Changelog

v2.7.1

Light Flicker Optimization — Harmony Prefix on LightFlicker.CustomUpdate that fixes light intensity at its base value, eliminating per-frame Shadow Map recalculation for all fires and torches. Significant GPU gain on bases with many light sources.
Smoke Physics Optimization — Harmony Prefix on Smoke.CustomUpdate that replaces the vanilla complex aerodynamics (inter-particle collisions, volume simulation, roof accumulation) with a lightweight quadratic interpolation + single upward force. Dramatic CPU savings on large bases with many campfires. Lift force is configurable.
Engine Quality Settings — Forces low-level Unity QualitySettings at startup: softParticles = false, softVegetation = false, configurable particleRaycastBudget (default: 1024 vs vanilla 4096). Minor visual change on particle edges; measurable GPU and CPU gain in particle-heavy scenes.
Skip Intro — Skips Iron Gate and Coffee Stain logo screens on every game launch by patching SceneLoader.Start. Saves 5–10 seconds per startup.
Frame Budget Guard — Dynamic stutter protection system. Monitors a rolling 120-frame window, computes the 1% Low frametime, and lowers Time.maximumDeltaTime when heavy spikes are detected. Prevents Unity's physics Death Spiral (lag → engine over-simulates physics to catch up → more lag → freeze). Converts hard freezes into brief slow-motion. All thresholds are configurable. Automatically recovers when the game stabilises.

Version bumped to 2.7.0.
README updated with new module descriptions, expanded compatibility notes, and updated performance expectations table.
Config sections renumbered: new modules occupy sections 17–21.

All new modules are enabled by default and can be individually toggled in config.
Light Flicker and Smoke optimizations are Prefix patches with return false — they fully replace vanilla logic. If you experience unexpected visual issues with fires or smoke, disable the relevant module.
Private game fields are accessed via AccessTools.Field (cached) and Traverse — no direct decompiled references, compatible with future game updates.

Welcome screen on main menu launch.
- Displays a feedback message on first launch.
- Clickable link to Steam profile for bug reports and suggestions.
- "Don't show anymore" checkbox to permanently hide the screen.

Removed NetworkManager (ZSteamSocket-only implementation, broke crossplay).
Removed ZDOOptimizer (potential desync risk on servers).
Fixed LightLODManager: removed duplicate ScanForLights() call on Start.
Fixed AdvancedLightManager: removed periodic FindObjectsByType scan every 5 s (caused micro-freezes).
DistanceCuller refactored: all cullers now managed by one central Update loop instead of one Update() per object.
PiecePatches: replaced ConcurrentDictionary with Dictionary (main thread only, 3–5× faster lookup).
AsyncWearInit: added early exit when queue is empty.