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Build an Encounter & Wave System in ECS | Spawn Enemies in Waves | Ep 43

Discord: https://discord.gg/Zvkk8Gr Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/agentruss Website: https://agentruss.tv/ 📺 Watch the full playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLf1-5JViTP7AHmUNeUWft4bdSmLNj4q40 In Episode 43 of this ECS game engine series, we build the first version of a real encounter and enemy wave system. Instead of manually placing every enemy in the level, encounters now wait for the player to enter a trigger area, spawn enemies in waves, track when each wave has been defeated, and automatically advance to the next one. In this episode, we: - Create an Encounter component to track runtime encounter state - Add EncounterMember to associate spawned enemies with their encounter - Add DespawnOnDeath so wave enemies disappear instead of respawning forever - Create a data-driven EncounterDatabase - Define multiple enemy waves using our existing enemy variants - Build an EncounterFactory for spawning encounter entities - Update the EnemyFactory to support both normal respawning enemies and encounter enemies - Create DespawnOnDeathSystem for encounter cleanup - Build the main EncounterSystem for trigger detection, wave spawning, wave completion, and progression - Add an Encounter UI showing the current wave and enemies remaining - Replace manually placed enemies in the test level with a real encounter The important part is that the encounter system does not need special logic for every enemy type. It simply reads the encounter data and uses the existing EnemyFactory, AI, damage, death, loot, status effect, targeting, and UI systems. By the end of the episode, walking into the encounter area starts Wave 1, defeating that wave advances to Wave 2, and the encounter continues until all three waves are cleared. This gives us the foundation for things like combat rooms, enemy camps, arenas, dungeons, quests, and wave-based encounters. In the next episode, we can build on this with encounter rewards, so completing all waves can grant coins, items, experience, or unlock something in the level. If this series is helping you understand ECS and game engine architecture, consider subscribing and following along as we keep building the engine from scratch. #ECS #GameDev #JavaScript #ThreeJS #GameEngine