Spawning system

Have a look on how big zeds are incorporated in the spawn list:

End of the first spawn cycle: 2 scrakes (from normal squad) + (2 FP + 3 SC)



Beginning of the second spawn cycle: (2 FP + 3 SC) + 2 scrakes (from normal squad)

End of the first spawn cycle: 2 scrakes (from normal squad) + (2 FP + 6 QP)



Beginning of the second spawn cycle: (2 FP + 6 QP) + 2 scrakes (from normal squad)

End of the first spawn cycle: 2 scrakes (from normal squad) + (3 FP)



Beginning of the second spawn cycle: (3FP) + 2 scrakes (from normal squad)

[github.com]

Standard KF2 comes with predefined squad definitions, called "archetypes", created by Tripwire. A list of archetypes is associated with each combination of difficulty+gamelength+wavenumber. For a full list of these archetypes, consult Simple Cat's KF2 spreadsheet (check the difficulty tab) or open the KF2 SDK and browse Packages->Gameplay->GP_Spawning_ARCHWhen a wave starts, the game creates an initially-empty squadlist. The game iterates through all "normal squad" archetypes, adding each one to the its list.. The game then randomly shuffles the entire squadlist.The game then spawns each squad in the squadlist.If the game reaches the end of the squadlist before the wave ends, then it discards the used-up squadlist and repeats entire squadlist-building process from the start. However, there is one complication. On the 2nd, 4th, 6th, ... squadlists, the game only uses "normal squad" archetypes. It does not spawn a "special squad" archetype on these even-numbered squadlists. This behavior creates a natural hard-easy-hard-easy-... rhythm. The beginning of a wave tends to be more hectic because the spawn list includes a special squad, but that is followed by a less hectic spawn list with no special squad, then there is another spawn list with a special squad that makes the game more hectic, etc.Note that "normal squad" is somewhat misleading. In later waves on higher difficulties, a "normal squad" may include up to one scrake. For example, there are two separate "normal squad" archetypes on Wave 10 HOE that have one scrake each. This means even the squadlists without a "special squad" archetype will still have two scrakes, and squadlists with a "special squad" archytpes have two extra scrakes mixed in.Shuffling the squad list creates unpredictably distributed big zeds. They could all spawn at the same time, or they could be evenly-spaced among trash spawns with rest time in between.my notes:Consider the beginning of Wave 10 HOE. Several scenarios:The normal squads guarantee two scrakes in one squad each. For the sake of discussion, say that the game randomly chooses the 2 FP + 3 SC special squad at the start of the wave. The game then shuffles the list. This could result in 2FP + 5 SC spawning nearly consecutively.. This variation can actually be even more severe than described, since, depending on how the shuffles went:total = 4 FP + 10 SC=>other scenario with 2 FP + 6 QP:total = 4 FP + 12 QP + 4 SC=>other scenario with 3 FP:total = 6 FP + 4 SCor it could result in the squads being spread out over the wave.