Valyn Earthlike Worlds

Procedural Map Generator for Valheim — 1.3.1

Automatic, seed-based world generation with Earth-inspired continents, broad seas, islands and climate-influenced biome regions, while keeping Valheim's native terrain detail and content routines.

Similar in purpose to Better Continents, with a simpler, automatic approach focused on a familiar Valheim world. This mod generates from the seed; it does not import a real Earth map. Better Continents is not required. Use only one world-generation mod at a time.

What's new in 1.3.1

• Lower inland elevation reduces excessive high ground and unwanted snow/frost in ordinary biomes.
• Revised native Mountain height inputs reduce exaggerated uplifts while retaining native terrain detail.
• The inland height reduction now continues through Mountain transitions, reducing an artificial height increase at their borders.
• Mountains can come down toward naturally lower terrain. Plains are not broadly flattened or lifted to meet peaks; native Mistlands ruggedness remains.
• The default terrain-editing allowance remains 16 metres down and 16 metres up, measured from original generated ground. It is separate from world-generation height adjustments.

Existing worlds keep their saved generation recipe, including unexplored areas. Create a new world to use the revised 1.3.1 generation. Installing the update does not reshape an existing 1.0.0 world.

Features

• Seed-driven continents, ocean basins and islands, with different arrangements between seeds.
• Climate-influenced biome placement using latitude, moisture, elevation and progression-related distance gates.
• Native terrain detail, lakes, rivers and streams; lowland Swamp profiles and protected starting terrain.
• Native vegetation, resource, creature and point-of-interest placement routines, operating on the generated world.
• Saved per-world terrain recipes and terrain-edit limits.
• Host recipe delivery and plugin-version checks before client terrain generation.
• Optional console diagnostics: vt_status, vt_scan, vt_scan_stop and vt_perf.

Requirements

• Valheim and BepInExPack Valheim. Thunderstore dependency: denikson-BepInExPack_Valheim-5.4.2360.
• Built against supplied Valheim 1.0.20 references. Earlier user testing included 1.0.21; compatibility with future game updates is not guaranteed.
• For multiplayer, install the same 1.3.1 plugin on the host/dedicated server and every client. Further live multiplayer and dedicated-server testing of this terrain update is pending.
• Avoid another world-generation mod or a competing terrain-edit-limit provider.

Installation and updating

Close Valheim first. Back up your world before updating.

Nexus/manual: extract the Nexus archive into your Valheim folder, merging BepInEx. The plugin belongs at BepInEx/plugins/ValynWorldTerrain.dll. Replace the older DLL and check that you have only one copy, including inside subfolders.

Thunderstore/r2modman: install or update the package with your manager. For local testing, import the Thunderstore ZIP as a local mod. Do not install the Nexus ZIP through local package import.

Your existing configuration is preserved. No configuration override or separate height-probe plugin is included. Keep the plugin installed when playing worlds generated with it: removing it restores native procedural terrain around already saved objects and terrain edits, which can leave them above or below the ground.

Unmarked vanilla worlds remain native; this is not an existing-world conversion tool. Previously supported saved recipes v17, v18, v21 and v22 remain supported without automatic migration. Retired private v19/v20 recipes remain unsupported.

New-world settings

The configuration is BepInEx/config/valyn.valheim.worldterrain.cfg. Edit it while Valheim is closed. These settings apply to newly created worlds; existing worlds retain their saved recipe and edit limits.

[Climate continents]
EnableForNewWorlds = true
DigDepthMeters = 16
RaiseHeightMeters = 16

Terrain editing changes the ground surface; it does not add voxel caves or tunnels.

Notes and known limitations

• The first generation of a new world can take longer than normal.
• Rare crashes have been reported during map generation. If generation crashes, restart Valheim and reload the world.
• Some steep terrain and abrupt underwater island drop-offs remain seed-dependent. This update does not remove every cliff.
• Original snow/frost thresholds are retained. Lower terrain reduces unwanted frost, but high-altitude frost can still appear outside Mountains; a fixed narrow border-only frost band is not part of this update.
• Native content routines remain in use, but changed heights and biome regions can affect placement in new worlds. Universal spawn/resource suitability has not been verified.

