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Otter

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-06

Overview​

The otter prefab defines a hostile, amphibious monster that patrols near water, steals items from players, shares combat targets with nearby otters, and drops loot (including a rare messagebottle) when defeated. It is constructed entirely through component composition—no custom component classes are defined—and relies on external systems like combat, locomotor, knownlocations, and timer. It uses a custom brain (otterbrain.lua) and state graph (SGotter.lua) for behavioral logic.

Usage example​

This prefab is instantiated by the game's world generation and spawners; modders typically reference it as a dependency rather than creating it manually. A typical usage in a spawner would be:

local otter = SpawnPrefab("otter")
otter.Transform:SetPosition(x, y, z)

Dependencies & tags​

Components used: amphibiouscreature, combat, eater, embarker, health, inspectable, inventory, knownlocations, locomotor, lootdropper, sleeper, thief, timer
Tags added: hostile, likewateroffducksback, monster, scarytooceanprey, otter

Properties​

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
hop_distancenumbernil (temporarily set in EnterWater)Stores the base hop distance before entering water.
TossFishfunctionnilExposed public method for fish-throwing logic.

Main functions​

TossFish(inst, item)​

  • Description: Extracts and launches loot from a captured ocean-fishable creature (e.g., kelp or smallpig), then removes the original item and starts a short cooldown timer.
  • Parameters: inst (entity) — the otter; item (entity) — the source fish item.
  • Returns: true if loot was launched, false otherwise.
  • Error states: Returns false if item lacks the oceanfishable_creature tag or has no defined fish_def.loot.

EnterWater(inst)​

  • Description: Adjusts movement properties when the otter enters water: increases hop distance and disables the dynamic shadow.
  • Parameters: inst (entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

ExitWater(inst)​

  • Description: Restores land-based movement properties when exiting water: reverts hop distance and re-enables the dynamic shadow.
  • Parameters: inst (entity).
  • Returns: Nothing.

Retarget(inst)​

  • Description: Helper used by the combat component to find valid new targets within a short range, excluding entities with specific forbidden tags and requiring at least one of a set of required tags.
  • Parameters: inst (entity).
  • Returns: Entity or nil.

KeepTarget(inst, target)​

  • Description: Helper used by combat to determine if the otter should maintain its current target based on proximity.
  • Parameters: inst (entity), target (entity).
  • Returns: true if target is within OTTER_KEEPTARGET_DISTANCE, otherwise false.

is_ally_a_valid_otter(ally)​

  • Description: Predicate used during ShareTarget to verify an ally is a living otter.
  • Parameters: ally (entity).
  • Returns: true if ally has the otter tag and is not dead.

Events & listeners​

  • Listens to: newcombattarget — stubbed, no current logic.
  • Listens to: attacked — sets attacker as target and shares aggro with one nearby otter.
  • Listens to: onattackother — shares aggro with the otter’s current target with one nearby otter.
  • Listens to: gotnewitem — resets or starts a 10-second timer to dump loot at home.