Game Screen

Use Cases:

• Showing items or money obtained for use as a game mechanic

• Displaying health/life count

• Displaying timers, stopwatches, laps, etc

• Displaying player status, progression, achievements, etc.

• Displaying warnings/clues

• Displaying important information for the player such as location, event announcements, etc.

Set Broadcast Type to All or Rules to send messages from objects to the Rules System.

HUD

About

Share important information with players as needed via the HUD

HUD slots appear when triggered. Use multiple HUD rules to change HUD slots dynamically with your gameplay. Customize slot color, size, style, icon, and format type for a unique feel.

Details: Unlock Options

Required Message

Add a custom Required message to unlock the HUD rule's options.

Details: Style, Variable

Style

Select a square or diamond HUD style to apply to all slots.

Square style

Diamond style

Select Slot, Mode & Variable

Select Slot: Click on a slot, click the pencil icon, and select a variable to display it on the HUD.

Modes:

• - Unknown (a variable may or may not be assigned to the slot with another HUD rule)
• - A selected variable will show
• - The slot will not show

Variable: Select a variable or create one.

Name, Icon & Size

Type a name for the variable to appear in the HUD, select an icon if desired, and select a size (small, medium, or large).

S, M & L slot sizes to emphasize variables by importance

Slot icons represent custom game information

Details: Value Formatting

Progress Bar, Value, Type & Soft Limits

If you toggle the Progress bar to Show, you can enter soft limits for the variable. This only affects what values appear on the HUD. It is possible for other rules to modify the variable outside of these values.

If Value is set to Show, you can choose a Type to display it four possible ways: Value only, Value/max, Percentage, and Value (Percentage).

Slot types format variables in custom ways

Value State

Select a value state to change the color of the HUD slot. You can set the Critical state to animate with the Animate toggle.

Advanced: You may set up a more dynamic HUD where slots change colours based on variable values. This setup requires a HUD rule and Check if Number is in Range rule for each coloured value state you want to display.

Positive value state

Warning value state

Critical value state

Show/Hide HUD

About

This rule shows or hides the HUD depending on the true/false value.

Details

Required Message

Select the incoming message to trigger the rule.

New True/False Value

Select the source to get the true/false value to determine if the HUD should be shown or hidden:

• Variable - Select a true/false variable or create one.

• Message Argument - If the Required Message includes a true/false message argument, it will be applied here.

• Fixed Value - Enter a true/false value via a toggle.

Banner

Banner

Inform players about important events in your experience!

The Banner rule is a handy way to inform your players about anything happening in your experience. You can set up individual texts that are displayed in the banner. It is also possible to show numerical values in the banner.

Updated banner and popup window in Game Maker 0.10

Details

Required Message

The message to activate this tree. Every time this message is broadcast the tree will be triggered.

Displayed variable

The variable set in the dropdown menu will be displayed on the banner. The variable’s display name will be shown on the left side while its value is shown on the right side of the banner. By using a text variable it is possible to display longer texts.

Duration

There are three modes to define the time the banner is shown:

• Variable will allow you to define an existing variable to modify the number. This variable can be modified elsewhere using the Roll a Random Number, Add/Subtract number or Set number value Rules. A dropdown menu will appear to select a variable.

• Fix value will allow you to set up a constant value. An input field will appear to enter the number value.

• Message Argument will allow you to use an argument sent within the message. The message has to be created with an argument of the number type for it to be selectable here. A dropdown menu will appear to select the message argument.

Message to send on close

This message is sent after the Banner has disappeared.

Popup window

About

Make it a teaching moment!

If you are using more complex gameplay in your experience you may need text elements to give the player the information he needs. For this you can use the Show Popup rule. It will show a small popup that has to be manually closed by the player by clicking the OK or Close Button. This will grab the player’s attention!

Updated banner and popup window in Game Maker 0.10

Details

Required message

The message to activate this tree. Every time this message is broadcast the tree will be triggered.

Title

This will be displayed as the title of your text box to the player

Description

This is the main body of your message to the player. It can contain a maximum of ~500 letters.

Message to send on close

This message is sent after the Popup has closed.