Avoidelectricfence

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-03

Overview

AvoidElectricFence is a behavior node used in AI brain logic to trigger evasive movement when an entity comes into contact with or is near an electric fence. It calculates a safe run angle away from the fence(s) and commands the entity to move using the locomotor component. If the entity has a combat component, it drops any active target before fleeing.

This component integrates with the BrainCommon.HasElectricFencePanicTriggerNode mechanism by setting an internal tag on the entity, and responds to two key events: startelectrocute and shocked_by_new_field.

Usage example

-- Typically added to prefabs via brain definition:
-- brain:InsertChild(AvoidElectricFence(inst))

-- The component does not need manual addition; it is instantiated and managed by the brain tree.
-- Internally, it registers event callbacks and uses `Combat:DropTarget()` and `Locomotor:RunInDirection()` when triggered.

Dependencies & tags

Components used: combat, locomotor
Tags: Sets inst._has_electric_fence_panic_trigger = true (private/internal flag for brain node detection)

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	Entity	nil	Reference to the entity instance the behavior belongs to.
run_angle	number	nil	Cached direction (in degrees, 0 <= x < 360) to flee; set when shocked_by_new_field fires.
shocked_by_field	function	nil	Event handler for "shocked_by_new_field"; computes and caches run_angle.

Main functions

GetRunAngle(field)

• Description: Calculates the average direction away from all fences in the given electric fence field. It sums unit vectors pointing from the entity to each fence, then inverts the result and normalizes via atan2.
• Parameters:
  field (table) — an object containing a fences array, where each fence has a Transform component accessible via field.fences[i].Transform.
• Returns:
  number — a flee angle in degrees, normalized to the range [0, 360).
• Error states: Returns 0 if the field has no fences (empty fences array), though no explicit guard exists in the current implementation.

Visit()

• Description: The core behavior execution method. When the node is active (status == READY), it triggers fleeing behavior:

• Drops the entity’s combat target (via Combat:DropTarget()), if present.
• Initiates movement in the saved run_angle direction (via Locomotor:RunInDirection()).

• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: No-op if self.run_angle is nil, or if the locomotor component is missing.

OnStop()

• Description: Cleans up event listeners when the behavior node is terminated.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  startelectrocute — triggers Brain:ForceUpdate() to re-evaluate the node state (via the internal onelectrocute callback).
  shocked_by_new_field — triggers self.shocked_by_field, which computes run_angle and forces a brain update.
• Pushes: None (this component does not fire custom events).