/7-Days-to-Die-NitroGen-Prefab-Lists

Prefab lists for the NitroGen Random World Generator by Damocles for the game 7 Days to Die

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7-Days-to-Die-NitroGen-Prefab-Lists

Prefab lists for the NitroGen Random World Generator by Damocles for the game 7 Days to Die

This ReadMe deals mainly with the Ravenhearst and Darkness Falls prefab lists instructions. I have also created other prefab lists, such as for the War of the Walkers MOD and my own prefab list version of Magoli's Compo-Pack 38. The Compo-Pack values are basically the same as my Darkness Falls list values, but since not everybody seems to know / understand that one can simply copy most of the Darkness Falls list values for other MODs using Magoli's Compo-Pack prefabs, I have created an extra list for those instances as well.

For instructions on using the other prefab lists posted here, please read the text below and use logical reasoning and your imagination. I just don't have the time to rework the whole ReadMe everytime. Thank you for your understanding, and take care.

TL;DR version of the main text below:

To generate a map using the preconfigured lists I have posted:

  1. Copy the POI files you want NitroGen to include in your map into your standard 7DTD Data\Prefabs folder, as this folder is (currently) read by NitroGen to retrieve the prefab information:

    steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\Data\Prefabs

    Don't overwrite any standard files.

    • For Ravenhearst, the needed files are the abandoned_house_xxnew, the rh5_xx and the xvanilla_xx (if present) files from the Ravenhearst prefabs folder:

      Ravenhearst_5_4_A17_4_Edition\Data\Prefabs

    • For Darkness Falls, the needed files are the DFalls_xx, the resource_xx, the xcostum_xx and the xvanilla_xx files from the Darkness Falls prefabs folder:

      Darkness_Falls\Data\Prefabs

  2. Choose the list that suits your taste for the map creation. For a standard Ravenhearst v5.4 game, for example, use the

    Prefab lists for Ravenhearst\Ravenhearst 5.4\prefablist__Ravenhearst_v5.4_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_Alpha17.4.txt file.

  3. Rename the original NitroGen prefab list in the NitroGen resources folder

    NitroGen_WorldGenerator\resources\prefablist.txt

    to something else (e.g. original_prefablist.txt).

  4. Copy the chosen preconfigured prefablist to the NitroGen resources folder and rename it to prefablist.txt. (NitroGen requires a file with that exact name for the map generation).

  5. Run NitroGen and generate your map.

The lists I have posted are basically one and the same, as I had built an original list from the vanilla (unmodded) POIs included by Damocles, the Ravenhearst POIs and the Darkness Falls POIs. These are all included in most lists given here.

The various list variations only include commented-out POIs for certain purposes, e.g. one list is for playing Ravenhearst with the standard POIs, the Ravenhearst POIs and also the Darkness Falls POIs, all together.

You can edit the list(s) as needed with a standard TXT editor (e.g. Notepad or Notepad++).

I'd recommend Notepad++, as it has far more and better functions than the standard Notepad editor and can also be used for programming, and it's free.

You comment out lines by putting a double slash // at the beginning. Commented-out lines are not read by NitroGen, meaning the POI behind the // isn't generated in your world.

Detailed instructions / FAQ (go right to step 5 if you just want to know how to actually generate a map):

0. Side note first: Instructions for setting up a dedicated server with a NitroGen map.

On the NitroGen front page, there are instructions on how to set up a dedicated server using a NitroGen map. What I have tried and tested is also RAT, which works nicely with NitroGen-generated maps.

However, it seems those instructions are a bit overloaded, according to the 7 Days to Die developer Alloc here and here, so I have decided to put all the information here given on the subject by Damocles, zootal and Alloc in a (for my taste) somewhat more refined form:

  1. After creating your NitroGen map (see below, especially section 5), you need to transfer the map to your server. It's convenient to use a packer, e.g. 7-Zip, for this. (You'd also need a packing program on your server to unpack the file again after the transfer, of course.) This way, you only need to transfer one big file, not many small ones.

    The default folder location for a NitroGen-generated map is:

    NitroGen_WorldGenerator\output\NitroGenMap

    Before packing the folder contents into one big file, you can delete the map preview files from the folder (copy them someplace else before, if you need them):

    genHM.png

    poiHM.png

    previewMap.png

    These files are rather large and would add to the total map size to be transferred, as well as forcing all clients connecting to your 7 Days to Die server later to download them as well, therefore delaying the actual first gameplay for the clients.

