Zombie api gadget by Stiofan-K · Pull Request #5784 · ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-09T15:12:09Z

Splitting off some the zombies code into a gadget to later be used by nanoplague

groundwork for splitting off some the zombies into a gadget to be used by nanoplague

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-09T15:46:29Z

I'm a bit on the fence on some things, specifically handling the zombies arrays and such.

I could unify/port/standerdise the countdown to revive aswell I suppose, though then it would not be possible to differentiate between zombie or nanoplague zombies.

GoogleFrog · 2026-07-11T03:15:40Z

What does each of the gadgets do? The descriptions of each should be updated to make this clear, because api_ and unit_ don't mean a whole lot.

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-11T06:15:52Z

aaaaaye.
The api gadget are essentially just helper functions to be used by anything that wants to do zombie esque things, with the base/unit zombies being the global passive wreck reviving.

Ideally I want to put as much into the helper gadget to avoid duplication, but I'm unsure if I can put more there without it becoming inflexible.

sprunk · 2026-07-13T11:51:20Z

+  GG.Zombies = {
+    TurnFeatureIntoUnit     = TurnFeatureIntoUnit,
+    SetZombieSpeedMult      = SetZombieSpeedMult,
+    SetZombieBehavior       = SetZombieBehavior,


I'd get rid of the "set behaviour" and just let gadgets ask for the wander directly. Units are essentially "controlled by luaAI" by default.

Suggested change

SetZombieBehavior = SetZombieBehavior,

SetZombieWander = GiveZombiesRandomOrders,

sprunk

looks ok overall, i'll see if i can find some time to test during the week

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-13T12:08:46Z

aye thanks, I'll change it around!

Thoughts on if theres sense in trying to put the to be rezed arrays in the api gadget?
Same with unslowing/speeding zombies, since some may not want their zombies to reset speed.

And is LuaAi different from amove behavior? since thats essentially what wander applies, and I'd be curious if more complex behavior can be coaxed out for nanoplague zombies.

sprunk · 2026-07-13T13:11:18Z

Thoughts on if theres sense in trying to put the to be rezed arrays in the api gadget?
Same with unslowing/speeding zombies

IMO slowing is ok as-is, rezzed arrays may be ok to eventually put in the api but I'll have to think of how to do it cleanly.

And is LuaAi different from amove behavior? since thats essentially what wander applies, and I'd be curious if more complex behavior can be coaxed out for nanoplague zombies.

LuaAI can make units do anything, it's just a matter of writing an implementation. This includes arbitrarily powerful "legit" behaviour (e.g. pyros use jump; glaives perfectly dodge projectiles and avoid LLTs; units congregate into hivemind armies and strategically raid mexes...) but also beyond that (e.g. radars call down orbital tacnukes; detriment roars, whistles, and even plays music).

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-13T13:19:21Z

For rezzed arrays I think the issue would be referencing back to the gadgets that put the features "in queue", so that you can differentiate between different zombie types.

And :O Detriment with all the bells and whistles. Is there a good example for LuaAI floating about? Wandering works generally for whats intended, but cons building structures and units being smarter or 'biased' toward the team that made them could be interesting to give Nanoplagued zombies a smarter feel over normal ones, being a less degraded/feral version of the same tech essentially.

sprunk · 2026-07-13T14:52:44Z

For rezzed arrays I think the issue would be referencing back to the gadgets that put the features "in queue", so that you can differentiate between different zombie types.

Yea I'm thinking there could just be a callback like so

GG.ApplyZombieBuildpower(featureID, buildpower, function (unitID, featureID)
  -- bla
end)

Is there a good example for LuaAI floating about?

Not really, what I listed is mostly just what's possible. In theory CAI is a LuaAI and tries to be smart but it may be hard to make a "detached" instance that won't try to control the rest of non-zombies owned by Gaia.

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-29T15:14:52Z

poke
Should I try to add such a thing or do we stick to this for now? o:

sprunk · 2026-07-29T15:50:41Z

Sounds fine either way. I was/am sort of busy but I'll try to prioritize looking at this deeper soon.

