Showcase: Dude VS Dungeon Mod

Overview

This showcase walks through the structure of a complete Hytale mod called Dude VS Dungeon. It demonstrates how multiple systems connect: custom NPCs with AI behaviors, unique weapons and armor, crafting recipes, dungeon instances with portals, and loot tables that tie everything together.

This is not a step-by-step tutorial — it’s a guided tour of a finished mod to show how the pieces fit.

Mod Structure

dude_vs_dungeon/
├── manifest.json
├── Server/
│   ├── NPC/
│   │   ├── Roles/
│   │   │   ├── DungeonGuard.json
│   │   │   ├── DungeonBoss.json
│   │   │   └── DungeonMinion.json
│   │   ├── Spawn/
│   │   │   └── Markers/
│   │   │       └── Dungeon_Spawns.json
│   │   └── Balancing/
│   │       ├── CAE_DungeonGuard.json
│   │       └── CAE_DungeonBoss.json
│   ├── Item/
│   │   ├── Items/
│   │   │   ├── Weapon/
│   │   │   │   └── DungeonBlade.json
│   │   │   └── Armor/
│   │   │       └── DungeonArmor_Chest.json
│   │   └── Recipes/
│   │       └── DungeonBlade_Recipe.json
│   ├── Drops/
│   │   ├── Drop_DungeonGuard.json
│   │   ├── Drop_DungeonBoss.json
│   │   └── Drop_DungeonChest.json
│   ├── Instances/
│   │   └── DungeonInstance.json
│   ├── PortalTypes/
│   │   └── DungeonPortal.json
│   └── Models/
│       ├── DungeonGuard.json
│       ├── DungeonBoss.json
│       └── DungeonMinion.json
└── Common/
    └── NPC/
        ├── DungeonGuard/
        ├── DungeonBoss/
        └── DungeonMinion/

System Interactions

flowchart TD;
    A["Player Finds<br>Dungeon Portal"] --> B[Enter Instance];
    B --> C["Dungeon Instance<br>Loads Prefab"];

    C --> D["Marker Spawns<br>Activate"];
    D --> E[DungeonMinion x3];
    D --> F[DungeonGuard x2];
    D --> G[DungeonBoss x1];

    E -->|"Kill"| H["Drop Table:<br>Common Loot"];
    F -->|"Kill"| I["Drop Table:<br>Uncommon Loot"];
    G -->|"Kill"| J["Drop Table:<br>Boss Loot"];

    H --> K["Materials for<br>DungeonBlade Recipe"];
    I --> K;
    J --> L["Unique DungeonArmor<br>Guaranteed Drop"];

    K --> M["Player Crafts<br>DungeonBlade at Bench"];

    style A fill:darkgreen,color:white;
    style G fill:darkred,color:white;
    style L fill:rebeccapurple,color:white;
    style M fill:steelblue,color:white;

Key Files Explained

1. The Boss NPC Role

The DungeonBoss inherits from the monster template and overrides combat stats:

{
  "Reference": "Template_Beasts_Aggressive_Monster",
  "Modify": {
    "Appearance": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonBoss",
    "Health": {
      "Parameter": "BossHealth",
      "Compute": { "Base": 500 }
    },
    "MovementSpeed": {
      "Parameter": "BossSpeed",
      "Compute": { "Base": 1.8 }
    },
    "Drops": {
      "Reference": "dude_vs_dungeon:Drop_DungeonBoss"
    },
    "CombatActionEvaluator": "dude_vs_dungeon:CAE_DungeonBoss"
  }
}

2. Boss Combat AI

The boss has multiple combat phases driven by health thresholds:

{
  "EvaluationInterval": 0.5,
  "AvailableActions": {
    "SlashAttack": {
      "ActionId": "MeleeAttack_Heavy",
      "Conditions": [
        { "Type": "TargetDistance", "Curve": { "ResponseCurve": "SimpleDescendingLogistic", "XRange": [0, 5] } },
        { "Type": "TimeSinceLastUsed", "Curve": { "ResponseCurve": "Linear", "XRange": [0, 3] } }
      ]
    },
    "Enrage": {
      "ActionId": "Buff_Enrage",
      "RunConditions": [
        { "Type": "OwnStatPercent", "Stat": "Health", "Curve": "ReverseLinear" }
      ],
      "Conditions": [
        { "Type": "OwnStatPercent", "Stat": "Health", "Curve": { "Type": "Switch", "SwitchPoint": 0.3 } }
      ]
    }
  },
  "ActionSets": {
    "Default": {
      "Actions": ["SlashAttack"],
      "BasicAttackType": "MeleeAttack_Light"
    },
    "Enraged": {
      "Actions": ["SlashAttack", "Enrage"],
      "BasicAttackType": "MeleeAttack_Heavy"
    }
  }
}

