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Tobey Blaber edited this page Mar 16, 2024 · 43 revisions

Tip

All file paths mentioned in this FAQ are relative to your game folder, i.e. BepInEx/LogOutput.log = [game folder]/BepInEx/LogOutput.log, where [game folder] is the path to the folder containing the game's executable (e.g. Subnautica.exe).

Steam users can find this folder by right-clicking the game in their Steam library and selecting Manage -> Browse local files.

What is this?

BepInEx is a general purpose framework for Unity modding. This is a BepInEx pack for Subnautica, preconfigured and ready to use.

Is it compatible with QModManager?

Yes! Just keep in mind the following:

  • QModManager only works on the legacy branch of Subnautica
  • most BepInEx plugins are not intended for use on the legacy branch

Please see the Compatibility with QModManager page for more information.

Can BepInEx load QMods without QModManager?

No.

Where can I find mods made for BepInEx?

You can find some under the Requirements section of the Description tab on the Nexus Mods mod page, under the heading Mods requiring this file.

Nothing has changed in-game after I installed this!

Aside from the console window opening up on Windows and some Linux systems, this pack doesn't make any noticeable changes in-game by itself. This pack simply loads BepInEx plugins and patchers, and it is up to them to make changes to your game!

So, if you haven't yet actually installed any mods, BepInEx is probably working fine. Especially if you see the console window opening up, otherwise you can verify this by checking the LogOutput.log file which should have been generated in your BepInEx folder.

If BepInEx itself seems to be working, but you have installed mods which aren't working, see the below sections:

Some of my BepInEx plugins aren't working!

Issues with BepInEx plugins are usually going to be either an installation issue caused by a mod manager, some manner of PEBCAK issue, or a bug with the plugin itself.

This BepInEx pack includes Tobey's Plugin Doctor for BepInEx 5, a utility to help with toubleshooting common problems with BepInEx plugins.

It simply prints a report of all found issues in the logs for you to read over, advising you on how to handle them.

To access the report, simply load the file SubnauticaZero/BepInEx/LogOutput.log in the text-editor of your choice, and search for "PLUGIN DOCTOR REPORT" (with Ctrl+F where available). You can also see it printed in the console window which opens when you start the game, if you have it enabled on a compatible operating system.

If the report advises you to consult with the developer of the plugin, you should go to wherever you downloaded the plugin from and find a means to contact them there, e.g. the posts or bugs tab on Nexus, the issues or discussions page on GitHub, etc. Failing that you can reach out to the wider modding community (see below).

If the report advises you to consult with the modding community, I recommend the Subnautica Modding Community discord server. Head to the #help-and-support channel, describe the problem you need help with, and upload your full log file (found at Subnautica/BepInEx/LogOutput.log) for the people there to have a look over. Make sure to be patient and polite, as these people are volunteering their free time to help you!

What's with the weird console window that opens whenever I start the game with BepInEx installed?

This was added to this installation of BepInEx as an easy way for Windows users to determine whether BepInEx has been installed correctly. We have had a number of users think it isn't working simply because they didn't see any difference in-game after installing BepInEx and nothing else.

Can I close the console window?

If you close the console window it will also close the game, so we advise against it.

If you would like to disable the console window entirely, you can do this easily with Configuration Manager. In-game, press F5. then enable Advanced settings. Click the heading BepInEx, and then under the heading Logging.Console simply uncheck the Enabled setting. You will need to restart Subnautica for this change to take effect. You can still access the log output from tile Subnautica/BepInEx/LogOutput.log.

I can't access the Steam overlay with BepInEx installed!

Some users have reported inconsistent ability to access the in-game Steam overlay while the BepInEx console window is enabled. If you are having this issue, try disabling the console window following the instructions above.

I installed QModManager and now some of my BepInEx plugins stopped working!

QModManager ships with an old version of BepInEx, so installing QModManager after BepInEx will downgrade your BepInEx version, but some BepInEx plugins require the latest BepInEx version to function. Simply reinstall BepInEx to fix this issue.

I've installed this with Vortex and it doesn't work!

Please ensure you have the Subnautica Support Vortex extension installed and that it is fully up-to-date, then reinstall BepInEx and all Subnautica mods.

On Steam, I see the console window briefly but it suddenly closes and mods don't work!

The TL;DR for this is to restart Steam and/or your PC until the problem goes away. For details, read on:

There is a rare bug that sometimes happens where Steam fails to inject the Steam DRM into the game. The game realises it is meant to have the Steam DRM there, so it relaunches itself to try to fix it. When it does this, it detaches BepInEx from the game process (which is why you see the console open and then close itself), and so BepInEx is now no longer running and neither are the mods.

You can confirm if this is what is happening by navigating to the Subnautica/BepInEx folder and opening the file LogOutput.log. If you see these two lines, then you're having this issue:

[Warning: Unity Log] Missing Steam DRM
[Warning: Unity Log] Couldn't initialize Steamworks

At this time, the only known fix for the issue is to restart Steam and/or your PC until the problem goes away. Most of the time you only need to restart once, but if you're unlucky it sometimes requires multiple reboots. The root cause of the issue seems to be a glitch between Steam and the game, and is out of our control.

I'm running a pirated copy of the game and it doesn't work with BepInEx installed!

Tough luck. We won't be helping you with that. If you have problems running mods on a pirated copy of a game... the pirated copy is the problem, not the mods.

Mods operate under the assumption that the game is in a specific state, has specific code which does specific things that they can rely on. If these assumptions are proven false, then their mod is not going to be able to function correctly. Pirated copies of games frequently break these assumptions, and therefore frequently break mods. If you're getting bugs when running a pirated copy of a game, the most likely solution is to run a legitimate copy of the game. No developer is going to help you until you try that first, because otherwise you're just wasting their time.

I have a problem that isn't described above!

Feel free to post a comment on the Posts tab on Nexus Mods describing your issue, and I'll try to help you out. But if you're just going to ask a question that could have been answered by reading the instructions or this FAQ, there's a good chance you'll get a snarky response.

Alternatively, you could reach out to the wider modding community. I recommend the Subnautica Modding Community discord server. Head to the #help-and-support channel, describe the problem you need help with, and upload your full log file (found at Subnautica/BepInEx/LogOutput.log) for the people there to have a look over. Make sure to be patient and polite, as these people are volunteering their free time to help you!

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