Regenerate entity command

[Eelviny]

With the upcoming planet update, it looks like to get the new planets, it requires a whole new universe.

What I'm proposing is a command similar to /despawn_all, that instead will delete the entity and then do something similar to /populate_sector to place the entity back in. Maybe call it /respawn_all.

Of course, this would only work on naturally spawned entites, but allowing server owners and singleplayer users to regenerate specific entities without having to try and edit the database files (I tried for 3 hours earlier and failed) would be really useful. Currently the only way to get the new planets is to go on a sector-by-sector basis of populating the sector after despawning it.
Naturally, this could cause a bit of lag. I don't know if it's possible to spawn the entity in, but only generate the blocks of the planet when a player moves close.

 

[therimmer96]

I asked for this kind of feature before for the new shops. the issue is that people build things. These things can be around the thing that would be changed or deleted, and I am sure you don't want your players complaining that their planets are gone.

 

[GaeasSon]

I've done this dance minecraft style on the servers I ran. What always worked for me was a save and regen. I would have my players identify chunks to save, then I would save them off with MCedit, regen the world, then paste their structures back in. You could probably do the same on a sector-basis. Export user identified sectors, regen the universe, then re-import user identified sectors.

 

[Eelviny]

I've done this dance minecraft style on the servers I ran. What always worked for me was a save and regen. I would have my players identify chunks to save, then I would save them off with MCedit, regen the world, then paste their structures back in. You could probably do the same on a sector-basis. Export user identified sectors, regen the universe, then re-import user identified sectors.

I tend to find that there are too many players on my Minecraft server to realistically do that... so I made sure resets were virtually never needed. Things such as having world borders and such to expand. It's what I'm trying to achieve here. I just want a way in which server owners can bulk regenerate parts of the universe without having to go on a sector-by-sector basis or a full-on reset, both of which cause loss of players or a ton of work transferring things.

I asked for this kind of feature before for the new shops. the issue is that people build things. These things can be around the thing that would be changed or deleted, and I am sure you don't want your players complaining that their planets are gone.

It's always compromises... the main point here, is that a partial reset would impact players less than a full reset. While this game is alpha and everything, it's still upsetting to find that your stuff is gone.

If I'm unable to get this command in time for the next update or something, I would probably go for sector-by-sector if players ask for a new style planet.

 

[0ldSkull]

Haven't tried this in the dev build, but it seems to remove and regenerate a planet in the current release build:

1. Get within range of a planet
2. Use 'F' to target the planet
3. /destroy_entity
4. /populate_sector x y z

I have used this to convert the original spawn-point shop to the new NPC form. It may be a little tedious to do all of the planets, but I haven't visited many in my case (single-player mode). I haven't had any luck getting /despawn_sector to work; not sure if it is only for ships.

 

[Eelviny]

Haven't tried this in the dev build, but it seems to remove and regenerate a planet in the current release build:

1. Get within range of a planet
2. Use 'F' to target the planet
3. /destroy_entity
4. /populate_sector x y z

I have used this to convert the original spawn-point shop to the new NPC form. It may be a little tedious to do all of the planets, but I haven't visited many in my case (single-player mode). I haven't had any luck getting /despawn_sector to work; not sure if it is only for ships.

Yes, I have done this before to change the shop at the main spawn. But, this does not solve the issue of regenerating specific entities over every sector. It would be an inhumane amount of effort to find & regenerate every planet in the universe, so that's why a command to to it in bulk is what I'm asking for.