Seasonal SLS Bridge 1.4.8

Seasonal SLS Bridge connects Seasonality with StarLevelSystem to give Valheim's creatures seasonal combat traits and optional visual variants.

The goal is simple: make the world feel more alive and less predictable without changing StarLevelSystem itself, replacing its modifier names, or taking control away from Seasonality.

Community & support

For mod questions, bug reports, ideas, texture contributions or general discussion, join the community Discord:

https://discord.gg/kN3cqHqWYA

What's new in 1.4.8

Version 1.4.8 improves StarLevelSystem compatibility handling and adds a new local seasonal-icon layer to creature hover names.

• StarLevelSystem 1.18.2 has been explicitly verified.
• Newer StarLevelSystem versions are no longer rejected solely because their version number is higher. If the validated public API remains compatible, the bridge continues to work and shows a single startup warning.
• If the required public API is actually incompatible or missing, the bridge safely disables the StarLevelSystem integration and reports the problem instead of attempting unsafe calls.
• The validated public StarLevelSystem API is now bound through delegates, reducing the risk of loading a future version that no longer exposes one of the expected functions.
• Seasonal hover names can now show local icons for winter, spring, summer and autumn.
• Titles.ShowSeasonTitle can hide the textual titles (Vetrbarn, Várbarn, Sumarbarn, Haustbarn) while keeping the icon.
• Titles.ShowSeasonIcon, Titles.SeasonIconSize and Titles.SeasonIconSpacing control the local icon UI.
• Seasonal icons use 128×128 RGBA PNG assets and do not modify ZDO data, StarLevelSystem state or network authority.

1.4.7 was a documentation-only release and did not change gameplay, seasonal logic or visual-system behavior.

Visual System

The visual system is designed to complement Seasonality instead of replacing it.

Current artwork status: fully finished public custom textures are currently included for the Troll, the Greydwarf family and Skeletons.
The broader visual framework and creature catalog are already prepared for additional families, which will continue to be added gradually.

When a supported creature has a matching modifier, Seasonal SLS Bridge can apply a local visual variant for that creature.

Examples include:

• Frost — winter / cold appearance
• Fire — heated or volcanic appearance
• FireNova — more unstable fire appearance
• Poison — toxic / overgrown appearance
• PoisonNova — unstable toxic appearance
• Lightning — storm-charged appearance
• ElementalChaos — unstable arcane appearance
• Big — winter heavy / imposing appearance where supported
• SoulEater — dark generic appearance
• Brutal — aggressive generic appearance

Unedited or unsupported properties are left alone so Seasonality can continue handling its normal seasonal visuals.

BalrondHumanoidRandomizer variants

For supported Skeleton and Draugr variants created by BalrondHumanoidRandomizer, the bridge resolves the randomized prefab back to its catalogued base creature and reuses that base creature's existing texture set.

This avoids maintaining duplicate textures for every randomized variant and does not cause intentionally excluded base prefabs to be added back into the visual catalog.

Version 1.4.6 also improves material-property handling: unrelated property blocks no longer block supported texture maps, failed first applications can be retried, and visual warnings include the affected prefab name for easier diagnosis.

Visual priority

If a creature qualifies for more than one supported visual, the bridge uses a fixed priority:

1. Elemental modifiers, with seasonal primary elements taking priority
2. SoulEater
3. Brutal
4. Big

This order is unchanged in 1.4.6. Big can now use a supported visual throughout the year instead of depending on a specific season.

This keeps the result predictable and avoids multiple systems trying to overwrite the same material.

Elemental visual fallback

Elemental modifiers applied directly by StarLevelSystem can still use the matching visual even if the creature has no recorded birth season.

For visual selection only:

• Frost falls back to winter
• Fire, Lightning and FireNova fall back to summer
• Poison, ElementalChaos and PoisonNova fall back to spring
• Supported autumn variants can act as an out-of-season fallback when appropriate
• Big can use its supported visual in any season

These fallbacks are visual only. They do not write a birth season, change titles, reroll modifiers or alter gameplay state.

