Wavemanager

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

Overview

WaveManager is a dynamic environmental component responsible for spawning and animating ocean surface visual effects, such as shimmering water ripples and shore-breaking waves, in response to the player's location and the underlying terrain. It operates as a periodic updater that samples nearby tiles on the world map, spawning appropriate prefabs (wave_shimmer, wave_shore, wave_shimmer_med, wave_shimmer_deep) depending on tile type and surrounding water conditions. It is typically attached to a world-level entity (e.g., TheWorld) to manage ocean visuals globally.

Usage example

-- Attaching to the world root (conceptual example)
local inst = CreateEntity()
inst:AddComponent("wavemanager")

-- Modifying global shimmer spawn rate
if inst.components.wavemanager then
    inst.components.wavemanager.shimmer_per_sec_mod = 0.5
end

-- Registering a blocker (e.g., a structure preventing wave spawning nearby)
inst:AddComponent("physicsblocker")
inst.components.physicsblocker:SetBlockerRadius(5)
inst:ListenForEvent("onregister", function(inst)
    TheWorld.components.wavemanager:RegisterBlocker(inst, 5)
end)

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None identified
Tags: Does not directly manage tags on the owner entity, but spawns prefabs with their own internal logic and tags.

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
shimmer	table	see constructor	Maps WORLD_TILES.* constants to spawn configuration tables containing per_sec, spawn_rate, and tryspawn functions.
ripple_per_sec	number	10	Base rate for ripple effects (not currently used in OnUpdate).
ripple_idle_time	number	5	Time before ripple logic idles (not currently used in OnUpdate).
shimmer_per_sec_mod	number	1.0	Global multiplier applied to shimmer spawn rates; set to 0 to disable spawning and stop updates.
blockers	table	{}	Dictionary of entities (keys) and blocking distances (values); prevents wave spawning within radius of these entities.

Main functions

RegisterBlocker(inst, dist)

• Description: Registers an entity as a blocker, preventing shimmer/wave spawning within a radius of dist units from its position.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the blocker entity; dist (number) — blocking radius in world units.
• Returns: Nothing.

UnregisterBlocker(inst)

• Description: Removes an entity from the blocker list, restoring normal shimmer/wave spawning near it.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the blocker entity to remove.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnUpdate(dt)

• Description: Called periodically to attempt spawning shimmer effects based on tile type and proximity to the player. Iterates through configured shimmer types, accumulates spawn rates over time, and spawns prefabs if canSpawn returns true.
• Parameters: dt (number) — delta time in seconds since last update.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Returns early if ThePlayer or TheWorld.Map is nil. If shimmer_per_sec_mod <= 0.0, stops updating the component.

GetDebugString()

• Description: Returns a debug string containing the current shimmer spawn radius and camera-based spawn rate multiplier for debugging purposes.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: string — formatted as "Shimmer: <radius>, Mult: <mult>".

Events & listeners

• Listens to: None (relies on StartUpdatingComponent for periodic OnUpdate calls).
• Pushes: None.