Batspawner

Overview

The Batspawner component is responsible for spawning and managing a population of bats around its host entity. It controls the rate of spawning, the maximum number of active bats, and finds valid spawn locations in the world. It also tracks the bats it creates and can despawn them under certain conditions.

Dependencies & Tags

None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	EntityScript	-	The entity instance this component is attached to.
bats	table	{}	A table that tracks all active bat entities spawned by this component.
timetospawn	number	0	A countdown timer for when the next bat should be spawned.
batcap	number	6	The maximum number of bats this spawner will manage at one time.
spawntime	table or number	TUNING.BIRD_SPAWN_DELAY	The delay between bat spawn attempts.
battypes	table	{"bat"}	A list of bat prefab names that can be spawned.

Main Functions

GetDebugString()

• Description: Returns a formatted string showing the current number of active bats versus the maximum capacity. Useful for debugging.
• Parameters: None.

SetSpawnTimes(times)

• Description: Sets the time delay between bat spawns.
• Parameters:
  • times (number or table): The new spawn time value.

SetMaxBats(max)

• Description: Sets the maximum number of bats this spawner can have active at once.
• Parameters:
  • max (number): The new maximum bat capacity.

StartTracking(inst)

• Description: Adds a newly spawned bat to the tracking table. It also marks the bat as non-persistent, meaning it will not be saved, and sets up a listener to remove the bat if it ever enters a "sleep" state.
• Parameters:
  • inst (EntityScript): The bat entity instance to begin tracking.

GetSpawnPoint(pt)

• Description: Finds a valid point on the ground near a given location to spawn a bat. The search is performed in a circular fan pattern. A valid point must be passable and not covered by Ground Creep.
• Parameters:
  • pt (Vector3): The central point to search around for a spawn location.

Events & Listeners

• Listens To:
  • "entitysleep" on a spawned bat: When a tracked bat goes into its sleep state (e.g., becomes inactive because a player is far away), this listener triggers a function to remove the bat entity from the world. This helps manage entity counts and prevents inactive bats from persisting.