time-of-day + creature spawns in spawn zones

scripts/core/WorldClock.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+using Godot;
+
+public partial class WorldClock : Node
+{
+	public enum TimeOfDay { Morning, Day, Night }
+
+	[Export] public TimeOfDay Current { get; private set; } = TimeOfDay.Day;
+
+	public override void _Process(double delta)
+	{
+		// Debug toggle: press T to cycle
+		if (Input.IsActionJustPressed("debug_cycle_time"))
+		{
+			Current = Current switch
+			{
+				TimeOfDay.Morning => TimeOfDay.Day,
+				TimeOfDay.Day => TimeOfDay.Night,
+				_ => TimeOfDay.Morning
+			};
+			GD.Print($"TimeOfDay -> {Current}");
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static string ToPackString(TimeOfDay t) => t switch
+	{
+		TimeOfDay.Morning => "morning",
+		TimeOfDay.Day => "day",
+		_ => "night"
+	};
+}

scripts/core/WorldClock.cs.uid

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+uid://b6gxknud5unt

scripts/world/ChunkManager.cs

@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 	[Export] public int LoadRadius { get; set; } = 1; // 1 => 3x3
 	[Export] public PackedScene PickupMarkerScene { get; set; }
 	[Export] public NodePath SaveManagerPath { get; set; }
+	[Export] public PackedScene CreatureMarkerScene { get; set; }
+	[Export] public NodePath WorldClockPath { get; set; }
+	[Export] public int MaxCreaturesPerChunk { get; set; } = 3;
+	private WorldClock? _clock;
+	private WorldClock.TimeOfDay? _lastTime;
 	private SaveManager? _save;
 	private CharacterBody2D? _player;
 	private PackManager? _packs;
@@ -36,6 +41,9 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		_save = GetNodeOrNull<SaveManager>(SaveManagerPath);
 		if (_save == null) GD.PrintErr("ChunkManager: SaveManagerPath not set or invalid.");
 		
+		_clock = GetNodeOrNull<WorldClock>(WorldClockPath);
+		if (_clock == null) GD.PrintErr("ChunkManager: WorldClockPath not set or invalid.");
+		
 		LoadWorldIndex();
 	}
 
@@ -95,6 +103,17 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 			_loaded[k].QueueFree();
 			_loaded.Remove(k);
 		}
+
+		if (_clock != null)
+		{
+			if (_lastTime == null) _lastTime = _clock.Current;
+
+			if (_clock.Current != _lastTime)
+			{
+				_lastTime = _clock.Current;
+				RefreshCreaturesInLoadedChunks();
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	private void EnsureLoaded(int x, int y)
@@ -121,8 +140,10 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		var biome = data.biome ?? "biome:unknown";
 
 		var node = CreateDebugChunkNode(x, y, _world!.chunk_size_px, biome);
-		AddChunkMarkers(node, data);
+		node.SetMeta("chunk_data", data);
+		// Put the chunk into the scene tree first so Timers can run.
 		AddChild(node);
+		AddChunkMarkers(node, data);
 		_loaded[key] = node;
 	}
 
@@ -228,6 +249,12 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		}
 
 		// Collision rects: gray outlines (optional later)
+		
+		if (data.spawn_zones != null)
+		{
+			foreach (var z in data.spawn_zones)
+				SpawnCreaturesForZone(chunkNode, z);
+		}
 	}
 	
 	private static long NowUnixSeconds() 
@@ -326,6 +353,63 @@ public partial class ChunkManager : Node2D
 		};
 
 		chunkNode.AddChild(timer);
-		timer.Start();
+		// Start after the node is fully in-tree (avoids start-before-tree edge cases).
+		timer.CallDeferred(Timer.MethodName.Start);
 	}
+	
+	private void SpawnCreaturesForZone(Node2D chunkNode, ChunkSpawnZone zone)
+	{
+		if (_clock == null || CreatureMarkerScene == null) return;
+
+		var timeStr = WorldClock.ToPackString(_clock.Current);
+		if (zone.time_windows != null && zone.time_windows.Count > 0 && !zone.time_windows.Contains(timeStr))
+			return;
+
+		// Dedup: ensure one spawn container per zone
+		var containerName = $"Creatures_{zone.id.Replace(":", "_")}";
+		if (chunkNode.HasNode(containerName))
+			return;
+
+		var container = new Node2D { Name = containerName };
+		chunkNode.AddChild(container);
+
+		var r = zone.rect; // [x,y,w,h]
+		var rng = new RandomNumberGenerator();
+		rng.Randomize();
+
+		var count = Math.Min(MaxCreaturesPerChunk, 3);
+		for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
+		{
+			var c = (Node2D)CreatureMarkerScene.Instantiate();
+			c.Position = new Vector2(
+				r[0] + rng.RandfRange(0, r[2]),
+				r[1] + rng.RandfRange(0, r[3])
+			);
+			container.AddChild(c);
+		}
+	}
+
+	private void RefreshCreaturesInLoadedChunks()
+	{
+		foreach (var chunk in _loaded.Values)
+		{
+			// Remove existing creature containers
+			foreach (var child in chunk.GetChildren())
+			{
+				if (child is Node n && n.Name.StartsWith("Creatures_"))
+					n.QueueFree();
+			}
+
+			// Re-read spawn zones by re-parsing the chunk json is overkill.
+			// v0 hack: store ChunkData on the chunk node as metadata.
+			if (chunk.HasMeta("chunk_data"))
+			{
+				var data = (ChunkData)chunk.GetMeta("chunk_data");
+				if (data.spawn_zones != null)
+					foreach (var z in data.spawn_zones)
+						SpawnCreaturesForZone(chunk, z);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 }

scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+using Godot;
+
+public partial class CreatureVisual : Node2D
+{
+	[Export] public float Radius = 8f;
+
+	public override void _Draw()
+	{
+		DrawCircle(Vector2.Zero, Radius, new Color(1f, 0.8f, 0.2f, 0.9f));
+	}
+
+	public override void _Ready() => QueueRedraw();
+}

scripts/world/CreatureVisual.cs.uid

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+uid://c3276p03ic158