    For the actual file transfer, you need an appropriate access / program for your server (Remote Desktop Connection, PuTTY, whatever). I won't go into too many details here, as there are many instructions to be found on the Internet and elsewhere on how to do this. (For example, quite convenient is Remote Desktop Connection with copy & paste, if you have a Windows operating system and sufficient rights on your (Windows) server.)

  2. Next, unpack the transferred file in an appropriate location for 7 Days to Die to find it. For this, you have the following options; either:

    - put it under the game's regular UserDataFolder (e.g. %APPDATA%/7DaysToDie/GeneratedWorlds/NitroGenMap on Windows).

    - put it in the save game's own folder (e.g. %APPDATA%/7DaysToDie/SaveGames/NitroGenMap/MySavegame/World, assuming you use Windows and the default SaveGameFolder).

    - put it in a MOD folder (**recommended**; e.g. <7 Days to Die root folder>/Mods/NitroGen_Maps/Worlds/NitroGenMap_001).

    - put it in the game's own Worlds folder (*not recommended*, as this is the most likely place to lose your worlds on updates or similar; e.g. <7 Days to Die root folder>/Data/Worlds/NitroGenMap).

    Another option is to define / override the game's UserDataFolder location by setting it yourself in the game's serverconfig.xml file:

    <property name="UserDataFolder" value="/<folder of your choice>" />

    This, however, is not really necessary and mainly serves a preferred personal taste for this folder's location.

    (Similar to changing the game's SaveGameFolder location:

    <property name="SaveGameFolder" value="/<folder of your choice>" />,

    which can be done, but is not needed to make a NitroGen map work on a dedicated server.)

  3. Within the serverconfig.xml file, located in your 7 Days to Die root folder, define the GameWorld config value, so that it maches the exact name of your generated NitroGen map.

    Regular GameWorld values would be Navezgane (for a standard Navezgane map) and RWG (for a randomly generated world). A NitroGen map is an additional / different map type with its own name, which is defined when you create a map in the NitroGen generator. The game doesn't know about that name, so you must insert it yourself to make it actually use the NitroGen map in-game.

    Example:

    Your NitroGen map folder is called My_NitroGenMap_001.

    Insert / change this line in your serverconfig.xml file:

    <property name="GameWorld" value="My_NitroGenMap_001"/>

    Now you should be good to go. Run the 7 Days to Die server, and let your clients connect.

  4. Additional information:

    The values WorldGenSeed and WorldGenSize within the serverconfig.xml are only relevant for the game's own random world generator, meaning if the GameWorld value is set to RWG. They do nothing for a NitroGen map.

1. What the heck is this?

These are prefab lists for the NitroGen Random World Generator made by Damocles for the game 7 Days to Die.

You can find NitroGen and respective prefab lists here, along with the Prefab List Generator by Xylvier.

2. What is the purpose of these prefab lists?

These (and other) prefab lists are used in the NitroGen map generation to let POIs spawn on the map. POIs are Points of Interest or also "prefabs", prefabricated sites, e.g. buildings, resource piles etc..

Prefab lists tend to be filled with individual data, according to the creator's taste: Generating a NitroGen map for use in 7 Days to Die using a certain prefab list might produce very different results than another prefab list by the same or by a different creator.

3. How do the prefab lists differ from each other? Which one do I choose?

This depends on what you want; note that most of these lists are basically one and the same, created from a single main list I made. They are just preconfigured (fancy word for saying that certain values are activated, while others are deactivated) for a certain use already. This means that most lists contain POI values from the standard (= unmodded or "vanilla") 7 Days to Die and additionally POI values for the 7 Days to Die modifications Ravenhearst and Darkness Falls.

These modification (or "MOD") POIs might also already equal certain other existing MOD or prefab pack POIs, so you can use them for those already as well.

Very handy for installing MODs for 7 Days to Die is the 7 Days to Die MOD Launcher. Just saying.

Scenario 1: Use an existing prefab list file

If you just want to create a NitroGen map and start playing on it as fast as possible, you can simply choose one of the following lists, which meets your aim:

Prefab lists for Darkness Falls\Darkness Falls xx\prefablist__Darkness_Falls_vxx_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for a standard Darkness Falls map, with the standard NitroGen and the Darkness Falls POIs.

Prefab lists for Ravenhearst\Ravenhearst xx\prefablist__Ravenhearst_vxx_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for a standard Ravenhearst map, with the standard NitroGen and the Ravenhearst POIs.

