In Half Life 2, for example, you need to defend a position until a teleporter has charged. Top of the screen can feel non-diegetic and might very well take some This works very well if you use environmental indicators to show the progress,Īnd have in-game voices tell you how much is left. The exact time is not readily readable, but the graphic lets a viewer easily deduce that a countdown is happening, and time is running out Non-numerical countdown from Star Trek Generations. Instead of just putting a number somewhere, you can create your own countdown graphic which will tell the user roughly how much time is left.Ī graphical, 2D implementation will require some finesse, as you need to make sure the player can correctly intuit and read the idea of "time is running out and you've got roughly X seconds left". Now let's take a look at elements that will make countdowns and timers more interesting and engaging.ġ: Create Your Own Timer That Doesn't Rely on Numbers and Embed the Timer Into the World It could even be improved, as a piece of information like "you need to hold out for just a few seconds more!" is more easily understood in a stressful situation than "please read this number readout in the corner of the screen", and can enhance the immersion within the gameworld. While it would of course be nice to know the exact amount of time in seconds you need to survive, the game can also work without that information. When you have to hold out for a certain amount of time, that element of exactitude becomes less important. The timer needs to convey to the player how much is left, and to alert them if that amount is becoming critically low. When you are given five minutes to defuse a bomb in Metal Gear Solid 2, you need to know the exact amount of time you have, as every second becomes vital to the overall progress and planning. The design of a timer can change between those two, as the information necessary for the player changes in its application.
Implement them in a simple Unity project, for which you will need the newest version. In this two-part series, we will go through these elements and then I totally recommend watching that talk to also learn about other applications. The bottom line is that it is not enough to just present the information in its most base form you also need to enhance and accentuate what is happening with color, sounds and movement, which will make the entire experience much more engaging.
#Textmesh pro timer how to#
With a few simple additions, though, a regular timer can be made much more engaging and fitting the universe of the game presented, and thus greatly enhance the player's experience.Ī lot of these elements are inspired by the talk "Juice it or lose it" by Martin Jonasson and Petri Purho on how to make your game "juicier".
Countdowns are simple elements that appear in a lot of games, yet their design can be easily overlooked.
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