Countdown timer for Storyline 360 - not in results slide

This is great!  I used it to create a hidden timer for a Try It interaction (Recorded Screen, set to Try it, and show Hint Caption layer when hovered) - but I also want the Hint Caption to show up if the end-user had trouble hovering in the right spot.  I didn't want the Hint Caption to show all the time, but to delay appearing after X-number of seconds after the instructions finished playing. 

I put all the assets on the base layer (shape - motion path - and %seconds% text box) just out of sight (outside the slide area).  And then modified the initial Move trigger to move my shape (Timer) along the motion path when the timeline on the slide ended, while keeping the looping trigger intact (move Timer along Motion Path when animation ends on Timer) . Finally, I add a 2nd show Hint Caption layer trigger to make it appear after %seconds% reached 0 (the %seconds% was set to 8, and Matt's trigger to subtract 1 each time the animation completes would count it down to 0 eventually. And I can set %seconds% to whatever seconds I want by changing the variable value). 

This way the "timer" doesn't start counting until the instructions end, and the Hint Caption appears even if they don't roll over the right place. 

Thanks, Matt (and all the ELH's that have helped along the way)!

Nice and thanks for sharing 

Looking all over forums for stuff...and this did it! Thanks so much for sharing!!!!!

Matt, this is amazing! I have been searching for something like this all week. Thank you! I need to modify the duration but can't figure out how to do it. Would you kindly post instructions? I am new to Storyline 360, so it might just be something I'm unfamiliar with. Thank you again so much!

I couldn't resist the temptation to try using the "Jump to time" trigger to also accomplish this. I purposely did not look at Matt's instructions because I wanted to figure it out on my own and make my own variation. I'm sure it can be cleaned up a lot but I got it to work. 

I like it Steve!  Wouldn't it be nice if Articulate took our work and actually created something off the shelf that we could just apply, like any other trigger...

I recently created an EKG rhythm interpretation exercise for our nursing staff and I could see adding a timer in the future to up the challenge. But I like doing stuff like this just to refresh on some of the features i don't use very often. It took me longer to remember how to create the ability for the user to enter the desired times and then get them to work than it did for most of the rest of it.

Thanks Hilary. I use T/F variables all the time so this was a good practice to use a different type. The number you enter becomes the variable value. I had originally created the exercise with the default variable time set at five minutes, but then decided to push myself (now if I were Michael Hinze I would have used a slider dial hooked to moveable clock hands . . . WAAAAAY out of my league, but I love to see his stuff anyway!).

The timer is on a layer and I just set it to start immediately on entering the layer (clicking the start button). That made the "Jump to time" trigger easy to keep straight.

To me, one of the best thing about Storyline is that there are so many ways you can create things. And one of the best things about this forum is that people are so willing to share their variations. I keep a whole file of these examples. Matt's timer from the start of this thread was already in there, so I knew about the hidden object moving on a motion path, but now I'm going to have to go back to one of my other examples I downloaded and try to remember why the creator used half-second Loop in and Loop out layers to get the one second time. It's another of those "Sorry dear - I had to work late on a really important project!" nights!

Thanks for this thread and the shared files/expertise. Awesome!

This is exactly what I need for a timed drag and drop game.  I am new to storyline.  How do I incorporate it into my project?