History Main / SprintMeter

* ''VideoGame/AShortHike'' is built around building up your meter to [[WallCrawl scale ever-higher vertical cliffs]] until Claire can reach the summit. You start without a meter until you get your first Golden Feather, with each subsequent one expanding it. Golden Feathers also allow Claire to [[DoubleJump fly up]] while gliding.

A brother to the LifeMeter and ManaMeter, the Sprint Meter is a graphical depiction of some aspect of a player character's condition other than their remaining health. Generally, this represents stamina, and often more precisely their ability to run at high speed; when the meter empties, the character must either take a moment to catch their breath or be unable to run until it is recovered. This allows a game to put a limitation on a player's ability to flee from danger, which makes such meters popular for SurvivalHorror games.

See also RunDontWalk; compare with NitroBoost, a temporary boost of speed.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' made the odd decision to have running, the flashlight, and oxygen be a single "Auxillary power" meter. Dashing causes your flashlight to run out, swimming with the flashlight on reduces your time underwater, etc. In Episode 2, however, the flashlight energy is separated, to allow the player to run in a certain underground section when they are expected to have their flashlight on.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry'' has a Sprint Meter that also functions as a Jump Meter and OxygenMeter. If it depletes your character won't be able to sprint, jump, or [[SuperDrowningSkills hold his breath underwater]] until after it at least partially restores itself. Jogging also slows down the meter's regeneration speed. Interestingly enough, it's a blue bar instead of the usual colors.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'', sprinting draws energy from your [[PoweredArmor nanosuit's]] energy reserves. Justified in that [[spoiler: the player character wouldn't even be alive let alone fighting if it weren't for the suit, so he can't exactly run unaided.]]

* ''VideoGame/ProjectZomboid'': No meter is shown, but if you run too much, your character will be forced to walk, and your melee attacks will become weak.

* The protagonists of the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games have a hidden stamina statistic that would eventually force you to walk (Harry in the first game will become winded and start panting when he stops, but he can run more or less indefinitely). It is only really noticeable in ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'', as the protagonist had the misfortune of being a smoker AND having a sedentary job of a truck driver. Suffice to say, it limits his running time A LOT.

* In ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition'', York has a general stamina gauge that monitors his heartbeat, which is also why it raises when he peeks into people's houses, though very slowly.
* In ''VideoGame/ColdFear'', the "Resistance" meter doubles as this, depleting when Tom runs. The Resistance meter running out during SmashingSurvival or PressXToNotDie is often a ''very'' bad thing, so exhausting yourself when near hazards or monsters can end poorly.

* ''VideoGame/MrHoppsPlayhouse'': Ruby has a Stamina meter that drains when she runs.
* ''VideoGame/MurderHouse'': Emma off-handedly mentions having pulled a tendon before arriving at the titular house, giving her a sprint meter that the child DecoyProtagonist lacked.

** As a first for the series, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' (pictured above) has a general Stamina Meter used for sprinting (which lets you run a short distance up walls to reach somewhat higher ledges and go up steeper hills), climbing, {{spin attack}}s (but not regular attacks), carrying heavy items, [[ShiftingSandLand and keeping yourself afloat in sand]]. It takes the form of a green circle divided into wedges; especially rigorous actions take off one or more wedges at a time. (The OxygenMeter has the same design in blue.) This gives it a resemblance to the cross-section of a citrus fruit; appropriately, the Stamina Fruit pickup instantly refills the meter, giving Link the ability to run long distances in certain areas by zig-zagging from one fruit to the next. Drain the meter completely and Link can't do anything but move around slowly until the circle refills, including actions that don't normally run off the meter. There's a specific potion that slows how fast stamina is burned for three minutes, which conveniently only becomes available after you complete a dungeon with a large number of stamina-based puzzles that would be trivialized by that potion.

[[quoteright:340:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stamina_meter.jpg]]]]

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2'' has a stamina meter that is shared between both swimming and running (the later being to compensate for the fact that islands are much larger than they were in the previous game). The meter automatically upgrades at several level checkpoints.

* The ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' hybrid RPG/Adventure games had stamina that would run out the more strenous activity your character would partake in without stopping to rest or drinking a stamina potion. Stamina also ran out faster if you ran instead of walking, and upon reaching zero the game would start taking from your health meter, and you would get messages saying things like "you're so tired everything you do hurts" and repeatedly warning you to get some rest before you died of exhaustion.
** In the first two games, running out of stamina in battle was [[CriticalExistenceFailure instantly fatal]]. The explanation was that, being exhausted, you would be unable to attack or defend effectively, or even run away, resulting in a quick death. From the third game on, fighting with zero stamina does, in fact, drain your health. In the third game in particular, it drains remarkably fast, meaning you can fight yourself to death.
** The fourth was a little more kind, simply preventing you from attacking if stamina was nearly gone. Of course, since the in-combat stamina regeneration is tied to the computer's CPU power, any modern system will completely regenerate the hero's stamina in seconds.

