---
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t250
type: mechanic
id: time-world-rules--t250
lang: en
title: 'Stopping, slowing and accelerating time'
summary: >-
  Changing time speed creates analysis and execution opportunities, but requires
  explicit exceptions across world systems.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t250/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t250.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/time-world-rules--t250.md
aliases:
  - Changing time speed
tags:
  - 'Time, information and world rules'
  - Mechanics and variants
sourceIds:
  - source-eceba0e40b661634
  - source-6d8132b002132185
sources:
  - id: source-eceba0e40b661634
    title: 'PuzzleScript: Rules'
    url: 'https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-6d8132b002132185
    title: F.E.A.R. (2005)
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/bullet-time'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: time-world-rules
    id: t250
    title: 'Time, information and world rules'
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/time-world-rules/#t250'
    categoryIds:
      - mechanics
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Changing time speed
    description: >-
      Changing time speed creates analysis and execution opportunities, but
      requires explicit exceptions across world systems.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/combat-bullet-time.webp
      width: 498
      height: 276
      game: F.E.A.R. (2005)
      sourceUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/bullet-time'
      originalUrl: 'https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/webm/fear_bullet_time.webm'
      sourceFrameSeconds: 4.91
      credit: Monolith Productions; frame from clip via GameMechanics.org
      rights: >-
        Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host:
        GameMechanics.org. All rights reserved; excluded from the portal’s MIT
        and CC BY 4.0 licenses.
      caption: Reflex Time during a firefight
      alt: >-
        A F.E.A.R. firefight during Reflex Time has characteristic edge blur and
        visible shot effects.
      markers:
        - x: 52
          'y': 56
          label: Enemy at the center of the slowed scene
        - x: 15
          'y': 42
          label: Visual effect of the active mode
    tips:
      - Define which objects follow the altered time speed.
    examples:
      - title: F.E.A.R. (2005)
        url: 'https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/bullet-time'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on
  2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design
  examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests.
  Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not
  every proposed variant.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/time-world-rules
---
# Stopping, slowing and accelerating time

id: time-world-rules--t250
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/time-world-rules--t250
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/time-world-rules--t250/

Changing time speed creates analysis and execution opportunities, but requires explicit exceptions across world systems.

## At a glance

![A F.E.A.R. firefight during Reflex Time has characteristic edge blur and visible shot effects.](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/combat-bullet-time.webp)

[F.E.A.R. (2005)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/bullet-time) · Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host: GameMechanics.org. All rights reserved; excluded from the portal’s MIT and CC BY 4.0 licenses.

[Source recording](https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/webm/fear_bullet_time.webm), 4.91 s

1. Enemy at the center of the slowed scene
2. Visual effect of the active mode

- Define which objects follow the altered time speed.

- [F.E.A.R. (2005)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/bullet-time)

## How it works

Changing time speed creates analysis and execution opportunities, but requires explicit exceptions across world systems.

## Variants

### Mechanic variants

<a id="t250-variants"></a>

- Stopping freezes the world but permits commands. <a id="t250-v1"></a>
- Slow motion expands a player's response window. <a id="t250-v2"></a>
- Fast-forward skips predictable repeated cycles. <a id="t250-v3"></a>
- Local fields alter the rate of selected objects. <a id="t250-v4"></a>

## Design example

A projectile slows inside a sphere so a reflector can move before it exits.

Prototype check: Test timers, audio and physics across rate boundaries, including pausing within another slow-motion effect.

## Context and limits

Time and space rules change action causality; the interface must show which state survives a transformation. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.

- [PuzzleScript: Rules](https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html) (id: source-eceba0e40b661634)
- [F.E.A.R. (2005)](https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/bullet-time) (id: source-6d8132b002132185)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors