Madscience Lab

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-05

Overview

The madscience_lab prefab implements the Mad Science Lab structure, a special crafting component used during the Halloween event. It handles experimental recipe execution via staged animation progression, sound feedback, and particle effects. It integrates with the madsciencelab, prototyper, workable, inspectable, and lootdropper components to provide a complete workflow: activation → staging → completion → loot delivery. Non-master simulation instances are lightweight and non-persistent, returning early from constructors to avoid duplication.

Usage example

-- Typical usage within the game engine; manual instantiation is rare.
-- When the lab is built, the component is added automatically:
inst:AddComponent("madsciencelab")
inst.components.madsciencelab.stages = SCIENCE_STAGES
inst.components.madsciencelab.OnStageStarted = OnStageStarted
inst.components.madsciencelab.OnScienceWasMade = OnScienceWasMade

Dependencies & tags

Components used: hauntable, inspectable, lootdropper, madsciencelab, prototyper, workable Tags: structure, madsciencelab, FX

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
stage	number	nil	Current stage index in SCIENCE_STAGES. Set internally via MadScienceLab:SetStage.
stages	table	SCIENCE_STAGES	Array of stage configuration tables (time, anim, fire_anim, etc.).
name	string	nil	Optional recipe name for logging/debugging.
product	string	nil	Name of the item to produce upon successful experiment completion.

Main functions

IsMakingScience()

• Description: Returns whether the lab is currently processing a recipe (i.e., has an active science task).
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: boolean — true if a science task is active (self.task ~= nil), otherwise false.

StartMakingScience(product, name)

• Description: Starts a new science experiment using the specified product and optional name. Resets the lab to stage 1 and triggers animation and sound changes.
• Parameters:
  • product (string) — The prefab name of the item to produce upon success.
  • name (string?, optional) — Optional human-readable recipe name used for debugging/logging.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Does not validate existence of product; rely on recipe validation upstream.

OnStageStarted(inst, stage)

• Description: Internal callback invoked when the current stage begins. Handles animation switching, sound updates, and particle effect transitions (e.g., fire effects). Called by the madsciencelab component.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The lab instance.
  • stage (number) — The stage index (1-indexed).
• Returns: Nothing.

OnScienceWasMade(inst, experiement_id)

• Description: Internal callback invoked when a science experiment completes. Calculates the loot result (based on weighted random selection), spawns and launches the resulting items toward the nearest player, and resets the lab for idle animation.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The lab instance.
  • experiement_id (string) — Key from EXPERIMENT_RESULTS dict (e.g., "halloween_experiment_bravery").
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: If experiement_id is missing or weighted selection yields nil, defaults to spawning 1 item.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • onbuilt — Triggers onbuilt() to play placement animation and sound.
  • animover (bound in OnInactive and OnFireFXOver) — Reverts to idle animation after cooking finishes or fire FX ends.
• Pushes:
  • No direct events are pushed by this component or its callbacks.

Properties — Additional FX entities

Property	Type	Description
inst._goop	Entity	Child FX entity (goop overlay) with its own AnimState, parented to the lab.
inst._glow	Entity	Child FX entity (glow overlay) with bloom shader, parented to the lab.
inst._firefx	Entity	Temporary fire FX entity (spawned on MakeFireFx, removed on RemoveFireFx).
inst.highlightchildren	table	References child entities (_glow) for highlight management.

Constants & Tables (internal)

• SCIENCE_STAGES: Array of stage definitions (e.g., time, anim, fire_anim). Determines animation and sound timing.
• EXPERIMENT_RESULTS: Maps experiment IDs (e.g., halloween_experiment_bravery) to outcome tables (e.g., halloweenpotion_bravery_small → weight 2).
• NUM_TO_SPAWN: Weighted tables mapping each outcome prefab to a distribution of how many to spawn (e.g., halloweenpotion_bravery_small uses SMALL_TO_SPAWN distribution).

FX Prefabs

The file also defines supporting FX prefabs:

• madscience_lab_goop: Goop overlay with bloom, shows goop anim (lab hidden).
• madscience_lab_fire: Fire particle with dynamic animation from current stage, non-persistent.
• madscience_lab_glow: Glow overlay with bloom, shows glow anim (lab/goop hidden), registers OnEntityReplicated on client to reparent highlight tracking.

Notes

• The lab only fully initializes on the master simulation (TheWorld.ismastersim); client instances return early with minimal setup.
• The prototyper component is conditionally added and later removed during active science work (removed in OnStageStarted, added in OnInactive).
• The lab uses weighted_random_choice() for loot selection and FindClosestPlayer() + LaunchAt() to deliver results to players.
• getstatus() returns "MIXING" when science is in progress for use by inspectable.
• onhammered() triggers loot drop and destroys the lab instantly.