Spawn mobs without respawn (and without 'role')

[Daxter]

I'm trying to design a custom lua spawning system where spawn coords are randomly picked from a list. Since the idea is that each 'respawn' rerolls for coords, I assume I can't rely on standard respawn mechanics and thus must handle them myself.

My first idea was to look into sand bag mechanics:

function ItemUse_ShaBao2(role , Item)
local Cha_Boat = 0
      Cha_Boat = GetCtrlBoat ( role )
    if Cha_Boat ~=  nil then
        SystemNotice( role , "Cannot use while sailing" )
        UseItemFailed ( role )
        return
    end
    local reg = 0
          reg =IsChaInRegion( role, 2 )
    if reg == 1 then
        SystemNotice( role , "Training in Safe Zone? Dream on!" )
        UseItemFailed ( role )
                return
    end
            local x, y = GetChaPos(role)
        local x_move=5
        local y_move=5
        x=x_move+x
        y=y_move+y
        local MonsterID = 938
                local Refresh = 1900000                       
        local life = 1800000                       
        local new = CreateChaX( MonsterID , x , y , 145 , Refresh,role )
        SetChaLifeTime( new, life )
end

Which I tried to replicate in garnermonster_conf.lua:

for index, spawner in ipairs(GlobalRandomSpawns["garner"]) do
    if spawner.Enabled then
        
        -- Create a temporary table to remember which spots this spawner has used
        local used_spots = {}
        
        for i = 1, spawner.quantity do
            -- Pass the used_spots table
            local rx, ry, picked_idx = GetRandomLocation(spawner.locations, used_spots)
            
            -- Mark this index as used so the next in the loop can't pick it
            used_spots[picked_idx] = true
            
            local final_x = rx --+ math.random(-150, 150)
            local final_y = ry 

            local Refresh = 1900000                       
            local life = 1800000                       

            --local new = CreateCha(spawner.MonsterID, final_x, final_y, spawner.angle, Refresh)
            local new = CreateChaX( spawner.MonsterID, final_x, final_y, spawner.angle, Refresh,nil)
            SetChaLifeTime( new, life )
            print("Spawned MonsterID: " .. spawner.MonsterID .. " at (" .. final_x .. ", " .. final_y .. ")")
        end
    end
end

Which doesn't throw any error (and I even the the message on the gamerserver console window "confirming" the spawn), but when I enter the game, no monster is actually spawned at those coordinates. I assume it's because I'm using

nil

as the 'role' value, but since the spawn occurs at map level, there's no 'role' context for me to use.

Ideas?

 

[Daxter]

In case someone wants to test on their side:

(garner) conf.lua

function map_run_garner( map )
    local current_time = os.time()
   
    -- Safety check in case the queue hasn't been initialized
    if GlobalRespawnQueue == nil then return end
   
    local queue_size = table.getn(GlobalRespawnQueue)
   
    -- Loop backwards through the queue
    for i = queue_size, 1, -1 do
        local task = GlobalRespawnQueue[i]
       
        if task.map == "garner" and current_time >= task.respawn_time then
            local spawner = GlobalRandomSpawns["garner"][task.index]
           
            if spawner and spawner.Enabled then
                local rx, ry = GetRandomLocation(spawner.locations)
                local final_x = rx
                local final_y = ry
               
                local Refresh = 1900000                    
                local life = 1800000                       

                local new = CreateChaX( spawner.MonsterID, final_x, final_y, spawner.angle, Refresh)
                SetChaLifeTime( new, life )
                print("SUCCESS: Respawned MonsterID: " .. spawner.MonsterID .. " at (" .. final_x .. ", " .. final_y .. ")")
            end
           
            table.remove(GlobalRespawnQueue, i)
        end
    end
end

garnermonster_conf.lua

if GlobalRandomSpawns == nil then GlobalRandomSpawns = {} end
if GlobalRespawnQueue == nil then GlobalRespawnQueue = {} end
GlobalRandomSpawns["garner"] = {
    {
        MonsterID = 694, -- replace with duplicated ID!
        Enabled = true,
        quantity = 1,
        RespawnTime = 30,
        angle = 275,
        locations = {
            {x = 189500, y = 277600, weight = 1}, -- weight can be used for relative chance vs other locations
            {x = 190600, y = 277300, weight = 1},
            {x = 190000, y = 276600, weight = 1},
        }
    }
}
math.randomseed(os.time())
function GetRandomLocation(locations, used_indices)
    -- safety line! If used_indices is nil, make it an empty table.
    used_indices = used_indices or {}
   
