Questowner

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

Overview

QuestOwner is a state-tracking component that enables an entity to participate in quest logic. It maintains boolean flags (questing and questcomplete), manages associated tags (via inst:AddTag/inst:RemoveTag), and provides hooks for custom behavior during quest start, abandon, and completion through optional callback functions. It also supports saving and loading quest state across sessions via OnSave and OnLoad.

Usage example

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

inst.components.questowner:SetOnBeginQuest(function(inst, doer)
    print("Quest started for", inst.prefab)
    return true, "Quest begun!"
end)

inst.components.questowner:SetOnAbandonQuest(function(inst, doer)
    print("Quest abandoned by", doer and doer.prefab or "unknown")
    return true
end)

inst.components.questowner:SetOnCompleteQuest(function(inst)
    print("Quest completed for", inst.prefab)
end)

local success, msg = inst.components.questowner:BeginQuest(player)
if success then
    inst.components.questowner:CompleteQuest()
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified
Tags: Adds questing and questcomplete based on state; removes both on component removal.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
on_begin_quest	function or nil	nil	Callback invoked when BeginQuest is called; should return (questing: boolean, message: string?).
on_abandon_quest	function or nil	nil	Callback invoked when AbandonQuest is called; should return (quest_abandoned: boolean, message: string?).
on_complete_quest	function or nil	nil	Callback invoked when CompleteQuest is called; takes (inst) as argument.
questing	boolean	false	Whether the entity is currently on an active quest.
questcomplete	boolean	false	Whether the quest has been successfully completed.

Main functions

SetOnBeginQuest(callback)

• Description: Sets the callback to execute when a quest begins. This callback is invoked from BeginQuest.
• Parameters: callback (function) - a function taking (inst, doer) and returning (questing: boolean, message: string?).
• Returns: Nothing.

SetOnAbandonQuest(callback)

• Description: Sets the callback to execute when a quest is abandoned. This callback is invoked from AbandonQuest.
• Parameters: callback (function) - a function taking (inst, doer) and returning (quest_abandoned: boolean, message: string?).
• Returns: Nothing.

SetOnCompleteQuest(callback)

• Description: Sets the callback to execute when a quest is completed. This callback is invoked from CompleteQuest.
• Parameters: callback (function) - a function taking (inst).
• Returns: Nothing.

OnRemoveFromEntity()

• Description: Cleans up tags when the component is removed from an entity. Removes both questing and questcomplete tags.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

CanBeginQuest(doer)

• Description: Checks whether the quest can be started by the specified doer. Uses CanBeginFn if set (commented out in the current source); otherwise defaults to true.
• Parameters: doer (entity) - the entity attempting to begin the quest.
• Returns: boolean - true if allowed, false otherwise. (Note: CanBeginFn is currently unused/commented out, so this always returns true.)
• Error states: None identified.

BeginQuest(doer)

• Description: Attempts to begin the quest. Sets questcomplete to false, calls on_begin_quest if set, and updates internal questing state and tags accordingly.
• Parameters: doer (entity) - the entity triggering the quest start.
• Returns: (boolean, string?) — questing state (true if quest started), and optionally a message string.
• Error states: If on_begin_quest returns a falsy questing value, self.questing remains false.

CanAbandonQuest(doer)

• Description: Checks whether the quest can be abandoned. Uses CanAbandonFn if set (commented out in the current source); otherwise defaults to true.
• Parameters: doer (entity) - the entity attempting to abandon the quest.
• Returns: boolean — true if allowed, false otherwise. (Note: CanAbandonFn is currently unused, so this always returns true.)
• Error states: None identified.

AbandonQuest(doer)

• Description: Attempts to abandon the current quest. Invokes the on_abandon_quest callback if defined; otherwise sets questing to false directly.
• Parameters: doer (entity) - the entity triggering the abandonment.
• Returns: (boolean?, string?) — quest_abandoned status and optional message. Returns nil if no quest was active.
• Error states: If on_abandon_quest is set and returns quest_abandoned = false, self.questing is not changed.

CompleteQuest()

• Description: Marks the quest as completed. Sets questing to false, questcomplete to true, and invokes on_complete_quest if defined.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnSave()

• Description: Serializes the component's quest state for saving to disk.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: { questing: boolean, questcomplete: boolean } — a table containing current state values.

OnLoad(data)

• Description: Loads previously saved quest state from disk. Updates questing and questcomplete accordingly and updates tags via onquesting/onquestcomplete.
• Parameters: data (table or nil) — a previously returned table from OnSave, or nil if no saved data exists.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: Internal setters questing and questcomplete (via metatable setters onquesting, onquestcomplete), which update tags automatically.
• Pushes: No events are directly fired by this component.