

GTA 4

This article or section is currently Under Construction.

The following content may be incomplete and/or not verified.

Tools

• VC:Weather
• G-CYC
• In-game Timecyc Editor

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