Mermcandidate

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

Overview

MermCandidate is an entity component that accumulates calories from consumed food items. It determines whether a merm entity should undergo a transformation (e.g., into a Merm Guard) based on a threshold of accumulated calories. This component is used to implement the mechanic where certain merms grow stronger by eating — specifically, it integrates with the edible component to quantify the nutritional value of eaten food.

Usage example

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

-- Simulate eating food
local food = ...
inst.components.mermcandidate:AddCalories(food)

-- Check if transformation is triggered
if inst.components.mermcandidate:ShouldTransform() then
    -- Proceed with transformation logic
    inst.components.mermcandidate:ResetCalories()
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used: edible (read via food.components.edible:GetHunger)
Tags: None identified.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
calories	number	0	Total calories accumulated from eaten food.
transformation_calories	number	50	Minimum calories required to trigger transformation.

Main functions

AddCalories(food)

• Description: Adds nutritional value from the given food item to the current calorie count. Only processes food with an edible component.
• Parameters: food (Entity) — The food item being consumed.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Silently ignores food without an edible component.

ResetCalories()

• Description: Resets the calorie counter to zero, typically after a successful transformation.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

ShouldTransform()

• Description: Returns whether the accumulated calories meet or exceed the transformation threshold.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: true if calories >= transformation_calories, otherwise false.

OnSave()

• Description: Returns the component's state for persistence.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Table containing calories and transformation_calories.

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Restores the component's state from saved data.
• Parameters: data (table) — Table with optional calories and transformation_calories keys.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

None identified.