How do I avoid spawn() and wait() spam?

The Spawn function creates a new thread for the thread scheduler to execute - it is for processing multiple actions at once. If you absolutely need to do two actions at once, what you're doing is fine.

The only alternative I may suggest is using the coroutine functions built into the API. Ultimately, these will produce the same outcome. But, coroutines are more powerful.

• They allow you to be able to retrieve data outside of the initially defined thread(will give example)

• You cannot yield the thread the spawn function creates with the exception of internal yield functions (and wait).

In other words, it is:

spawn(function() -- [FIRST NEW THREAD]
    print("hold on mydude, gotta go get something")
end)
local externalData = "Bob";
wait(10);
spawn(function() -- [SECOND NEW THREAD]
    print("alright i'm back, the guy's name was: "..externalData")
end)

vs:

local a = coroutine.create(function() -- [FIRST NEW THREAD]
    print("hold on mydude, gotta go get something");
    local externalData = coroutine.yield();
    print("alright i'm back, the guy's name was: "..externalData);
end)

local theInfoInTheOtherRoom = "Bob";

coroutine.resume(a); -- [PLAYING FIRST THREAD]
wait(10);
coroutine.resume(a,theInfoInTheOtherRoom); -- [STILL JUST THE FIRST THREAD]

See what I mean? It's one thread, rather than two threads.

Note that I know this situation doesn't seem relevant to yours, and that I am mainly providing an example as to why you might consider using coroutine functions rather than spawn

The coroutine.yield function will stop the thread until coroutine.resume is called upon the thread, externally, and will return whatever arguments were passed with resume

So, the coroutine equivalents to your code would be:

• create/resume

local count = coroutine.create(function()
    local counter = 0
    while counter < 10 do
        pl.Range = pl.Range * (1 - counter / 10)
        counter = counter + 1
        wait()          
    end     
end)
coroutine.resume(count);

• wrap

local count = coroutine.wrap(function()
    local counter = 0
    while counter < 10 do
        pl.Range = pl.Range * (1 - counter / 10)
        counter = counter + 1
        wait()          
    end     
end)
count();