Outward Softcore Mode
Softcore — Hardcore with backups. A new game mode that lets you experience the thrill of being punished on death, without needing to start everything from zero.
Softcore Mode was made for sessions where you're sprawled on the couch with a friend, drinks in hand, arguing about who forgot to check the map while one of you is getting mauled by a Shell Horror. You still want that jolt of panic on defeat — the "oh no, is this it?" moment — but you also have maybe three hours a week to play, and the thought of redoing all that progress is what kills the fun. This mode keeps the tension and the blame-game ("you were supposed to save the backup!") without demanding you start from scratch. Play risky, laugh about it, load your save.
Dependencies
Features
Permanent Death Roll — when a softcore character is defeated, a configurable percentage (default 20%) decides if they die permanently or respawn normally. Replaces the vanilla hardcore 20% roll with your own configurable rate.
Each defeat triggers a random roll against the DeathChance config value. If the roll hits, the character dies permanently — all local saves are deleted and the vanilla hardcore death screens play (loading screen, death context, return to main menu). If the roll misses, the character respawns through the normal defeat scenario.
The permanent death counter increments with each death. In split-screen, a single roll determines death for all softcore characters.
Game mode selection dialog — Normal, Softcore, and Hardcore options
Softcore mode disclaimer warning before character creation
Technical Details
- Patch target: Harmony Prefix on
DefeatScenariosManager.ActivateDefeatScenario
- Softcore detection: Per-character
IsSoftcoreCharacter(uid) check (reads metadata XML). This correctly handles split-screen where both players are softcore.
- Death path: A single configurable roll decides all softcore characters' fate. If the roll hits, every softcore character at 0 HP has its permanent death count incremented. The Prefix then calls the vanilla
DefeatHardcoreDeath() method via AccessTools.Method reflection, reusing the entire vanilla death UI sequence (loading screen → hardcore death context screens → return to main menu). The Prefix returns false to skip the original method. The vanilla 20% hardcore roll inside the original method never executes.
- Survival path: When the roll misses but softcore characters are at 0 HP, the Prefix sets
_scenario.SupportHardcore = false before letting the original method run. This causes the vanilla 20% hardcore check on line 204 of DefeatScenariosManager to short-circuit, guaranteeing survival. The original value is saved and restored in the Postfix.
- Death count storage:
BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/Characters/{UID}.xml — stores PermanentDeathCount element incremented on each death.
- Config:
DeathChance (int, 20-100, default 20) in gymmed.softcore_mode.cfg.
Save Backup Button — a purple "Save Backup" button in the pause menu creates full snapshots of your save file on demand, letting you manually preserve progress before risky encounters.
The button appears alongside the normal Save button for softcore characters. Clicking it triggers a save followed by a full copy of the save instance directory to a protected backup folder. A configurable cooldown (default 24 in-game hours) prevents spam — the button displays the remaining time when inactive. Oldest backups are automatically pruned when the configurable limit (default 10) is exceeded.
Save Backup button in the pause menu, colored purple
Save Backup button showing the cooldown timer
Technical Details
- Button injection: Harmony Postfix on
PauseMenu.Show — clones the btnSave GameObject from m_hideOnPauseButtons, renames it btnSaveSoftcore, destroys UILocalize components, sets text color to purple (#A855F7), and registers a click listener.
- Backup trigger flow: Click listener → clears
PendingManualBackupUIDs → adds each eligible local softcore player's UID → disables button → calls SaveManager.Instance.Save(). Harmony Postfix on SaveInstance.Save intercepts the completed save for any UID in the pending set and calls SoftcoreSaveManager.CreateBackup().
- File copy: Copies all
.defedc, .deenvc, and Manifest.txt files from Save_{uid}/{instanceTimestamp}/ to BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/Backups/{uid}/{instanceTimestamp}/.
- Cooldown display: Harmony Postfix on
PauseMenu.Update calls RefreshSoftcoreSaveButton() every 0.5 seconds, which reads GetRemainingCooldownTime(uid) and formats it as D:HH:MM or HH:MM.
