What the randomizer is

Zephyr has a built-in panel for Archipelago multiworld randomizers. If you've never used Archipelago: it's a system where multiple players play randomized versions of different games at the same time, and items found in one player's game can unlock progression for another. A randomized Hollow Knight save and a randomized A Link to the Past save sharing items, for instance.

Zephyr drives the standard Archipelago tooling locally - you build YAMLs in a UI, generate seeds, and host the multiworld server right from the app.

What it can do

• Build YAMLs in a UI - instead of editing YAML by hand, fill in form fields. Zephyr emits valid YAML. Each saved configuration is a "player slot".
• Generate a multiworld - pick the player slots, generate, get back a .archipelago seed plus per-player patch files.
• Host the server - run a local Archipelago server on your machine, or upload the seed to archipelago.gg's hosting service.
• Manage custom APWorlds - drop a .apworld file in to add a new game, no manual file shuffling.

What you need

Releases ship without the Archipelago runtime to keep downloads small - Zephyr downloads and sets up the runtime in your data folder on first use. Zephyr prefers a system Python in the 3.11-3.13 range to bootstrap the venv, and falls back to a bundled python-build-standalone interpreter if no compatible system Python is found, so the install completes either way.

When to use it

Use Zephyr's randomizer if:

• You want a single app for both managing your modded game and playing Archipelago seeds for it.
• You're using a custom APWorld that the official web generator doesn't support yet.
• You're tuning a YAML and want to test-generate quickly.

Stick with the official web generator / hosting if:

• You don't want a process running on your machine.
• You want a permanent permalink to share.

The two aren't mutually exclusive. Many people use both.

The Archipelago page

In the sidebar, the randomizer lives under Archipelago. The page has:

1. Catalog - cards for every supported game, plus a Custom APWorlds panel for dropping in additional worlds.
2. Configurator - opens when you click a game card. Builds the YAML for that game.
3. Right pane - togglable between a YAML preview of the current configuration and a Multiplayer view with Python runtime status, player slots, generated seeds, and host controls.

The first time you generate or host, Zephyr installs the Archipelago runtime in the background.

Next

-> Install the runtime -> Build your first YAML