Rain World Setup Guide

1. Locate relevant directories

There are two directories you may need to access during setup.

  • Find the location of your Archipelago (AP) installation by opening the AP launcher and clicking Browse files. This will be referred to as your AP folder.
  • Find the location of your Rain World (RW) installation. If installed through Steam, right click on Rain World in the Steam Library, hover Manage, then click Browse local files. This will be referred to as your RW folder.

2. Add the Rain World APWorld

To generate a multitworld with Rain World, the .apworld has to be installed. Download an .apworld from a release page and either place it in the worlds or custom_worlds folder of your AP folder (without unzipping it!), or use the Install APWorld button from the AP launcher.

3. Create a player YAML settings file

Player YAML settings files are used to tweak logic, determine start state and victory condition, and more. You can see the basic multiworld setup guide for a general overview of how Archipelago uses player YAML settings files, and the settings subpage for more on the specific settings that Rain World uses. A player YAML settings file is required to generate a world, even if you choose to leave all settings at their defaults.

You can get a player YAML settings file by doing one of the following:

  • Download a template from the release page.
    1. If you downloaded an .apworld from the releases page, that page will also contain template YAMLs that can be manually edited.
  • Choose options with the local yaml creator.
    1. Open the Archipelago Launcher and select Options Creator.
    2. Select Rain World from the games list and customize your options.
    3. Press Export Options to save your newly created yaml.
  • Generate the template file.
    1. Open the Archipelago Launcher and select Generate Template Options.
    2. Navigate to Players/Templates folder in your AP folder (which may open automatically).
    3. Copy and edit Rain World.yaml to change settings.
  • Run the WebHost. (Only do this if you really want to edit options like you would on the website for core supported games)
    1. Run WebHost.py in your AP folder to start the WebHost locally. If you haven't done this before, several Python packages will need to install first.
    2. Once the WebHost is running (which may take a minute), navigate to localhost in a browser.
    3. Select Supported Games, then find Rain World in the game list.
    4. Go to the game options page (or the weighted options page) and adjust settings as desired.
    5. Click Export Options at the bottom to download the file.

Don't forget to set the player name at the top of the player YAML file; it may default to Player{number} which will become something like Player1 when the multiworld is generated. You do not have to include the {number} in your name.

4. Install the Randomizer mod

Install the Randomizer mod by doing one of the following:

  • Download from the Steam Workshop.
    • Steam will automatically keep this updated to the version available on the Workshop by default. However, this version may not necessarily be the newest available version of the mod. The version here could lag behind the most recent release on GitHub to avoid disrupting existing running multiworlds.
  • Download from GitHub.
    1. Download a release from GitHub. If you downloaded a specific release of the APWorld in step 2, that release page should link to the version(s) of the Randomizer mod that it is designed for.
    2. Unzip it and place the rwrandomizer folder in your RW folder at Rain World\RainWorld_Data\StreamingAssets\mods.

If you are subscribed to the mod on the Workshop and have a non-Workshop version in the mods folder, do not activate both versions at the same time. Note also that each version keeps its own save data. If you are manually updating from an older client version you may want to manually transfer the save data in the mod files.

5. Configure mods and game

Configure Rain World and your mods by doing the following:

  1. If you are running Linux (which includes Steam Deck) and have not used Remix mods before:
    1. Right-click on Rain World in the library and select Properties...
    2. Open the General tab.
    3. In the LAUNCH OPTIONS box, add WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winhttp=n,b" %command%.
  2. (Re)start Rain World.
  3. Go to the Remix menu and enable the following:
    1. Rain World Remix
    2. Randomizer (+ Archipelago)
    3. More Slugcats Expansion, if and only if you enabled it in your player YAML settings
    4. The Watcher, if and only if you enabled it in your player YAML settings
    5. For other mods, see the compatibility subpage.
  4. Restart Rain World.
  5. Go to the Remix menu and verify that the mod has loaded correctly by clicking on the Randomizer (+ Archipelago) to open its Remix interface. You should see an Archipelago tab in this interface.

For recommended Rain World Remix settings, see the Remix subpage.

6. Join an Archipelago room

Once the Archipelago room is open, connect to it by opening the Archipelago tab in the Randomizer's Remix menu. Enter the host name, port number, room password (if there is one), and player name (which must exactly match the name specified in your player YAML settings), then click Connect. The Remix menu should print a message indicating a successful connection and including key pieces of information from your player YAML settings.

7. Start the game

Once you are connected to a room, the matching Story campaign may be started. A fresh campaign should be used when connecting to a new room. It does not necessarily need to be an entirely fresh save file, though using a separate save file (or backup) is encouraged. A Randomizer campaign should never be loaded without Randomizer enabled and connected - doing so may irreversibly break the campaign's save data.

For details on everything that gets randomized, see the game description page.