Deleting a mobile after a given time

[GhostRiderGrey]

I am looking for a way to delete a mobile after a given amount of time. In my searching of the forums I came across this, which uses the OnThink method.

private DateTime m_DeleteTime;
 
public override void OnThink()
{
    base.OnThink();
 
    if( m_DeleteTime >= DateTime.Now )
    {
        Delete();
        return; // we need to delete
    }
 
    // Do your heal function here.
    m_DeleteTime = DateTime.Now + TimeSpan.FromMinutes( 1 );
}

Would not the line if( m_DeleteTime >= DateTime.Now ) always be true because, until 1 minute had passed, the m_DeleteTime would be greater than the DateTime.Now?

Additionally, should the m_DeleteTime be serialized?

Thanks!

 

[GhostRiderGrey]

Okay, i have continued to try iterations of m_DeleteTime and DateTime.Now to no avail. Here is the complete mobile script as I presently have it. When one adds a RabidSquirrel to the shard, it is instantly deleted (rather than after a 2 minute delay). All my iterations have produced this result.

using System;
using Server;
using Server.Mobiles;
 
namespace Server.Mobiles
{
    [CorpseName( "a squirrel corpse" )]   
    public class RabidSquirrel : BaseCreature
    {
        private DateTime m_DeleteTime;
        private DateTime m_NextFire;
 
        [Constructable]
        public RabidSquirrel() : base( AIType.AI_Animal, FightMode.Closest, 10, 1, 0.2, 0.4 )
        {
            Name = "a rabid squirrel";
            Body = 0x116;
 
            SetStr( 44, 50 );
            SetDex( 35 );
            SetInt( 5 );
 
            SetHits( 150, 200 );
 
            SetDamage( 30, 40 );
 
            SetDamageType( ResistanceType.Physical, 100 );
 
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Physical, 30, 34 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Fire, 10, 14 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Cold, 30, 35 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Poison, 20, 25 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Energy, 20, 25 );
 
            SetSkill( SkillName.MagicResist, 120.0 );
            SetSkill( SkillName.Tactics,120.0 );
            SetSkill( SkillName.Wrestling, 120.0 );
        }
 
        public override void OnThink()
        {
            base.OnThink();
 
            if (DateTime.Now >= m_DeleteTime)
            {
                Delete();
                return; // we need to delete
            }
 
            if ( this.Combatant != null && this.m_NextFire < DateTime.Now )
            {
                this.MovingParticles( this.Combatant, 0x36D4, 7, 0, false, true, 9502, 4019, 0x160 );
                AOS.Damage( this.Combatant, this, Utility.Random( 20, 30 ), 0, 100, 0, 0, 0 );
                this.m_NextFire = DateTime.Now + TimeSpan.FromSeconds( 30.0 );
            }
 
            m_DeleteTime = DateTime.Now + TimeSpan.FromMinutes( 2 );
        }
 
//Extra Pet damage code -- Ch'vayre
        public override void AlterMeleeDamageTo( Mobile to, ref int damage )
        {
            if ( to is BaseCreature )
            {
                BaseCreature creature = (BaseCreature)to;
                if( creature.Controlled )
                {
                    damage = damage * 4;
                }           
            }
           
            base.AlterMeleeDamageTo( to, ref damage );
        }
 
//End extra pet damage code
 
        public override Poison HitPoison{ get{ return Poison.Lethal ; } }
        public override bool Unprovokable{ get{ return true; } }
        public override bool Uncalmable{ get{ return true; } }
 
        public RabidSquirrel( Serial serial ) : base( serial )
        {
        }
 
        public override void Serialize( GenericWriter writer )
        {
            base.Serialize( writer );           
            writer.Write( (int) 0 ); // version
            writer.WriteDeltaTime( m_DeleteTime );
        }
 
        public override void Deserialize( GenericReader reader )
        {
            base.Deserialize( reader );           
            int version = reader.ReadInt();
            m_DeleteTime = reader.ReadDeltaTime();
        }
    }
}

Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

[GhostRiderGrey]

