Prefabs

Based on game build 714014 | Last updated: 2026-03-10

Overview

The prefabs.lua file defines two core Lua classes: Prefab and Asset. These classes are used to declaratively register game entities (prefabs) and their required resources (assets) during mod initialization. The Prefab class holds metadata about an entity—including its name, creation function, assets, and dependencies—and automatically incorporates skin-related dependencies if defined in PREFAB_SKINS. The Asset class represents a single asset requirement (e.g., texture, sound, or animation file) with its type, path, and optional parameters.

This module forms the foundational layer for entity creation in DST—before an entity can be instantiated via Prefab(name, ...), it must be registered using this system.

Usage example

-- Define assets
local assets = {
    Asset("ANIM", "anim.zip"),
    Asset("SOUND", "sounds/foobar"),
}

-- Register a new prefab
local MyPrefab = Prefab("myprefab", function()
    local inst = CreateEntity()
    inst:AddTag("myprefab")
    return inst
end, assets)

-- Later, spawn the prefab
local entity = TheWorld:SpawnPrefab("myprefab")

Dependencies & tags

Components used: None directly (this is a definition layer, not a runtime component).
Tags: None identified.
External files used: prefabskins.lua (imports skin dependency metadata).

Properties

Property	Type	Default Value	Description
name	string	—	The unique identifier for the prefab (path-stripped to remove legacy directory prefixes).
desc	string	""	Optional human-readable description (populated manually by modders).
fn	function	—	The factory function that constructs and returns the entity instance.
assets	table	{}	Array of Asset objects defining required resources.
deps	table	{}	Array of additional dependencies (e.g., prefab skins, referenced prefabs).
force_path_search	boolean	false	If true, forces the engine to search for assets using full paths rather than optimized lookups.

Main functions

Prefab(name, fn, assets, deps, force_path_search)

• Description: Constructor for the Prefab class. Initializes metadata and automatically appends skin dependencies from PREFAB_SKINS if applicable.
• Parameters:
  • name (string) — Unique identifier for the prefab (e.g., "myprefab"). Path segments are stripped to retain only the basename.
  • fn (function) — Factory function that creates the entity instance (inst) and returns it.
  • assets (table, optional) — List of Asset instances. Defaults to empty table if omitted.
  • deps (table, optional) — List of additional dependencies. Defaults to empty table.
  • force_path_search (boolean, optional) — Forces fallback path resolution. Defaults to false.
• Returns: A new Prefab instance.

Asset(type, file, param)

• Description: Constructor for the Asset class. Represents a single asset requirement for a prefab.
• Parameters:
  • type (string) — Asset category (e.g., "ANIM", "SOUND", "IMAGE", "MINIMAP").
  • file (string) — Relative path to the asset (e.g., "anim/myanim.zip").
  • param (string or number, optional) — Optional parameter (e.g., animation state name, atlas margin).
• Returns: A new Asset instance.

Prefab:__tostring()

• Description: String representation of the Prefab for debugging.
• Parameters: None.
• Returns: String in the format "Prefab <name> - <desc>".

Events & listeners

None.