Game Rules

How Does it Work?

The Game Rules system defines, tracks, and relays an Experience's global mechanics.

The Game Rules Window

1️⃣ Boards button - opens a menu to select a gridboard or add a new one to organize rulesets.

2️⃣ Rules Guide button - links to this documentation in the Creator Portal.

3️⃣ Rule Connectors toggle - see chains of logic with messages sent/received in a gridboard.

4️⃣ Island Menu - contains Presets, Rules, and Variables to build mechanics

5️⃣ Gridboard - a space to add rules from the Island Menu and organise them into Rulesets.

6️⃣ Rules Hierarchy dropdown (applies to the selected gridboard):

• view and duplicate rules

• focus on (go to) a rule or ruleset

• enable/disable debugging for one or more rules or rulesets

Controls

Using Multiple Gridboards

Game Maker 0.11 introduces multiple gridboards to organize rulesets.

• Add gridboard or category - Add button

• Select a gridboard - double click its name

• Rename/move - right click

• Delete - trash icon (press CTRL+Z to undo)

  • deleting a gridboard removes all of its rules

  • deleting a category removes all of its gridboards and rules

• Close Boards panel - click the X in the top right

Connections

Toggle on connections to visualize how rules in a gridboard communicate with each other with their messages in and out. It's a helpful tool to quickly view how your rules logic will trigger.

A Rule's Logical Flow

Logic boxes break down Rules into simple steps executed from top to bottom:

1. Trigger A rule is triggered by a message In. If a message with arguments is received, the argument value may be used in a rule's action.

2. Variable(s) A rule may use zero, one, or multiple stored values defined by name and type.

3. Action(s) An action to carry out (e.g., change a variable, compare values, display on the HUD, etc).

4. Message to Stop the Rule Some rules allow another message In to stop its actions.

5. Output An optional message Out may trigger another rule, object logic, or quest. A message with arguments may be sent for more complex logic or fewer rules.

EXAMPLE

Timer Rule

Trigger a Rule

A rule is triggered by a message received. This can be done in many ways. Here are just a few ideas:

• Collect, destroy, spawn, or interact with objects

• Use a Message Broadcaster to send messages repeatedly with a delay between

• Use Timed Events to send a message in a sequence a sequence of events

• Use an outgoing message sent from a rule to trigger a different rule

More Rule Info

Right click a Rule and use 🔼🔽 arrows to view details about each logic box.

Variable Types

Currently the following types of variables are available:

How Variables are Applied

A variable can be applied three ways: global, player, or team.

Player & Team Variable Data

Player Source

To modify a variable for the correct player or team during play, an interaction from a player must trigger a message that will then include player source data.

Examples:

• detection by a Speaker or Trigger Volume

• answering a question via Asker

• pressing a Button

• and more

Variables Window

The Variables window lists all variables in the Experience. Each will have a tag of either G, P, or T to show whether they are global, player, or team variables.

In this area new variables can be added and existing ones can be removed or edited. The list shows the variables' names, whether they are global, player, or team variables, and type (number, decimal number, time, true/false and text).

Enter the name for internal use in the Name* field. You will create a custom name to appear in the player's HUD, or Heads-Up Display, in the rule.

Rules

To use a variable in a rule, add the rule and click Select Variable (if a variable is not selected yet, the logic box will be red and the rule will not be active).

The Variables window will open on the left. Check the box next to the variable you want to use.

For a Team variable, you can choose Triggering Team or a specific team name (which is created via Spawn Point behavior).

Managing Rules and Rulesets

Move a Ruleset to a Different Gridboard

Use CTRL+C to copy a ruleset and CTRL+V to paste a ruleset into a different gridboard. Then delete the ruleset from the old gridboard.

Integrate a Preset with Your Experience

Check Variables Included

Review variables created with your Preset to make sure they are player (P) for individual players, global (G) for all players, or team (T) for teams, depending on how you want them to apply.

Set up Messages to Trigger the Rules Included

Modify messages sent by objects or messages required in the preset's rules to ensure they will communicate as expected.

There are multiple ways to send a message. Here are a few examples:

• Collect, destroy, spawn, or interact with objects

• Use a Message Broadcaster to send messages repeatedly with a delay between

• Use Timed Events to send a message in a sequence a sequence of events

• Use an outgoing message in another Rule to trigger a different one

Debug

If your mechanic isn't working as expected, you can debug specific rules or rulesets.

Global Ranking

• Automatically displays on the Experience Page in a Ranking tab

• Can be reset when updating the Experience, or at any time

• Data updates in real time

• Displays up to 100 top players based on criteria set in Game Maker

Ranking Settings

1. Set a Message to validate data

2. Add up to three numeric variables to determine player rank

   1. Primary

   2. Secondary (tie breaker if Primary data is the same)

   3. Tertiary (tie breaker if Primary and Secondary data is the same)

3. Use controls to customise settings further

Controls

1. Ranking button - Open Ranking screen

2. Ranking screen

3. Message to validate data - The message you enter here must be sent to Rules to capture variable data before victory/defeat triggered

4. Add a variable - If the plus sign does not appear, you need to create a number, decimal, or time variable to add

5. Remove a variable

6. Variable title - Click to edit how it will appear on Rankings screens and the Experience Page

7. Sort variable values - Ascending or descending

8. Create a Global Ranking - Display Ranking data for all play sessions on the Experience Page and at the end of each game session

Trigger a Ranking

(Optional) Time Variables

⏸️ If a time variable will be included in the ranking, it must be started and paused/stopped before data validation and victory are triggered

(Required) All Use Cases

📸 Trigger a snapshot of variable data (send a validation message to Rules)

Trigger a Victory or Defeat component to end the game, revealing the ranking screen

Example: Timed Race

To accurately collect each player's time data in a race with a global timer:

• Create a global time variable, trigger at the start of the race

• Create a player time variable, trigger with player interaction/detection to receive a player source

• At race start: Trigger the global time variable to begin

• When a player crosses the finish line: Pause the local variable and overwrite the value with a Set Time Value rule, using the global time variable's value in the rule

Example: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Game

A survival game may have Ranking set up in many ways depending on the goals of the game:

• Medium difficulty survival

  • Primary variable: Survival time (descending)

• High difficulty survival

  • Primary variable: Number of player deaths (ascending)

  • Secondary variable: Best survival time (descending)

• Save the world

  • Primary variable: People rescued

  • Secondary variable: Zombie kills