AutoDefense
Automatic countermeasures and missile counter - flares and chaff timed from the game's own decoy math, plus hardkill interception.
About this mod Author’s original text
AutoDefense
Automatic countermeasures and missile counter for Nuclear Option.
Flares, chaff and interceptors, released at the moment the game's own decoy math says they
are worth the most. No hotkeys, nothing to remember mid-fight — it watches the missiles that
are actually tracking you and answers them.
What it does
Every physics step it reads the game's own missile warning list — the missiles whose target
is your aircraft, within 5 km and in line of sight — works out time to impact, and acts:
- Flares against IR seekers, chaff against ARH/SARH seekers. The station is chosen by
the game's own picker, so it always matches your loadout.
- An interceptor at anything worth shooting at, including the ARM, optical and laser
seekers that no decoy affects.
It works as host or client, and patches nothing - no Harmony, no game files modified.
Installation
Install with a mod manager ( Mod Manager, r2modman or Gale) and launch the game
through it.
Manual: install BepInExPack,
then drop AutoDefense.dll into BepInEx/plugins/AutoDefense.
Configuration
Open the settings window in game, or edit
BepInEx/config/hendev.nuclearoption.autodefense.cfg. Everything is on by default.
| Setting | Default | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Master / Enabled | on | Off means the game behaves exactly as stock. |
| Softkill / RequireActiveLock | on | Never spend chaff on a radar missile that hasn't gone active. Leave this on — chaff does nothing before that point. |
| Softkill / IrLeadSeconds, RadarLeadSeconds | 5 / 6 | The furthest ahead of impact it will ever fire. It normally fires much later. Raise if decoys are going out too late for you. |
| Softkill / AmmoReserve | 0 | Decoys held back for manual use, ignored when impact is imminent. |
| Hardkill / Enabled | on | Interceptor launches. See below. |
| Compatibility / ReviveConfigWindow | on | Keeps the settings window working (this game breaks it). Harmless alongside other mods that do the same. |
Notes
Hardkill is the experimental half. Launching an interceptor briefly borrows your active
weapon station and target list, and hands both back on the next physics step. The game's own
AI does treat missiles as valid targets, so the approach is sound, but it has had limited
testing. If it picks odd stations or fights your targeting, set Hardkill / Enabled = false
— the countermeasures half is completely independent of it.
Reviewing a sortie. Two files appear under BepInEx:
- AutoDefense.state.txt — rewritten once a second with every inbound missile: seeker type,
mode, range, closure, time to impact, the modelled decoy count, and what's been spent.
- AutoDefense.engagements.log — one line per decision and outcome, with the numbers behind
it.
need=model-unavailable means the seeker couldn't be read and fixed lead times were used.
Compatibility
BepInEx 5, any Nuclear Option build matching it. No Harmony patches, no game files modified.
Multiplayer-safe: it uses the game's own networked countermeasure path.
Install & use Install: follow the bundled instructions
- Unzip the archive from playbuff and read the bundled readme / instructions first.
- Most mods rely on the game's mod loader — the usual route is a community mod manager (such as r2modman): pick this game, install, and it handles the loader and dependencies.
- For a manual install, put the mod files into the matching Mod / plugins folder inside the game directory.
- Launch the game to confirm it loaded; mods with listed dependencies need those installed as well.
Install locations vary a lot between mods — the bundled readme is the most reliable guide.
Install these first, or the mod will not work: