To: Stairway Games Development Team

We, the dedicated and passionate players and modders of Coral Island, are writing to express our concerns about the changes introduced in hotfix v1.1b-1231, specifically the activation of IoStore. While we understand the intentions behind this update, it has inadvertently created significant issues for many in the community who enjoy modding or customizing their gameplay experience.

There is at the moment 75 mods created for Coral Island on NexusMods only. And I'm not counting the subversions of each mods because that would go over 100+.

The previous hotfix, v1.1b-1230, did not implement IoStore and caused minor reported conflicts, it was easily fixable. However, with the introduction of IoStore in v1.1b-1231, creating .utoc and .ucas files instead of standard .pak files, ALL MODS are now unusable and modders have found it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to interact with game files in the way they used to. This restricts creative expression, modding, and accessibility that make Coral Island so beloved by its community.

Some players can't even open the game anymore because if they save, a lot of items will be gone (for extended storage mods for example).

We have to rollback our game ourselves to 1230 if we want them to work again, which is really inconvenient considering the amazing updates you're gonna deliver us.

We kindly request that the development team considers rolling back the IoStore implementation or provides an alternative solution to ensure players can continue to customize and mod the game freely. Modding communities and creative customization have always been instrumental in sustaining player interest, and Coral Island’s vibrant community deserves to maintain these opportunities.

This request is not made lightly. We love Coral Island and want it to flourish with the ongoing support of its modders and players. A roll-back or alternative solution would demonstrate the developers’ commitment to their community’s concerns and creativity.

It has been done before, latest example in mind was for Palworld. The dev team enabled IoStore and went back on the decision following the community's request. It's not a complicated change but it's essential for the players, that's why we hope you can discuss this matter seriously.

Please hear us out and help us preserve what makes Coral Island special.

Thank you for your understanding and consideration.

Sincerely,
The Coral Island Community