Introduction
The Heartwood ecosystem platform is a suite of mods for Vintage Story that brings persistent, ecologically-modeled wildlife and NPC settlements to your world.
What's in the ecosystem
| Mod | What it does |
|---|---|
| Heartwood | The core bridge mod. Connects Vintage Story to an external simulation server. Required by all other mods. |
| Wingspan | Birdwatching journal, feeders, birdhouses, and discovery progression. Adds flocking, nesting, and habitat-aware bird populations. |
| Fauna | Habitat-aware land animal populations with herding, denning, predator-prey dynamics, and life cycles. |
| Settlement | Autonomous NPC villages with specialized settlers, construction, and a reputation system. |
How it works
Heartwood bridges Vintage Story to an always-running Go server that simulates population dynamics. When you enter a region, Heartwood checks the server for the current population state and materializes the right animals in the right habitats. When you leave, their state is sent back and they continue living in the simulation even while unloaded.
The simulation runs 24/7 independently of the game. You can shut down Vintage Story and restart hours later — the ecosystem will have advanced in your absence.
Requirements
- Vintage Story 1.22.0 or newer
- The Heartwood server running on the same machine (or accessible network)
- .NET 10 Runtime (installed with VS 1.22+)