Active Time Event

Active Time Events, abbreviated to ATE, is a system that gives the player the ability to view short optional scenes in Final Fantasy IX that are happening at the same time elsewhere in the world. The system was created by the game's director, Hiroyuki Ito.
While the player is off in a different location, they can view the actions of their other party members, or non-player characters that occur roughly at the same time. When an ATE occurs, the words "Active Time Event" appear at the bottom left corner of the screen, and a distinct chime is played. The player can then use the to view the scene.
All Active Time Events are named. Usually ATEs have no effect on gameplay, though a few allow the player to obtain items. ATEs come in two flavors: mandatory and optional. Mandatory ATEs are activated automatically, even if the player doesn't press . Optional ATEs remain available if not selected, and the player can continue to progress through the game without activating them, though leaving a game screen or exiting to the World Map may sometimes cause an ATE to become unavailable. Additionally, activating certain ATEs will sometimes make certain other ATEs or dialogue available.
The on-screen indicator for an optional ATE appears in mostly blue lettering, with the letters "A," "T" and "E" in white for the abbreviation "ATE". The lettering for a mandatory ATE appears in mostly gray, retaining the white lettering for "ATE".
Viewing 79 ATEs in the Steam version earns the Movie Critic achievement.
== List of Active Time Events ==
=== Evil Forest ===
Name	Area/Prerequisite 	Type 	Event
 	M.S. Prima Vista / Crash Site 	 	Vivi and Garnet find themselves alone in the Evil Forest. They are then attacked by a monster.
 	Prima Vista / Hallway 	Optional	Steiner ponders escaping the M.S. Prima Vista.
 	Prima Vista / Hallway 	Optional	Ruby is left behind in Alexandria.
 	Prima Vista / Hallway: Must have watched Time to Escape.	Optional	Cinna hunts for his Garnet doll, which had been left behind inside the airship.
 	Evil Forest / Trail (3) 	Optional	A band plays in the middle of the crash zone in the Evil Forest.
 	Evil Forest / Spring 	Forced 	Baku gives Blank a map.
=== Dali ===
Name	Area/Prerequisite 	Type 	Event
 	Dali - Inn (2): If the player has not watched Dagger Tries.Dali - Inn (1) 	Optional	Vivi is recognized and shunned by the village children.
 	Dali - Inn (2): If the player has not watched Vivi, Confused.Dali - Inn (1) 	Optional	Garnet tries to fit in with average society.
 	Dali - Village Road 	Optional	The Innkeeper plots against the party, with Vivi central to his plans.
 	Dali - Inn (1): Must have first gone to Field or watched Dagger Tries. Must have since visited .Dali - Village Road: Must have first watched Dagger Tries and then visited and then must view inside the Inn through the top.Dali: After exploring enough areas.	Optional	Garnet continues to try to be normal and overhears a conversation between two commoners in a shop.
 	Dali - Village Road: After Vivi scene at Village Road (north). 	Optional	The Innkeeper's plot is in motion. To hide from the party, he pretends to be asleep.
 	Dali - Inn (2): Must have viewed Dagger Tries Harder and talked to Garnet in Wpn. Shop, and viewed Vivi's scene at Village Road (north). 	Forced 	Steiner attempts to find a way back to Alexandria Castle by talking to and doing chores for a girl who works in the local pub.
=== Lindblum (first visit) ===
* : Steiner asks a female Red Mage for directions, but she interprets it as flirting and brushes him off. He then tries some Gysahl Pickles from the nearby vendor.
* : Vivi learns of the Festival of the Hunt from a shopkeeper. Hearing that it involves animals, he is excited and runs off. However, he does not realize that the objective is to fight the animals. One Kupo Nut is received for watching this ATE.
* : Steiner wanders the city and finds himself in front of the airship yards. An old man then tells him of the new technology called "Steam Power".
* : Garnet, stuck inside the castle, is left with nothing to do.
