Terrain and plants

Surface and underground

When you paint a terrain such as sand, it can reach far down. Set what’s below the surface:

1. Press Ctrl+P to open Surface Properties.
2. Set Underground material, e.g. stone.

You can also limit painting to a height range with the height options in the tool settings on the right (for example only from 50 upwards).

Grass, bushes and plants: custom materials

Plants go in a custom material, not a layer.

1. In the block list, scroll all the way down to the + and choose Create custom material.
2. Switch to Complex.
3. Add entries. Each starts as dirt, click it to pick the block or plant you want.
4. The number next to each entry is its weight: how often it appears compared to the others.
5. Save. A Custom terrain tab appears on the left. Right-click an entry there to edit it later.
6. Paint it like any other terrain.

Tip

Plants floating or stacking on top of each other? Check the variance setting of the custom material.

Where it goes: Only on / Except on

In the tool settings you can limit painting:

• Only on → water: plants only underwater
• Except on → water: trees stay on land
• Add Another: combine several conditions

Underwater plants in 1.1.0

Plants in a custom material set to “only underwater” sometimes don’t appear in the export. Workaround: paint them on dry ground, export, then fill the water in Hytale with /fill Fluid_Water.

Custom material forgets entries

In 1.1.0 a custom material sometimes keeps only one custom block. Set up all entries in one go and save, don’t reopen and edit it in between. Fixed for the next release.

A block shows as an error block

If an exported block shows as a purple/black error block, the block name is wrong. Known case in 1.1.0: mossy cobblestone is written as Rock_Stone_Moddy_Cobble, Hytale calls it Rock_Stone_Cobble_Mossy.

Fix it yourself: Edit Material → Custom and type the correct Hytale block name. This works for any wrong or missing block. The mossy cobble name is fixed for the next release.

Global operations

• Fill with terrain type doesn’t list custom terrains in 1.1.0 (the eyedropper picks Ashen Sand instead). Fixed for the next release.
• With two layers selected, a global operation affects each layer (everywhere layer 1 or layer 2 is). The brush works on the overlap only (layer 1 and layer 2). Workaround: make the inverse layers and use Except on.

Images as masks

When you import a coloured image as a mask, you’re limited to 15 annotation colours. To change an image after placing it, use Configure View (Ctrl+V).

Modded blocks

Blocks from mods aren’t officially supported. Typing a modded block name into a custom material can work, but in 1.1.0 it may not be saved. Saving is fixed for the next release.