Surtling Skyfarer

A wooden, Surtling-powered airplane for Valheim. Bring one pilot and four passengers, roll down a runway on wagon wheels, and carry supplies in a ten-slot cargo chest.

Current version: 0.1.7 · Download · Report a bug · View the in-game aircraft

New in 0.1.7: optional durability

Keep your Skyfarer indestructible, or enable damage and choose its maximum health in Skyfarer.cfg. Durability is off by default, so existing players keep the same behavior. When enabled, attacks, fire, and crashes can damage or destroy the aircraft; repair it with the hammer. Cargo drops if the plane breaks. Existing aircraft keep their health percentage when maximum health changes.

Features

• Wooden boat hull, cloth wings, glowing Surtling core, and a carved propeller.
• Five seats: one pilot and four passengers.
• Four wagon wheels with suspension, steering, brakes, and ground reverse.
• Full loops, barrel rolls, and rudder control.
• Throttle stays set while someone remains seated or standing on deck. When everyone leaves, power cuts out and the plane slows and descends.
• A normal wooden chest's 10 storage slots. Cargo saves with the plane and drops when you deliberately dismantle it.
• An indestructible-by-default hull, optional configurable durability, and unlimited core power. Collisions still apply; hammer dismantling remains available. The hull floats for water landings.

Requirements

Install these on every player's computer and on the server:

Use the same Skyfarer version on all clients and the server. This release was tested with the Valheim l-1.0.17 client and l-1.0.16 dedicated server, both using Unity 6000.0.75f1.

The Skyfarer download contains the mod itself. Install BepInEx and Jötunn separately; their files are not bundled. The package manifest declares both dependencies for Thunderstore-compatible mod managers.

Installation

Manual installation

1. Close Valheim, or stop the dedicated server.

2. Install BepInExPack Valheim using its instructions for your operating system. Launch once through BepInEx so its folders are created, then close it.

3. Install Jötunn into the active BepInEx/plugins folder.

4. Download SurtlingSkyfarer-0.1.7.zip from Releases.

5. Extract its BepInEx folder into the game or server folder. The mod DLL should end up at:

   BepInEx/plugins/Skyfarer/Wise.Skyfarer.dll
   

6. Launch through your normal BepInEx-enabled method. On Linux, follow the BepInEx pack's game or dedicated-server launcher instructions.

If you download the standalone DLL instead, put it in the same folder above. Keep one copy of Wise.Skyfarer.dll in your active plugin tree.

Mod-manager profiles

Install the two dependencies in your Valheim profile, then import the release ZIP using the manager's local-mod import option. If local import is unavailable, open the profile folder and copy the DLL into its BepInEx/plugins/Skyfarer folder. Start the game through that modded profile.

Dedicated servers and AMP

The server needs all three components too. Stop it, install or enable its BepInEx setup, and upload Jötunn and Skyfarer into its active BepInEx/plugins folder. In AMP, use the instance's File Manager and restart through its BepInEx-enabled launch method. The same Skyfarer DLL is used by Windows and Linux clients and servers.

Updating an existing installation

Stop the server and close each player's game. Replace the existing Wise.Skyfarer.dll, then restart everyone on the same version. Updating from an earlier release to 0.1.7 does not require reinstalling BepInEx or Jötunn when the tested versions above are already installed. Existing aircraft gain the cargo chest when loaded.

Build the plane

Equip a hammer, stand near a workbench, and open Transport. Look for Surtling Skyfarer, or type Skyfarer into the hammer menu's search field. Your character must discover the recipe materials first.

Edit durability, health, recipe, and speed

Open BepInEx/plugins/Skyfarer/Skyfarer.cfg with any text editor before starting the game or server. Keep it beside Wise.Skyfarer.dll:

[Aircraft]
DurabilityEnabled = false
MaxHealth = 1800
TopSpeed = 22
Recipe = FineWood:80,Copper:25,DeerHide:20,SurtlingCore:8

DurabilityEnabled = false keeps the plane immune to damage. Set it to true to allow damage and destruction. MaxHealth sets its maximum health, from 1 to 1000000, with 1800 as the default. Use the hammer to repair damage. Structural and roof-exposure wear remain disabled so flight needs no building supports or roof. Changing the maximum preserves current health percentage; disabling durability prevents further damage but does not heal existing damage.

Older config files automatically gain the missing durability entries on startup without changing your recipe, speed, or comments. You can also add the two new entries manually under [Aircraft] before starting the updated game/server.

TopSpeed is the powered target in metres per second, from 10 to 100. It affects forward flight and wheel drive; reverse stays at 4 m/s. Dedicated servers may struggle at 100 m/s; lower it if you notice lag or rubber-banding. Falling and collisions can briefly exceed this target. Use a dot for decimal values.

Recipe accepts comma-separated item prefab names and amounts. You can change quantities or substitute materials, for example Wood:100,Iron:30,SurtlingCore:8. Names are case-sensitive. Use 1–16 distinct items, each with 1–10000 units. Invalid recipes fall back to the defaults and write a warning to the log. Characters still need to discover the materials. Dismantling refunds use the currently configured recipe, including old planes.

