How would I always pick a new time for my timer?

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hey! So for my game i need an object to spawn between 1 second and 2 seconds. So i tried this and doesn’t seem to work.

local spawnRate = 1000 local function spawnObject() --Does different things here. Removed for better understanding. spawnRate = math.random( 1000, 2000 ) end timer.performWithDelay( spawnRate, spawnObject, -1 )

So the first time it spawns after 1 second but then it keeps spawning at 1 second. The math.random picks a new number but it doesn’t apply it to the timer.

–SonicX278 

#2

It’s because the spawnRate is only applied when the timer function is first called. Try calling it recursively instead:

local spawnRate = 1000 local canSpawn = true local function spawnObject() --Does different things here. Removed for better understanding. spawnRate = math.random( 1000, 2000 ) if canSpawn then timer.performWithDelay( spawnRate, spawnObject, 1 ) else --do something else end end timer.performWithDelay( spawnRate, spawnObject, 1 )

Notice that I am calling the timer function using “1” each time I call it, not infinitely using “-1”. So each timer call is a new instance, and uses the spawnRate to set the length of time.

I’ve also added a bool that you can use to stop the spawning, as currently it would call timers non-stop. Set canSpawn to false when your level ends or whatever, and the timer will stop being called.

#3

It’s because the spawnRate is only applied when the timer function is first called. Try calling it recursively instead:

local spawnRate = 1000 local canSpawn = true local function spawnObject() --Does different things here. Removed for better understanding. spawnRate = math.random( 1000, 2000 ) if canSpawn then timer.performWithDelay( spawnRate, spawnObject, 1 ) else --do something else end end timer.performWithDelay( spawnRate, spawnObject, 1 )

Notice that I am calling the timer function using “1” each time I call it, not infinitely using “-1”. So each timer call is a new instance, and uses the spawnRate to set the length of time.

I’ve also added a bool that you can use to stop the spawning, as currently it would call timers non-stop. Set canSpawn to false when your level ends or whatever, and the timer will stop being called.