Adding game timers

Many games count down time and challenge the player to complete a task within the given amount of time. Such challenges are rewarding for the player, and often add replay value to a game. In the previous recipe, we kept track of the total elapsed time. In this recipe, we will start with a time and subtract from it the elapsed time provided by the update handler.

Getting ready...

Create a new class named GameTimerActivity that extends BaseGameActivity. We will use this class to create a game timer from an update handler.

How to do it...

Follow these steps to create a game timer using an update handler:

1. Place these variable definitions in our new activity class:

   public static int cameraWidth = 800;
   public static int cameraHeight = 480;
   public Scene mScene;
   public Font fontDefault32Bold;
   public Text countingText;
   public float EndingTimer = 10f;

2. Next, insert the following standard, overridden methods:

   @Override
   public EngineOptions onCreateEngineOptions() {
     return new EngineOptions...