Restart after edits. In multiplayer, edit the server's file: its settings are synchronized to clients through Jötunn. Local games use the local file. Settings apply to all Skyfarers, including existing ones. If the file is missing, the mod creates it with defaults. Preserve your edited file when updating.

Controls

Space is the only manual pilot exit. E becomes rudder while piloting; attacking, dodging, and crouching do not eject the pilot.

• Take off: line up on open ground, increase throttle with Shift, then pull up with S as speed builds.
• Cruise: release Shift/Ctrl to hold throttle. Release the flight controls to hold the current attitude; there is no automatic leveling.
• Acrobatics: keep holding W/S for continuous loops, or A/D for rolls.
• Land: level the wings, lower the nose with W, reduce throttle with Ctrl, then brake with right mouse after touching down.
• Reverse: hold R on the ground. Releasing R resumes the selected throttle; brakes override reverse. R has no effect on thrust in the air.
• Park: lower throttle to zero. An empty aircraft cuts power automatically, and boarding it again leaves the engine off until throttle is raised.

These controls assume default game bindings. Throttle, pitch, roll, brakes, and dismount use their corresponding game actions; Q/E and R are dedicated keys.

Changes in 0.1.6

• Fix hammer dismantling by enabling removal on the aircraft prefab. Aim at the hull while everyone is off the plane and a workbench is in range. Normal ward protection still applies; cargo drops when the aircraft is dismantled.
• Add Skyfarer.cfg beside the DLL for custom recipes and powered top speed.
• Keep the current recipe and 22 m/s speed as defaults.

See the changelog for earlier versions.

Testing and support

Version 0.1.5 was tested with Windows and Linux clients on a dedicated server with four people. Version 0.1.7 passed 192 gameplay checks, 17 save/reload checks, and 6 dedicated-server startup checks on Linux; a new multi-client flight and Windows runtime test have not been performed for this update.

If the plane is missing, check the hammer's Transport category, discovered materials, and BepInEx/LogOutput.log. A successful load includes:

Loading [Surtling Skyfarer 0.1.7]
Skyfarer registered: 1 pilot, 4 passenger seats, 13.3 m wingspan.

For connection problems, compare Valheim and mod versions on every client and the server, and check for duplicate DLLs. Report bugs through GitHub Issues with versions, steps to reproduce, and relevant log excerpts. Remove server passwords and other personal information before posting logs.

Source and building

The C# source is in src/. See Building from source for the .NET SDK and local game references, and Publishing for recreating the GitHub/Thunderstore package.

Unofficial community mod, unaffiliated with Iron Gate. Each player needs their own installed copy of Valheim. Game assemblies, extracted game assets, dependency binaries, and development saves are not included in the mod package.

Changelog

0.1.7

• Add DurabilityEnabled (default false) and MaxHealth (default 1800) to the adjacent config file.
• Enable normal health damage, destruction, and hammer repairs when durability is on, including crash damage.
• Preserve each aircraft's health percentage when maximum health changes, including saved aircraft from earlier versions.
• Keep structural and roof-exposure wear disabled for flight. Disabling durability does not automatically repair damage.
• Synchronize durability and maximum health through Jötunn's server settings.
• Add missing durability entries to old configs without replacing custom recipe/speed values or comments.

0.1.6

• Fix hammer dismantling: explicitly enable removal instead of inheriting the Karve prohibition. Normal workbench, ward, and occupancy checks remain.
• Add a commented Skyfarer.cfg beside the DLL. Edit it before starting the game/server to change recipe materials, quantities, and powered top speed.
• Synchronize server settings to multiplayer clients through Jötunn.
• Validate recipe entries and bound speed to 10–100 m/s; defaults remain unchanged.

0.1.5

• Pilot boarding transfers aircraft simulation ownership to the pilot.
• Prevent vanilla boat logic from handing aircraft ownership to passengers.
• Tolerate lagged seated-player positions and preserve authenticated heartbeat expiry for disconnected riders.
• Preserve valid boarding replies across ownership handoffs.
• Cut throttle when everyone leaves; riders standing on deck keep it running.
• Add a ten-slot cargo chest to new and existing aircraft, with persistent contents and drops on deliberate dismantling.
• Keep cargo ownership separate from aircraft ownership and preserve their link after world loading changes object IDs.
• Replace the recipe's Iron requirement with 25 Copper.
• Preserve the actual DLL build time in release ZIPs.

0.1.4

• Allow continuous pitch loops and barrel rolls.
• Map A/D to roll and Q/E to rudder.
• Make Space the only manual pilot exit.
• Add R for ground reverse and right mouse for wheel brakes.

0.1.3

• Add persistent throttle, adjusted with Shift/Ctrl.
• Map W to nose down and S to nose up.

0.1.2

• Add four wooden wagon wheels with suspension, steering, and braking.

0.1.1

• Make the aircraft indestructible while retaining collisions and deliberate hammer dismantling.

0.1.0

• Initial wooden aircraft with one pilot seat and four passenger seats.