* : The members of Tantalus escape from the Evil Forest and decide to search for a way to save Blank.
=== Treno (first visit) ===
* : Garnet is pick-pocketed by the Four-Armed Man. The player may press the X button to reduce the amount stolen to 500 Gil instead of 1,000 Gil when the "!" icon appears.
* : Two children in the Treno slums plot class warfare to overthrow the nobles.
* : The Four-Armed man gets a good look at Garnet and thinks she's cute. He then decides to move to a new city.
* : Garnet has a bad impression of Treno and overhears an old drunk talking to himself.
* : Garnet wanders into the Auction House and sees a familiar face.
* : Marcus meets with Baku about the Supersoft. It has been located in a noble's house.
* : Cinna has missed the cable-car once again and is caught slacking off by Baku. Missable if the player descends to Gargan Roo without leaving the tower.
=== Cleyra ===
* : Vivi is spotted by Burmecian refugees.
* : Quina is upset to find that Cleyra has no food.
* : Vivi is harassed by the Burmecians, despite his claims of innocence.
* : Quina eats a mushroom.
=== Lindblum (second visit) ===
* : Marcus goes to save Blank.
* : Occupying Alexandrian soldiers load supplies. Missable if the player doesn't go out to explore Lindblum.
* : Lindblum soldiers ponder the actions of the Alexandrian invaders, wondering where they will strike next.
* : Alexandrian soldiers hear a strange noise.
=== Conde Petie (first visit) ===
* : Vivi is surprised to find that the Dwarves are not afraid of him.
* : Quina, not understanding that food needs to be bought, tries to eat food from a grocery. They are accused of being a thief.
* : Garnet learns of a Sanctuary and its connection to a local marital rite.
* : Quina finds it difficult to talk to the locals and is again suspected of being a thief.
* : Two dwarves greet a Black Mage.
=== Black Mage Village ===
* : Two Black Mages are shocked to see humans in the village.
* : Quina sniffs out some food.
* : A Black Mage practices being a shopkeeper. This scene can easily be missed if Zidane enters the item shop.
* : The "food" Quina found is actually a chocobo egg being protected by two Black Mages.
* : Vivi learns that the Black Mages are escapees from the Cargo Ships. He then learns that several have died, for a reason that is cut-off when the ATE ends. If Zidane approaches the Cemetery before viewing it from any earlier areas, this will be a forced ATE.
* : Garnet tries to communicate with the Black Mages.
=== Conde Petie (second visit) ===
* : Vivi and Quina get married. This will activate as a forced ATE if the player had Zidane tell the two earlier that they should get married; otherwise, it will not activate and the two will simply be able to sneak out of Conde Petie later while the guards are distracted by Eiko.
=== Madain Sari ===
* : Vivi ponders life and death.
* : Garnet notices that the town is familiar somehow.
* : Eiko tries to make Zidane fall in love with her by showing off her cooking skills.
* : Eiko tries to cook. The player's choices affect later scenes.
* : Eiko continues cooking. The dialogue is affected by the choices in the previous episode and affects a later scene.
=== Alexandria ===
* : Eiko is impressed by the size of the castle and gets taunted by some kitchen attendants.
* : The Nero family have a reunion.
* : Blank and Marcus discuss Zidane's love life.
* : Artemicion meets with his fellow moogles. His coat is oddly shiny.
* : Baku realizes that he has lost Eiko's love letter to Zidane.
* : Zorn and Thorn try to reenter Alexandria, but almost run into Marcus and Blank. They then decide to leave again.
=== Treno (second visit) ===
* : Eiko and Vivi discuss Zidane and Garnet's relationship.
* : Vivi meets with Marco. During the discussion, Marco mentions that Vivi should meet with his family. The player then decides if Vivi should visit Quan's Dwelling or stay in Treno.
