Why can not I get a random spawner

[WIZ4]

I wrote a script that should generate random spawner:

Code: Select all

script.on_event(defines.events.on_tick, function(event)
  local interval = 1 * 1 * 60  
  if game.tick >= 1*1*60 then 
    if (game.tick % interval) == 0 then
	local X = math.random(-200,200)
	local Y = math.random(100,200)
	for y=-15,15 do   for x=-15,15 do
	 local pos1 = {X+math.random(-25,25),Y+math.random(-25,25)}
	 local enemy1 = "spitter-spawner"
	 local enemy2 = "biter-spawner"
	 local name = "enemy"..math.random(1,2)
	 
	try_place_spawner (enemy1,enemy2,name,pos1)
	end
	end
	end
	end
end)

function try_place_spawner (enemy1,enemy2,name,pos1)
  if  game.surfaces.nauvis.can_place_entity{name = name, position = pos1} == true then
game.surfaces.nauvis.create_entity({ name= name, position = pos1});
end
 
end

But I get this error:

Screenshot_1.png (101.55 KiB) Viewed 1312 times

Why do I get the name enemy1, not "spitter-spawner"?
Any suggestion how to implement it differently?

[DaveMcW]

Code: Select all

local enemy = {"biter-spawner", "spitter-spawner"}
local name = enemy[math.random(1,2)]

[bobingabout]

Basically you're currently using a random to generate the name "enemy1" or "enemy2" which is the name of your variable, coding doesn't work that way.

The suggested fix in the previous post sets the variable name to be a copy of either element 1, or element 2 of an array named enemy.

Your function then doesn't need enemy1 or enemy2 passing to it, just name and pos1.

[WIZ4]

This solves the problem, thanks

[WIZ4]

I tried to make sure that each time the function is executed, to him "local count" was added 50

Code: Select all

script.on_event(defines.events.on_tick, function(event)
  local interval = 1 * 1 * 60  
  if game.tick >= 1*1*60 then 
    if (game.tick % interval) == 0 then
   local X = math.random(-200,200)
   local Y = math.random(100,200)
   for y=-15,15 do   for x=-15,15 do
    local count = 25
    local pos1 = {X+math.random(-count,count),Y+math.random(-count,count)}
    local enemy = {"spitter-spawner", "biter-spawner"}
    local name = "enemy"[math.random(1,2)]
    
   try_place_spawner (count,name,pos1)
   count = count + 50
   end
   end
   end
   end
end)

function try_place_spawner (count,name,pos1)
  if  game.surfaces.nauvis.can_place_entity{name = name, position = pos1} == true then
game.surfaces.nauvis.create_entity({ name= name, position = pos1});
end
 
end

But count it still remains the same, at the next activation function
Why this does not work?

[orzelek]

It's because local variable is short lived - it's reinitialized every run of method.
You'd need to store it in global table to have it stored between runs and saved in save file.

[WIZ4]

It's because local variable is short lived - it's reinitialized every run of method.
You'd need to store it in global table to have it stored between runs and saved in save file.

Thanks, it worked!