Madsciencelab

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

Overview

MadScienceLab is an entity component that orchestrates a staged, timed process for generating science (e.g., for the Mad Science Lab structure). It supports progression through configurable stages, persistence across save/load cycles, and optional callbacks for game logic integration. The component itself is lightweight and state-driven, relying on scheduled tasks (DoTaskInTime) to advance stages.

Usage example

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("madsciencelab")

-- Define stage durations in seconds
inst.components.madsciencelab.stages = {
    { time = 5 },
    { time = 5 },
    { time = 5 }
}

inst.components.madsciencelab.OnScienceWasMade = function(ent, product)
    print("Science produced:", product)
end

inst.components.madsciencelab:StartMakingScience("science", "Rocket Science")

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified.
Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
inst	Entity	(see constructor)	The entity instance that owns this component.
task	Task or nil	nil	The current scheduled task controlling stage timing.
product	any or nil	nil	The result to emit upon final stage completion.
name	string or nil	nil	Optional name for the recipe or process.
stages	table	{}	Array of stage definitions; each entry is a table (typically containing time in seconds).
stage	number	(internal)	Current stage index (1-based).

Main functions

OnRemoveFromEntity()

• Description: Cleans up active task and resets state when component is removed from an entity.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

IsMakingScience()

• Description: Reports whether a science-making task is currently active.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: true if task is non-nil; otherwise false.

SetStage(stage, time_override)

• Description: Advances the process to a given stage. If the stage is beyond the defined stages array, finalizes production. Otherwise schedules the next stage transition.
• Parameters:
  • stage (number) — the 1-based stage index to transition to.
  • time_override (number or nil) — custom time remaining in seconds to use for rescheduling. Used during save/load restoration.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: If stage exceeds #self.stages, the product is finalized, the task is canceled, and the optional callback OnScienceWasMade is invoked.

StartMakingScience(product, name)

• Description: Begins the science-making process at stage 1 with a specified product output.
• Parameters:
  • product (any) — the result to produce when all stages complete.
  • name (string or nil) — optional string identifier for the recipe or process.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Side effects: Invokes OnStartMakingScience callback (if defined) and triggers SetStage(1).

OnSave()

• Description: Serializes the component state for save file persistence.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: A table containing:
  • name (string or nil)
  • product (any)
  • stage (number)
  • time_remaining (number or nil) — remaining time of the active task, if any.

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Restores component state from a saved data table (typically during world load). Only active if time_remaining is present.
• Parameters:
  • data (table or nil) — saved state data from OnSave().
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: No-op if data is nil or data.time_remaining is missing.

GetDebugString()

• Description: Returns a human-readable string for debugging UI.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: string — e.g., "Inactive" or "Making Science: science. Stage: 2 done in 3.5s."

LongUpdate(dt)

• Description: Placeholder method included for interface compatibility. Currently has no effect.
• Parameters: dt (number) — elapsed time since last update.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

This component does not register or emit any events via inst:ListenForEvent or inst:PushEvent. Instead, it uses optional callback functions attached as properties (e.g., OnStartMakingScience, OnStageStarted, OnScienceWasMade) for logic hooks.