Boat

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-04

Overview

The boat prefab is responsible for spawning and configuring all boat variants in the game (wood, grass, ice, pirate, ancient, otterden). It establishes core functionality through shared pre-initialization (create_common_pre) and post-initialization (create_master_pst) functions, integrates physics, collision, and entity tracking, and handles variant-specific behaviors such as self-degradation (grass/otterden), fire mechanics (wood/pirate/ancient), and den-based erosion (otterden). It does not define a reusable component class; instead, it defines prefab factory functions that construct fully configured entities with all required components.

Usage example

Boats are not instantiated directly via a component API. Instead, prefabs are spawned through the game's prefab system (e.g., via deploy kits or world generation). Below is a typical usage pattern when deploying a boat from an item:

-- In a deploy handler (e.g., ondeploy):
local boat = SpawnPrefab(inst.deploy_product) -- e.g., "boat", "boat_grass"
boat.Physics:Teleport(pt.x, 0, pt.z)
boat.sg:GoToState("place")
-- Boat automatically handles physics, hull health, and platform updates post-deploy

Dependencies & tags

Components used: walkableplatform, healthsyncer, waterphysics, reticule, boatringdata, hull, repairable, boatring, hullhealth, boatphysics, boatdrifter, savedrotation, entitytracker, deployable, health, placer, inspectable, inventoryitem, fuel, burnable, propagator, hauntable, physicswaker.

Tags added on boat entities:

• "ignorewalkableplatforms" (common)
• "antlion_sinkhole_blocker" (common)
• "boat" (common)
• "wood" (wood, pirate, ancient, otterden boats; removed for ice boats)
• "NOBLOCK", "NOCLICK" (collision entities only)
• "CLASSIFIED" (collision entities only)

Tags checked: "controlled_burner", "boatbumper", "boatcannon", "angry_when_rowed" (otterden), "player", "fireimmune".

Properties

Boat prefabs do not define public properties on a component class. Instead, they set instance-level properties during creation.

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
material	string	"wood", "grass", "ice", or "kelp" (otterden)	Determines behavior such as sounds, degradation rate, repair material, and visual style.
leak_build / leak_build_override	string or nil	nil	Specifies the animation build used for leak effects.
sounds	table	sounds, sounds_grass, sounds_ice	Sound keys and paths for events like place, damage, sink.
sinkloot	function	custom per variant	Defines how fragments spawn on sink.
postsinkfn	function	custom per variant	Executed immediately after sinkloot, often to spawn FX.
activefires	number	0	Counter for active fires; influences fragment ignition on sink.
_container	entity or nil	nil (ancient boats)	The anchored container for ancient boats.
walksound / second_walk_sound	string or nil	e.g., "wood", "marsh", "tallgrass", "ice"	Sound bank keys used for walking sounds on the boat.
leaky	boolean	true (grass boats)	Indirectly tracked by hullhealth via leakproof.
stopupdatingtask	task or nil	nil	Task handle for deferred physics sleep.

Main functions

The file defines several internal helper and factory functions; these are not component methods but are called during entity construction or gameplay events.

create_common_pre(inst, bank, build, data)

• Description: Initializes common transform, animstate, sound, network, physics, and tagging for all boat variants. Sets up shared components: walkableplatform, healthsyncer, waterphysics, reticule, and boatringdata. Adds stategraph listener hooks for steering reticule.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The entity being constructed.
  • bank (string) — Animation bank name (e.g., "boat_01").
  • build (string) — Build name (e.g., "boat_test").
  • data (table) — Variant-specific data including radius, max_health, item_collision_prefab, boatlip_prefab, plank_prefab, minimap_image, and optional scale.
• Returns: inst — The partially initialized entity.

create_master_pst(inst, data)

• Description: Server-side initialization for boat functionality, including hull geometry, leak detection, repair, physics coordination, and stategraph assignment. Adds components and methods specific to the active boat type.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The partially initialized entity (from create_common_pre).
  • data (table) — Same as in create_common_pre.
• Returns: inst — The fully initialized server-side boat entity.

