Subsistence Alpha 68 adds mod support and Steam Workshop publishing

Alpha 68 is out now (September 11, 2026), adding mod support—one of Subsistence's most requested features since release. The in-game Mod Manager lets players create mods, play them locally, or publish them to the Steam Workshop. Player-created mods already range from full rebalances to smaller QOL tweaks.

Access it from the main menu to manage subscribed Workshop mods and your own: create, rename, duplicate, delete, unsubscribe, and filter by authored, subscribed, or published. "Create New Mod" names it; "Edit" opens the editor. Mods go under ../Subsistence/UDKGame/Mods/Local/. Editor categories will expand from feedback. Changed values show a "modded" badge; a "Default" button shows and restores defaults.

Recipes for all items, craft/repair recipes, craft lists for the player and all stations, loot tables, hunter damage vs human players, hunter loot drops, weapon damage/degradation, power rates (generators/solar/wind), buildable health/repair costs, food nutrition, and more.

Craft lists are under "Player" or "Buildables" per station. The BCU list sets per-item craft restrictions—e.g. locking the workbench until base items like generators or storage are placed. Recipes can remove, adjust, or add items/counts via the item browser, and items can be dragged to reorder in game. Mass/power requirements only apply if the item is in a base item's craft list. State items (clean-water canteen, cooked meat) show a hover state selector.

Loot tables use variants—slots mapping to loot pools—and pools those slots draw from. A container picks one variant, then fills each slot from its pool. Variant/item weights and min/max per slot are adjustable. "Test Loot Drop" simulates opening the current crate or dropped bag in the editor.

Activate mods from the profile launch screen for solo and co-op; they apply to existing profiles and can be removed anytime. Multiple mods can run together, but order matters: mods listed above others take priority on the same value. A "Modded" badge appears top right in inventory.

Joining a co-op game or server shows a popup listing host mods. Published Workshop mods offer Subscribe before joining. Unpublished mods transfer directly from the host before the join proceeds.

Publish from the Mod Manager to Steam Workshop; subscribers receive updates through Steam. The publish page supports a branding image and shows up-votes, ratings, and subscriber count; discussions and more images are on the Workshop page.

Dedicated servers: for published Workshop mods (recommended), add the workshop id to Mods in UDKDedServerSettings.ini; the server downloads it on first run, and clients are asked to subscribe. For unpublished mods, copy the folder from Subsistence/UDKGame/Mods/Local to the server, then add the uuid from mod.json to Mods; clients download directly. Example: Mods=567890,81873EFT-F20C-56FE-BD9B-DAC37A0E2275.

Achievements/stats are disabled in modded games but reactivate when mods are off and continue tracking. Steam Cloud backs up local mods folders; if you change computers or lose your install, Steam restores authored mods on next launch.

Water shaders now let sunlight sparkle over the surface for nicer sunrises/sets. Screen space reflections were added via the full engine source; they can be disabled in graphics settings.

Typical profiles should see around a 15% performance increase. In testing, an extremely large build-count profile went from 30fps to 120fps, though mileage may vary. Swimming physics were reworked at engine level, and exiting water should now be a smooth transition.

Rogue Transceivers now locate locked crates in addition to rogue camps, boosting their value. Hang glider speed and uplift are increased, allowing much greater travel distances.

Modern/recent Steam SDK; cordage recipe reduced to 10 fiber; fixed multiplayer "snap back" after sprinting; password visibility toggle on launch; singleplayer profiles can be named; rebuilt menu UI panels with animations and new sound themes; added distance to rogue camp HUD beacon; ladder hatch is now paintable; fixed items on glass triangle ceilings; prevented building pieces clipping through others—disable in Options->Gameplay.

The developer apologized to vanilla players for the mod-focused update and said work is moving on to new content.