slow turtle

Hi, I am encountering a huge problem , when using waitevent() , does this command cause a pause in the program? It seems that since my main game loop is inside of a function, my object (a turtle) only moves when a mouse i moved, and all movement is ceased when I dont do anything. Does it sound like waitevent is the problem here? Here is my code:

Const screenWidth = 800
Const screenHeight = 600

;window setup


window = CreateWindow ("Title",0,0,screenWidth, screenHeight)
panel  = CreatePanel  (0,0,screenWidth, screenHeight,window)
canvas = CreateCanvas (0,0,screenWidth, screenHeight,panel)
SetBuffer CanvasBuffer (canvas)

SetGadgetLayout panel,1,2,1,2
SetGadgetLayout canvas,1,2,1,2

menu = WindowMenu (window)
menu_game  = CreateMenu ("Game",0,menu)
menu_start = CreateMenu ("Home", 5, menu_game)
menu_blank = CreateMenu ("",0,menu_game)
menu_begin = CreateMenu ("Begin",10,menu_game)
menu_time  = CreateMenu ("Time",20,menu)
menu_music = CreateMenu ("Music",40,menu)
menu_help  = CreateMenu ("Help",50,menu)
menu_howTo = CreateMenu ("How to play",51,menu_help)
menu_blank = CreateMenu ("",0,menu_help)
menu_about = CreateMenu ("About",52,menu_help)
UpdateWindowMenu window 


;global 
Global timer  = MilliSecs()
Global totalframes = 32
Global speed 
Global animspeed   = 200

Global turtle = LoadAnimImage ("animatedTurtle.png",128,64,0,totalframes)
Global turtlespeed = 5

Global game_mode = 0

;images
Global splashScreen = LoadImage ("mainscreen.png")
Global background =   LoadImage ("background.png")








;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; MAIN LOOP
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

While Not KeyHit(1)
	Cls

	

	
	id = WaitEvent ()
	
	Select id
		Case $803 End
		
		Case $1001
			ed = EventData ()
				Select ed
					Case 5
						game_mode = 0
						SetGadgetShape panel,0,0,screenwidth, screenheight
						SetGadgetShape canvas,0,0,screenwidth, screenheight
					Case 10
						game_mode = 1
						SetGadgetShape panel,0,0,screenwidth, screenheight-200
						SetGadgetShape canvas,0,0,screenwidth, screenheight
				End Select 
			
	End Select
	
	If game_mode = 1 Then gameLoop()
	If game_mode = 0 Then splashScreen()
	
	SetStatusText (window,"X: "+MouseX()+" Y: "+MouseY())

	FlipCanvas (canvas)
Wend

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Function splashScreen()

	
	
	DrawBlock splashScreen,0,0
	

End Function



Function gameLoop()

	DrawBlock background,0,0
	DrawImage turtle,ImageXHandle(turtle)+turtleSpeed,320,speed

	If MilliSecs() > timer + animspeed
		speed = speed+ 1
		turtlespeed = turtlespeed + 1
		If speed = totalframes Then speed = 0
		timer = MilliSecs()
	EndIf 

End Function

Yes.
You can overcome this by using a timer which will generate events at a set rate.

kindof a noob here, how would I generate events at a set rate?
Thanks in advance.

got, just had to change waitevent() to waitevent(1).

Thanks.