ShaderHelperForMac

⚠️ Apple Silicon Macs only. This mod will not help on Windows, Linux, or Intel Macs — and may produce harmless warnings on those platforms. Don't install it unless your Valheim is running on an ARM Mac.

V4.x is a ground up rewrite.

The aaa.drummercraig.shaderhelperformac.cfg, all per-mod txt files and console commands are no longer needed and/or are removed. All decision logic now resides exclusively in the plugin.

What it does

Valheim mods often ship Unity asset bundles with shaders compiled only for Windows. When the game loads them on a Mac with Apple's Metal graphics API, Unity can't find a Metal-compatible variant and substitutes a bright magenta/pink error material — bows, weapons, armor, particle effects, creatures...the whole thing turns hot pink.

This plugin identifies the broken shaders in these bundles and tries replacing them with renderable substitutes so your modded game looks better.

While the real fix is for mod developers to build for both Windows and Mac like the Vanilla game does, this will likely not happen.

This mod helps bridge this gap with limitations...materials don't always look identical to what the mod author intended (textures may render flat, glow effects may look dimmer) — but the alternative is the magenta/pink.

Note: Valheim's main screen may still display broken pink shaders. This is related to load order among other details and should be corrected once in-game.

If you find a mod that ShaderHelperForMac is not helping with, submit it on my discord and I will try and look at it when I have time. Include:

1. The Mod name
2. The download link
3. Specific in-game object names and what is wrong

Manual Install

1. Install BepInEx for Valheim from Thunderstore if you haven't already.
2. Drop ShaderHelperForMac.dll into BepInEx/plugins/DrummerCraig-ShaderHelperForMac/.

v4.0.1

• Ground up rewrite.
• All previous chaneelogs no longer apply
• Plug and play...no more per-mod txt file functionality
• Valheim 1.0.16

v3.4.9

• Deep North (1.0.12) Various Bug Fixes

v3.4.1

• Deep North (1.0.7) Release

v3.3.0

• New code for Jotunn's MinimapCompose (fixes Map Overlays like used by Star Level Systems).

v3.2.4

• New shader code for MagicalMounts.

v3.2.0

• Improved automation for fewer rules.
• Updated txt files on my discord.

v3.1.0

• Brand new logic, Vanilla cache and protection.
• Changes too numerous to list.

v2.0.0

• New logic. Innumerable changes

v1.2.0

• Sweep interval made configurable via BepInEx config
• Periodic sweep skips when no local player is present (main menu, loading screen)

v1.1.0

• Added usefallbackshader.txt — replaces broken shaders with a solid visible placeholder instead of making objects invisible
• Added shaderhelper scan and shaderhelper dumpmod console commands
• ZNetScene.Awake postfix patch — catches Jotunn mod prefabs registered after startup sweep

v1.0.1

• Additional logic analysis to capture pinks