🔹Game Rules

GAME MAKER 0.10 UPDATE

This documentation is being updated with the following:

• Export and Import Rules with CTRL+C and CTRL+V

• More advanced Math rule replaces Add/Subtract Number, Multiply Number, and Add/Subtract Time rules

• New rules expand creative possiblities: Key Input, Mouse Input, OnPlayerEntry, OnPlayerExit, Send Message, Set Player Name

• HUD enhanced with icons, slot sizes, dynamic show/hide, improved Banner and Popup

• New float variable for decimals

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GAME MAKER 0.9 NEW FEATURE Create new types of gameplay and design complex logic more efficiently with Game Rules!

Game Rules Resources

Rule Types

Full documentation on how every rule works

📗Game Rules Guide

Documentation of useful rulesets/Presets

The Game Rules System

About

What is it?

The Game Rules system is a visual scripting tool located in the Gameplay menu.

It allows you to easily use and manipulate values such as numbers, text, time, and true/false values for your gameplay design needs:

🔃 Store, modify, and reuse variables

⚖️ Compare values

🎲 Generate random numbers

⏱️ Create timers and stopwatches

ℹ️ Display information in the player's , popup windows, and banners

What Can I Make?

You can create custom mechanics from scratch or use predefined game mechanics called Presets, which is detailed more below. The following Presets are currently available (more will be added in the future):

• Collect Points

• Time Trial

• Point Race

• Combo

• Hunger

• Poison

• Shop

How it Works

How Does it Work?

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

DEFINE Create Rulesets made of one or more Rules

A Rule carries out actions using variables you define and values you enter

TRACK Changes to variables caused by Rule actions are stored for reuse Local variables (L) - track individual players Global variables (G) - track all players

RELAY Rules are trigged by messages In and send messages Out to communicate with:

• other Rules

• behaviours and components (object logic)

This vastly increases the potential to build more compelling gameplay and enhances the functionality of object logic (behaviours and components) as a more efficient way to design complex mechanics.

MULTIPLAYER GAMES

Use a combination of local variables (L) and global variables (G) depending on how you want Rulesets to be triggered, variables to be tracked, and information to be displayed in your game mechanics.

The Game Rules Window

The Game Rules Window

Controls

✅ OPEN GAME RULES Game Rules tab in the Gameplay menu

❎ CLOSE GAME RULES Click the X (top right)

🔲 MAX/MIN WINDOW (top right)

• Maximise
• Minimise

🔍 ZOOM IN/OUT

• Click the magnify lenses (top right)

• CTRL+ 🖱️move scroll wheel

↕️↔️ PAN GRID BOARD

• Click and hold 🖱️ scroll wheel
• CTRL+WASD keys

↩️↪️ UNDO/REDO

• CTRL+Z - Undo

• CTRL+Y - Redo

Tools

Game Rules tab in the Gameplay menu. The island menu in the Game Rules window is highlighted on the left.

1️⃣ The Island Menu (left side) contains Presets, Rules, and Variables to build mechanics.

2️⃣ The grid board is the main space for organising Rulesets. It is empty until a Ruleset is added via the Rules or Presets options in the island menu.

3️⃣ A meter (bottom left) indicates the number of Rules added to your grid board. A warning appears when you may experience performance issues by exceeding the recommended limit (currently more than 80 Rules).

For best performance, optimise rather than aim for recommended upper limits.

Currently, 80 Rules can be used without a warning

The meter is full at 100 Rules (not recommended)

4️⃣ The Rules Hierarchy dropdown (bottom right) allows you to:

• view Rules included in your Experience's Rulesets

• duplicate a Rule or Ruleset

• focus (go to) on a Rule or Ruleset in the grid board

• enable/disable debugging for one or more Rules or Rulesets

Rules

Rules are a sequence of steps carried out from top to bottom, which can communicate with other rules or object logic (behaviours and components).

Any message sent to the Game Rules system needs to be broadcast to All receivers or explicitly to Rules.

To decrease a variable, use a negative number in the value change logic box.

Rule Types

Rule Types

Rule types currently include: Math, Time, Comparison, Change Variable Values, and Game Screen. Click a Rule type to expand the list of options.

Some Rules offer new possibilities and mechanics, while others offer shortcuts to solve complex problems.

REUSE RULES

Rules reset once they are completed or stopped, so they can be used again.

When you click on a Rule in the Rules list, it is added to the grid board (in a new Ruleset).

Shown: Add/Subtract number Rule added to a new Ruleset

Logic Boxes: Logical Flow

GAME MAKER 0.9 UPDATE *Create custom messages with arguments (variables stored within a message) to send the same message with different values in the argument.

Example: Send the message AddPoints when objects are collected and enter a different point value for each object in the Collectable component.

Logic boxes highlighted in red require more information to make the rule active.

