Hands-on Rust

Composing Entities

Entities are composed of combined components that describe them. Whenever you add a component type (and systems that use it), you’re offering that functionality to any entity. You can use it for everything, or you may restrict it to a small number of special creatures—but every time you add a component, you are giving yourself options. You can now add that functionality to anything you like. Some combinations may not make sense, but with a little thought, you can quickly add realism and fun to your game.

One advantage of using component composition is that it becomes easier to translate from an English description of a monster to a set of components. You might write that a goblin is “a small, green, angry humanoid. They roam ...