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Game Mechanics

Mob Spawning is the process by which npc and creature objects are brought into or removed from the game world. There are three types of spawning scenerios and several controlling factors for how things are spawned:

Controlling Factors

• Spawner Objects
• Region Lists
• Resource Concentrations
• Player Traffic Monitoring

Spawning Types

• Static Townsperson Spawns
• Static World Spawns
• Patrol Spawns
• Dynamic World Spawns

Spawner Objects

This is the last layer of spawning mechanics before a mob is spawned into the game world, and its results are influenced by the lower tier functions of the spawning system. A spawner object (sometimes given an in-game appearance by having a lair) would be created which would have information about what sort of spawn belonged at that location. As a player came into range for the MOBs to be initiated into the world, new creature/NPC objects would be generated to fit the specifications of the spawn. Ie, 2 Grand wrix and 3 mottled wrix. If all players vacated the "spawn radius" of that spawner object, the MOB objects would be removed from the world and from server memory (and/or the DB, as appropriate). When another player entered the spawn radius of that spawner object, the spawn type would again dictate what would be created. If it was a mixed type (as the example above), the ratio would be the same but the creatures themselves would be different - different size, different color tones, and different HAM.

Observations From the NGE about spawner objects

When a player enters 120 meters of a spawn point (visible lair or invisible spawn point), then the spawn object will spawn the lair and then subsequently all attached mobs/npcs. It takes around 7 seconds to spawn the mobs around the spawn point once the spawn radius has been entered.

When a player passes 128 meters (the limit of examine range) from the spawn point, then the spawn point despawns from the game world after 30 seconds if the player is still beyond 128 meters when the 30 second timer has elapsed. Following this, it takes around 30 seconds to despawn associated mobs with the spawn point once the original spawn object has despawned.

Mob positions, stats etc reset every time the lair is spawned or despawned.

Note: Patrolling mobs seem to be their own spawner object. If the player gets past a certain distance then the patrolling mob will despawn and will respawn at its position when the player re-enters the spawn radius.

Static Townsperson Spawns

Static Townsperson spawns are non attackable npcs that appear at fixed positions in every NPC city. Static townsperson npcs come in several types:

• Decorative Npcs
• Mission Giving Npcs
• Delivery Mission Targets
• Crafting Mission Targets
• Herald Npcs
• Quest Npcs

Decorative Npcs

Most of these npcs are basically for decorative purposes to add atmosphere to each town. Each planet has its own unique set of npcs that are spawnable within a town. For example, gungan townsperson npcs only spawn on naboo as do Naboo RSF npcs and so on. Townsperson npcs have fixed spawn points and numbers per spawn. The number of townsperson npcs at a particular point will not change, however the composition changes at every server reboot. Following a server reboot, the type of npc at a particular spawn point will change although the quantity will not. As an example, at a fixed point near theed starport, there were two npcs ('a gungan hermit' and 'a farmer' )that spawn at a set location. At every server reboot these npcs are swapped with two different npc types ('a spacer' and 'a technician'. All static townsperson npcs have names along with an occupation description (ex. Joe Blow (a Spacer) ). Static npc names follow the same guidelines and limitations that normal species and gender restrictions allow for. As a general rule, any kind of npc can be placed together as long as it is appropriate for that planet (an tatooine only npc cannot spawn on naboo as an example) and within a certain challenge level range. The game uses mob lists even for npc towns to determine what kinds of npcs can be selected from. These mob lists include planet specific npcs (gungans for naboo as an example) and caps the challenge level of npcs on that list so that only npcs within a certain level range can be selected from out of the pool (probably to prevent occurances as an example, such as nightsisters being selected as random filler npcs at dathomir outpost). In some cases it has been observed where storm troopers are paired with other npcs, thus the spawn system here is very diverse and randomized.

Note: On the live servers, Decorative npcs remain non combative and lose their innate faction affiliations and normal NPC AI routines such as attacking hostile factions or issuing verbal responses to hostile/friendly factions in the vicinity.

Mission Giving Npcs

Mission giving npcs follow the same rules as decorative npcs. Mission npcs are in fact decorative npcs that come in clusters of 2. All groupings of 2 decorative npcs are involved in the mission giving process. One of the npcs will be a herald for the actual quest giver, informing the player to talk with it.

Note: On the live servers, Npcs that are within spaceports cannot be interacted with (unknown why this occurs), therefore even if the spaceport has a grouping of 2 npcs, these npcs wont act as mission givers.

Delivery Mission Targets

Delivery mission targets are npcs that are selected to be part of the delivery missions either as the initial quest starter or as the delivery target. All delivery missions utilize "commoner" spawns which are fixed npcs around every town. The mission objective selects a random commoner to be the npc the player uses to begin the quest and then another commoner is selected out of the commoner node for a particular town to act as the npc that the player must deliver the object to. Commoner npcs follow the same ruleset as filler npcs except that only commoner style npcs are selected for spawning.

Crafting Mission Targets

Crafting mission targets are npcs that are selected to be part of the crafting missions either as the initial quest starter or as the delivery target. All crafting missions utilize "commoner" spawns which are fixed npcs around every town. The mission objective selects a random commoner to be the npc the player uses to begin the quest and then another commoner is selected out of the commoner node for a particular town to act as the npc that the player must deliver the object to. Commoner npcs follow the same ruleset as filler npcs except that only commoner style npcs are selected for spawning.

Herald NPCs

Herald npcs are npcs that are used to inform players of particular spots on a planet through dialogue and by issuing waypoints. These npcs use the same model and name at all times and are always found in the same position.

Quest NPCS

Quest npcs are a form of static npc that a player interacts with to begin a quest series. Quest npcs use unique models and names for that particular npc and do not follow the patterns for decorative npcs. Quest npcs can always be found in the same spot at all times.

Static World Spawns

Static world spawns are attackable npcs or creatures that spawn into the world at fixed points on a planet and at certain times. Mobs that spawn at this points will always be the same type of entity. Each planet has its own unique set of static entities and spawn timers for particular groups of mobs. Known spawn types by planet and location can be found from the following sections:

• Dungeon Static Spawns
• Corellia Static Spawns
• Dantooine Static Spawns
• Dathomir Static Spawns
• Endor Static Spawns
• Lok Static Spawns
• Naboo Static Spawns
• Rori Static Spawns
• Talus Static Spawns
• Tatooine Static Spawns
• Yavin IV Static Spawns

Dynamic World Spawns

These are lairs, creatures and npcs that spawn around the game world using a complex seeding process involving a number of variables such as:

• Region Lists
• Resource Concentrations
• Player Traffic Monitoring

Source References