The Art of the Ticking Bomb: Building Timed Objectives in Verse

So you’ve built a trap, but it’s not dramatic enough. A button press that just clicks and blows up is fine, but have you ever wanted to build a system where players have to frantically defuse a bomb before it turns their spawn island into a crater? That’s where the Timed Objective comes in. It’s not just a timer; it’s the heartbeat of high-stakes gameplay. In this tutorial, we’re going to set up a "Defuse the Bomb" scenario where players have exactly 10 seconds to interact with a device before a massive explosion wipes the slate clean. No more guessing when the storm hits—you decide the countdown.

What You'll Learn

• How to use the Timed Objective device to create visible, interactive countdowns.
• How to configure User Options to control who can interact, what they see, and what happens when time runs out.
• How to link the timer to an Explosive device for a satisfying (and loud) conclusion.
• The basics of Direct Event Binding to connect devices without writing a single line of code.

How It Works

Think of the Timed Objective device like the Storm in a standard match. The Storm is always ticking down, forcing players to move. A Timed Objective is just a localized Storm that you can start, stop, or let run to completion based on player actions.

In Fortnite Creative, devices talk to each other using Events and Actions. An Event is something that happens (like a timer hitting zero), and an Action is what happens next (like a wall exploding).

Here is the game-mechanic breakdown:

1. The Timer (The Storm): The Timed Objective counts down. It has a total time (e.g., 10 seconds).
2. The Interaction (The Bus): Players need to do something to trigger the timer. In our example, they will interact with a button or zone to start the "bomb."
3. The Reward/Penalty (XP/Eliminations): The device can award points for starting, stopping, or completing the timer. This is how you track if a team succeeded or failed.
4. The Consequence (The Drop): When the timer hits zero, it sends a signal. We’ll use this signal to trigger an Explosive device, creating a visual and audio spectacle.

We aren't writing complex Verse code here because the Timed Objective is a Device, not a Script. Devices are pre-built gameplay systems that you configure in the editor. However, understanding how they fit into the Scene Graph (the hierarchy of all objects in your island) is crucial. The Timed Objective is an Entity (a thing in the world) with Components (its settings, like time and color) and Outputs (events it fires).

Let's Build It

We are building a simple "Bomb Defusal" minigame.

• Goal: Players must interact with a "Defuse" button to stop the timer.
• Fail State: If the timer hits 0, an explosion destroys a target wall.
• Success State: If they stop it in time, they get points, and the bomb is disarmed.

Step 1: Place Your Devices

1. Open the Devices panel.
2. Search for Timed Objective and place one on your island. Let’s call it The Bomb.
3. Search for Explosive and place one nearby. This is the thing that will blow up if you fail.
4. Search for Trigger (or a Button) and place one. This is how players interact with the timer.

Step 2: Configure the Timed Objective

Click on the The Bomb Timed Objective device. In the User Options panel on the right, we need to set the rules. Think of these as the "patch notes" for your timer.

• Time: Set this to 10. This is how long the countdown lasts.
• Start When Round Starts: Set to No. We want players to trigger it, not have it start automatically.
• Start Interact Text: Change this to DEFUSE BOMB. This is the text that appears when a player looks at the device.
• Start Team Filter: Set to Any Team (or Team Index 1 if you want only Red team to defuse it).
• Start Score: Set to 100. Players get 100 points for successfully starting the defusal sequence.
• Stop Score: Set to 500. If they stop the timer before it hits zero, they get a huge bonus. This is your "win condition" reward.
• Completed Score: Set to 0. If the timer runs out, no points are awarded (or you can set it to negative for a penalty).
• Timer Label Text Style: Pick something bold, like Bold Red. This makes the countdown visible to all players, creating tension.

Step 3: Wire It Up (Direct Event Binding)

Now we need to connect the devices so they talk to each other. We use Direct Event Binding for this. It’s like plugging a cable into a wall socket.

1. Start the Timer:

   • Click on your Trigger/Button device.
   • Go to the Events tab.
   • Find the event On Player Interacted.
   • Click the + button next to it to add an output.
   • Select The Bomb (Timed Objective) and choose the action Start.
   • Result: When a player clicks the button, the bomb timer starts.

2. Stop the Timer:

   • Click on the Trigger/Button again.
   • Find the event On Player Interacted again (or create a second button if you want separate start/stop mechanics, but for simplicity, let's assume the button toggles or we use a second "Stop" button). Note: In UEFN, Timed Objectives usually have a specific Stop action. You might need a second device or a specific setup to allow stopping. For this tutorial, let's assume we have a second "Defuse" button or use the same button if the device supports toggle.
   • Simpler Approach: Let's use a Conditional Button or a second Trigger. Let's add a second Trigger called Defuse Switch.
   • Click Defuse Switch.
   • Event: On Player Interacted.
   • Output: Select The Bomb (Timed Objective) and choose Stop.

3. Explode on Failure:

   • Click on The Bomb (Timed Objective).
   • Go to the Events tab.
   • Find the event On Completed (this fires when the timer hits zero).
   • Click the + button to add an output.
   • Select The Explosive device and choose the action Explode.
   • Result: If the timer hits 0, the explosive detonates.

The "Verse" Connection

While we didn't write code, this is the foundation of Verse. In Verse, you would write a script that listens for the On Completed event and then calls a function to explode the object. Devices are just pre-written Verse scripts that Epic made easy to use. When you get comfortable with devices, you’ll realize you’re just moving from "clicking buttons" to "writing the logic that clicks the buttons."

Try It Yourself

Challenge: The current setup is too easy. Players just click the button and win.

Task: Modify the Timed Objective settings to make it harder.

1. Increase the Time to 30 seconds.
2. Add a Stop Interact Text so players know what to do to stop it.
3. Bonus: Can you make the timer speed up? (Hint: Look at the Pause event. Can you use a second timer to control the first one? Or can you use a Prop Mover to move the bomb closer to the players as time runs out?)

Hint: You don't need to write code to change the difficulty. Look at the User Options again. Can you set the Start Score to 0 so players only get points for stopping it, not starting it?

Recap

You’ve just built a high-stakes timed event. You learned that:

• Timed Objectives are like localized Storms that count down to a specific event.
• User Options let you customize the experience (time, text, scores) without coding.
• Direct Event Binding connects devices, allowing one device (the timer) to trigger another (the explosion).
• This system creates tension and reward, which is the core of engaging game design.

References

• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/uefn/verse-detonation-template-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/verse-detonation-template-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/fortnite/verse-detonation-template-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/create-a-hoverboard-race-in-fortnite-creative
• https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/fortnite/escape-room-09-inside-cabin-in-unreal-editor-for-fortnite