Prefab lists for Darkness Falls\Darkness Falls xx\prefablist__Darkness_Falls_vxx_plus_Ravenhearst_vxx_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for playing Darkness Falls on a map with combined POIs, with the standard NitroGen, Darkness Falls and Ravenhearst POIs.

Prefab lists for Ravenhearst\Ravenhearst xx\prefablist__Ravenhearst_vxx_plus_Darkness_Falls_vxx_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for playing Ravenhearst on a map with combined POIs, with the standard NitroGen, Darkness Falls and Ravenhearst POIs.

Prefab lists for Ravenhearst\Ravenhearst xx\prefablist__Ravenhearst_vxx_plus_resource_piles_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for playing Ravenhearst with additional standard resource piles (coal, lead, nitrate, oil shale).

Prefab lists for vanilla (unmodded) 7 Days to Die instances\prefablist__vanilla_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for a standard 7 Days to Die map, which contains the standard 7 Days to Die prefabs, with adjustments of my own (mainly different or slightly different NitroGen zone settings for certain POIs, compared to Damocles' original prefab list).

Prefab lists for vanilla (unmodded) 7 Days to Die instances\prefablist__vanilla_plus_resource_piles_POIs_for_xx.txt

-> This list is for playing a standard 7 Days to Die map with additional standard resource piles (coal, lead, nitrate, oil shale).

Note that many Ravenhearst prefabs are basically the same as the Darkness Falls ones, so one could also just play Ravenhearst with the Darkness Falls POIs instead and vice versa. However, having the same prefabs twice can make for a more interesting game, as you increase the spawn chance for those POIs. Apart from being the same POIs, there are also certain differences often, like different POI dimensions between the "same" Ravenhearst and Darkness Falls prefabs etc..

An "xx" in a filename is just a placeholder for a certain MOD or Alpha version. Use the lists for the MOD and Alpha version you have installed.

Scenario 2: Create your own prefab list file

If you want to create your own list(s), you can, e.g., choose one or more as your template(s) and start editing them according to your needs.

You can edit the list(s) as needed with a standard TXT editor (e.g. Notepad or Notepad++). I'd recommend Notepad++, as it has far more and better functions than the standard Notepad editor and can also be used for programming, and it's free.

Values (lines) with a double slash // in front of them are comments without any effect on the actual map generation. This way you can also keep certain POI values in the list(s), but deactivate them, so the respective prefabs cannot spawn on your map.

A more detailed explanation on how to create your own list(s) is by Damocles himself and can also be found at the beginning of his original prefab list (and of course also at the beginning of the modified lists).

To add only the Darkness Falls and / or Ravenhearst values to your own existing list(s) conveniently, you can use the files

Prefab lists for Darkness Falls\Darkness Falls xx\prefablist___only_Darkness_Falls_vxx_POIs_for_xx_for_manual_addition.txt

and / or

Prefab lists for Ravenhearst\Ravenhearst xx\prefablist___only_Ravenhearst_vxx_POIs_for_xx_for_manual_addition.txt,

as those files only contain the respective values for Darkness Falls / Ravenhearst. Just copy & paste them into your own list(s) and modify them as you see fit.

Be wary that two POIs have to be commented out for Ravenhearst, else you will receive an "Array Index Out of Range" exception error when trying to load the map into Ravenhearst:

apartment_adobe_red_5_flr,Downtown;ResidentialNew,2,-10,45,36,37,citycenter;downtown

and

rh5_rave_factory(by_orak),downtown;industrial,2,1,99,43,112,citycenter;smalltown;downtown;alone.

These are already commented out (= deactivated) in the preconfigured lists.

The formerly mentioned "Array Index Out of Range" error and apparently all other bugs I have encountered with the POIs so far have gone using newer NitroGen versions. I have tested this with NitroGen 0.352, and the POIs included in the lists are working now.

4. I'm new to using GitHub; how do I download these prefab lists?

Usually, you would use one of two ways; either:

  • click on the green "Clone or download" button, followed by "Download ZIP" for downloading all files you can see in a single zip file, which you just have to extract afterwards

  • left-click on the file that you want in order to view / open it, then mark the content you want and copy it into a TXT file (e.g. into the original prefablist.txt by Damocles himself) that you want to use as your own prefab list

5. Ok, I have the prefab lists, what now? What do I do with them?

To generate a map with additional POIs (e.g. from Ravenhearst, Darkness Falls or modded 7DTD versions with their POIs in general) successfully, you have to manually copy the needed prefab files from the mods into your standard 7DTD installation folder before generating a map, as NitroGen will use the standard (= unmodded) 7DTD installation folder for map generation:

  1. Backup your 7DTD Data\Prefabs folder first (basically you don't really have to do this, as you can always revalidate the files via Steam if anything becomes messed-up, but it's always handy to have a backup).

