Big Walk Mods Not Working? IL2CPP BepInEx Fixes

Updated 2026-09-03 · Steam Big Walk

Why are Big Walk mods not working? In almost every case it is one of four things: you installed a BepInEx pack that is not the IL2CPP one Big Walk mods actually depend on, you never did the empty first launch that builds the BepInEx/plugins folder, you pressed Play in Steam instead of in your mod manager, or a House House patch between 1.4.8 and 1.5.1 changed something the mod was hooking. Work through them in that order and the loading problem usually disappears before you get to the log file.

None of this is supported by the developer. House House has never mentioned modding in a patch note, and the Big Voice install guide on Steam is blunt about the consequence: do not file bugs with the developers while mods are loaded, and uninstall first if you want to report something.

1. You installed the wrong BepInEx pack

Big Walk is an IL2CPP Unity build, and the pack the mods point at is BepInExPack_IL2CPP v6.0.755 (810,911 downloads, last updated 23 March 2026). Its own README says it is assembled from a BepInEx 6 bleeding-edge IL2CPP build for x64 Windows, and that it is meant for Unity games compiled with IL2CPP on x64.

Open any Big Walk mod page and read the dependency line. Nearly all of them list exactly this string:

BepInEx-BepInExPack_IL2CPP-6.0.755

If you grabbed a different BepInEx pack, that dependency is simply not on your machine, whatever else is. Delete it and install the IL2CPP pack instead. A working install announces itself: the pack ships a BepInEx.cfg with the console and verbose logging enabled, so the README's stated success signal is a console window opening beside the game.

One package sidesteps this entirely. BigNameTags v3.0.0 declares no dependencies, so a manager will not pull BepInEx in behind it; its README tells you to install BepInEx 6 IL2CPP yourself first, and notes it was tested against a newer bleeding-edge build (be.785) than the be.755 the Thunderstore pack is cut from.

2. The empty first launch you skipped

Several READMEs describe the same two-stage install, and the player-written Big Voice Steam guide spells out why. Once the BepInEx files are in the game folder, you start Big Walk and close it again. That pass runs BepInEx's first-time setup and builds the folder structure, including BepInEx/plugins. Only then do the mod DLL files go in. The guide's diagnostic is the useful part: no plugins folder to drop the DLL into means you either skipped that launch or the BepInEx install is wrong. Nothing in our sources states how long that first pass takes, so treat a slow first boot as normal rather than a hang.

Config files follow the same rule. NoClip writes BepInEx/config/BigWalk.NoClip.cfg, Public Lobbies writes BigWalkPublicLobbies.cfg, and both appear only after the mod has actually run once. A missing config file is evidence the plugin never loaded, not a separate fault.

3. Launching from Steam instead of the manager

This is the one that makes people think a mod is broken when it installed perfectly. The Big Voice guide states it plainly: with r2modman or Gale you press play inside the manager, because starting from Steam loads the game unmodded. r2modman's feature list frames the same behaviour from the other side, calling its install method safe enough that Steam still launches a clean game.

Symptom	Where it comes from	What the README says
Manager looks old or behaves oddly	Downloaded from a lookalike site	Gale's README names GitHub and Thunderstore as its only official sources, and calls out galemodmanager.com as unofficial and badly outdated. r2modman carries the same warning about third-party redistribution
"Windows has protected your PC" blocks the installer	Windows SmartScreen on the Gale MSI	Choose More Info, then Run Anyway
Gale on Arch never updates properly	Installed from the AUR	Update through the AUR, not the in-app updater
Game will not start modded on Linux	Proton not being forced	r2modman documents a temporary workaround: place a `.forceproton` file in the game directory
Linux manual install loads nothing	BepInEx not injected under Proton	The Big Voice guide's player-tested launch option is `WINEDLLOVERRIDES="winhttp=n,b" %command%`

Full install walkthroughs live on mods.

4. A dependency or a version pin is missing

Thunderstore pins dependencies to an exact version, and a couple of Big Walk packages are pinned behind their own libraries.

Package	Pinned dependency	Current version of that dependency
smolMods v1.0.10	gugger-Core-1.0.10	Core is at 1.0.11
DayNightSettings v1.0.0	ModSettingsMenu-1.0.0	ModSettingsMenu is at 1.1.2
ModSettingsMenu v1.1.2	BigWalkLocalizationAPI-1.1.0	1.1.0, matched
BigNameTags v3.0.0	none declared	you install BepInEx yourself

A manager resolves those pins for you, which is the main argument for using one. If a mod is absent from the in-game Mod Settings screen, note that ModSettingsMenu only lists loaded plugins that expose at least one config entry, so absence there is not proof of a load failure.

