Creator Spotlight: How PinataMJ Built Palmfall Point in 24 Hours with GenAI
PinataMJ, a late 2024 addition to the Meta Horizon Creator Program (MHCP) and a long-standing creator in the Horizon community, achieved an impressive feat with Palmfall Point, managing to build an entire island world in just 24 hours using new GenAI tools in the Worlds desktop editor. The goal was simple but ambitious: Show what’s possible when creativity and AI come together.
Finding a World in the Making
The process began without a fixed idea, just the excitement of experimentation. PinataMJ placed several AI-generated objects across an empty landscape, curious to see what themes might emerge. As he arranged the pieces, something clicked: The early clusters of props and scenery evoked the spirit of a pirate outpost, reminiscent of popular pirate adventure games.
From that spark, Palmfall Point was born.
The Building Process
PinataMJ leaned deeply into GenAI for every step of world creation:
Asset generation: Prompts were carefully written to ensure that all generated meshes matched the rugged, weathered pirate aesthetic, including beach campfires, cliffside docks and old tavern signs.
Concept inspiration: Off-platform AI image generation was leveraged to spark ideas for core landmarks like the marketplace, tavern and volcanic cliffs.
Iterative improvements: As more assets were generated, the desktop editor’s GenAI tools started understanding the world’s theme more clearly, producing better matches for the evolving style.
What started as simple experimentation quickly became a dynamic, creative collaboration between the creator’s vision and Meta’s GenAI tooling capabilities.
Final Touches and Collaboration
As Palmfall Point neared completion, PinataMJ brought friends into the project for fresh eyes and feedback. Their ideas, such as layering in particle VFX from the asset library to make fires crackle and waves splash, helped breathe even more life into the scene. He also leveraged GenAI for sound effects and a custom skybox, completing the transformation of the island into a fully immersive pirate haven—all within 24 hours.
PinataMJ’s Key Learnings:
AI didn’t just build the world, it helped guide it.
Throughout the process, GenAI served as both a toolkit and a creative partner, suggesting new ideas through asset generation and inspiring environmental storytelling.
"The more I used GenAI, the more it felt like it was getting better and understanding the theme I was going for," says PinataMJ.
By blending human creativity with GenAI's speed and flexibility, PinataMJ built a complete, cohesive experience in record time without sacrificing world depth or atmosphere.
Set Sail on Your Creator Journey
Using the industry’s most comprehensive suite of GenAI creation tools, you too can quickly build out your imagination and experiment with new ideas like PinataMJ. To get started, download the Worlds desktop editor and learn more about GenAI tools like Mesh Generation, TypeScript Generation and more by visiting the documentation.
Plus, stay tuned for more creator spotlights by following us on X and Facebook and stay up to date with the latest features by checking out Worlds release notes.
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