* : The two economically disadvantaged children from an earlier ATE continue to scheme towards revolution. But then their conversation turns towards a Tetra Master tournament, despite their feelings that it is a game for the rich. This ATE is only available if the player has chosen for Vivi to stay in Treno during "How He Ended Up Here". As a result, Mario will enter the Card Tournament, with the Namingway Card in his possession.
* : Amarant runs into the Four-Armed Man, who recognizes him as the "Flaming Amarant" and runs off in fright. However, he then witnesses Eiko talking to Amarant and mistakenly assumes that he has a soft spot for children.
* : Eiko overhears nobles discussing extravagant purchases. The Four-Armed Man enters and attempts to kidnap her, thinking of blackmailing Amarant. He offers to take her to dinner, but at that moment, Quina walks in and overhears him talking about food. They scare him off and chase after him. When he flees, he drops a Chimera Armlet, which Eiko then picks up.
* : Vivi goes home, despite the fact that his Grandpa has passed away. This ATE only appears if the player did not go to Quan's dwelling after directing Vivi to go there.
* : Freya meets Amarant in front of the Auction House and discusses its owner. The conversation then moves to Amarant's past.
* : Amarant tells of his first meeting with Zidane, when he was working as a security guard for the Auction House. Zidane framed him for a burglary, and Amarant has not forgotten it. This ATE only appears if the player chose to ask Amarant about his past during "Good Old Days".
* : Quina is hungry and considers eating the moon's reflection in the water. They jump into the water, and the deaf old man nearby thinks it is a suicide attempt. This optional ATE will disappear if the player leaves the Card Stadium without activating it.
* : Eiko discusses her Summoner clan with Doctor Tot.
=== Lindblum (third visit) ===
* : If you chose to have Zidane ask where Garnet is during an earlier scene, Blank will direct him to her. In the ATE, he will remember that he was supposed to tell Zidane to go to Cid's room. This optional ATE will disappear if the player returns to Blank without activating it and speaks to him, as Blank will then tell Zidane to go to Cid's room.
* : Quina has washed into Lindblum Harbor after jumping into the water at Treno during the "Hallucination" ATE.
* : Garnet, unable to talk, is crushed by her failure to save her kingdom.
* : Kuja is injured after the attack on Alexandria and angry at his failure to capture Alexander, but he has not lost his spirits. He continues to plot and scheme, with the help of the Black Mages, Zorn and Thorn.
* : Cinna, Marcus and the Nero brothers are rebuilding the Tantalus Hideout, but Cinna refuses to lend Marcus his hammer.
* : Freya meets with Burmecian survivors. They plan to rebuild their homeland, but Freya must still travel with Zidane's party to defeat Kuja.
* : Quina samples some Gysahl Pickles.
* : Baku has to pay for the pickles. This optional ATE is only activated if Zidane does not have enough money to pay off Quina's debt for the pickles (must have less than 50 gil).
=== Lindblum (fourth visit) ===
* : Steiner confronts Tantalus during his search for the missing Garnet.
* : Regent Cid prepares to build a new airship.
=== Bran Bal ===
* : Zidane behaves oddly while discussing clans with Quina.
* : Vivi tries to talk to the Genomes but finds them anti-social. Zidane then walks by acting strangely.
* : Amarant sees Zidane being led around by Mikoto. They then talk about family.
* : Zidane is led into a teleporter, where he is to meet with Garland. Although he discovers that he was created to be an enemy of Gaia, he declares that he will never join Garland.
* : This optional ATE relates to the lift in the castle Pandemonium and simply switches the player's party.
=== Tutorials ===
Name	Area/Prerequisite 	Type 	Event
 	Evil Forest - Exit to World Map	Forced	Lots of tutorials!
 	Ice Cavern - Cave 	Forced	Additional tutorials for status effects, elemental properties, and the card game.
 	Lindblum - Inn 	Forced	Tutorial on the use of synthesis shops.
Category:Gameplay in Final Fantasy IX