Tumbleweedspawner

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

Overview

Tumbleweedspawner is a prefab definition that creates an entity responsible for spawning and regenerating tumbleweed assets in the game world. It leverages the childspawner component to manage the number, timing, and regeneration of child entities ("tumbleweed"). The spawner is configured with randomized parameters from TUNING constants and initiates immediate spawning upon creation.

Usage example

-- The spawner is typically spawned as part of world generation or event logic:
local spawner = SpawnPrefab("tumbleweedspawner")
-- Once spawned, it automatically begins spawning tumbleweeds via the childspawner component.
-- No additional setup is required by modders at runtime.

Dependencies & tags

Components used: childspawner
Tags: Adds the CLASSIFIED tag (non-standard, likely for internal use).
Prefabs referenced: "tumbleweed"

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
childname	string	"tumbleweed"	Name of the prefab to spawn as children (set on the childspawner component).
spawnoffscreen	boolean	true	Indicates whether children can be spawned when offscreen (set on the childspawner component).
save_max_children	boolean	true	Whether the maximum number of children should be saved in world save data (set on the childspawner component).
maxchildren	number	Random integer between TUNING.MIN_TUMBLEWEEDS_PER_SPAWNER and TUNING.MAX_TUMBLEWEEDS_PER_SPAWNER	Maximum number of tumbleweeds this spawner can hold at once (configured via SetMaxChildren).
spawnperiod	number	Random value between TUNING.MIN_TUMBLEWEED_SPAWN_PERIOD and TUNING.MAX_TUMBLEWEED_SPAWN_PERIOD	Average time (in seconds) between spawns (configured via SetSpawnPeriod).
regenperiod	number	TUNING.TUMBLEWEED_REGEN_PERIOD	Time (in seconds) between regeneration cycles (configured via SetRegenPeriod).

Main functions

ReleaseAllChildren()

• Description: Called internally during initialization to immediately spawn the initial batch of tumbleweeds up to the maxchildren limit. Invoked via inst.components.childspawner:ReleaseAllChildren().
• Parameters: None (caller is childspawner component, which uses self.inst as the target).
• Returns: nil.
• Error states: May spawn fewer children than requested if constraints (e.g., world limits or capacity) prevent full spawning.

StartSpawning()

• Description: Begins the periodic spawn cycle. After initialization, it sets the spawner into active mode, scheduling recurring spawn attempts.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: nil.

Events & listeners

None identified.