Entities
An entity is any object, moving or stationary, that inhabits the map but does not use the actor system. There are five kinds of entity in the game.
Platforms and Mud Fountains
The platforms and mud fountains are moving surfaces that the player (and other actors) can stand on and use for transport around the map. Platforms (but not fountains) may need to be activated by using a Foot Switch.
These entities are inserted by a map author and follow rigidly defined paths.
Explosions
An explosion (or series of explosions) are typically created when player-placed Armed Bombs explode. Explosions can damage map actors as well as the player.
In addition to bombs, explosions can occur from Pyramid Spikes, Electric Beam Robots, Worm Crates, and Rockets.
Spawners
A spawner is a precursor to an actor that is being spawned into existence. When the player destroys a Barrel, for example, the barrel releases a spawner that flies up some distance into the air. Once the spawner reaches its maximum height, it is replaced by a full actor of the same type which falls back to the ground using the actor system’s sense of gravity.
Both good things (like prizes from barrels) and bad things (like Blue Ball/Parachute Creatures from Tulip Launcher Plants) are added to the map using the spawner system.
Decorations
Decorations are simple sprites or sprite sequences that appear either stationary or move in a fixed direction. Decorations do not test for intersection with map tiles – they either run until their animations end or until they scroll off the edge of the screen.
The vast majority of decorations in the game are either sparkles or rising smoke plumes, but a few other activities generate decorations of different styles.
Shards
Groups of shards are generated when certain actor types are destroyed. Each shard is either a complete sprite or a fragment of a sprite, which flies away from the point of creation. After at most one “bounce” off the floor, each shard is absorbed into the ground before disappearing.