Why no moving boats?

[YOYOYO]

I've noticed a surplus of trains in tf2 maps (which is great, I love trains), but I don't think I've ever seen a moving boat in a map. or a car/truck model for that matter. I don't think it'd be that difficult to apply the same pathing to a boat model, maybe add some particles to the back for realism and boom!
Maybe I just haven't looked hard enough. If anyone knows any nice moving boats or cars in maps feel free to post them here to prove my butt wrong.

Personally I was thinking of making a pirate/maritime map in the somewhat future, with sailboats and sloops slowly sailing off the side as decoration, or even a dynamic part of the payload cap. But so far I'm not sure if there's some unwritten rule about making moving vehicles that aren't trains, or if it's been tried and simple doesn't work/ look natural?

Unsure, wonder what the forums think. And if anyone has ever been interested in making a sailboat or pirate boat model before, because I'd be happy to put it to use

 

[Tiftid]

The main reason why no one really does that is because people avoid water like the plague.
Personally I find water can be really good if you give players a speed boost while they're in it and design your map around the unique ability it gives players to utilise the full height of a space.
Because of that, I made a kickass Payload map where the cart is on a little boat!

But I can understand why a lot of people avoid water, because it can sometimes be hard to avoid falling into the common trap of making a massive open pool where you can't avoid getting sniped from 2km away by some sniper juuust above the surface of the water who you can barely see.

Obviously, moving boats can be fantastic in the 3d skybox, but that's pretty much all people have done with them. Although I did see a really cool wacky-races style map where the teams would race to see who could get their steamboat to the end of the course first. The problem with that was that source hates moving objects, so you need to put a team_train_watcher with default settings in your map so that players don't jitter around violently when standing on the boat.

I think the main reason people avoid cars/trucks is because they can really sneak up on you. (This was the main problem in the only map I've seen that had them, Cenation).
They don't make loud train horn, train wheel or train crossing sounds, and people are more used to roads being detail than a hazardous area.

Also, some people feel weird about TF2 maps set in populated areas. Probably something to do with "everyone is just fine with the mercs fighting here?" or "does this mean the mercs are terrorists???" or "this implies that the mercs are indiscriminately killing civilians as well as the enemy team".

 

[YOYOYO]

-snip-

Hey, that's actually a pretty cool mapping concept! Guess I really didn't dig deep enough, you had 2 right off the top

And yeah, I've always heard its only 'true' tf2 when a map takes place in a completely desolate and abandoned area, which sometimes makes sense but, rules can be broken.
Just always seemed like a missed opportunity, especially with background detailing. A place feels so much more alive yet empty when you see a lone car in the distance every minute and a half. Same goes for a boat; nothing more serene and peaceful than the waves.

Thanks for the insight Tiftid

 

[Tuaam]

I think the reason why you don't have moving boats is ultimately because boats would come in two sizes: Extremely large ones which will not work in the source engine (without hiccups), and smaller barges which act as level geometry. Additionally, there isn't alot of maps where moving boats would work: Port maps are kinda just restricted to the actual pier and some buildings with the water designed as an out-of-bounds area, and even then most TF2 maps take place in the American Desert, which explains the use of moving trains as hazards. I think cars as a hazard can work.

Also, some people feel weird about TF2 maps set in populated areas. Probably something to do with "everyone is just fine with the mercs fighting here?" or "does this mean the mercs are terrorists???" or "this implies that the mercs are indiscriminately killing civilians as well as the enemy team".

Lots of maps take place in civilian areas though, and it's usually implied that said area is blocked off in fighting (also they're mercenaries so it doesn't really matter tbh).