The Dink Network

Countdown Timer

February 27th, 2009
v1.00
Score : 8.3 good
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metatarasal
Bard He/Him Netherlands
I object 
Countdown timers are a relatively frequent sight in DMODs nowadays, so it's a good thing there is a resource on how to make one yourself now.

But is this file any good if you want to make a timer? Well, I'm happy to report that it is. The timer itself works like a dream and there are lots of ways you can customize the script. For example you can abort the script whenever you want to and you can insert information on what happens when the time is up. There is also a really cool feature that you can pause the timer if you want to.

Now the real challenge is to explain clearly how to customize the timer. Unfortunately this is done through comments in the timer script itself. This means you will have to read through the entire script to find exactly where and how to make the modification you like to make.
This is particularly nasty because many modifications are really similar. For example if I want to abort the timer I can do this in three different ways: I can kill the timer externally but leave the final time displayed, I can kill the timer externally and not leave it displayed or I can let the timer script check every second if it should abort itself. If I have to look through the entire script to see what I need I might just end up taking the one I see, which might not be the best.

This problem is especially true in explaining how to communicate with the script from the outside. I think the comments in the script should only be about the script itself, not about how to manipulate it from other scripts.

From the review so far you might conclude that I'm unhappy about the comments altogether. But that is not the case, they are very clear and concise. It's just that I feel that there should be a separate file listing exactly what modifications you can make and how to manipulate the script with other scripts

I am missing the comments on the working of the counter itself though. This is a pity if you are interested in the working of the counter, but by leaving those comments out Sparrowhawk kept the script very clean and made it easier to see how to implement the script yourself.

All together this file is a useful resource. Novice DMOD makers might be a little overwhelmed by all the possibilities, but even for them using this file is the easiest way of creating a countdown timer I know of.

Final verdict:
8.3