Combat Flow

flowchart TD;
    A["Boss Spawns<br>HP: 500/500"] --> B[Default ActionSet];
    B --> C{Player in Range?};
    C -->|"Yes, < 5 blocks"| D["SlashAttack<br>High score"];
    C -->|"No"| E[Chase Player];

    D --> F{"HP < 30%?"};
    F -->|"No"| C;
    F -->|"Yes"| G["Switch to<br>Enraged ActionSet"];

    G --> H[Enrage Buff Active];
    H --> I["Heavy attacks only<br>Faster evaluation"];
    I --> J{Player Dead?};
    J -->|"No"| I;
    J -->|"Yes"| K[Return to Idle];

    style A fill:darkgreen,color:white;
    style G fill:darkred,color:white;
    style H fill:darkgoldenrod,color:white;

3. Boss Loot Table

Guaranteed unique armor drop + random material rewards:

{
  "Container": {
    "Type": "Multiple",
    "Children": [
      {
        "Type": "Single",
        "Item": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonArmor_Chest",
        "Count": 1
      },
      {
        "Type": "Choice",
        "Children": [
          { "Weight": 40, "Type": "Single", "Item": "hytale:Diamond", "Count": [2, 5] },
          { "Weight": 35, "Type": "Single", "Item": "hytale:Gold_Ingot", "Count": [3, 8] },
          { "Weight": 25, "Type": "Single", "Item": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonShard", "Count": [1, 3] }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

4. Dungeon Instance

The instance file ties everything together — the prefab, spawn markers, and portal:

{
  "Prefab": "dude_vs_dungeon:Prefab_DungeonArena",
  "SpawnPoint": { "X": 8, "Y": 1, "Z": 8 },
  "Portal": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonPortal",
  "MaxPlayers": 4,
  "ResetTime": "PT30M",
  "Objectives": [
    {
      "Type": "KillNPC",
      "Target": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonBoss",
      "Count": 1
    }
  ]
}

5. The Crafted Weapon

A DungeonBlade crafted from materials dropped by dungeon mobs:

{
  "Parent": "Template_Weapon_Sword",
  "Modify": {
    "TranslationKey": "dude_vs_dungeon.item.name.dungeon_blade",
    "BaseDamage": { "Slashing": 25, "Fire": 10 },
    "AttackSpeed": 1.2,
    "Durability": 500,
    "Quality": "Legendary"
  }
}

Recipe requiring dungeon drops:

{
  "Inputs": [
    { "Item": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonShard", "Count": 5 },
    { "Item": "hytale:Diamond", "Count": 3 },
    { "Item": "hytale:Iron_Ingot", "Count": 10 }
  ],
  "Output": {
    "Item": "dude_vs_dungeon:DungeonBlade",
    "Count": 1
  },
  "BenchRequirement": [
    { "Id": "WorkBench", "RequiredTierLevel": 3 }
  ],
  "ProcessingTime": 10
}

Systems Used

This mod demonstrates the following systems working together:

System	Pages
NPC Roles & Templates	NPC Roles, NPC Templates
Combat AI	NPC Decision Making, NPC Combat Balancing
Spawn System	NPC Spawn Rules
Items & Crafting	Item Definitions, Recipes
Loot	Drop Tables
Dungeons	Instances, Portal Types
Mod Packaging	Mod Packaging

Takeaways

1. Use inheritance — the boss and weapons extend base templates, not built from scratch
2. Connect systems — drops feed into recipes, spawn markers activate in instances, portals gate content
3. Layer combat complexity — the boss uses condition-driven action sets for phase transitions
4. Balance with weights — loot uses weighted choices for varied but controlled rewards
5. Namespace everything — dude_vs_dungeon: prefix prevents conflicts with other mods