* The ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3/[=UMK3=]/MK Trilogy'' games had a Run meter, which allows you to dash forward for a brief while until the meter runs out. It also worked as a {{Cap}} for combos, so that you (supposedly) can't do a combo or run immediately after doing the other.
** This mechanic is also present in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4/MK Gold''.
** The mechanic once again makes an appearance in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX''.

* One of the unlockable abilities in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' is the "Technique of Bizarre", AKA the ability to run, stopping in exhaustion for a few seconds should you sprint the meter completely empty. The beam sword charge gauge pulls double-duty as the sprint meter, so you can't actually run while in battle. It's still a good way to get around the alleys in town that a bike has trouble maneuvering in, and it's practically a requirement to get a good score in some of the side-jobs.
** Let's put this in perspective: sprinting makes Travis cannonball forward with enough velocity to outrun a car for about fifteen seconds. And he's winded for three.
** [[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle The sequel]] doesn't have one, mostly because Travis doesn't need to sprint at any point (due to the city of Santa Destroy being turned into a glorified menu), but FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize he can't because he hasn't done anything for three years, and as such is somewhat out-of-shape.

* Inverted with some character archetypes in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' who have inherent powers -- like Domination for Dominators -- that have corresponding bars on the interface to indicate their level of effectiveness. Most of the the time these bars run ''down'' if the player isn't doing something to keep it up (such as engaging in combat for Brutes).
** Sprint, itself, was a toggle power all characters had immediately upon starting, and drained the Endurance bar as any other. For the lower levels, draining the bar to nothing was fairly easy, meaning a player could neither flee quickly ''nor fight'' until it recharged. At higher levels with the right builds, players could easily have Sprint activated permanently, in addition to their other travel powers.

* In ''[[VideoGame/EternalDarkness Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem]]'', you don't have a visible meter. You have different characters, and the amount of time each can sprint is roughly proportional to the size of the person's health bar.
** It's really tied more to each character's condition. Bianchi and Max are both rather hefty and consequently can't sprint for long. Pious is strong enough, but he's in heavy armor and exhausted; he also can't run for long. Anthony is [[spoiler:immortal during his chapter]], but his curse cripples his sprinting progressively, regardless of his health meter. Characters like Karim or Michael, on the other hand, are strong ''and'' unencumbered, and thus able to run for a long time. Even Peter can (& has to) book it for quite a while, aided by his youth and weight.

** As a first for the series, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' (pictured above) has a general Stamina Meter used for sprinting (which lets you run a short distance up walls to reach somewhat higher ledges and go up steeper hills), climbing, {{spin attack}}s (but not regular attacks), carrying heavy items, [[ShiftingSandLand and keeping yourself afloat in sand]], making it very much a ScrappyMechanic due to it's sheer over-usage in the game. It takes the form of a green circle divided into wedges; especially rigorous actions take off one or more wedges at a time. (The OxygenMeter has the same design in blue.) This gives it a resemblance to the cross-section of a citrus fruit; appropriately, the Stamina Fruit pickup instantly refills the meter, giving Link the ability to run long distances in certain areas by zig-zagging from one fruit to the next. Drain the meter completely and Link can't do anything but move around slowly until the circle refills, including actions that don't normally run off the meter. There's a specific potion that slows how fast stamina is burned for three minutes, which conveniently only becomes available after you complete a dungeon with a large number of stamina-based puzzles that would be [[GameBreaker broken]] by that potion.
** The meter returned in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', having been toned down considerably in [[AuthorsSavingThrow in response to complaints about Skyward Sword]]. It now depletes much more slowly, doesn't come into play as often, can be augmented and recharged more easily, and Link's regular jogging speed (which does not reduce the meter) has been increased. There is also a GoodBadBug where by whistling for your horse and tapping B you can run indefinitely.

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'': The stamina meter is used not just for running, but also dodging and guarding. The stamina meter's maximum value decreases every so often, more quickly so in very cold areas, requiring the player to eat meat to restore it. There's also two items that temporarily grant infinite stamina. ''Monster Hunter Tri'' introduces two status effects that affect the stamina meter: Waterblight, which makes it recover more slowly, and Iceblight, which makes it deplete more quickly. And [[ThatOneBoss Glacial Agnaktor]] is capable of inflicting both.
** Bonus: If you're carrying a heavy object and you deplete your stamina meter entirely, you drop the item, it shatters, and you have to start over again. It should be noted that "sprinting" while carrying a heavy object is akin to the speed of walking when not carrying one, so...

A brother to the LifeMeter and ManaMeter, the '''Sprint Meter''' is a graphical depiction of some aspect of a player character's condition other than their remaining health. Generally, this represents stamina, and often more precisely their ability to run at high speed; when the meter empties, the character must either take a moment to catch their breath or be unable to run until it is recovered. This allows a game to put a limitation on a player's ability to flee from danger, which makes such meters popular for SurvivalHorror games.

