Wave

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-07

Overview

The wave prefab creates an environment effect entity representing a moving ocean wave. It is designed to interact physically with boats (via boatphysics), push nearby pickup-able items, and generate splash effects when colliding with entities or reaching dry land. It operates primarily on the master simulation and uses periodic tasks to check for ground contact and nearby items. The component is non-persistent and self-cleans after a short lifetime.

Usage example

-- Wave prefabs are instantiated internally by the game (e.g., via Turn of the Tides mechanics)
-- Typical instantiation is done by the prefab factory:
local wave = SpawnPrefab("wave_med")
if wave ~= nil then
    wave.Transform:SetPosition(x, y, z)
    -- Wave behavior is controlled by state graph and internal tasks; no further setup required
end

Dependencies & tags

Components used: boattrail, moisture (via v.components.moisture), boatphysics (via other.components.boatphysics) Tags: Adds scarytoprey, wave, FX

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
waveactive	boolean	false	Controls whether the wave pushes items and applies force to boats. Set via state graph.
DoSplash	function	DoSplash (defined locally)	Public method reference used to manually trigger splash effects.

Main functions

DoSplash(inst)

• Description: Spawns a splash prefab at the wave’s position, applies wetness to nearby entities with a moisture component, and removes the wave entity.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the wave instance triggering the splash.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: May skip splash logic if no moisture component is found on a nearby entity.

oncollidewave(inst, other)

• Description: Collision callback that triggers splash and applies force to boats when the wave collides.
• Parameters:
  • inst (Entity) — the wave entity.
  • other (Entity) — the entity colliding with the wave.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Does nothing if inst.waveactive is false and other is not another wave (i.e., prevents wave-on-wave interaction unless active).

CheckGround(inst)

• Description: Checks ahead of the wave’s current velocity to see if the next position is land; if so, triggers a splash and removes the wave.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the wave entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

CheckForItems(inst)

• Description: Scans for nearby pickup-able items (e.g., inventory items, kelp) within a radius of 2, ignoring entities with tags in NO_PUSH_TAGS, and applies velocity to them to simulate being pushed by the wave.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the wave entity.
• Returns: Nothing.
• Error states: Returns early if inst.waveactive is false.

launch_in_direction(thing_to_launch, vx, vz)

• Description: Applies velocity to a target entity in the wave’s forward direction (X/Z plane only).
• Parameters:
  • thing_to_launch (Entity or nil) — the entity to push.
  • vx (number) — X-axis velocity component.
  • vz (number) — Z-axis velocity component.
• Returns: Nothing.

OnRemoveEntity(inst)

• Description: Cleanup function called when the entity is removed; stops the wave’s looping sound.
• Parameters: inst (Entity) — the wave entity.
• Returns: Nothing.

Events & listeners

• Listens to: animover — triggers removal of wave_splash when animation completes.
• Pushes: None.