  2. Copy the POI files you want NitroGen to include in your map into your standard 7DTD Data\Prefabs folder (steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\Data\Prefabs); don't overwrite any standard files.

    • For Ravenhearst, the needed files are the abandoned_house_xxnew, the rh5_xx and the xvanilla_xx (if present) files from the Ravenhearst prefabs folder:

      Ravenhearst_5_4_A17_4_Edition\Data\Prefabs

    • For Darkness Falls, the needed files are the DFalls_xx, the resource_xx, the xcostum_xx and the xvanilla_xx files from the Darkness Falls prefabs folder:

      Darkness_Falls\Data\Prefabs

    For example, if you want to play a standard Ravenhearst map, you have to copy all abandoned_house_xxnew, the rh5_xx and the xvanilla_xx (if present) files from your Ravenhearst prefabs folder into the 7DTD Data\Prefabs folder for the map generation.

    If you want to combine POIs from different MODs (e.g. play Ravenhearst together with Darkness Falls POIs), you additionally have to copy the respective MOD's POI files into the corresponding MOD's Prefabs folder, else the MOD cannot load the needed prefabs when loading the map.

    For example, if you want to play Ravenhearst together with the Darkness Falls POIs, you not only have to copy all abandoned_house_xxnew, the rh5_xx and the xvanilla_xx (if present) files from your Ravenhearst prefabs folder and all DFalls_xx (if needed), the resource_xx (if needed), the xcostum_xx and the xvanilla_xx files from the Darkness Falls prefabs folder into the 7DTD Data\Prefabs folder, but additionally all DFalls_xx (if needed), the resource_xx (if needed), the xcostum_xx and the xvanilla_xx files from the Darkness Falls prefabs folder into the Ravenhearst Data\Prefabs folder.(!)

  3. Choose the list that meets your aim for the map creation. For a standard Ravenhearst v5.4 game, for example, use the

    Prefab lists for Ravenhearst\Ravenhearst 5.4\prefablist__Ravenhearst_v5.4_plus_vanilla_POIs_for_Alpha17.4.txt file.

  4. In the NitroGen resources folder (NitroGen_WorldGenerator\resources), rename the original prefablist.txt to something else (e.g. original_prefablist.txt).

  5. Copy the chosen preconfigured prefablist to the NitroGen resources folder and rename it to prefablist.txt (NitroGen requires a file with that exact name for map generation).

  6. Run NitroGen and generate your map.

6. Are there issues with any prefabs in the list?

Two POIs cause problems when playing Ravenhearst (and possibly other MODs). Those were mentioned already.

Whenever there are "technical" issues with any POIs, this will be mentioned directly within the lists in comments.

On a side note, Darkness Falls iron resource POIs don't seem to spawn in Ravenhearst, so I modified the lists accordingly.

There is a nuclear power plant POI (xcostum_Nuclear_Powerplant(by_Rocky)) that looks a bit strange when placed into the world, like it is spawned too high. In my view, the prefab itself is made a bit unfortunate, as it doesn't clearly show whether the whole thing should spawn on the ground or a bit below ground, like sunken below. In my view, both options are possible, but to make the POI accessible easily, I'll probably change its height values in a future version (v4 and above) of the lists (current height is -6, future height would be -10), so it will appear a bit sunken below ground, which is probably what's intended by the author anyway.

Apart from that, I think the culvert_01 prefab (sewerage pipe below a street) in general looks strange when spawned. Furthermore, in the Ravenhearst 5.4 version, quite a few new POIs have been added, especially POIs which resemble airport parts or military trenches. Those POIs start with rh5_norwg in their filenames. NitroGen probably won't generate those "partial" POIs in a meaningful way, at least not at this time, so it might be better to comment those specific POIs out, according to your taste(s).

The lists containing Ravenhearst 5.5.3 values and above (future updates) are completely updated in such a way that all aforementioned POIs that would require more complex placement logic or simply don't make much sense for use in NitroGen at this time have been commented out.