Got it figured by setting m_DeleteTime outside of the OnThink area

using System;
using Server;
using Server.Mobiles;
 
namespace Server.Mobiles
{
    [CorpseName( "a squirrel corpse" )]   
    public class RabidSquirrel : BaseCreature
    {
        private DateTime m_DeleteTime = DateTime.Now + TimeSpan.FromMinutes( 1 );
        private DateTime m_NextFire;
 
        [Constructable]
        public RabidSquirrel() : base( AIType.AI_Animal, FightMode.Closest, 10, 1, 0.2, 0.4 )
        {
            Name = "a rabid squirrel";
            Body = 0x116;
 
            SetStr( 44, 50 );
            SetDex( 35 );
            SetInt( 5 );
 
            SetHits( 150, 200 );
 
            SetDamage( 30, 40 );
 
            SetDamageType( ResistanceType.Physical, 100 );
 
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Physical, 30, 34 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Fire, 10, 14 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Cold, 30, 35 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Poison, 20, 25 );
            SetResistance( ResistanceType.Energy, 20, 25 );
 
            SetSkill( SkillName.MagicResist, 120.0 );
            SetSkill( SkillName.Tactics,120.0 );
            SetSkill( SkillName.Wrestling, 120.0 );
        }
 
        public override void OnThink()
        {
            base.OnThink();
 
            if (DateTime.Now >= m_DeleteTime)
            {
                Delete();
                return; // we need to delete
            }
 
            if ( this.Combatant != null && this.m_NextFire < DateTime.Now )
            {
                this.MovingParticles( this.Combatant, 0x36D4, 7, 0, false, true, 9502, 4019, 0x160 );
                AOS.Damage( this.Combatant, this, Utility.Random( 20, 30 ), 0, 100, 0, 0, 0 );
                this.m_NextFire = DateTime.Now + TimeSpan.FromSeconds( 30.0 );
            }
        }
 
//Extra Pet damage code -- Ch'vayre
        public override void AlterMeleeDamageTo( Mobile to, ref int damage )
        {
            if ( to is BaseCreature )
            {
                BaseCreature creature = (BaseCreature)to;
                if( creature.Controlled )
                {
                    damage = damage * 4;
                }           
            }
           
            base.AlterMeleeDamageTo( to, ref damage );
        }
 
//End extra pet damage code
 
        public override Poison HitPoison{ get{ return Poison.Lethal ; } }
        public override bool Unprovokable{ get{ return true; } }
        public override bool Uncalmable{ get{ return true; } }
 
        public RabidSquirrel( Serial serial ) : base( serial )
        {
        }
 
        public override void Serialize( GenericWriter writer )
        {
            base.Serialize( writer );           
            writer.Write( (int) 0 ); // version
            writer.WriteDeltaTime( m_DeleteTime );
        }
 
        public override void Deserialize( GenericReader reader )
        {
            base.Deserialize( reader );           
            int version = reader.ReadInt();
            m_DeleteTime = reader.ReadDeltaTime();
        }
    }
}

And am I doing the serialization of m_DeleteTime correctly?

 

[daat99]

1. You need to initialize the delete time inside the constructor and not in the definition.
2. I'm not sure how you're supposed to serialize a DateTime object.
If you took your serialization code from another file that serializes a DateTime object than it should be ok.

 

[Mortis]

You could try this. Source was from Sheep.cs Witch has a DateTime object.

        public override void Serialize( GenericWriter writer )
        {
            base.Serialize( writer );
 
            writer.Write( (int) 1 );
 
            writer.WriteDeltaTime( m_DeleteTime );
        }
 
        public override void Deserialize( GenericReader reader )
        {
            base.Deserialize( reader );
 
            int version = reader.ReadInt();
 
            switch ( version )
            {
                case 1:
                {
                    DeleteTime = reader.ReadDeltaTime();
                    break;
                }

 

[Aquatic Elf]

If you're not too concerned with the creature being deleted at an exact or specific time, then a simplier solution would be:

Just create a timer for X minutes right when the creature is spawned. To ensure the creature is still deleted if the world goes down (since timers aren't persistent), just recreate the timer on Deserialize for X minutes.

The difference is that you're ignoring how much time the timer had remaining when the world went down, and just simply recreating the timer.