Features

Every eligible new creature stores its birth season.

Season, birth biome and natural affinity determine the seasonal modifier profile.

With the default 100% gate and EnsureSeasonalModifier enabled, an otherwise empty valid roll can use a Minor seasonal fallback:

• Winter: Big
• Spring: Fast
• Summer: ResistFire
• Autumn: Alert

StarLevelSystem must still accept the selected modifier.

Winter — Vetrbarn

Cold-oriented traits are favored:

• Frost
• ResistFrost
• Big
• StaminaDrain
• ResistPierce
• ResistSlash
• ResistBlunt
• EitrDrain

Spring — Várbarn

Spring favors poison, adaptation and unusual mutations:

• Poison
• ElementalChaos
• PoisonNova
• ResistPoison
• Fast
• Evolving
• Splitter

Summer — Sumarbarn

Summer favors heat and aggressive elemental effects:

• Fire
• FireNova
• ResistFire
• Lightning
• Fast
• Brutal
• Big

Autumn — Haustbarn

Autumn favors lightning, poison and spiritual effects:

• Lightning
• Poison
• ElementalChaos
• SoulEater
• ResistSpirit
• Alert
• ResistPoison
• Big

The exact result is weighted, so not every creature receives the same modifier.

Seasonal Creature Names

Eligible new creatures retain their birth-season title independently of the modifier result:

• Esqueleto Vetrbarn
• Greydwarf Várbarn
• Draugr Sumarbarn
• Greydwarf Haustbarn

The bridge does not rewrite StarLevelSystem's modifier names.

The seasonal title is added separately to the creature's hover name.

Seasonal hover icons

Version 1.4.8 adds a local seasonal icon next to the creature hover name for:

• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Autumn

The icon and the textual seasonal title are controlled independently.

• Titles.ShowSeasonTitle — shows or hides Vetrbarn, Várbarn, Sumarbarn and Haustbarn.
• Titles.ShowSeasonIcon — enables or disables the seasonal icon.
• Titles.SeasonIconSize — controls local icon size.
• Titles.SeasonIconSpacing — controls spacing between the icon and hover-name text.

This allows, for example, an icon-only seasonal identity without the textual suffix.

The seasonal icon assets are RGBA PNG files at 128×128. The icon layer is local and cosmetic only: it does not write additional ZDO state, alter StarLevelSystem modifiers or change network authority.

Screenshots

The Troll screenshots below remain the current public showcase. Version 1.4.1 also includes completed custom textures for the Greydwarf family and Skeletons.

Fire — Sumarbarn

SoulEater

Poison — Várbarn

Elemental Chaos

Lightning — Haustbarn

Frost — Vetrbarn

Configuration

Configuration file:

BepInEx/config/TheLionCid.SeasonalSLSBridge.cfg

Main settings:

Setting	Default	Description
SeasonalRollChance	100	Percentage chance for a spawned creature to receive a seasonal modifier.
DelaySeconds	0.75	Delay before the seasonal modifier is applied after spawning.
IncludeTamed	false	Whether tamed creatures can receive seasonal modifiers.
LogAppliedModifiers	true	Logs successful seasonal applications.
EnsureSeasonalModifier	true	Fills empty valid rolls with the seasonal Minor fallback.
Visuals.Enabled	true	Enables or disables the local visual system.
Visuals.TextureFilter	Point	Texture filtering mode. Point preserves vanilla pixel detail; Bilinear/Trilinear can be used for HD packs.
Titles.ShowSeasonTitle	true	Shows or hides the seasonal text suffix such as Vetrbarn or Haustbarn.
Titles.ShowSeasonIcon	true	Shows or hides the local seasonal icon next to the hover name.
Titles.SeasonIconSize	Configurable	Controls the local seasonal icon size.
Titles.SeasonIconSpacing	Configurable	Controls spacing between the icon and hover-name text.

Existing configuration can be kept when updating. New settings are added automatically.

Custom textures

The visual pack is intentionally lightweight and editable.