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 an argument* is received, it may include an argument that fills a value in a logic box to carry out an action.
2. Variable(s) A Rule may use zero, one, or multiple stored values defined by name and type.
3. Action(s) A sequence of actions to carry out, such as changing a variable, comparing values, displaying information in the player's 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 or object logic. Currently these messages can not define custom arguments*.

EXAMPLE

Timer Rule

Player Perspective Enter an area. A timer appears as a door opens, indicating limited time to enter. Re-enter the area to start a timer again.

Logic Flow of the Timer Rule

• Trigger - When the player enters an area and is detected, a message is sent to the Rule.

• Variable - A time variable will be used to store the timer.

• Actions - The timer is displayed and starts to count down.

• Output - When the timer reaches 0, a message is sent to close the door. The Rule resets when complete so it can be triggered again.

More Rule Info

More Rule Info

Visit Rule Types for the same information in our documentation.

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

Rule Info mode

Trigger a Rule

Trigger a Rule

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

Variables

About

What Are Variables?

Variables are the backbone of the Game Rules system. Almost every Rule can or has to work in combination with a variable.

They can be used to store information like scores or text, timers can be used to trigger delayed events, and boolean variables offer a new way to build more complex logical systems.

Boolean variables store a binary value generally depicted as true or false. The boolean variable in the Gameplay Rules is called “true/false” variable.

Variables are automatically created when you use a Preset in Game Rules (more information below), but you can customise your Experience mechanics to use any variables you like.

Variable Types

Variable Types

Currently the following types of variables are available:

🔢 Number - Integer values (i.e. 255) and float values (i.e. 25.5)

Shops, scores, stats, inventory, etc.

🔤 Text - Short character strings

Display short text in banners or HUD slots such as status, location, level, etc.

⏱️ Time - Floating time values

Timers and Stopwatches with stop, pause, and resume

☯️ True/False - Boolean values (binary)

Set a state to manage logic, with potential to create if/else structures

Local and Global Variables

A variable can be set to global or local.

Global variables are synchronized for every player in the experience, so when you set up a score in a multiplayer experience, every player will have the same score. This is useful for a collective goal.

Local variables are not synchronized and can store different values for every player in a multiplayer experience.

To change a local variable with a Rule's actions, the message In that triggers the Rule must be sent by a direct player interaction. This ensures that a player source is included in the message sent so the Game Rules system knows which player's variable needs to be modified.

A Rule that changes a local variable must be triggered by a message In that is sent by a direct player interaction so the message includes the player source. This communicates to the Game Rules which player's instance of the local variable will be changed.

Variables Window

Variables Window

Open the variables window. In the Variables you will find a list of all variables in the game experience. Each variable will have a tag of either “G” or “L” to show whether they are global variables or local 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 or local and type (number, time, true/false and text). The name in the variables list is the internally used one, while the Name in the variable's settings is used for the player's HUD, or Heads-Up Display.

Variables list

Variable details

Rulesets

Rulesets are a way to visually organise a group of Rules used for the same game mechanic.

About

How Rules Act in a Ruleset

Rules may be grouped into a Ruleset, but they still act independently when triggered:

• The order in which Rules are placed in a Ruleset does not change the flow of logic.

• A Rule's message Out may trigger another Rule in the same Ruleset or in a different one.

• Some Rules may not send a message Out.

Example

The Collect Points Ruleset (a Preset) is a gameplay mechanic that includes a chain of two Rules (shown in red below) and other Rules that act independently of the others.

Example: Collect Points Ruleset (a Preset) - click to expand

Managing Rules and Rulesets

Managing Rules and Rulesets

➕Add a Rule (new Ruleset) Click on a Rule in the Rules list

Rename, Duplicate, or Delete a Ruleset Select a Ruleset to reveal a small menu of buttons (top center)

Add a Rule to a Ruleset

• Click the button (next to Rule name)

• Drag a Rule from another Ruleset into the desired Ruleset

Presets

Presets are pre-built Rulesets you add to your grid board with a single click to set up commonly used game mechanics and customise as needed.

When adding a Preset, all necessary variables and messages are automatically generated.

About

Presets are accessed with a button in the Island Menu on the left. Click on a Preset in the list to add it to the grid board.

You can now customise it and set up or modify existing object logic (behaviours and components) so it will work when players interact with those objects and trigger messages to be sent.

Game Rules - Presets

Apply a Preset

Apply a Preset to Your Experience

Check Messages and Variables Included

Once your Preset is added to the grid board, you will need to modify objects or Rules to ensure that messages sent from objects trigger the Rules as expected.

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

Set up Messages to Trigger the Rules Included

There are multiple ways You can send a message to trigger a Rule 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 in another Rule to trigger a different one

Debug

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

STEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLE: APPLY A PRESET

Visit the Game Rules Guide's Collect Points page for a full example of how to apply a Preset to your Experience logic.

Export and Import Rulesets

Copy and paste Rulesets with CTRL+C and CTRL+V. Messages and variables included!

• Paste generated text into external sources like a notepad to share.

• Paste into other Experiences to reuse your Ruleset!