3. Add an Event: Alarm Alarm 0 a. Add an Action: Set Variable i. Applies to: Self ii. Variable: time_left iii. Value: +1 iv. Check the Relative box

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1 Creating a Timer: You can have a timer that shows how long the player has been playing the game. 1. Create a new object and give it a name. This example is called object_timer. 2. Add an Event: Create a. Add an Action: Set Variable ii. Variable: time_left (or any other name that is not already used by the game.) iii. Value: 0 b. Add an Action: Set Alarm ii. Number of steps: 30 (this will make the timer add time every second) iii. In alarm no: Alarm 0 3. Add an Event: Alarm Alarm 0 a. Add an Action: Set Variable ii. Variable: time_left iii. Value: +1 iv. Check the Relative box b. Add an Action: Set Alarm ii. Number of steps: 30 iii. In alarm no: Alarm 0

2 4. Add an Event: Draw Draw a. Add an Action: Draw the variable ii. Variable: time_left iii. X: 64 (wherever you want it displayed from the top left corner of your game which is 0,0) iv. Y: 64 v. No check in the Relative box Creating a Count Down Timer: To make a countdown on a level, you have to use Timer Actions and Events in game maker. Timer actions are basically like an egg timer in real life, you set how long the timer goes on for and there is an Event when the time is up. In game maker you can set up to 12 alarms on one object. When you set an alarm action, it counts down to 0 and then the Alarm event happens. Making the Timer Object First, you need to make a new object. In this example it is called it o_timer. It does not need a sprite. Setting the Time Limit We have to make a variable to remember how many seconds are left on the clock. Add the Event: Create Event Add the Action: Set Variable Set the variable as, time_left Set the value as, 60 This will make us a new variable that will remember how many seconds is left before the time is up. Ticking away at the Time Now, to tick the time away, we want to take 1 away from the time_left variable very second. We can do this with a Timer Action, if we set the timer for one second, on the Timer Event, we can reduce the time_left variable. Time in game maker is measured in steps, there are 30 steps per second which is set under speed in the settings of the room. First we have to set the timer, Still in the Event: Create, add an Action: Set an Alarm Clock Action

3 Remember that there are 30 steps in a second, we want this alarm to happen every second so Set number of steps as, 30 set, in alarm no, as 0 You can have up to 12 alarms, we will use the first alarm (which is alarm 0) in order to do something when alarm 0 rings. We have to put the Actions in an Alarm Event for alarm 0. Add a new Alarm Event and from the drop down list, choose Alarm 0 The first thing we want to do when the second is up is take 1 away from the time_left variable. From the Control tab, add the, Set Variable Action Set variable as, time_left Set value as, -1 relative This will take 1 away from the time_left Checking if Time is Up After we take a second away, we should really set the alarm again for another second but ONLY if there are still some seconds left, if not, we should do the time up actions, these will depend on what you want your game to do when the time runs out. We will check if the time_left variable's value is zero. If it is, we will do something to end the level. If not, then we will reset the alarm for another second. Still in the Alarm 0 event, from the Control Tab, add the Check IF Variable has a Value Action Set variable as: time_left Set value as: 0

4 Set operation as: equal to This will check if the time_left variable's value is equal to 0. An IF question normally only does the next action block the question is true, if it's not, it skips to the block after. If we want to do more than one Action if the question is true, we need to use Start and End Blocks. From the Control Tab, add the Start and End Blocks one after the other. After the Action that happens when a question is true, you can use an Else Statement to do something if the answer is false and only if the answer is false. We will use an else statement and if the answer to our question is false, we will reset the second timer. From the Control Tab, Add the Else Block From the Main2 tab, add the Set an Alarm Clock Action Set number of steps as: 30 set in alarm no as: 0 Now, we have a timer that will tick down, it's up to you to put Actions between the Start and End blocks, these actions will happen when the time is up. In the following example, I used the Show Message Action to display a message Time Up. The message will ONLY show if time_left is equal to 0, otherwise the Else action, Reset Alarm, will happen. Displaying the Countdown Timer At the moment, the timer is fully functional, it waits for 60 seconds and it will perform your event. However, this is not good for the game because the player can't see the time. We want to draw the timer on the screen so the player knows exactly how much time they have left. Add the Draw Event to the timer object. This is event is used to draw onto the screen. Draw Actions will ONLY work in a Draw Event. On the Draw Event, from the Control tab, use the Draw Value of a Variable Action On the settings menu you have to choose what variable to draw and where. Set variable as: time_left

5 Set x and y values for where you want the timer to display. In this example I have put x: 10 and y: 10. This will draw it at the top left of the level.