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Feasts

Overview​

This component handles the server-side logic for the Winter Feast event in Don't Starve Together. It organizes nearby wintersfeasttable entities into dynamic groups based on proximity, tracks which players are actively feasting at which tables, applies cooperative feast buffs to players, triggers animations (e.g., "ruffle" events) on tables, and periodically announces feasting status and buff availability to players.

Dependencies & Tags​

  • Requires TheWorld.ismastersim (only instantiated on the master server simulation).
  • Does not add or remove component tags on the host entity (inst).
  • Relies on the following components existing on other entities:
    • wintersfeasttable (on wintertable entities — via components.wintersfeasttable)
    • inventory (to retrieve cooked feast food from tables)
    • talker (for voice announcements)
    • debuff (to apply "wintersfeastbuff")

Properties​

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
instEntity—The host entity (typically the world).
_tablegroupstable<table<Entity>>{}Groups of tables within range of each other; each inner table is a cluster of adjacent feasting tables.
_feasterstable<table{player, target}>{}List of active feasters, each entry containing a player and the table they’re feasting at.
TICK_RATEnumber1/3Frequency (in seconds) of internal feast checks.

Main Functions​

RegisterTable(inst)​

  • Description: Adds a wintertable entity to the active feast system. Scans for nearby tables within range, merges any existing table groups if overlapping, and initializes table group membership and ruffle animations.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The winter feasting table to register.

UnregisterTable(inst)​

  • Description: Removes a table from the system and reorganizes remaining tables in its group into new valid proximity-based groups (if possible).
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The table to unregister.

GetTableGroup(inst)​

  • Description: Returns the group index (1-based) containing the given table, or nil if not registered.
  • Parameters:
    • inst (Entity): The table to look up.

GetFeasters()​

  • Description: Returns the internal list of all active feasters (_feasters).
  • Parameters: None.

GetTableGroups()​

  • Description: Returns the full list of table groups (_tablegroups).
  • Parameters: None.

GetFeasterGroup(feaster)​

  • Description: Returns the group index containing the table the given player is currently feasting at. Returns nil if player isn’t feasting.
  • Parameters:
    • feaster (Entity): The player entity.

GetDebugString()​

  • Description: Returns a debug string summarizing table group count: "groups:<N>".
  • Parameters: None.

Public Methods​

The following are exposed via inst.components.feasts:<method>().

:GetTableGroup(inst)​

  • Alias of self:GetTableGroup(inst) (internal). Returns group index.

:GetFeasters()​

  • Alias of self:GetFeasters(). Returns _feasters list.

:GetTableGroups()​

  • Alias of self:GetTableGroups(). Returns _tablegroups.

:GetFeasterGroup(feaster)​

  • Alias of self:GetFeasterGroup(feaster). Returns group index or nil.

:RegisterTable(inst)​

  • Alias of self:RegisterTable(inst). Adds table to the system.

:UnregisterTable(inst)​

  • Alias of self:UnregisterTable(inst). Removes table from the system.

Events​

The component listens for the following world-level events:

EventSourceHandlerDescription
feasterstartedwintersfeasttableOnFeasterAddedTriggered when a player begins feasting at a registered table. Adds player to _feasters. Starts internal tick loop and announces buffs.
feasterfinishedwintersfeasttableOnFeasterRemovedTriggered when a player stops feasting (or table is destroyed). Removes player from _feasters. Cancels pending buff announcement and tick task if no feasters remain.

OnFeasterAdded(inst, data)​

  • Adds new feaster to _feasters.
  • Starts Tick loop (1/3 sec) if not already active.
  • Ensures data.player is not in dark (darkness prevents buff announcement).
  • Initiates delayed announcement: ANNOUNCE_WINTERS_FEAST_BUFF.

OnFeasterRemoved(inst, data)​

  • Removes feaster from _feasters.
  • Cancels ANNOUNCE_WINTERS_FEAST_BUFF task if still pending.
  • If no feasters remain: cancels ticktask, cancels buffannounce task.

Buff Logic​

  • Buff is announced every DELAY_ANNOUNCE_BUFF + random(0, DELAY_ANNOUNCE_BUFF_VARIANCE) seconds while at least one feaster exists and the player is not in darkness.
  • The actual buff application ("wintersfeastbuff") is handled by the wintersfeasttable component on each feaster, not by this component. This component only triggers announcement and coordinates feaster counting.

Performance Notes​

  • Uses TheSim:FindEntities during RegisterTable, which may be costly if many tables are present.
  • Table grouping logic uses nested loops and frequent table.insert/table.remove on small arrays (typically < 10 groups), so performance is acceptable for normal play.
  • feasterstarted/finished are server-side events only.

Known Limitations​

  • Only works on the master simulation (ismastersim). Clients do not execute this component.
  • Ruffle animation timing is approximate (based on distance remapping, but fixed rate 0..1s, no delta compensation).
  • If a player feasts at two tables simultaneously (e.g., switching mid-feast), duplicate entries may exist until feasterfinished fires.
  • The gettablegroup helper function is referenced but not defined in this snippet — must be defined elsewhere (likely in the same feasts.lua file).

Example Usage (Server-Side)​

-- Register a new feasting table:
inst.components.feasts:RegisterTable(table_entity)

-- Check feasters:
local feasters = inst.components.feasts:GetFeasters()
print("Feasters:", #feasters)

-- Announce manually (not recommended unless debugging):
inst.components.talker:Say("Feast is happening!")

Source File​

components/wintersfeast/feasts.lua
Located in the game’s default scripts/components/ or modded override paths.

Let me know if you'd like a diagram of the table-grouping algorithm or unit tests for edge cases!