System

Runtime clocks, logical screen size, and engine performance readouts.

APIs

Wall clock vs simulation time

Both clocks reset on cart reload or Restart from the pause menu. Values are rounded to millisecond precision.

For gameplay logic that must stay on the fixed timestep, you can still use update(dt) — gameTime() advances by the same dt steps when update() runs.

Examples

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-- Ambient wave (keeps moving while pause menu is open)
local wave = math.sin(time() * 2)

-- 10-second countdown that pauses with the menu
local remaining = math.max(0, math.ceil(10 - gameTime()))
drawText(remaining, 58, 58, 7, 2)

-- HUD: size and FPS
drawText(screenWidth() .. "x" .. screenHeight(), 0, 0, 6, 1)
drawText("FPS " .. fps(), 0, 8, 6, 1)

-- Seconds since the cart started, even while the pause menu is open.
local seconds = time()

-- The same clock as time().
local seconds = t()

-- Seconds the game has actually been running. This pauses with the pause menu.
local seconds = gameTime()

-- The frames per second the engine is reporting.
local frames = fps()

-- Width of the game screen in pixels, such as 128.
local width = screenWidth()

-- Height of the game screen in pixels, such as 128.
local height = screenHeight()