Before you begin
Requirements & compatibility
What you need on your machine, exactly which builds this guide was verified against, and why this specific BepInEx package — not a generic one — is the copy you want.
The game
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Game | Sea of Stars: Sunset Edition — the Steam release for Windows. This guide was written and screenshot-verified against build v3.0.60151. |
| Engine | Unity 2021.3.25 with the IL2CPP scripting backend, 64-bit. That combination is the whole reason this guide exists — it dictates exactly which loader build works (see below). |
| OS | Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. (Playing through Proton on Linux or Steam Deck? It works with one extra launch option — covered in troubleshooting.) |
| Storefront | Steam. The Microsoft Store / Game Pass version packages the game differently and is not covered by this guide. |
| Disk space | Roughly 150 MB beyond the game itself: ~110 MB for the extracted framework plus the interop assemblies and cache BepInEx generates on first launch. |
The loader — and why it must be this one
BepInEx comes in fundamentally different builds, and only one family works here:
- BepInEx 5 (and BepInEx 6's UnityMono builds) target Mono games. Sea of Stars is IL2CPP — those builds will simply never load. If a tutorial for another game told you to grab "BepInEx 5.4.x", ignore it for this one.
- BepInEx 6 Unity.IL2CPP win-x64 is the correct family. UngodlyGFX requires
6.0.0-pre.2 or newer; the package provided here is bleeding-edge build
6.0.0-be.785 (commit
6abdba4), which is the build the plugin was developed and tested against.
Under the hood of this package
| Component | Version | Role |
|---|---|---|
| BepInEx.Unity.IL2CPP | 6.0.0-be.785 | The framework itself — preloader, chainloader, plugin host |
| UnityDoorstop | 4.5.0 | winhttp.dll — the proxy that injects BepInEx the instant the game starts |
| .NET CoreCLR | 6.0.7 | Bundled in the dotnet\ folder — no separate .NET install is required on your PC |
| Cpp2IL + Il2CppInterop | bundled in BepInEx\core | Read the game's native IL2CPP binary and generate the managed interop assemblies on first launch |
| Unity base libraries | 2021.3.25 | Pre-seeded in BepInEx\unity-libs — see below |
Tools you need on hand
- A RAR extractor — both archives are
.rarfiles. WinRAR, 7-Zip, or NanaZip all open them fine. (Windows 11 23H2+ can even open RARs natively in File Explorer.) - File Explorer basics — you'll be copying folders into the game directory and, if anything goes sideways, opening a log file in Notepad. That's the entire skill ceiling.
Two things to know before you start
Antivirus and winhttp.dll
BepInEx loads itself through a proxy winhttp.dll placed next to the game's executable —
the standard UnityDoorstop technique used by thousands of mods. Because DLL proxying is
also a technique malware uses, a few overzealous antivirus products occasionally quarantine
that file. If yours does, restore it and add the game folder as an exclusion. Verifying the archive's
SHA-256 checksum from the downloads page confirms your copy is the
exact file published here.
One loader at a time
Don't combine this with MelonLoader or any other injector in the same game folder — mod loaders fight over the same entry point. If you've experimented with another loader before, remove it first (the clean-uninstall checklist works in reverse as a "what to look for" list).
All clear? On to the files.