Trouble with inputs and sleep.time()

Question

I'm trying to make a little text based game, but I am having trouble with a while loop. I have experimented for many hours now! I would much appreciate it if you could kindly help me out. Thank-you for reading :D

I basically want it so that the user has to press a button before the timer runs out, and if he doesn't do it in time then the bear eats him. :')

Here is my code:

import time
cash = 0
def dead():
    print("You are dead!")
    main()
    points = 0
def adventure_1(inventory, cash):
    points = 0
    time1 = 2
    if time1 < 3:
        time.sleep(1)
        time1 -= 1
        bear = input("A bear is near... Hide Quickly! Enter: (C) to CLIMB a Tree")



        #Ran out of time death
        if time1 == 0:
            dead()

        #Climb away from bear
        elif bear == 'c' or 'C':
            print("Your safe from the bear")
            points += 1
            print("You recieved +2 points")#Recieve points
            print("You now have : ",points,"points")
            adventure_2()#continue to adventure 2


        #Invalid input death
        elif bear != 's' or 'S':
            dead()


def adventure_2(inventory, cash):
    points = 2
    time = 5

you should break down your post so that it has a clearly defined problem, as opposed to posting your entire program. — Jeff Mandell, Nov 19 '15 at 20:33
`input()` will block code and wont continue without user input. if you want to run a timer for input, you will have to do it [asynchronously](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2933399/how-to-set-time-limit-on-input) — R Nar, Nov 19 '15 at 20:42
Okay, is it complex or difficult to understand for a beginner like me? — Sam, Nov 19 '15 at 20:45
It is not too complex. I have offered a solution for you below. — Jeff Mandell, Nov 19 '15 at 20:48

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 19 '15 at 20:44

0

t_0 = time.time()
bear = input("A bear is near... Hide Quickly! Enter: (C) to CLIMB a Tree")
if abs(t_0 - time.time()) > time_threshold:
    #player has died

answered Nov 19 '15 at 20:44

Jeff Mandell

863
7
16

you have to define your time_threshold variable – Jeff Mandell Nov 19 '15 at 20:45

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 19 '15 at 20:49

In python the input statement makes it so the programs flow waits until the player has entered a value.

if time1 < 3:
        time.sleep(1)
        time1 -= 1
        #line below causes the error
        bear = input("A bear is near... Hide Quickly! Enter: (C) to CLIMB a Tree")

To over come this you can use something similar to the code below which is a working example. We can over come the break in the program flow by using a Timer to see if the player has inputted anything, if he has not we catch the exception and continue with the programs flow.

from threading import Timer

def input_with_timeout(x):    
    t = Timer(x,time_up) # x is amount of time in seconds
    t.start()
    try:
        answer = input("enter answer : ")
    except Exception:
        print 'pass\n'
        answer = None

    if answer != True:  
        t.cancel()       

def time_up():
    print 'time up...'

input_with_timeout(5)

So as you can see we can over come the issue of waiting for our player to input a value by using a timer to count how long the player is taking, then proceeding to catch the exception from no input being sent, and finally, continuing with our program.

Okay, I see. Well i'm going to go watch some tutorials on 'threading'. Thank-you for your reply! — Sam, Nov 19 '15 at 20:58

Trouble with inputs and sleep.time()

2 Answers2