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Mandrakebrain

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-02-27

Overview​

This brain component defines the behavioral logic for the Mandrake entity in Don't Starve Together. It utilizes a behavior tree (BT) to orchestrate high-level actions such as panicking, following its leader, maintaining orientation toward the leader, and wandering when no leader is present. The brain inherits from Brain and composes lower-level behaviors (Follow, FaceEntity, Wander) provided by the game's behavior library. It leverages the follower component to locate the current leader and supports dynamic leader changes.

Dependencies & Tags​

  • Components used:
    • follower — accessed via inst.components.follower:GetLeader() to retrieve the entity's leader.
  • Tags: None identified.
  • Behaviors used: Follow, FaceEntity, Wander (loaded from behaviours/ directory).

Properties​

No public instance properties are declared in the constructor or elsewhere. Internal state is maintained via self.bt (behavior tree) and inherited Brain properties.

Main Functions​

MandrakeBrain:OnStart()​

  • Description: Initializes the behavior tree root node with a prioritized sequence of subbehaviors. This function is called automatically when the brain component starts governing the entity's behavior.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: None.

The root behavior tree is constructed as a PriorityNode with the following children, evaluated in order:

  1. BrainCommon.PanicTrigger(self.inst) — high-priority panic response (e.g., flee from fire, enemies).
  2. BrainCommon.ElectricFencePanicTrigger(self.inst) — high-priority response to electric fences.
  3. Follow(self.inst, GetLeader, MIN_FOLLOW_DIST, TARGET_FOLLOW_DIST, MAX_FOLLOW_DIST) — moves the entity to maintain a distance between 2 and 8 units from its leader, preferring a distance of 3 units.
  4. FaceEntity(self.inst, GetLeader, KeepFaceTargetFn) — ensures the entity faces its leader, using KeepFaceTargetFn to confirm the leader remains valid.
  5. Wander(self.inst) — fallback wandering behavior when no leader is present.

The PriorityNode allows the behavior tree to execute the first applicable behavior from this list. The GetLeader helper function is used consistently to fetch the leader from the follower component.

Events & Listeners​

None identified. This component does not register or emit events directly; it relies on the behavior tree framework and the game's event-driven behavior system (e.g., panics, movement updates) to react to the game state.