Unturned 4.x Mods/Plugins/Addons [Technical only!]

[Trojaner]

So since Nelson apparently does not want to use GitHub as a discussion platform, I decided to start one here (as he suggested).

Before anything:
- This is a technical discussion thread. Please keep non technical posts out. It is not for feature requests like adding “pet addon” or “racing mod” etc. Also please do not write with half knowledge. This thread is only for people who have a good programming background.

Moderators: Please help us keeping this thread clean.

What we know yet:

• It is called modding. There is no distinction between non-code modding (e.g. modelling, etc) and code related modding.
• It will be based on C++ and blueprint APIs. Although I don’t know how blueprints will work without source code.
• There will be no community module. We will still rely on Nelson to add requested hooks, RPCs etc.
• Since this is native code, there will be very likely no client side code modding again (at least not on workshop).
• There will be no RocketMod. RocketMod was made for Unity games and is based on .NET 3.5. No plugins from RocketMod will work.
• Nelson himself will not add modding support for high level languages like LUA, Java, C#, JavaScript etc.

What we don’t know yet:

• When modding will be available (e.g. at release or years later).
• Scripting support (Nelson mentioned that he thinks about adding python support).
• Support for client side modules.
• How the APIs will look like.
• BattlEye integration and how it will affect modding.
• What exactly “blueprints” mean (Unturned or UE4 blueprints?).

Pros

• We get a low-level modding integration with multi-threading support. Means much better performance.
• Anyone can make his own API layer, which means that someone could add modding support for LUA, Java, C# etc…
• This time Unturned is written with modding in mind, with real code standards (please no more lowercase public stuff, Unity coding standards are trash). Makes the life of us developers a lot easier.
• Since it is written from scratch, we will have a proper API design and will get rid of “unmoddable” parts of the game.
• Any other advantage Unturned gains from using Unreal, also applies to modding.

Cons

• Since mods are written in low level languages with no real bounds checks, any poorly written mod could introduce security holes on servers. This could allow stuff like remote code executions.
• Harder for beginners to start modding (C++ is a hard language to start with).
• We rely once again on Nelson to add requested modding features. Yes, he added a lot of stuff in Unturned 3 we requested for, but Nelson doesn’t have unlimited time.
• We can not see the implementation code of Unturned 4 as we were used to with Unturned 3. This means we need very good code documentation.
• Any other disadvantage Unturned gains from using Unreal, also applies to modding.

Lets start the first discussion topic:
Unturned should be more open source.

Nelson always planned to move the “zombie” and “survival” parts of the game to their own module. So basically there could be a “core” of the game, which still remains closed source and contains all the proprietary and licensed code, and an open source layer which implements the specific survival gamemode and elements. The community could use this as a reference project to make their own mods and they also could directly contribute to Unturned (it could be just read only too but I don’t think that’s a good idea).

[GreatHeroJ]

I took the liberty of fixing up your title a bit - if you don’t mind.

Also, yes, Unturned 4.0 should be more open source than 3.0. I don’t have much to add but I’m sure others will.

[FlodotelitoKifo]

@Trojaner

What exactly “blueprints” mean (Unturned or UE4 blueprints?).

Am sure it means UE4 blueprints, since that is UE4’s main way to code and stuff, i might be wrong though, i use UE4 sometimes but eh, correct me if i am.

[Covfefe]

Bit late, but I still think this thread is relevant.

I hope that Nelson makes modding a primary focus for Unturned 2. I see nothing better for the life of a sandbox game like Unturned than unlocking the power of community driven content. If I was Nelson, I’d focus primarily on making a good platform for the community to build on. He did a great job all things considered in the Unity version, hopefully he can improve modding even further with the Unreal Version.

For me, one of the most restrictive things about coding mods is the poor documentation. I’m not sure how much revenue unturned generates, but it seems like some money could be well spent paying some people to make documentation for developers, or as you say make the code more visible and rely off the community.

[MoltonMontro]

@Covfefe

I hope that Nelson makes modding a primary focus for Unturned 2.

It is, and always has been, a focus for U4. This has been stated in pretty much every post by Nelson, and has had discussions (and devlogs) dedicated to it.

@Covfefe

For me, one of the most restrictive things about coding mods is the poor documentation. I’m not sure how much revenue unturned generates, but it seems like some money could be well spent paying some people to make documentation for developers, or as you say make the code more visible and rely off the community.

Unturned II currently has, and will continue to receive, public official documentation. U3 has a fair bit of official documentation (although some of it is outdated), and quite a bit of community-made documentation (for modding and for plugins).