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Penguinspawner

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

Overview​

Penguinspawner is a server-only component responsible for spawning penguin flocks during winter. It dynamically establishes penguin colonies with rookeries (marked by penguin_ice prefabs), manages colony membership, tracks mutated vs non-mutated flocks, and enforces distance and timing constraints. It integrates with KnownLocations to assign rookery/home positions to spawned penguins and responds to player join/leave and seasonal tick events. The component only exists on the mastersim to ensure deterministic world state.

Usage example​

local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("penguinspawner")
-- No further manual setup is required; the component activates automatically on add.
-- It will begin spawning flocks during winter if _spawnInterval > 0 and world conditions permit.

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: knownlocations Tags: None identified.

Properties​

No public properties.

Main functions​

AddToColony(colonyNum, pengu)​

  • Description: Adds a penguin entity to a specified colony, registers death/onremove callbacks, updates total bird count, and sets the penguin's colonyNum and known locations (rookery and home).
  • Parameters:
    colonyNum (number or nil) – index of the colony in _colonies; if nil, the penguin is not added to any colony.
    pengu (Entity) – the penguin prefab instance to add.
  • Returns: Nothing.
  • Error states: No explicit error handling; silently does nothing if colonyNum is out of bounds.

OnSave()​

  • Description: Serializes colony data (rookery positions and mutation status) for world save.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: data (table) – table with key colonies, where each entry is {x, y, z, is_mutated, numspawned}.

OnLoad(data)​

  • Description: Loads saved colony data and reconstructs penguin_ice rookeries.
  • Parameters:
    data (table or nil) – save data containing colonies array.
  • Returns: Nothing.

GetDebugString()​

  • Description: Returns a formatted string with current penguin/cr colony counts and spawn timing info for debugging.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: string – e.g., "12/48 Penguins, 3/6 Colonies, next spawn in : 2.3".

SpawnModeNever(), SpawnModeLight(), SpawnModeNormal(), SpawnModeMed(), SpawnModeHeavy()​

  • Description: These methods exist but are deprecated and no-op.
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners​

  • Listens to:
    ms_playerjoined – adds player to _activeplayers list for round-robin spawning.
    ms_playerleft – removes player from _activeplayers list.
    ms_setpenguinnumboulders – not implemented in this file (handled externally).
    seasontick – triggers colony cleanup when season changes from winter.
    death, onremove – per-penguin death callbacks to update colony counts and remove from _totalBirds.

  • Pushes: No events.

Usage notes​

  • This component is not intended to be added manually on the client; it asserts TheWorld.ismastersim on initialization.
  • Penguin spawning only occurs during winter, and only if the season has more than 3 days remaining, flocks have room, and a valid land spot near water is found.
  • Colonies can become mutated if more than half their members carry the mutated_penguin tag; this is reflected in the rookery's penguin_ice minimap icon.
  • Round-robin player selection ensures fair spawning opportunities across active players.