Show Countdown With Corona

Introduction :
Its a very common practice, to display countdown like 3, 2, 1 and then the game begins. So today we will see how can we make our own custom countdown.

Description :
Let’s say we have a gaming board page where we will play the game but before starting we will add countdown like 3, 2, 1 and after that user can play the game. So for that we will make a translucent background where we will show our countdown number.

CODE BLOCK :

gameBoard.lua
 
-- Define background to display count down
local countDownBackground = display.newRect(0, 0, displayWidth, displayHeight)
countDownBackground:setFillColor(140, 140, 140)-- Set the color of the block
countDownBackground.alpha = 0.5-- Define opacity to make it translucent
 
-- Define label to display number
local countDownText = display.newText( "",0, 0, native.systemFont, displayHeight * 0.5 )
countDownText:setTextColor( 131, 255, 131 )-- Define text color
countDownText:setReferencePoint( display.TopLeftReferencePoint )-- Define text position reference
 
-- Set the text position at center
countDownText.x = ((displayWidth * 0.5) - (countDownText.contentWidth * 0.5))
countDownText.y = ((displayHeight * 0.5) - (countDownText.contentHeight * 0.5))
 
-- Define count down number
local countDownNum = 3
 
-- Define function to show countdown numbers
local showCountDown = function()
 
-- Condition to show and hide countdown
if countDownNum == 0 then
countDownText:removeSelf()-- Remove countdown text
countDownBackground:removeSelf()-- Remove counttdown background
 
-- TODO : Code to start the game
 
else-- Condition to display countdown numbers
countDownText.text = countDownNum
end
countDownNum = countDownNum - 1
end
 
-- Defined timer to strat the countdown
timer.performWithDelay( 1000, showCountDown, 4 )

On above code block I have at first defined a translucent background and then the label which will display the numbers at the center of the screen.
Then I have defined a function called ‘showCountDown’ where I have mentioned the condition to display the numbers and after completion of the loop it will automatically remove the text and the background from the screen.

Summary :
So now here we have seen how easily we can implement the countdown before starting a game. You can use different styles and animation along with that to make it more attracting.

Note : Tested in Android device.