Desolationspawner

Overview

The Desolationspawner component is a world-level system responsible for the "desolation regrowth" mechanic in Don't Starve Together. Its primary responsibility is to periodically check designated map areas and, if certain conditions are met (e.g., no existing resources of that type nearby, not near player structures), spawn natural resources like trees and plants to prevent areas far from players from becoming permanently barren. It leverages world density data and internal timers to manage this regrowth for various prefabs, adapting spawn rates based on world state (e.g., season, moon phase).

Dependencies & Tags

This component explicitly relies on global TheWorld objects for state, map, and topology information. It requires the map/terrain module. RoadManager is also implicitly checked if available.

• Required Modules: map/terrain
• Global Dependencies: TheWorld (for state, Map, topology, generated), TheSim, TUNING, ENTITY_POPOUT_RADIUS
• Tags used for exclusion in spawn checks: structure, wall
• Tags used for searching existing entities: Configurable via SetSpawningForType (e.g., evergreen, rock_tree)

Properties

No public properties were clearly identified from the source other than self.inst. The component initializes several internal tables and constants that dictate its behavior:

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
self.inst	Entity	(reference to owner)	A reference to the entity this component is attached to.
UPDATE_PERIOD	number	11	The frequency (in seconds) at which the component performs its update checks.
SEARCH_RADIUS	number	50	Radius for FindEntities to check if a resource type is already "seeded" nearby, preventing over-spawning.
BASE_RADIUS	number	20	Radius for FindEntities to check for player structures or walls, preventing spawns inside bases.
EXCLUDE_RADIUS	number	3	Radius for FindEntities to check for any existing entities, preventing spawns in overly dense areas.
MIN_PLAYER_DISTANCE	number	ENTITY_POPOUT_RADIUS	Minimum distance a player must be from a spawn point for regrowth to occur. (Currently commented out in DoRegrowth).
SKIP_PLANT_CHECK	table	{["tree_rock_sapling"] = true}	A list of prefab types that will bypass the standard _map:CanPlantAtPoint and _map:CanPlacePrefabFilteredAtPoint checks.
_worldstate	table	TheWorld.state	A reference to the global TheWorld.state object for world information.
_map	table	TheWorld.Map	A reference to the global TheWorld.Map object for map queries.
_world	table	TheWorld	A reference to the global TheWorld object.
_internaltimes	table	{}	Stores the elapsed time for each configured prefab type since the last regrowth attempt.
_replacementdata	table	{}	Stores configuration data (product, regrowth time, search tags, time multiplier function) for each prefab type enabled for desolation spawning.
_areadata	table	{}	Stores density and next regrowth time for each configured prefab per world area (topology node).

Main Functions

SetSpawningForType(prefab, product, regrowtime, searchtags, timemult)

• Description: Configures a specific prefab type for desolation regrowth. This function stores the necessary data for the component to manage regrowth for prefab, which will spawn product after regrowtime.
• Parameters:
  • prefab: (string) The original prefab name to track for regrowth.
  • product: (string) The prefab name of the item to spawn (e.g., a sapling).
  • regrowtime: (number) The base time (in seconds) it takes for this prefab to regrow.
  • searchtags: (table) A table of tags used when searching for existing entities in SEARCH_RADIUS to avoid spawning if an entity with these tags is already present.
  • timemult: (function or nil) An optional function that returns a time multiplier for regrowtime, allowing for season- or moon phase-dependent regrowth rates. If nil, a multiplier of 1 is used.

LongUpdate(dt)

• Description: This function is called periodically (based on UPDATE_PERIOD). It updates the internal timers for all configured prefab types, applying any time multipliers. It then iterates through world areas and attempts to trigger regrowth for any prefab whose timer has exceeded its regrowtime for that area. It only attempts one regrowth per LongUpdate call for performance reasons.
• Parameters:
  • dt: (number) The delta time since the last update.

OnSave()

• Description: Serializes the component's current state, specifically the _areadata (densities and remaining regrowth times) into a savable table. Regrowth times are adjusted relative to _internaltimes for consistent loading.
• Parameters: None.

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Deserializes the component's state from save data. It reconstructs the _areadata table, adjusting loaded regrowth times by the current _internaltimes to resume progress accurately.
• Parameters:
  • data: (table) The table containing the saved component state.

GetDebugString()

• Description: Provides a string containing debug information, primarily showing the next predicted regrowth time for each configured prefab type.
• Parameters: None.

TestForRegrow(x, y, z, prefab, searchtags) (Private)

• Description: A helper function that checks if a specific world point (x, y, z) is suitable for a given prefab to regrow. It performs checks for existing entities (too dense), proximity to player structures (BASE_RADIUS), presence of existing seeded entities (SEARCH_RADIUS), and valid ground for planting.
• Parameters:
  • x: (number) The X coordinate of the potential spawn point.
  • y: (number) The Y coordinate of the potential spawn point.
  • z: (number) The Z coordinate of the potential spawn point.
  • prefab: (string) The prefab name to test for regrowth suitability.
  • searchtags: (table) Tags used for SEARCH_RADIUS check.

DoRegrowth(area, prefab, product, searchtags) (Private)

• Description: Attempts to spawn the product prefab in a random valid point within the specified area (topology node). It first calls TestForRegrow to ensure the location is suitable. If successful, it spawns the prefab and places it at the determined position.
• Parameters:
  • area: (number) The ID of the world topology node (area) to spawn within.
  • prefab: (string) The original prefab type being regrown.
  • product: (string) The actual prefab name to spawn.
  • searchtags: (table) Tags passed to TestForRegrow.

PopulateAreaData(prefab) (Private)

• Description: Initializes the _areadata for a given prefab. It iterates through the world's generated densities, finding areas where this prefab naturally occurred and setting up its initial regrowth timer.
• Parameters:
  • prefab: (string) The prefab name for which to populate area data.

PopulateAreaDataFromReplacements() (Private)

• Description: Iterates through all prefabs configured in _replacementdata and calls PopulateAreaData for each, ensuring that regrowth data is set up for all desired resource types. This is typically called shortly after world startup.
• Parameters: None.