Stalker Bulb

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-07

Overview

The stalker_bulb prefab defines a renewable light-emitting plant found in the Caves. It manages a multi-stage animation lifecycle (bloom → idle → wilted/picked) and controls dynamic lighting intensity, radius, and falloff using a custom fade system. It integrates with the pickable component to allow harvesting of lightbulb items, and with the burnable component for fire mechanics—though custom ignition/extinguish handlers are explicitly cleared to preserve persistence flags. The prefab is instantiated in two variants: single (stalker_bulb) and double (stalker_bulb_double), differing in light radius and loot quantity.

Usage example

-- Example: Spawn a single stalker bulb and manually unpause regeneration
local inst = Prefab("stalker_bulb")()
if inst.components.pickable then
    inst.components.pickable:Pause(false) -- unpause (note: Pause() without args pauses; To resume, use regen timer directly)
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used:

• pickable — manages harvest interaction and regeneration
• burnable — enables fire propagation and burning (custom handlers cleared)
• inspectable
• lootdropper
• hauntable (via MakeHauntableIgnite)

Tags added:

• plant
• stalkerbloom

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
_faderadius	number	3 or 4.5	Base radius value used for dynamic light fading. Set per variant.
_fade	net_byte	net_byte(inst.GUID, ...)	Networked byte tracking fade progress. Used to synchronize light effects across client/server.
_fadetask	task or nil	DoPeriodicTask(FRAMES, OnUpdateFade)	Periodic task updating light intensity during fade-in or fade-out.
persists	boolean	false	Disables saving the entity to save files.

Main functions

OnUpdateFade(inst)

• Description: Updates the light’s intensity, radius, and falloff based on _fade progress. Implements a two-phase fade curve: increasing brightness for the first FADE_FRAMES, then decreasing for the remainder.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the stalker bulb instance.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Cancels _fadetask when fade completes (_fade reaches FADE_FRAMES or 2*FADE_FRAMES + 1).

OnFadeDirty(inst)

• Description: Ensures _fadetask exists and immediately triggers one fade update cycle. Used to trigger or re-sync fading on demand.
• Parameters: inst (Entity).
• Returns: Nothing.

FadeOut(inst, instant)

• Description: Initiates fade-out by setting _fade to the terminal phase (full fade-out) or ramping it up. Does not resume fading unless task exists or is started.
• Parameters:
  • instant (boolean) — if true, jump immediately to end state.
• Returns: Nothing.

KillPlant(inst)

• Description: Handles plant decay after bloom period or harvest. Cancels _killtask, disables interaction, triggers FadeOut, and plays the "wilt" animation.
• Parameters: inst (Entity).
• Returns: Nothing.

OnBloomed(inst)

• Description: Callback triggered after the initial "bloom" animation completes. Resets to "idle" animation, enables picking (caninteractwith = true), and schedules KillPlant after TUNING.STALKER_BLOOM_DECAY + random().
• Parameters: inst (Entity).
• Returns: Nothing.

OnPicked(inst)

• Description: Callback when player harvests the bulb. Cancels decay timer, triggers immediate fade-out (FadeOut(inst, true)), plays "picked_wilt" animation, and schedules entity removal after animation completes.
• Parameters: inst (Entity).
• Returns: Nothing.

commonfn(bank, build, radius)

• Description: Shared constructor logic for both single and double variants. Sets up transform, anim state, light, network, and tags; configures lighting parameters and fade system; adds required components; and clears burnable callbacks.
• Parameters:
  • bank (string) — anim bank ("bulb_plant_single" or "bulb_plant_double")
  • build (string) — anim build (same as bank)
  • radius (number) — initial light radius (3 or 4.5)
• Returns: Entity — fully initialized instance. Returns early on client to avoid duplicate server-side logic.

single()

• Description: Factory for the single-bulb variant. Calls commonfn with single-specific values and configures pickable to produce 1 lightbulb, then immediately pauses regeneration.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Entity.

double()

• Description: Factory for the double-bulb variant. Calls commonfn with double-specific values and configures pickable to produce 2 lightbulb items, then immediately pauses regeneration.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: Entity.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • "fadedirty" — triggers OnFadeDirty on client to resync fading.
  • "animover" — triggers OnBloomed or inst.Remove depending on stage.
• Pushes: None (no direct PushEvent calls in this file).

  Note: Event fadedirty is set as the sync callback in net_byte(..., "fadedirty"), but no explicit push occurs in this code.