Boatrace Primemate

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

Overview

The boatrace_primemate prefab implements the logic for the Boatrace Prime Mate, a non-player character used in competitive boat races. It handles navigation toward race checkpoints, automatic leak repair while asleep, and periodic buoy deployment to assist players. As a character prefab, it integrates deeply with the crewmember, inventory, entitytracker, and walkableplatform components to act autonomously within the race context. It is not persisted across sessions (persists = false) and runs entirely on the master simulation.

Usage example

The prefab is instantiated automatically during race events via SpawnPrefab("boatrace_primemate"). Developers typically do not need to manually construct it, but can interact with its components once spawned:

local prime_mate = SpawnPrefab("boatrace_primemate")
prime_mate.Transform:SetPosition(x, y, z)
prime_mate:AddTag("racer")

-- Trigger a checkpoint update (simulated)
prime_mate:PushEvent("command")

-- Ensure it’s marked offscreen to test sleep/wake behavior
prime_mate:SetOffscreen(true)

Dependencies & tags

Components used:

• drownable — prevents drowning in water.
• entitytracker — tracks the active checkpoint indicator.
• inspectable — enables inspection UI.
• inventory — stores items (e.g., buoys); disables drop on death.
• knownlocations — supports location tracking.
• locomotor — governs movement speed and pathing.
• talker — manages voice lines and speech bubbles.

Tags added: character, monkey, nomagic, pirate, racer, scarytoprey

Properties

No public properties are defined or exposed directly by this prefab. Internally, it uses:

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
_sleep_row_task	Task or nil	nil	References the periodic repair task created during offscreen sleep.
_on_checkpoint_found	function	(defined in fn)	Callback triggered when the checkpoint indicator is found.

Main functions

initialize(inst)

• Description: Initializes the Prime Mate at spawn by equipping a dragon head hat (dragonheadhat) and discarding it after use. Called once shortly after creation.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the Prime Mate entity instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

boat_command_update(inst)

• Description: Periodically finds and sets the current race checkpoint as the crew target. If the path to the checkpoint is blocked (not over water), selects a random alternative checkpoint from the indicator. May also spawn and give a buoy item to the inventory for player assistance.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the Prime Mate entity instance.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Returns early if no crewmember component, no current_platform, no boatracecrew component, or no indicator entity is found. Repair is attempted only if leaks are detected.

sleep_ai_update(inst)

• Description: Runs while the entity is offscreen (asleep). First searches all entities on the current platform for leaks and repairs them using treegrowthsolution. If no leaks are found, performs rowing toward the active target if one exists.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the Prime Mate entity instance.
• Returns: Nothing.

path_is_blocked(inst, target)

• Description: Determines whether the straight-line path between the Prime Mate and a target point crosses non-ocean terrain (e.g., land), indicating a blocked path.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — the Prime Mate entity instance (used for position sampling).
  • target (Entity) — the target entity (e.g., checkpoint indicator).
• Returns: true if the path intersects non-ocean terrain, false otherwise.

Events & listeners

• Listens to:
  • "checkpoint_found" — fired by the checkpoint indicator entity; triggers a "cheer" event.
  • "onremove" — on the buoy deploykit to clear ._spawner reference.
• Pushes:
  • "cheer" — when a checkpoint is located and tracked.
  • "command" — after updating the race crew’s target.
  • "rowed" — indirectly via crewmember:Row() (not directly called by this prefab, but the action is part of sleep_ai_update).