Modding with ThunderKit
ThunderKit is a Unity plugin that allows for a Unity Editor focussed approach to making mods for Unity games. So rather than having to build absolutely everything in code, via Visual Studio or Rider or whatever, you’re able to develop a number of features of your mod directly in the Unity Editor. This means you can follow a very similar workflow to the one used by the original developers of the game, and have access to some of the really useful tools and features of the Unity development environment.
Setting up ThunderKit is not for the faint hearted, and the process has some complex technical steps, new terminology to learn and some limitations to consider. But once it’s set up, it really does offer a load of benefits. I’ve found that it works well for me when developing particularly complex mods - for example, the latest versions of my Pet mods are now built using ThunderKit - as well as making the process for creating smaller, simpler mods very quick indeed.
The image above show my Unity setup for the Subnautica Pets mod, where I can manage and modify my pet prefabs, customer console UI, and automate the build and deployment of the mod and it’s associated asset bundle and localisation files.
The pages in this section give you a step by step guide to setting up ThunkderKit for Subnautica and Below Zero modding, along with some hints and tips on things you can do with this excellent tool.