[F8] Reliable Timer For Game?

[jasonpeinko]

I am trying to come up with a reliable timer for my game that counts how long the user has been playing a level.

I have tried setInterval but it is unreliable. Is there a better way to do it?

[EvolveDesigns]

why is setInterval unreliable?

[jasonpeinko]

I cannot get it to clear and then re-enable well.

[the--flash]

What's wrong with using getTimer(); ?

EDIT: To clarify, I mean what's wrong with getting the time when a level starts, and then continuing to use getTimer(); to time it.

[jasonpeinko]

I tried getTimer(); but for some reason it froze after counting about 4 seconds. I will go back and try it again though.

update: it does freeze.

function timer()
{
	currentTime=getTimer();
	time=Math.floor((currentTime-startTime)/1000);
	timeDisp.text=time;
}

I call timer(); on the enterFrame event.

[a_modified_dog]

the code below might help
put 3 textfields in a movieclip
add a couple of buttons to the clip for testing purposes
add code to frame#1 of the movieclip -

timeDisplay.text = lapDisplay.text = "00 : 00 : 00 : 000";

function pad(num){ return ("0"+String(num)).substr(-2, 2); }

function init(){
d = new Date(); t0 = getTimer(); method = run; 
};

function run(){
d.setTime(getTimer()-t0);
var h = pad(d.getHours());
var m = pad(d.getMinutes());
var s = pad(d.getSeconds());
var ms = d.getMilliseconds();
if (ms<100)ms = "0"+ms;  if (ms<10)ms = "0"+ms;
timeDisplay.text = h+" : "+m+" : "+s+" : "+ms;
};

function startTimer(){
method = init;  lapDisplay.text = "00 : 00 : 00 : 000";
};

function stopTimer(){
method = null;
lapDisplay.text = timeDisplay.text; 
addUP(lapDisplay.text);
timeDisplay.text = "00 : 00 : 00 : 000";
};

btnGo.onPress = function(){ startTimer(); };
btnStop.onPress = function(){ stopTimer(); };

this.onEnterFrame = function(){ method(); };

/////////////add up lap times/////////////////////

a = 0;

function addUP(str){
totalnum = 0;
this["arr"+a] = new Array();
this["arr"+a] = str.split(" : ");
a++;
for( var b=0;b!=a;b++){
h = Number(this["arr"+b][0])*360000;
m = Number(this["arr"+b][1])*60000;
s = Number(this["arr"+b][2])*1000; 
ms = parseInt(Number(this["arr"+b][3]),10);
totalnum += h+m+s+ms;
}
trace("total = "+totalnum+" msecs");
trace(time(totalnum));
total.text = time(totalnum);
};

////////////////convert msecs to time///////////////////

function two(n){ return ((n>9)?"":"0")+n; };
function three(n){ return ((n>99)?"":"0")+((n>9)?"":"0")+n; };

function time(ms){
var sec = Math.floor(ms/1000);
ms = ms % 1000;
t = three(ms);

var min = Math.floor(sec/60);
sec = sec % 60;
t = two(sec) + " : " + t;

var hr = Math.floor(min/60);
min = min % 60;
t = two(min) + " : " + t;

var day = Math.floor(hr/60);
hr = hr % 60;
t = two(hr) + " : " + t;
//t = day + " : " + t

return t
}; 

if you give the movieclip an instance name - mcTimer
you can call the functions from the main timeline - mcTimer.startTimer();

code prolly needs tidying up .. but it works

[jasonpeinko]

I went for a much simpler version of that

function pad(num){ return ("0"+String(num)).substr(-2, 2); }
function timer()
{
	d.setTime(getTimer()-startTime);
	var h = pad(d.getHours());
	var m = pad(d.getMinutes());
	var s = pad(d.getSeconds()); 
	timeDisp.text=m+":"+s;
}

And it looked like it was working then it stops after a few seconds.

[the--flash]

Do you mean the swf froze completely, or the timer just stopped? Maybe post the .fla file, hopefully someone would be able to find something.

EDIT:This works for me, hopefully it will for you...the button push is supposed to be when a level starts.

[jasonpeinko]

Thanks for all the help. I moved the code in the timer function to the enterFrame function and it worked .... .!?