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Spawning System

The spawning system manages entity creation with time-sliced processing to maintain frame time under heavy load. It handles queuing spawn requests and processing them efficiently to prevent frame rate spikes.

Overview​

The ActorSpawnerSubsystem is the core subsystem responsible for managing actor spawning. It provides a robust system for spawning large numbers of entities without causing performance issues.

Spawn Request Workflow​

Each spawn request is handled through a FActorSpawnRequestHandle and goes through several states tracked by EPioneerSpawnRequestStatus:

Spawn States​

  • Pending → Initial state when a spawn request is queued
  • Processing → Actively being spawned
  • Succeeded → Successfully spawned
  • Failed → Failed to spawn
  • RetryPending → Failed but will try again

Key Features​

  • Queuing spawn requests - Spawn requests are queued and processed over time
  • Processing spawn requests within time constraints - Prevents frame rate spikes by spreading spawn operations across multiple frames
  • Time-sliced spawning - Large spawn operations are broken into smaller chunks
  • Async preloading - Entity configurations can be preloaded asynchronously
  • Batch processing - Multiple entities can be spawned efficiently in batches

Performance Considerations​

The spawning system is designed to handle mass spawning scenarios:

  • Spawn operations are time-sliced to maintain consistent frame rates
  • Large spawn requests are automatically broken into smaller batches
  • The system prevents frame time spikes even when spawning hundreds or thousands of units
Performance Tip

When spawning large numbers of units, the system automatically spreads the work across multiple frames. This means spawning 1000 units won't cause a single-frame freeze, but will instead happen smoothly over several frames.

Usage​

The spawning system is typically accessed through the ActorSpawnerSubsystem. Spawn requests are queued and processed automatically by the subsystem.

Troubleshooting​

Units not spawning​

  • Check that spawn requests are being queued correctly
  • Verify that the ActorSpawnerSubsystem is properly initialized
  • Check spawn request status to see if requests are failing

Performance issues when spawning​

  • The system should handle large spawn operations automatically
  • If you experience frame rate drops, check that time-slicing is enabled
  • Consider reducing the number of units spawned per frame if needed