Creating and Bundling Custom Weather

Custom weather in WeatherRegistry is distributed through Unity AssetBundles with a special .weatherbundle extension. This allows for easy distribution and loading of weather assets.

Creating a Weather Bundle

Follow these steps to bundle your custom weather:

1. Create a WeatherDefinition

First, create a WeatherDefinition asset in your Unity project. This ScriptableObject contains all the configuration for your custom weather, including:

• Weather name and type
• Visual effects and parameters
• Weather variables (if applicable)
• Associated effects and behaviors

2. Build the AssetBundle

Create an AssetBundle in Unity with the .weatherbundle extension:

1. Select your WeatherDefinition asset in the Unity Editor
2. In the Inspector, set the AssetBundle name at the bottom (e.g., YourWeather.weatherbundle)
3. Build the AssetBundle using Unity’s build pipeline or a custom build script
4. Ensure the WeatherDefinition is included as the primary asset in the bundle

Note

The .weatherbundle extension is required for WeatherRegistry to automatically detect and load your weather mod.

3. Deploy the Bundle

Place your compiled .weatherbundle file anywhere within the BepInEx/plugins directory, for example:

• BepInEx/plugins/YourWeatherMod/YourWeather.weatherbundle
• BepInEx/plugins/YourWeather.weatherbundle
• Any subdirectory within plugins/

WeatherRegistry will automatically scan and load all .weatherbundle files when the game starts.

Bundle Structure

A typical weather bundle should contain:

• WeatherDefinition
• ImprovedWeatherEffect (auto-included)

The rest of the assets should be automatically included as dependencies of the WeatherDefinition, i.e.:

• Prefabs
• Materials
• Audio Clips

Best Practices

• Keep bundle sizes reasonable by optimizing textures and audio
• Test your weather in-game before distribution
• Include fallback assets for missing dependencies
• Document any special requirements or compatibility notes