its me again: script a countdown

[girlysprite]

Well, Im building a dungeon now, and i need some scripts...and I dont know how to set it up exactly...

In the dungeon, when the player steps over a certain trigger, a count down starts. Making a countdown isnt so hard...its an onenter script, run only once per game, and has a lot of delayaction in it to show some lines for the countdown.

The problem is that I want to make a device to make the countdown stop. As soon the player uses the device, the counting should stop.
I dont even know if I can stop a script in the middle of its workings, so maybe I should do something else.

How can I set up a countdown that can be canceled?

[Alphonse]

create a stop variable.

set the variable using the usable item

have the countdown check the variable each time it counts down, and break out of the loop if it is set.

[girlysprite]

hm, loops it is then.
No idea how to make a loop in nwscript yet, though I know how such a loop should be structured.... Ill dive in the lexicon.

[Jonezie]

There's a couple of approaches you could try.

The first is to use the heartbeat event on a particular object to increment the timer, unless the 'stop' variable is set.

The second is to have the trigger execute a repeating script, that breaks when the variable is set. Something like this cheap and nasty snippet:

Code: Select all

    object oArea = GetArea(OBJECT_SELF);
    int iCounter = GetLocalInt(oArea, "Counter");

    if (!GetLocalInt(oArea, "Count_Stop"))
    {
        SetLocalInt(oArea, "Counter", iCounter + 1);
        DelayCommand(1.0, ExectuteScript("ThisScript", OBJECT_SELF));
    }

That says, basically, if the stop variable isn't set, increment the counter and execute this script again in one second.

Note: This sort of stuff is fine for running in a single-player mod, but I have it on good authority that having a bunch of delaycommands active in a big multiplayer mod is not a good thing. I hope that gives you some clues.

[girlysprite]

Thanks all.

It's a single player module. So thats one less problem.
With help from Al and some other boards I managed to get some code together...

here is the basics:

// ** OnEnter handle of the appropriate area/trigger.

// ** FUNCTION DECLARATIONS ** //
void Countdown( int nTimeLimit, object oObject = OBJECT_INVALID);

void main()
{
// Declare variables:
object oPC = GetEnteringObject();
// Check that the entering object is a player character and
// that the LocalInt, "bDoOnce", has not been set:
if( !GetIsPC( oPC) || GetLocalInt( OBJECT_SELF, "bDoOnce")) { return;}
// Initiate the countdown:
// Note: The number determines the length of the
// countdown in seconds; you can change it to
// whatever you want. Moreover, delete oPC if you
// don't want to display a countdown for the last
// X seconds.
Countdown( 15, oPC);
// Flag the LocalInt, "bDoOnce", as TRUE so the countdown
// won't start if the player re-enters the area/trigger:
SetLocalInt( OBJECT_SELF, "bDoOnce", TRUE);
}

// ** FUNCTION DEFINITIONS ** //
void Countdown( int nTimeLimit, object oObject = OBJECT_INVALID)
{
// Declare variables:
// Note: Insert the tag of the object you want the player
// to use where indicted.
int bUsed = GetLocalInt( GetObjectByTag( "TAG_OF_OBJECT_HERE"), "bUsed");
// Return if the LocalInt, "bUsed", has been set:
if( bUsed) { return;}
// If the time limit has been exhausted...
if( nTimeLimit == 0) {
// ** WHATEVER YOU WANT TO HAPPEN WHEN THE TIMER ENDS ** //
// Delete the LocalInt, "bDoOnce", so the player can repeat
// the timed task by re-entering the area/trigger:
// Note: Comment out this line if you don't want the
// player to be able to repeat the task in the event
// they fail.
DeleteLocalInt( OBJECT_SELF, "bDoOnce");
// Otherwise...
} else {
// ...inform the player if they have less than or equal to
// 10 seconds remaining...
// Note: This number can be changed.
if( GetIsObjectValid( oObject) && nTimeLimit <= 10) {
FloatingTextStringOnCreature( IntToString( nTimeLimit), oObject);
}
// ...and continue with the countdown:
DelayCommand( 1.0, Countdown( --nTimeLimit, oObject));
}
}

and the great thing is...it works!

It isnt on heartbeat, because I dont trust heartbeat too much and besides, its a loop that needs to be done every second, not every 6 seconds.

[PlasmaJohn]

Code: Select all

if( nTimeLimit == 0 ) { ....

I prefer to be a bit more defensive:

Code: Select all

if( nTimeLimit <= 0 ) { ... 

On the off chance that something else is mucking with your variables, this at least makes sure it will terminate