Developer Diary 123 - The Day / Night Problem

Over the last month I have been dealing with a ton of stuff in my day to day life, such as potentially moving to a new house and a lot of work related pressure. But I was also faced with a new problem in Lakini's Woods I am not able to solve.

I thought about this long and hard: I don't want the sunlight to remain static, I want a dynamic day/night rhythm across the entire world. But when I implement this, the sun will basically rotate around the world map. It won't remain static, and the day night cycle is influenced by the position of the sun. If the sun is lower than a specific Z value, it won't be visible to the player anymore and the overall light level will decrease.

But I also want the dragon to be the one responsible for turning the day into night, and the night into day. When the sun is rotating around the center of the world map, how can I achieve this? How would the dragon be responsible for the sun's rotation, and how would his desire to remain close to the light be responsible for the sun being blocked out when it is moving? I can't find a solution to this problem yet... I feel like there's a deep connection between the rotation of the sun and the void dragon.

Initially I wanted the sun to remain static. The dragon would choose a place close to the sun and his body and wings would block out the sunlight. But when the sun is rotating and the light level is decreasing in relation to the sun's position, this system doesn't work anymore...

I thought about the void dragon sitting on top of the sun ... but all of these images seem ridiculous to me. There has to be an image, a visual representation of his dilemma... Remain close to the light... no matter the cost ....

I'm also becoming increasingly aware, that there is no way in hell I will ever be able to finish this project without a development crew. But right now I am enjoying the artistic and mathematical problems I encounter on my path. And a part of me tells me, they are mine to solve. It's less about being afraid to approach a development crew with my "baby" project, it's more about really getting into the depths of the world I created. Really reflect and work on its concept and universe and the meaning behind its individual elements. I enjoy this more than anything else.