Bug reports

Please use the mod's Bugs or Posts page through Valyn81's Nexus profile.

Please provide screenshots, or at least the seed value and an approximate location. The console command pos prints player position as X, Y, Z. Include the plugin version, vt_status output, whether the issue is solo or multiplayer, and relevant BepInEx/LogOutput.log / Player.log files where available.

Optional diagnostic reports are written beneath BepInEx/config/ValynWorldTerrain/reports. vt_perf is a bounded frame/terrain diagnostic, not a full CPU/GPU profiler.

Changelog

1.3.1 — Terrain height and Mountain transitions

This public update rolls up the completed terrain changes since 1.0.0. Private development iterations are not separate public releases.

• Reduced excessive ordinary inland elevation to limit unwanted snow/frost in Meadows, Black Forest and Plains.
• Adjusted native Mountain height inputs so continental uplift is not exaggerated in the same way, while retaining native terrain detail and waterways.
• Continued the inland height reduction through Mountain contributions, removing an artificial recovery of up to 16 metres across their transitions.
• Improved Mountain approaches without broadly flattening Plains, raising surrounding lowlands to match peaks, or replacing native Mistlands ruggedness.
• Retained the independent default digging and raising limits of 16 metres in each direction.
• Preserved existing saved recipes and configuration. Existing worlds retain their generation, including unexplored areas; create a new world for the revised terrain.
• Retained original snow/frost thresholds, native content routines and multiplayer recipe/version checks.

Compatibility and testing

• All multiplayer peers, including the host/dedicated server, must use 1.3.1. Further live multiplayer/dedicated-server verification of this update is pending.
• Positive user terrain checks and eight passing offline regression suites; the public release matches the accepted 1.3.1 test generation in the automated fixture.
• First generation of a new world can take longer than normal. If a rare generation crash occurs, restart Valheim and reload the world.
• Some steep faces, high-altitude frost outside Mountains and island underwater drop-offs may remain. No general crash fix is claimed.

1.0.0 — Initial public release

First public release of Valyn Earthlike Worlds — Procedural Map Generator for Valheim. This entry consolidates the completed development work into one public version.

World generation

• Seed-driven continental arrangements with substantial landmasses, broad ocean basins, and islands.
• Climate-informed biome placement using latitude, moisture, elevation, and progression-related distance gates.
• Protected starting terrain, native terrain detail, mountainous high ground, and lowland Swamp profiles.
• Native lake, river, stream, vegetation, resource, creature, and location-placement routines retained.
• Coordinate-consistent terrain height and material-profile handling across biome requests.

Terrain appearance and editing

• Gradual upland ground frost, increasing toward full snow at high elevations.
• Decorative green grass thinning beneath snowy Meadows and Black Forest vegetation, without changing those biome identities.
• New-world digging and raising defaults of 16 metres in each direction, relative to original generated ground.

World data and multiplayer

• Terrain recipes and edit limits saved per world; existing unmarked vanilla worlds remain native.
• Host recipe delivery before client terrain generation.
• Plugin-version and world-identity validation, with incompatible clients and retired world recipes rejected.
• Current-format private development worlds remain supported.

Diagnostics and implementation

• vt_status, vt_scan, vt_scan_stop, and vt_perf console diagnostics.
• Bounded terrain-field caching, world-context isolation, and diagnostic cleanup when worlds change.
• Focused current-format implementation with retired generators removed while retaining shared layout math.

Release notes

• Initial public testing release; live multiplayer and dedicated-server verification remain pending.
• The first generation of a new world can take longer than normal.
• Occasional crashes have been observed while terrain is generating; restart Valheim and reload the world to retry.
• Some islands have abrupt underwater drop-offs, and local biome transitions can need further refinement.

The mod is similar in purpose to Better Continents, with a focus on automatic, seed-based Earth-inspired worlds. Better Continents is not required and should not be enabled alongside it.