Personal PNG edits are preserved by the texture preparation workflow, making it possible to build custom or HD visual packs without changing the gameplay logic of the bridge.

The compact package includes the required texture bases and Preparar-Texturas.ps1 to recreate the editable texture tree.

Requirements

Required dependencies:

• BepInExPack Valheim
• Jötunn
• YamlDotNet
• StarLevelSystem
• Seasonality

Explicitly verified StarLevelSystem versions:

• 1.14.0.0
• 1.15.0.0
• 1.16.0.0
• 1.17.0.0
• 1.18.0.0
• 1.18.1
• 1.18.2

1.18.2 is the current explicitly verified StarLevelSystem version.

Newer versions may continue working when the validated public API contract remains compatible. In that case, Seasonal SLS Bridge emits a single startup warning and continues normally.

If the required API contract is actually incompatible or missing, the StarLevelSystem integration is disabled safely and a compatibility warning is reported.

Installation

Thunderstore

Install Seasonal SLS Bridge and its dependencies through your mod manager.

For the best multiplayer experience, use the same mod version and visual files on the server and clients.

Manual installation

1. Install the required dependencies.
2. Place SeasonalSLSBridge.dll in:

BepInEx/plugins/SeasonalSLSBridge/

1. Place the SeasonalTextures folder alongside the DLL.
2. If using the compact texture package, run Preparar-Texturas.ps1 to generate the editable visual variants.
3. Remove the old experimental TextureTest add-on if it is still installed.
4. Launch Valheim.

Existing creatures are not rerolled when updating.

For 1.4.8-specific technical notes and recommended verification steps, see UPDATE_1.4.8.md.

Only the appropriate server authority applies gameplay changes. Players, bosses, traders and, by default, tamed creatures remain excluded from seasonal modifier application.

Compatibility and design

Seasonal SLS Bridge is intentionally a bridge between existing mods.

It does not:

• modify StarLevelSystem's internal modifier definitions;
• replace StarLevelSystem modifier names;
• edit creature stats directly;
• change spawn rates;
• change loot;
• require manual editing of StarLevelSystem configuration;
• alter Seasonality's season system;
• write network gameplay state just to display a visual variant;
• write ZDO or StarLevelSystem state just to display a seasonal hover icon.

The visual system is local and cosmetic. If a supported texture cannot be loaded, gameplay should continue with the normal creature appearance.

Stability

Seasonal SLS Bridge validates the public StarLevelSystem API it actually needs before enabling the integration.

For StarLevelSystem 1.18.2, compatibility is explicitly verified.

For future versions:

• if the required public API contract remains compatible, the bridge binds the validated functions through delegates, emits one startup warning for the unverified newer version, and continues;
• if required functions are missing or incompatible, the StarLevelSystem integration is disabled safely and the problem is reported.

The bridge does not attempt unsafe internal modifications just to force compatibility. A creature's stored seasonal identity remains independent from modifier-application success.

Support, feedback and contributions

The community Discord is linked near the top of this README. Contributions and feedback are welcome, especially from experienced Valheim/BepInEx modders and texture artists.

AI-assisted development

A significant part of this mod's development, including code generation, debugging, compilation assistance, testing and troubleshooting, was done with the help of AI.

The author, TheLionCid, is not an experienced Valheim mod developer and is publishing this project openly so that more experienced modders can review it, identify problems and help improve it.

Feedback, bug reports and code improvements are welcome.

Permissions

You may adapt or modify this project for your own use, provided that you respect the licenses and credits of this project and its dependencies.

Do not redistribute the work of other authors as your own.

Credits

• TheLionCid — Seasonal SLS Bridge
• MidnightMods — StarLevelSystem
• RustyMods — Seasonality
• ValheimModding — Jötunn and YamlDotNet
• BepInEx / Valheim modding community — modding framework and ecosystem

Disclaimer

This is an independent compatibility bridge. It is not an official component of StarLevelSystem or Seasonality.

Updates to Valheim, StarLevelSystem or Seasonality may require an update to the bridge.