OnSpawnNewBoatLeak(inst, data)

• Description: Spawns a dynamic leak entity, attaches it to the platform, and notifies players on the boat. Used for wood/pirate/ancient boats.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The boat entity.
  • data (table) — Must include pt (Vector3) for leak position and optionally leak_size and playsoundfx.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnSpawnNewBoatLeak_Grass(inst, data)

• Description: Handles leak logic for grass and otterden boats: spawns visual FX and directly applies health damage based on leak size. Does not spawn persistent leak entities.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The boat entity.
  • data (table) — Must include pt (Vector3) and leak_size, optionally playsoundfx.
• Returns: Nothing.

InstantlyBreakBoat(inst)

• Description: Immediately breaks the boat without going through the full sink stategraph. Abandons ships on platform, triggers sink loot, and removes the boat. Used for physics safety or manual breakage.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The boat entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

GetSafePhysicsRadius(inst)

• Description: Returns the hull radius plus a small offset (0.18) to account for item overhangs.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The boat entity.
• Returns: number — Safe physics radius.

IsBoatEdgeOverLand(inst, override_position_pt)

• Description: Checks if any segment of the boat's perimeter overlaps non-ocean tiles (land, visual ground, etc.) using 40 collision segments. Useful for deployment validation and hazard checks.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The boat entity.
  • override_position_pt (Vector3 or nil) — Optional point to test instead of current boat position.
• Returns: boolean — true if any edge segment overlaps land or non-ocean tile.

CLIENT_CanDeployBoat(inst, pt, mouseover, deployer, rotation)

• Description: Client-side deployment validation function. Checks distance constraints (including floating hop range) and tile validity for deployment.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The boat item entity (not the boat itself).
  • pt (Vector3) — Target deployment point.
  • mouseover, deployer, rotation — Deployment metadata.
• Returns: boolean — true if deployment is valid at pt.

ice_ondeath(inst)

• Description: Server-side event handler for ice floe death. If asleep, triggers "abandon_ship" for platform entities and sinks the floe.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — The ice floe entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

boat_player_collision_template(radius)

• Description: Constructs a pristined, non-networked collision entity used to detect player movement over the boat (for platform entry/exit).
• Parameters:
  • radius (number) — Boat radius; used to build the triangle mesh.
• Returns: Entity — The collision entity.

boat_item_collision_template(radius)

• Description: Constructs a pristined, non-networked item collision entity to keep items from falling off the boat.
• Parameters:
  • radius (number) — Boat radius.
• Returns: Entity — The item collision entity.

SpawnFragment(lp, prefix, offset_x, offset_y, offset_z, ignite)

• Description: Helper used in sink loot functions. Spawns a fragment prefab at an offset, sets velocity if offset_y > 0, and optionally ignites it if ignite is true.
• Parameters:
  • lp (Vector3) — Loot point origin (boat position).
  • prefix (string) — Prefab name prefix (e.g., "boards", "kelp", "ice").
  • offset_x, offset_y, offset_z (numbers) — Position offsets relative to lp.
  • ignite (boolean) — Whether to ignite via Burnable:Ignite() if present.
• Returns: Entity — The spawned fragment.

Events & listeners

The boat entities listen to the following events; most are registered in create_common_pre or variant functions.

• "spawnnewboatleak" — Triggers leak creation via OnSpawnNewBoatLeak or OnSpawnNewBoatLeak_Grass.
• "death" — For ice boats: calls ice_ondeath.
• "rowed" — For otterden boats: triggers OnRowed_OtterDen.
• "onremove" — Tracks removal of attached entities (e.g., bumpers, anchors, collision entities).
• "endsteeringreticule" / "starsteeringreticule" — Client-side steering hooks to create/destroy the reticule.
• "postinit" / "OnLoadPostPass" — Late post-pass logic like bumper rotation (OnLoadPostPass).
• "dead_otterden_added" — Tracks dead otterdens for leak indicators.
• "onpresink" — Pushed to players before sink (in InstantlyBreakBoat and stategraph).

The boat pushes the following events (via component hooks or PushEvent):

• "abandon_ship" — Pushed to all entities on the platform (including players) when boat is about to break/sink.
• "on_standing_on_new_leak" — Pushed to players standing on a newly spawned leak (wood/pirate/ancient).
• "onpresink" — Pushed to players just before sink.
• "otterboaterosion_begin" — Pushed to players when otterden erosion starts or den is removed.

Note: Some events (e.g., "death", "abandon_ship") are handled directly by components (health, walkableplatform), while others are routed through custom callbacks defined in the prefab factory functions.