Delaying program without using sleep

[Ch1156]

Ok so im trying to make a timer that i will start counting when then program starts, its use is to tell the player how long they played the game for. I dont want to use windows.h so i want a different way to pause my program for a second exactly so that the time increments correctly but im having a bit of a hard time. Ignore the system("cls"); its only there for debugging purposes, once i get this figured out its gone.

Here is my code, everything im working on is in the timer function

/*
//Crypto Guess is based off of Crypto Logic for the Oddessy 2
//Created Tuesday, June 4th 2013 by Chay Hawk
*/

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>
#include <ctime>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <fstream>
#include <vector>
#include <time.h>
#include <windows.h>

using namespace std;

string word_list(string RW, string GL)
{
    string store_word;
    srand(time(0));

    ifstream fileIn;
    fileIn.open(GL.c_str());

    if(fileIn.fail())
    {
        cout << "File failed to open." << endl;
    }

    vector<string> words;

    while(!fileIn.eof())
    {
        /*not needed as vectors resize themselves
        if(words.size() == words.capacity())
        {
            words.reserve(words.size() * 3);
        }
        */
        fileIn >> store_word;
        words.push_back(store_word);
    }

    RW = words[rand() % words.size()];

    fileIn.close();

    return RW;
}

void timer()
{
    int second = 0,
        minute = 0,
        hour = 0,
        delay = 0;

    bool timer_loop = true;

    while(timer_loop != false)
    {
        system("cls");

        if(delay == 60)
        {
            second++;
        }

        if(second == 60)
        {
            second = 0;
            delay = 0;
            minute++;
        }

        if(minute == 60)
        {
            minute = 0;
            hour++;
        }

        cout << second << endl;
        cout << minute << endl;
        cout << hour << endl;

        for(int j = 0; j < 61; j++)
        {
            delay++;
        }
    }
}

void save_game(int save_rightGuesses, int save_wrongGuesses, string save_list_type)
{
    time_t current = time(0);
    ofstream fileOut;
    fileOut.open("Scores.txt", fstream::app);

    fileOut << "CRYPTO GUESS SCORES FOR " << ctime(&current) << endl;
    fileOut << "From list: " << save_list_type << endl;
    fileOut << "Right Guesses: " << save_rightGuesses << endl;
    fileOut << "Wrong Guesses: " << save_wrongGuesses << "\n" << endl;

    fileOut.close();
}

int main()
{
    timer();

    srand(time(0));

    string original_word,
           shuffled_word,
           random_word,
           choose_list,
           guess,
           custom_word,
           shuffled_custom_word,
           custom_word_guess,
           test;//change this later

    int guess_number = 1,
        right_guesses = 0,
        wrong_guesses = 0,
        select = 0;

    bool game_loop = true;

    cout << "CRYPTO GUESS" << endl;
    cout << "Version 1.1.1\n" << endl;

    cout << "Do you want to enter words yourself or have the computer give you words?" << endl;
    cout << "1) Enter words myself - NOT WORKING" << endl;
    cout << "2) Have the computer give me words" << endl;
    cin >> select;

    cin.ignore(50, '\n');

    cout << "\n";

    if(select == 1)
    {
        cout << "Enter your word" << endl;
        getline(cin, custom_word);

        test = custom_word;
        random_shuffle(shuffled_custom_word.begin(), shuffled_custom_word.end());

        for(int i = 0; i < 25; i++)
        {
            cout << "\n";
        }

        cout << "Your word is: " << test << endl;
        getline(cin, custom_word_guess);
    }

    if(select == 2)
    {
        cout << "Select list" << endl;
        getline(cin, choose_list);

        while(game_loop != false)
        {
            string HWLF = word_list(random_word, choose_list);
            shuffled_word = HWLF;
            random_shuffle(shuffled_word.begin(), shuffled_word.end());//#1

            cout << "----------------------------------------------------" << endl;
            cout << "|| Guess # " << guess_number << " || Right Guesses: " << right_guesses << " || Wrong Guesses: " << wrong_guesses << endl;
            cout << "----------------------------------------------------\n" << endl;

            cout << "Word: " << shuffled_word << endl;

            cout << "\n";

            while(guess != HWLF)
            {
                cout << "Your guess: ";
                cin >> guess;

                if(guess == HWLF)
                {
                    cout << "Is correct!\n" << endl;
                    guess = " ";
                    guess_number++;
                    right_guesses++;
                    break;
                }
                else if(guess == "Quit" || guess == "quit")
                {
                    cout << "Goodbye thanks for playing." << endl;
                    save_game(right_guesses, wrong_guesses, choose_list);
                    game_loop = false;
                    return 0;
                }
                if(guess == "Skip" || guess == "skip")
                {
                    cout << "You skipped the word." << endl;
                    cout << "The correct word was " << HWLF << endl;
                    cout << "\n";
                    wrong_guesses++;
                    break;
                }
                else
                {
                    wrong_guesses++;
                    cout << "Is wrong! Try again\n" << endl;
                }
            }
        }//End of game while loop
    }//End of if statement
}

[Ch1156]

bump

[Daleth]

Have you looked at the references section for <ctime>?

The functions under "Time manipulation" would probably help you calculate the runtime length.

http://www.cplusplus.com/reference/ctime/

[Ch1156]

I know but i want to make my own timer.