- Config:
SaveCooldownHours (float, default 24.0), MaxBackups (int, default 10) in gymmed.softcore_mode.cfg.
Backup Restoration — if permanent death deletes your character, the mod automatically restores the newest backup when you return to the main menu. Your character reappears in the selection list.
When you reach the character select screen, the mod scans all backup directories. Any backed-up character whose UID is missing from the active save list is restored. The restore copies all save instance directories from the backup back into the game's save folder, then registers the character in the save system so it appears in the selection list. Restored save instances display a purple "Backup" label to distinguish them from original saves.
Restored save instances labeled "Backup" in the save selection list
Technical Details
- Trigger points:
SoftcoreSaveManager.RestoreOrphanedBackups() is called from two Harmony Postfix patches: CharacterSelectionPanel.OnEnable (whenever the character select panel is shown) and SaveManager.RetrieveCharacterSaves (when saves are refreshed).
- Detection: Compares each backup directory name (which is the character UID) against
SaveManager.Instance.CharacterSaves. Restores any UID present in backups but absent from active saves.
- Restore flow: Sorts backup instance directories by name descending (newest first) → for each backup, copies its contents to
Save_{uid}/{backup.Name}/ only if the destination doesn't already exist → sets IsRestored=true in metadata XML → writes a .restored marker file → registers the character via reflection by calling CharacterSaveInstanceHolder.PrepareCharacterSaveInstanceHolder(uid, saveDir) and adding the result to SaveManager's private m_charSaves dictionary → refreshes all open character selection panels.
- Marker file:
BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/{UID}.restored — an empty file used on the character's next load to defer cooldown initialization until game time is valid.
Visual Labels — softcore characters show a purple "Softcore" label with death count on the character select screen; restored save instances show a "Backup" label in the save list.
On the character select screen, softcore characters display a purple "Softcore" label (or "Softcore N" where N is the permanent death count) in place of the hardcore skull icon. In the save instance list (shown when selecting which save to load), any slot that was restored from a backup gets a purple "Backup" badge. These visual cues help you identify softcore characters and distinguish restored saves from originals at a glance.
Softcore label with permanent death count on the character select screen
Backup label on restored save instances
Technical Details
- Character select label: Harmony Postfix on
CharacterSaveSlot.SetSave — clones the hardcore flag GameObject, renames it to "lblSoftcore", destroys UILocalize components, sets the text to "Softcore" or "Softcore N" (where N is GetPermanentDeathCount(uid)), sets the color to purple #A855F7, and hides the original hardcore icon.
- Save instance label: Harmony Postfix on
CharacterSaveInstanceDisplay.SetSaveInstance — checks IsRestoredBackupInstance(uid, instancePath) (tests if the instance directory exists under the backups path). If true, it saves the original lblAreaName RectTransform layout, repositions it to top-right, creates a lblSaveSoftcore clone from the lblTime template, positions it at bottom-right, and sets its text to "Backup" in purple. If false, it restores the original layout and hides the label.
- Backup path check:
BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/Backups/{uid}/{instancePath}/ — if this directory exists, the instance is a backup.
Split-Screen Support — softcore mode works with 2-player split-screen. Both players can play in softcore mode together.
In split-screen, each player's softcore status is tracked independently via per-character metadata files. Both players can select softcore mode during character creation. Each character's death behavior follows their own mode. When either player clicks the "Save Backup" button in the pause menu, both players' saves are backed up at once. Each character tracks its own backup cooldown independently. The character selection panel correctly shows softcore characters as selectable regardless of their difficulty mode.
Technical Details
- Character creation: Uses
PendingSoftcoreCount (set to 1 for single-player, 2 for split-screen by Patch_MainScreen_DifficultySelection) to ensure every new softcore character gets metadata XML written by Patch_SaveManager_ConfirmAddNewSave.