Stiofan-K · 2026-07-29T15:52:15Z

Aye, just wanted to get some confirmation. No rush!

sprunk

I left a bunch of comments, but couldn't resist immediately addressing them all myself. I pushed the resulting commit to https://github.com/ZeroK-RTS/Zero-K/tree/zombie-api-cleaned-up.

Your choice on whether you want to have your share of fun and learning and do them on your own, or if you want me to just merge that cleaned up commit so you can move on to nanoplague etc.

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:12:04Z

+  if reclaimPercentHealth then
+    local currentMetal, maxMetal = Spring.GetFeatureResources(featureID)
+    if currentMetal and maxMetal and (maxMetal > 0) then
+      partialReclaim = currentMetal/maxMetal


When the code does not enter these ifs then the partialReclaim var (which is a global btw) will be nil,

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:12:56Z

+    if partialReclaim ~= 1 then
+      local health = Spring.GetUnitHealth(unitID)
+      if health then
+        Spring.SetUnitHealth(unitID, health*partialReclaim)


and since nil ~= 1 it will enter there and crash on health * partialReclaim due to multiplication by nil.

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:13:41Z

+
+-- Works on non zombie units too.
+local function SetZombieSpeedMult(unitID,speedMult)
+	Spring.SetUnitRulesParam(unitID, "zombieSpeedMult", speedMult, LOS_ACCESS)


Now that it's an API it needs a bit more care around argument correctness, perhaps add something like

Suggested change

Spring.SetUnitRulesParam(unitID, "zombieSpeedMult", speedMult, LOS_ACCESS)

if type(speedMult) ~= 'number' or speedMult < 0 then

error("SetZombieSpeedMult: mult must be number >= 0")

end

Spring.SetUnitRulesParam(unitID, "zombieSpeedMult", speedMult, LOS_ACCESS)

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:16:40Z

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+


needs a synced code check, same as zombies

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:19:08Z

+		author      = "Stiofan",
+		date        = "June 2026",


largely just shuffling of existing code

Suggested change

author = "Stiofan",

date = "June 2026",

author = "TomFyuri, Stiofan",

date = "Mar 2014",

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:50:08Z

+	if (#orders > 0) then
+		if not Spring.GetUnitIsDead(unitID) then


death checks could be done at the top, before rolling dice 30 times. the orders check is redundant since there's always at least 10 orders.

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:50:41Z

+	end
+	if (#orders > 0) then
+		if not Spring.GetUnitIsDead(unitID) then
+			Spring.GiveOrderArrayToUnitArray({unitID}, orders)


the array always has just 1 unit, so could be just Spring.GiveOrderArrayToUnit

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:50:51Z

+local function disSQ(x1, y1, x2, y2)
+	return (x1 - x2)^2 + (y1 - y2)^2
+end


could use math.diag for distance

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:53:04Z

+  Spring.DestroyFeature(featureID)
+  local unitID = Spring.CreateUnit(featureDefName, x, y, z, facing, teamID)


these could be swapped, would keep a brief window where they exist together to allow transferring some traits from the feature to the unit in the future, if needed

sprunk · 2026-09-03T01:53:23Z

+--unused, may be used depending on how things shake out
+local ZOMBIE_SOUNDS = {
+	"sounds/misc/zombie_1.wav",
+	"sounds/misc/zombie_2.wav",


sounds easy to copypaste if/when that happens

zombie api gadget

c947738

groundwork for splitting off some the zombies into a gadget to be used by nanoplague

more descriptive names

c33638a

sprunk reviewed Jul 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

Made random orders a direct export

c205f9f

sprunk reviewed Sep 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

	SetZombieBehavior = SetZombieBehavior,
	SetZombieWander = GiveZombiesRandomOrders,

		--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

		if (#orders > 0) then
		if not Spring.GetUnitIsDead(unitID) then

		Spring.DestroyFeature(featureID)
		local unitID = Spring.CreateUnit(featureDefName, x, y, z, facing, teamID)

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Stiofan-K commented Jul 13, 2026 •

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