See also RunDontWalk; compare with NitroBoost.

* ''VideoGame/LunarDragonSong'' is an extremely odd example in which the Sprint Meter and the Life Meter are the same -- because running ''depletes your health''. Characters start panting at about 2/3 HP, and your party can no longer run if a member hits 1/3 HP.
* In ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden'', a sprint meter appears when Barkley is running, indicated with a sneaker image. It depletes quickly ''and'' recharges slow, forcing the player to walk aside from running.

* ''VideoGame/{{Contagion}}'' has one, and it's one of the more annoying kinds. It depletes so fast when running, you can't jog 100 meters with it, despite your pick of character also including a veteran soldier that's still at work. It also gets consumed when jumping, which is reasonable enough... and when holding a melee weapon poised to strike, which really isn't, especially when you consider it goes down as fast as when you run.

* Done somewhat differently in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''. Your Hunger Meter (which can be refilled by eating) is made of ten muttonchops. If the top one is not empty, you'll slowly heal. If three or less are full, there's no way to sprint. If it's empty, you start to starve to nothing (in Hard or [[HarderThanHard Hardcore]] difficulties only).

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: United Offensive'' and then ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' onward add the ability for the player character to sprint for short durations, which is useful as your AI allies have always typically run faster than you can and rarely wait for you to catch up; there's only an actual meter present in ''United Offensive'', where it depletes far faster than in later games. The perks from multiplayer's Create-A-Class also have frequently included ones that allow you to sprint faster and/or longer than normal.

* ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'': All three games have it, and it depletes when sprinting, jumping and even walking, sneaking or crawling (though at a slower pace). It's very generous, provided you don't get over your weight limit, which upon being trespassed, makes the meter drop so fast that even walking can tire you out quite fast, and it only gets worse the heavier your loadout is until you suffer from CriticalEncumbranceFailure at 10kg over the limit. There are stamina-enhancing artifacts that, if stacked, can make the meter infinite, though they're only really practical in ''Shadow of Chernobyl'', where they're not radioactive; in the latter two games, you can't really use them if you don't have a powerful radiation-clearing artifact like the Wrenched or Bubble.

* One of the unlockable abilities in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' is the ability to run on a sprint meter, stopping in exhaustion for a few seconds should you sprint the meter completely empty. The meter shares real estate with the beam sword charge gauge, so you can't actually run while in battle. It's still a good way to get around the alleys in town that a bike has trouble maneuvering in.

** The sequel doesn't have one, mostly because Travis doesn't need to sprint at any point, but FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize he can't because he hasn't done anything for three years, and as such is somewhat out-of-shape.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront II'' has a sprint meter for both on foot and in vehicles.

* The ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'' series feature an energy bar beside the life bar. Running for too long, carrying too heavy a load, or getting hit by stun grenades and tear gas would deplete it. (In the latter two, almost all in one shot.) If it ran out, your character would pass out until it refilled, though you could drink water to speed up the process. In ''Jagged Alliance 2'', the maximum energy would deplete over time, representing how tired your character was. You could only raise the maximum back up by sleeping.

* The ''VideoGame/WorldOfMana'' series (as well as ''VideoGame/SecretOfEvermore'') combined the SprintMeter with the ChargeMeter -- you couldn't attack effectively immediately after running, and you couldn't even walk at full speed while charging for more powerful attacks.

** The [[InNameOnly "sequel"]], ''VideoGame/FarCry2'', has a SprintMeter that functions much like the above. While it's not actually represented by the interface, you can tell you're about to tire out when the edges of the screen start to blur, resulting in the entire screen becoming blurry when you're completely exhausted.
*** The game also gives a convenient explanation on why the player character, who is by all accounts a badass, can't sprint for more than 50 meters. It's because you are dying of malaria, the amount of sprinting you can do decreases as your disease worsens.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: United Offensive'' and then ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' onward add the ability for the player character to sprint for short durations, which is useful as your AI allies have always typically run faster than you can and rarely wait for you to catch up. The perks from multiplayer's Create-A-Class also have frequently included ones that allow you to sprint faster and/or longer than normal.

* One of the unlockable abilities in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' is the ability to run on a SprintMeter, stopping in exhaustion for a few seconds should you sprint the meter completely empty. The SprintMeter shares real estate with the beam sword charge gauge, so you can't actually run while in battle. It's still a good way to get around the alleys in town that a bike has trouble maneuvering in.

* In ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', completely depleting the SprintMeter means having to wait for it to fill up completely before sprinting again. Potions exist to temporarily nullify it. (Also, the game is kind enough to freeze the meter in the non-combat areas, allowing you to sprint all you like.)