- Per-character checks: The defeat patch uses per-character
IsSoftcoreCharacter(uid) instead of the global IsCurrentGameSoftcore flag. All softcore characters share a single death roll.
- Selection panel fix: Harmony Postfix on
CharacterSelectionPanel.RefreshCharacterList forces softcore save slots to be interactable = true on non-primary player panels (PlayerID > 0), even when slot.HarcoreMode disagrees with CharacterManager.Instance.HardcoreMode. This prevents the vanilla filter from greying out softcore characters.
- Known limitation: Global death deletion — when
HardcoreDeathTriggered is set, all local saves are deleted (same as vanilla hardcore).
Backup Cooldown & Limits — configurable in-game time cooldown between manual backups and automatic pruning of old backups.
The backup cooldown uses in-game time (tracked by the game's clock), not real-world time, so it only counts time spent playing with the save loaded. The cooldown defaults to 24 in-game hours and can be set to 0 to disable it entirely. For characters restored from backup, the cooldown initialization is deferred until the game time becomes valid (after scene loading completes). The backup limit (default 10) automatically removes the oldest backup instances when exceeded.
Save Backup button in the pause menu, colored purple
Save Backup button showing the cooldown timer
Technical Details
- Cooldown storage:
LastBackupGameTime field in metadata XML at BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/Characters/{UID}.xml. Uses EnvironmentConditions.GameTimeF (in-game float time).
- Cooldown check:
CanBackupNow(uid) returns true if (currentGameTime - lastBackupTime) >= SaveCooldownHours or if cooldown is 0 (disabled).
- Deferred initialization for restored characters: When a restored character is loaded (
Patch_Character_LoadPlayerSave), the UID is added to PendingCooldownUIDs. In OutwardSoftcoreMode.Update(), once EnvironmentConditions.GameTimeF > 0f, the cooldown is initialized and the restored marker is cleared.
- Backup limit enforcement:
EnforceBackupLimit(uid) sorts backup directories by name descending, deletes the oldest ones exceeding MaxBackups. Each backup is a full timestamp directory under BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/Backups/{uid}/.
- Config:
SaveCooldownHours (float, 0-any, default 24), MaxBackups (int, 1-any, default 10).
Configuration
All settings are in BepInEx/config/gymmed.softcore_mode.cfg and can be edited with any text editor or through r2modman's config editor.
| Setting |
Type |
Default |
Description |
DeathChance |
int (20–100) |
20 |
Permanent death chance on defeat (%) |
MaxBackups |
int |
10 |
Max backup instances kept per character. Oldest are auto-deleted when limit is exceeded |
SaveCooldownHours |
float |
24.0 |
Minimum in-game hours between manual backups. Set to 0 to disable cooldown |
Data Storage
All mod data is stored under BepInEx/config/gymmed.Mods_Communicator/Softcore_Mode/. The config file itself is at BepInEx/config/gymmed.softcore_mode.cfg.
| Data |
Path |
| Character metadata (softcore flag, name, death count) |
Softcore_Mode/Characters/{UID}.xml |
| Backup instances (full save copies) |
Softcore_Mode/Backups/{UID}/{instanceTimestamp}/ |
| Backup instance game time |
Softcore_Mode/Backups/{UID}/{instanceTimestamp}/SoftcoreSaveData.xml |
| Restored marker (empty file) |
Softcore_Mode/{UID}.restored |
Installation
Manual
To manually set up, do the following
- Create the directory:
Game\BepInEx\plugins\OutwardSoftcoreMode\.
- Extract the archive into any directory(recommend empty).
- Move the contents of the plugins\ directory from the archive into the
BepInEx\plugins\OutwardSoftcoreMode\ directory you created.
- It should look like
Game\BepInEx\plugins\OutwardSoftcoreMode\OutwardSoftcoreMode.dll.
- Ensure all dependencies are installed.
- Launch the game.
r2modman
- Open r2modman and select your Outward profile.
- Go to the Online tab and search for "Softcore Mode".
- Click Download and ensure dependencies are selected.
- Launch the game from r2modman.
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