Renamed packages cause the other common conflict. smolMods tells upgraders to delete BigMods.dll and BigDarkMenus.dll from BepInEx/plugins because the old and new plugins cannot both run, and BigNameTags tells anyone coming from the older BigWalkNametags package to remove that DLL and its config file first. For what is worth installing once the stack is healthy, see best mods.

5. A patch changed something under the mod

Big Walk has shipped several patches since launch. Not one of them mentions mods, but mod authors reference them.

Version	Date	Change most likely to matter to mods
1.4.8	7 Aug 2026	Rework of how quiet microphones are brought up to intended volume
1.4.9	announced 21 Aug 2026	Session passwords became mandatory when starting a game; better protection against save data loss; frame rate limit and vsync settings added
1.4.10	21 Aug 2026	Network connection and stability work, more specific network error messages, voice stability improvements
1.5.0	26 Aug 2026	Collision added to a patch of trees
1.5.1	28 Aug 2026	Wall clipping made harder, audio category volume sliders, a save made before 1.4.9 with a stuck challenge fixed

The 1.4.9 password change is the clearest documented case of a patch breaking a whole category of mod: the Public Lobbies README explains that mandatory passwords made plain public-room listings useless, since rooms were visible but unjoinable, and the mod was rebuilt around publishing the password on each card instead. That same README blames a wave of post-update join failures on leaked search handles in older mod builds rather than on the patch. Details are on public lobbies mod.

Other authors are simply honest about it: Big Landing's README ends by saying a game update is the likely reason if it stops working, and BigWalkLocalizationAPI states compatibility as 1.4.8 and above. A player-written Ukrainian translation guide tells you to rerun its installer whenever an update wipes the translation. When a patch lands, update every mod before assuming any one is dead, and check patch notes.

6. Read the log before asking anyone

The IL2CPP pack ships with extended logging enabled, and mod authors expect you to use it. MoreLobbyInfo's install steps end with launching once and reading BepInEx/LogOutput.log, and the Binus package tells you to search that same file for its own load line.

File	What it tells you
`BepInEx/LogOutput.log`	Whether BepInEx started and which plugins it loaded
`BepInEx/plugins/`	Whether your DLL files are actually where BepInEx looks
`BepInEx/config/`	Whether each mod has run at least once

No entry for your mod means it never loaded, and the fault is in steps 1 to 4. If it loads and then misbehaves, that belongs on the author's own tracker.

One last cause of a mod that loads but seems inert is the hotkey. Most Big Walk mods bind a function key, and one author notes that Steam swallows the function keys on some machines, which is why that mod avoids them and accepts a list of alternative binds in its config. A log entry plus a config file plus a dead key means rebind before you blame the plugin.

Multiplayer: it may be working and just invisible

A mod can load correctly and still look dead because nobody else in the lobby has it, and the requirement varies per author. BigNameTags is client side yet everyone needs it for tags to be mutually visible. Coastal Carrack asks every player to run the same version, since its ships are built locally rather than spawned as networked objects. BigBack wants the host to have it for the full effect. Big Talk deliberately needs nobody else to install anything, because the voice effect is applied before your microphone audio is sent. Better Trains and NoClip are host-only by design. So a "not working" report starts with asking who else has the mod; voice cases are covered on voice mods.

On scope: the community also hosts griefing-adjacent packages, and this wiki writes no instructions for them. Nothing in our Thunderstore snapshot is flagged deprecated, so an abandoned package is not currently a likely explanation. The full inventory is on all mods list.

Sources and last check

Checked 3 September 2026. Pack contents, the console success signal, the dependency string BepInEx-BepInExPack_IL2CPP-6.0.755, download counts and update dates come from the BepInExPack_IL2CPP Thunderstore page. Manager behaviour, the official-download warnings, the SmartScreen prompt, the AUR updater note and the .forceproton workaround come from the Gale and r2modman READMEs. Dependency pins, config paths, log usage, leftover DLL cleanup and multiplayer requirements come from the individual package pages named above, such as BigNameTags.

Patch dates and contents come from the official House House Steam announcements for 1.5.1 on 28 August 2026 and for 1.4.10 and 1.4.9 on 21 August 2026, plus the 1.5.0 and 1.4.8 announcements.

Player-reported facts are labelled in the text. The two-stage manual install, the manager-versus-Steam launch rule, the Linux WINEDLLOVERRIDES option and the advice to strip mods before reporting bugs all come from the player-written Steam guide How To Change Other Players Volume; the "rerun the installer after an update" tip comes from a player-written localization guide. Everything a README claims about its own mod is the author's statement, not a result this wiki has tested. No official source says whether modding affects the 12 Steam achievements, so that stays unconfirmed.