Nightstalker

The first note is waiting. The rest won't all be at the crime scene.

Nightstalker adds a custom serial-killer case to Shadows of Doubt, with a trail of handwritten taunts, ordinary reminders and uneasy workplace notes. Some clues narrow the search. Others give you another person to look into.

What's included

• 12 custom physical notes, with dynamic names and other case-related details.
• Random crime-scene note pools: a main selection and an optional second selection.
• Additional evidence at homes and workplaces, encouraging investigation beyond the murder scene.
• 3 ambient conversations: Night Stalker rumours, complaints about work and an angry neighbour rant.
• English text, custom document layouts and decorative effects.

This is a content mod. It does not include a custom gameplay DLL.

Installation

Install with a Thunderstore-compatible mod manager and accept the required dependencies. The package declares CommunityCaseLoader and DDSLoader; their dependencies supply the underlying loaders.

For manual installation, install those dependencies and their requirements first, then copy this ZIP's BepInEx folder into your Shadows of Doubt game folder. The case files belong under BepInEx/plugins/Nightstalker/.

If upgrading from a manually installed test copy, keep a backup outside the plugins directory and install only one copy of Nightstalker. Duplicate copies reuse the same content IDs.

Start a fresh sandbox game for the cleanest first test. This package adds the case to the available case pool; it does not ship a configuration that forces every case to be Nightstalker. Your own existing loader settings still apply.

Before you play

• Progression is through investigation locations, not a murder-count unlock system. Stronger notes are placed away from crime scenes. They are not locked until the second or third murder.
• The ambient conversations are not restricted to an active Nightstalker case.
• The second crime-scene note is optional. A single note can be an intended result, and physical placement can also affect what you find.
• Clues involving jobs, friends or colleagues depend on the generated citizens' data. An unemployed citizen or missing relationship data can affect a clue or its placement. The colleague signature is not guaranteed to exclude the killer.
• This initial release has been playtested with custom conversations and individual notes. The full random distribution and all generated-city edge cases remain under testing.
• In the latest playtest, the victim-workplace notes were not found despite being configured with 100% spawn chance. It is not yet established whether they failed to place or were simply not located.

Contains strong language and fictional murder-related threats.

Reporting an issue

Include the note or conversation name, what you expected, what happened, and the relevant loader errors. Check that the required loaders are installed and that only one copy of the case is present. Logs can reveal the killer and victim identities, so avoid posting those details if you want to keep your case unspoiled.

Credits

Nightstalker case and dialogue created by Bailey, with AI-assisted writing and configuration support. Built using the Shadows of Doubt DDS Editor and Piepieonline's modding tools and loaders. The listing icon is an original graphic made for this package.