This document examines the concept, design, technical implementation, balance considerations, and community impact of a hypothetical 3-player cooperative mod for Stranded Deep (a survival game). It covers goals, features, gameplay changes, networking and save architecture, UI/UX considerations, performance and testing, mod distribution and maintenance, and community & legal considerations.
The primary reason a functional "more than 2 players" mod hasn't surfaced is the game's peer-to-peer networking architecture. Even in official co-op, players frequently report: stranded deep 3 player mod