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Prefabs

Note

If you are familiar with Unity, Luduvo prefabs are conceptually similar to Unity prefabs.

Prefabs are premade, serialized Instances that can be reused between Luduvo projects. Luduvo scripts use them to programmatically spawn Instances that are not clones of an existing entity.

Luduvo ships these core prefabs:

Storage

Prefabs are stored in the core://prefabs/ and project://prefabs/ virtual mounts. Prefabs and other files stored in core:// are versioned and updated by Luduvo.

Creating and editing prefabs

Opening a core prefab for editing creates a project copy at project://prefabs/<Name>.ldv and opens it in a prefab-edit world. Edit the project copy, not the installed core content.

To create a prefab from scene content, stop playtesting, select exactly one root entity, and use File > Export Model.... The exported .ldv can then be stored under the project's prefab directory. Prefab lookup reads the registered core/project store; inserting a prefab into the current scene is not required to make Exists or Spawn find it.

There is no Luau API for defining or saving prefab files at runtime.

Spawning prefabs

Service functions use dot syntax:

if game.Prefabs.Exists("MyPrefab") then
    local root = game.Prefabs.Spawn("MyPrefab")

    if root ~= nil then
        root.Parent = self
    end
end
Method Scope Behavior
game.Prefabs.Exists(name: string) -> boolean Client and server Checks a logical, case-sensitive name without creating anything.
game.Prefabs.Spawn(name: string) -> Instance? Server only Instantiates the complete tree and returns its detached root, or nil on failure.

Pass "MyPrefab", not a .ldv path or URI. The returned root is not automatically parented or positioned.