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OpenTS Manual

14 — Mission Timer Expired

Satisfied on the one frame the mission countdown timer is found running and at zero.

Editor data
Numeric ID
14
Engine ID
TEVENT_MISSION_TIMER_EXPIRED
Editor name
Mission Timer Expired
Need token
NEED_NONE
Parameters
None
Attachment
general
INI example
[Events]
<TriggerID>=1,14,0,0

The single frame it can be caught on

Section titled “The single frame it can be caught on”

The timer is a countdown the scenario runs and the tab bar displays. It is not running until Start Timer or Set Timer sets it going, and Stop Timer takes it out of that state again.

Each frame the engine looks for a timer that is both running and at zero. Finding one, it offers this event to every tag on the general list and then stops the timer, in that order and in the same frame. The stop is what closes the window: from the next frame on, the timer is no longer running, and the test refuses a stopped timer whatever its value.

Everything on a trigger has to be satisfied in one offer for the trigger to fire, so pairing this event with a second one that is not already true on that frame produces a trigger that never fires at all — the second event’s moment cannot be brought forward, and this one’s cannot be waited for. A persistent trigger is the exception, because it marks its momentary events off as they occur and can still be waiting on this one when the frame arrives.

Caveats
  • The timer has to be running as well as at zero. A scenario in which no action ever starts the timer never satisfies the event, and neither does one in which the timer was stopped before it ran out.
  • The engine stops the timer on the same frame it finds it at zero, so the test can pass on that frame and never again.
  • A trigger that is disabled on that frame misses the event for good, because enabling it later finds the timer stopped.
  • Taking the timer down to zero with the subtract action expires it the same as letting it run out, and the event is offered on the next frame that finds it there.
  • A campaign scenario that inherits the previous mission's timer starts it running again, so the event can be reached without any action in the current scenario starting it.
  • The event has nothing to ride on. Its tag joins the general list, which adds nothing to the attachment total a semi-persistent tag waits on, so a trigger built on events of this kind needs a volatile or a persistent tag.