If you want to make your world exploration more exciting, then PreFab World is for you. Just install this mod, create a folder named prefabworld in Hytale’s Mods folder, download any of the thousands of prefabs the community has created, drop them in, and you’re done! From then on, your prefabs will be randomly placed in newly generated areas, automatically adding appropriate enemies and loot chests for you to discover.

Step by step

1) Create the prefab folder

Create a folder named prefabworld inside your Mods folder:

./Hytale/UserData/Mods/
  (your installed mods)
  prefabworld/

2) Add prefabs

Download the prefabs you want and drop their files inside the folder you just created:

./Hytale/UserData/Mods/
  (your installed mods)
  prefabworld/
    FabulousCastleOfDoom.prefab

And that’s it! Now, when you generate new areas in your world with this mod enabled, your prefabs will automatically appear.

How spawning works

The zones and biomes that each prefab will appear in, along with the corresponding enemies and loot chests for those zones, are inferred from the prefab contents. You can change all of this in a config file that is generated the first time you load your world with the mod enabled:

./Hytale/UserData/Mods/
  (your installed mods)
  prefabworld/
    FabulousCastleOfDoom.prefab
    FabulousCastleOfDoom.prefab.config

Customizing your prefabs

The automatically generated config will look similar to the example below.

chancePerRegion: chance of it appearing each time the mod detects a valid placement position.
spawn.biome: which biome it may appear in ("*" matches all).
spawn.zone: which zone it may appear in ("-1" matches all).
lootTables: possible items that may appear in a chest (higher weight = more likely).
chests: chests automatically added to the prefab, including their position and which loot table they use (if you change their position, ensure there’s a solid block below the chest).
enemies: enemies automatically added for this prefab.

Example:

{
  "version": 1,
  "prefabFile": "FabulousCastleOfDoom.prefab.json",
  "generatedPrefabs": [],
  "name": "FabulousCastleOfDoom",
  "chancePerRegion": 0.125,
  "spawn": {
    "biome": "*",
    "zone": 2
  },
  "lootTables": {
    "zone2.normal": {
      "id": "zone2.normal",
      "rollsMin": 3,
      "rollsMax": 7,
      "items": [
        {
          "id": "Deco_Treasure_Pile_Large",
          "minQty": 5,
          "maxQty": 20,
          "weight": 0.5
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "chests": [
    {
      "generated": true,
      "x": 3,
      "y": 7,
      "z": 3,
      "name": "Furniture_Desert_Chest_Small",
      "rotation": 0,
      "lootTable": "zone2.normal"
    }
  ],
  "enemies": []
}

For modders

My intent is for builders and modders to use this mod to help expand the content of the game. With that in mind, I made a few rules:

Enemies are not automatically added if the prefab already has mobs of its own.
Chests are not created if the prefab already contains chests with items inside.

That means you can build prefabs with planned enemies and loot, create your own enemies or bosses, and even include your own custom modded items to be found inside. You can also distribute your own configs along with the prefabs to customize the player’s experience.

If you have ideas for new features, or if the standard generated loot tables are too rewarding (or not rewarding enough), feel free to leave suggestions. And if you find any bugs, please let me know!

Known problems

Currently, prefabs can only be placed on the world surface.
Most publicly available prefabs were not made with worldgen in mind, so some structures may have flat bases that blend poorly into uneven terrain/biomes.

Pretty Fabulous World