Variable not updating while program is running

Question

I am having issues where the variable action_cooldown does not update. I could remove this but then both the player and enemy attack at the same time, which is something you do not want in a turn based game. The variable action_cooldown counts up by adding one each pass and when action_cooldown reaches 90 (action_wait_time) the player can then attack. However in my code the action_cooldown does not count up, instead it adds 1 and stops counting. Im guessing this is something to do with pygame and or the fact that the code is running under a constant while loop. I've played around with while loops and adding in other files and it didn't work. I'm sure it's something simple however I just cannot seem to see it.

Relevant code is added below, however if you need more please let me know and I'll upload the whole project. Thanks!

        #control player actions
    #reset action variables
    attack = False
    potion = False
    #define other variables
    game_over = 0 # 0 = running 1 = player won -1 = player lost
    current_fighter = 1 # 1 = hero's turn 2 = enemy's turn
    total_fighters = 2
    action_cooldown = 0
    action_wait_time = 90
    enemy_list = []
    enemy_list.append(self.enemy)
    #create buttons
    restart_button = Button(self.screen, 330, 120, restart_img, 120, 30)
    #make sure mouse is visible
    pos = pygame.mouse.get_pos()
    for count, enemy in enumerate(enemy_list):
        if self.enemy.rect.collidepoint(pos):
            if clicked == True and self.enemy.alive == True:
                attack = True
                
    #Main Turn Based Logic
    if game_over == 0:
        #player action
        if self.hero.alive == True:
            if current_fighter == 1:
                action_cooldown += 1
                print(action_cooldown)
                if action_cooldown >= action_wait_time:
                    #look for player action
                    #attack
                    if attack == True:
                        self.hero.Attack()
                        current_fighter += 1
                        action_cooldown = 0

        else:
            game_over = -1


        #enemy action
        for count, enemy in enumerate(enemy_list):
            if current_fighter == 2 + count:
                if self.enemy.alive == True:
                        action_cooldown += 1
                        if action_cooldown >= action_wait_time:
                                #check if bandit needs to heal first
                                if (self.enemy.health / self.enemy.max_hp) < 0.5:
                                        #check if the potion would heal the bandit beyond max health
                                        if self.enemy.max_hp - self.enemy.health > potion_hp:
                                                heal_amount = potion_hp
                                        else:
                                                heal_amount = self.enemy.max_hp - self.enemy.health
                                        self.enemy.health += heal_amount
                                        self.enemy.potions -= 1
                                        current_fighter += 1
                                        action_cooldown = 0
                                #attack
                                else:
                                        self.enemy.Attack()
                                        current_fighter += 1
                                        action_cooldown = 0
                else:
                        current_fighter += 1

        #if all fighters have had a turn then reset
        if current_fighter > total_fighters:
            current_fighter = 1
                

    #check if all enemies are dead
    alive_enemies = 0
    if self.enemy.alive == True:
        alive_enemies += 1
    if alive_enemies == 0:
            game_over = 1

    
    #check if game is over
    if game_over != 0:
        if game_over == 1:
            self.screen.blit(victory_img, (250, 50))
        if game_over == -1:
            self.screen.blit(defeat_img, (290, 50))
        if restart_button.draw():
            self.hero.reset()
            for enemy in enemy_list:
                self.enemy.reset()
                current_fighter = 1
                action_cooldown = 0
                game_over = 0
                

    pygame.display.update()

Answer 1

Your comment #Main Turn Based Logic implies this is all in a loop that isn't shown.

If so, this line is also inside the loop:

action_cooldown = 0

Which means it will reset to 0 every time, then add 1...

It's also worth noting that if you move the action_cooldown outside the loop (but not in a class or other encapsulating structure) you may need to use the global keyword to write to it.