# Reality Tears & Shimmering Portal Spawning Mechanics: How do they work?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [November 29, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672 "2018-11-29T17:57:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nameless\_survivor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/nameless_survivor/32/4476_2.png) [@nameless\_survivor](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nameless_survivor)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/1 "2018-11-29T17:57:33Z")

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So as I understand it, these anomalies will occasionally spit out extra-dimensional beasties while they are in the reality bubble, and at present there is no way to close them or use them for any purpose.

With that in mind, how does the game decide how & where to spawn the various nether creatures?

Do they have to appear on the portal tile itself, or can they appear in an area around it?

If monsters can spawn in the area around it, what is the radius of that spawn zone?

Will any construction prevent a tile from being considered for spawning (ex: an open door), or just impassable ones (walls)?

Could I for example, build a wall around a portal, but leave a door on one side adjacent to the portal to act as an [“iris”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MpGVeDxlK8) so that nothing can spawn and the portal is inaccessible unless the door is open? Or if the spawning effect is an area, have the entire area filled in with wall sections except for a single corridor of doors.

Like this:  
WWW  
WPW  
WDW

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**Author:** ![Erk](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/erk/32/3871_2.png) [@Erk](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Erk)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/2 "2018-11-29T18:06:57Z")

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No idea about your spawning question, but this reminds me that I’d love to add in terrain types and materials from the netherum, and make it possible to traverse the portals. Even if you couldn’t get much of use, it would be super interesting.

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**Author:** ![nameless\_survivor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/nameless_survivor/32/4476_2.png) [@nameless\_survivor](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nameless_survivor)\
**Post date:** [November 29, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/3 "2018-11-29T18:09:37Z")

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That’s kind of what this is in preparation for. There is a portal or something a couple dozen map tiles way from my base, and I’d like to lock it down, both to prevent spawning and for future exploitation if/when travel to other planes gets implemented.

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**Author:** ![Invalid\_Username](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Invalid\_Username](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Invalid_Username)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 5:01am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/4 "2018-11-30T05:01:12Z")

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I read something a week or so ago saying that artifacts can eat portals to recharge, but I don’t know if that’s a mod or not so don’t take my word as gospel.

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**Author:** ![nameless\_survivor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/nameless_survivor/32/4476_2.png) [@nameless\_survivor](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nameless_survivor)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 2:17pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/5 "2018-11-30T14:17:41Z")

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That sounds like a mod, because I’ve never heard of that in the base game. Might be Arcana?

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**Author:** ![\_k1](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/_k1/32/1335_2.png) [@\_k1](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/_k1)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 10:47am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/6 "2018-12-01T10:47:10Z")

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An idea Ive always been wanting to try but have no opportunity.

Let a triffid queen walk over the portal amd see if the forest replaces the portal.

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**Author:** ![nameless\_survivor](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/nameless_survivor/32/4476_2.png) [@nameless\_survivor](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nameless_survivor)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/reality-tears-shimmering-portal-spawning-mechanics-how-do-they-work/17672/7 "2018-12-01T18:35:22Z")

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That sir is an excellent question. I may have to use the debug menu to spawn a triffid queen and portal for science.

But unfortunately I suspect the answer is no. I don’t think the portals are actually terrain. I think they are treated more like furniture or a construction.