Scoreboards, Boss Bars & Holograms

Displaying key information is crucial for a good game experience. Game Maker provides three powerful ways to show data to your players: Scoreboards, Boss Bars, and Holograms. All of these can be updated in real-time using Properties.

Scoreboards

You can create custom scoreboards that appear on the side of a player's screen. The content can be dynamic and update automatically.

1. Create a Scoreboard: Go to /editmap -> Scoreboards (Painting). Create a new scoreboard and give it a name.
2. Add Lines: Click on your new scoreboard to edit it. You can add up to 15 lines of text.
3. Use Placeholders: The real power of scoreboards comes from using property placeholders to display dynamic data.
   • Example Line: &aScore: &e%p_Score_player% will display the "Score" property of the viewing player.
4. Display the Scoreboard: Use the Change Scoreboard action to show your custom scoreboard to a player. You can trigger this when they join the map.

Boss Bars

Boss Bars are the large bars that appear at the top of the screen, perfect for showing game time, a boss's health, or any progress-based value.

1. Create a Boss Bar: Go to /editmap -> Boss Bars (Dragon Egg). Create a new boss bar.
2. Configure It:
   • Title: The text displayed on the bar. It supports placeholders.
   • Color & Style: Customize its appearance (e.g., solid, segmented).
   • Progress: This is the most important setting. It controls how "full" the bar is.
     • Fixed Value: You can set a static progress percentage.
     • Property-Driven: You can link the progress to a Number or Decimal property. This is extremely powerful! The bar's fill will automatically represent the property's value relative to its max value.

Example: A Game Timer Boss Bar

1. Create a GameTime Number property that counts down from 300.
2. Create a Boss Bar and set its Progress Property to GameTime.
3. In the Boss Bar's progress settings, set the Max Value to 300. The boss bar will now automatically update its fill as the GameTime property changes.
4. Use the Add Boss Bar action to show it to players at the start of a round.

Holograms

Holograms are floating text or items that can be placed anywhere in your world. They are great for labels, instructions, or dynamic displays.

1. Create a Hologram: Go to /editmap -> Holograms (Armor Stand). Create a new hologram.
2. Add Lines: Edit your hologram to add lines of text or items. Text lines also support property placeholders.
3. Spawn the Hologram: To make a hologram appear, you must use the Spawn Hologram action.
   • Target Player: Holograms are spawned on a per-player basis. You must specify which player(s) should see it.
   • Location: Where the hologram should appear.
   • Name: You must give this specific instance of the hologram a unique name. This is so you can refer to it later to update or remove it.
4. Destroy the Hologram: To remove a hologram, use the Destroy Hologram action, referencing the unique name you gave it when you spawned it.