Note there might still be a few other prefabs that might not really match the biome they spawn in. Not much that can be done about that at this time, apart from adjusting a list for very specific purposes (e.g. create a desert-only map) or commenting those POIs out in general.

7. Where do these lists come from? How were they made?

The prefab lists contained in this repository were made by myself ("MelT" from the 7 Days to Die forums) and created the following way (history-wise), in case others want to build their own lists, but don't quite know how to start or are generally interested in the process I followed:

  1. I used the original prefablist.txt made by Damocles for his NitroGen map generator as a start and followed his advice in adding new POIs.

  2. I extracted all of the prefab filenames from the respective Ravenhearst MOD folder (Ravenhearst_5_1_Vanilla_Textures_A17_2_Edition\Data\Prefabs). This can, for example, be done with a single line in the command prompt:

    dir /b /a-d > files.txt

  3. I added the filenames as well as all of the remaining list values manually, loading every prefab into the 7 Days to Die / Ravenhearst prefab editor for checking its respective dimensions and manually checking the prefab XML and other files. This way I had created my first list and named it prefablist_ravenhearst_5.12.

  4. After adding my list values to the original prefablist.txt and testing it in NitroGen, I found that the map was generated just fine, but Ravenhearst crashed when loading it with an "Array Index Out of Range" exception error. (Note this error is not an issue anymore with the latest NitroGen version(s).)

  5. In the meantime, a user named "Xylvier" had posted a script for extracting the XML information from the prefab files automatically, and he used his script for creating a prefab list for the 7 Days to Die modification "Darkness Falls", which I liked, knew and played as well.

  6. I decided to use Xylvier's script for extracting and comparing the Ravenhearst values once again (in case I made any errors) and to merge the Darkness Falls POI values into my own list for personal use as well.

  7. After comparing my manual with the automated values, I found no errors in my Ravenhearst POI values; my main goal at the time was to get rid of the "Array Index Out of Range" error, so I could finally enjoy a NitroGen map in Ravenhearst, and I had to search for possible errors in all directions for this.

  8. I found no logical errors whatsoever in my own combined prefab lists, but found after trying out a vanilla NitroGen map with only the standard values by Damocles that I could actually load such a vanilla map into Ravenhearst, so the problem had to be at least one certain POI in my lists after all. (I later found that the working vanilla map(s) didn't include the apartment_adobe_red_5_flr prefab from the vanilla values, which by chance did not spawn, so I knew that was one of the problematic POIs; also see below.)

  9. A long and arduous testing ensued, where I created a temporary prefab list only for checking single POIs, created maps with only those POIs and checked every created map for the "Array Index Out of Range" exception error and finally found that indeed two specific POIs in the whole list caused this error in Ravenhearst, namely

    apartment_adobe_red_5_flr,Downtown;ResidentialNew,2,-10,45,36,37,citycenter;downtown (from the vanilla values)

    and

    rh5_rave_factory(by_orak),downtown;industrial,2,1,99,43,112,citycenter;smalltown;downtown;alone (from the Ravenhearst values).

    (Don't ask me why the Ravenhearst Rave Factory would cause that error, since the Darkness Falls values include the same prefab with the same values, but the Darkness Falls variant works.)

    I commented these two prefabs out, and lo and behold, maps generated with this modified prefab list of mine worked from now on.

    (As mentioned earlier, the "Array Index Out of Range" error with those two POIs is not an issue anymore with the latest NitroGen version(s).)

  10. After testing out my new list, which contained the vanilla and both the Ravenhearst and the Darkness Falls values, I noticed that most Darkness Falls POIs spawned at a completely messed-up height in the world due to the automated value extraction (most spawned in the ground or high above ground, but not on the ground), whereas only a few Ravenhearst POIs (and even some vanilla) had the same issue. Furthermore, I wasn't too happy with the set NitroGen zone for many of the POIs, so testing time occurred again.

    I created map after map with temporary prefab lists and corrected all height values for every included POI in the list manually, checked for more issues and set the NitroGen zone for every POI to something (for my taste) more suitable. Also, I like my lists more readable, so I put more comments into them, commented out POIs that don't work, corrected some typos and sorted them into sections, putting commented-out values at the beginning of each section.

As a side note, the whole testing process took me approximately two weeks (spare-time speaking). While creating a list for my personal use, I figured that I might save others the bulk of the invested time and uploaded the lists for everyone to use. So - here you are.