    local totalWeight = 0
    local available_locs = {}
    -- Step 1: Filter out locations we've already spawned a monster at
    for i, loc in ipairs(locations) do
        if not used_indices[i] then
            totalWeight = totalWeight + (loc.weight or 1)
            -- Store both the location data and its original index
            table.insert(available_locs, {index = i, data = loc})
        end
    end
    -- Failsafe: If we want to spawn 4 monsters but only gave 3 coordinates,
    -- it will reset and allow overlapping rather than crashing.
    if totalWeight == 0 then
        return locations[1].x, locations[1].y, 1
    end
    -- Step 2: Roll a random number from the remaining available spots
    local randomVal = math.random(1, totalWeight)
    local currentWeight = 0
    -- Step 3: Find which available location "won"
    for _, item in ipairs(available_locs) do
        currentWeight = currentWeight + (item.data.weight or 1)
        if randomVal <= currentWeight then
            -- Return the X, Y, and the Index so we can mark it as used
            return item.data.x, item.data.y, item.index
        end
    end
   
    return available_locs[1].data.x, available_locs[1].data.y, available_locs[1].index
end
-- Initial spawn loop when the map boots up
for index, spawner in ipairs(GlobalRandomSpawns["garner"]) do
    if spawner.Enabled then
       
        -- Create a temporary table to remember which spots this spawner has used
        local used_spots = {}
       
        for i = 1, spawner.quantity do
            -- Pass the used_spots table into our function
            local rx, ry, picked_idx = GetRandomLocation(spawner.locations, used_spots)
           
            -- Mark this index as used so the next monster in the loop can't pick it
            used_spots[picked_idx] = true
           
            -- MMO Trick: Add a tiny random scatter (-150 to +150) so they don't look robotic
            -- (Remove the math.random addition if you want them on the EXACT pixel)
            local final_x = rx --+ math.random(-150, 150)
            local final_y = ry --+ math.random(-150, 150)
            local Refresh = 1900000                    
            local life = 1800000                       
            --local new = CreateCha(spawner.MonsterID, final_x, final_y, spawner.angle, Refresh)
            local new = CreateChaX( spawner.MonsterID, final_x, final_y, spawner.angle, Refresh)
            SetChaLifeTime( new, life )
            print("Spawned MonsterID: " .. spawner.MonsterID .. " at (" .. final_x .. ", " .. final_y .. ")")
        end
    end
end

exp_and_level.lua

GlobalRandomSpawns = {}
GlobalRespawnQueue = {}
-- The math helper for coordinates
function GetRandomLocation(locations)
    local totalWeight = 0
    for _, loc in ipairs(locations) do totalWeight = totalWeight + (loc.weight or 1) end
    local randomVal = math.random(1, totalWeight)
    local currentWeight = 0
    for _, loc in ipairs(locations) do
        currentWeight = currentWeight + (loc.weight or 1)
        if randomVal <= currentWeight then return loc.x, loc.y end
    end
    return locations[1].x, locations[1].y
end
function GetExp_PKM( dead , atk  )
    local MonsterID = GetChaID(dead)
    local map_name = GetChaMapName(dead)
    local map_spawns = GlobalRandomSpawns[map_name]
  
    -- If this map has random spawns configured, check if the dead monster matches one
    if map_spawns then
        for index, spawner in ipairs(map_spawns) do
            if spawner.MonsterID == MonsterID and spawner.Enabled then
                -- Add to the global waiting list with a future timestamp
                table.insert(GlobalRespawnQueue, {
                    map = map_name,
                    index = index,
                    respawn_time = os.time() + spawner.RespawnTime
                })
                print("MonsterID: " .. MonsterID .. " defeated. Scheduled respawn in " .. spawner.RespawnTime .. " seconds.")
                break -- We found it, stop looping
            end
        end
    end
(... remaining function)