How a day works¶
The clock starts at opening time, runs forward and then freezes. It never rolls over on its own: the next day starts when you close the store, on the OPEN sign by the front door.
The settings¶
One asset holds the whole day: Content/GrandOpening/Blueprints/DataAssets/Store/DA_StoreConfig.
| Field | What it does | Shipped |
|---|---|---|
OpeningHour |
The hour a new day starts on | 8 |
ClockStopHour |
The hour the clock freezes at | 22 |
HourDurationSeconds |
Real seconds per game hour | 60 |
StartingBalance |
Money on day 1 | |
StartingRating |
Store rating on day 1 | |
RatingInertia |
How fast the rating follows the day's satisfaction. 0 never moves, 1 snaps |
0.15 |
At the shipped values a day lasts 14 real minutes. For longer days, raise HourDurationSeconds. For more hours in a day, raise ClockStopHour.
ClockStopHour is not a closing time. Nothing shuts at 22:00, customers keep coming and sales keep happening. The clock only stops counting, which gives you as long as you want to finish the queue and tidy up.
Closing the store¶
- Interact with the OPEN sign by the front door.
- Confirm on the modal.
- The day report animates in, line by line.
START A NEW DAYfades to black and starts the next day.
The sign refuses while a customer is still shopping, so you cannot close on someone standing at your till. When it refuses, its outline and prompt disappear entirely.
What resets between two days¶
| Reset | Kept |
|---|---|
| Every customer in the level | Boxes left on the floor |
| The belt, receipt, basket, till and queue of every checkout | Stock on the shelves |
Your own position, back at the PlayerStart |
Furniture you placed, your balance, your rating |
If you add a system that has to start each day clean, add its call to CleanForNextDay in BP_StoreGameMode. That function is a flat list of calls, so a new line is all it takes.
The daily report¶
The report reads in four blocks:
| Block | Lines |
|---|---|
| Customers | Served, Lost, Stock-outs, Total Customers |
| Store | Rating out of 5 |
| Revenue | Revenue, then Purchases, Wages, Rent, Utilities, Tax and Marketing |
| Result | Expenses, Total Profit, Balance |
Total Customers is Served plus Lost. A stock-out is a customer who also shows up in one of those two, so the four lines are not meant to be added together.
To add a line, drop another BP_ReportRowWidget into the report in the Designer. The reveal cascade follows the order the widgets sit in. No graph to edit.
The HUD while the day runs¶
Top right: the store rating as a coloured ring, the balance in large type, and the day and clock underneath. Top left: notifications, posted when a customer is waiting at an unattended checkout or when the rating crosses a whole number.