Reducing motion sickness in a first-person game is rarely as simple as disabling one camera effect. The viewpoint may move vertically with travel, roll during sideways movement, shake during scripted events, distort around a vehicle interior, and encounter an animated horizon at the water’s surface. Field of view can change how all of those movements are perceived, but widening the view does not remove their underlying motion.
The third-party MotionSickness mod for Subnautica, created by ex3124, approaches these sources separately. Its configuration file includes controls for Aurora camera shaking, swimming bob, lateral camera tilt, maximum field of view, the diving-mask border, the visible Seamoth model, and surface-wave height.
This separation is significant. A player can reduce one form of motion without necessarily removing every visual effect or changing the basic movement system. It also makes the mod’s limitations clearer: it is a collection of targeted visual modifications, not a guarantee that Subnautica will no longer cause nausea, dizziness, eyestrain, disorientation, or other symptoms.
Why underwater movement can be visually demanding
Subnautica takes place largely in three-dimensional underwater spaces. The player can move forward, backward, sideways, vertically, and at different angles while independently controlling the camera. There may be few fixed horizontal or vertical references in open water, especially when the sea floor is distant or obscured.
This means the image can communicate movement through several channels simultaneously. Nearby objects pass the camera, the viewpoint shifts or rolls, the water surface moves, and vehicle frames occupy the edges of the screen. A player may deliberately move in one direction while the camera adds secondary motion intended to suggest swimming, impact, instability, or environmental danger.
For some people, the difference between intended movement and the visual movement shown on screen may contribute to discomfort. Individual responses vary considerably. One player may be affected primarily by camera roll, another by repetitive bobbing, and another by a wide field of moving surface waves. The MotionSickness mod does not assume that these are interchangeable.
Disabling Aurora camera shake
The mod includes a setting called Disable Shake. According to its documentation, this setting targets the camera shaking that occurs while the player is inside the Aurora. The Aurora is a large wrecked spacecraft containing environmental hazards, damaged interiors, fires, and scripted effects.
Setting Disable Shake to true removes that targeted shaking. This may reduce rapid involuntary viewpoint movement during exploration of the wreck. The player must still navigate the Aurora, identify hazards, manage oxygen and resources, and respond to threats. The option changes camera presentation rather than automatically completing or simplifying the area.
The setting should not be interpreted as a universal “disable every shake in the entire game” control. The creator specifically describes it in relation to the Aurora. Other kinds of viewpoint movement, vehicle motion, impacts, animations, or effects introduced by another mod may not be covered.
This is an important difference between reducing a documented effect and promising a completely stable camera. Players who are sensitive to camera shake may still need to test other environments and activities individually.
Removing swimming bob without removing movement
When the player swims forward or backward, Subnautica can add a bobbing movement to the camera. The mod’s Disable Bobbing option removes this secondary motion.
Camera bob is often used to convey physical movement. It can make travel feel less like a camera floating smoothly through space, but it also moves the entire displayed environment even when the player is trying to hold the view on a particular object. In an underwater setting, that movement is added to drifting particles, swimming creatures, terrain passing the player, and any manual camera adjustment.
Disabling bob does not stop the character from swimming or slow the world down. Forward and backward movement still changes the player’s position. The difference is that the camera no longer needs to oscillate in the documented bobbing pattern while that movement occurs.
This distinction may matter for players who can tolerate deliberate camera movement but find repetitive, automatic oscillation difficult. It is motion reduction rather than removal of all visual movement. Turning quickly, rising or descending, entering vehicles, and observing moving creatures can still produce substantial optic flow.
Removing lateral camera tilt
The Disable Tilt setting addresses a different movement axis. When the player moves left or right in the water, the camera can tilt toward the direction of travel. The mod can prevent that lateral roll.
A tilt changes the orientation of the entire scene. Vertical objects no longer remain aligned with the vertical edges of the display, and the apparent horizon may rotate. This can be more disruptive than a simple sideways translation for some players because the visual frame of reference changes as well as the player’s position.
Removing tilt can keep the view level during lateral swimming. It does not prevent the player from looking up or down, manually rotating the camera, or moving through environments with sloped geometry. It also does not create an artificial horizon in areas where no stable visual reference is visible.
Bob and tilt are therefore separate controls for separate movements. A player might disable both to produce a more stable swimming view. Another might remove roll while retaining bob because the latter contributes useful movement feedback. The mod does not require all of its motion changes to be enabled as one preset.
Reducing surface-wave height
Underwater camera movement is not the only possible source of discomfort. When the player reaches the surface and looks toward or down at the water, animated waves create a moving boundary across a large part of the image. Reflections, distortion, and the changing geometry of that boundary can make the surface visually busy.
The mod provides a Wave Height value that changes the height of the sea-surface waves. Its documentation identifies 300 as the default value and suggests reducing the number to reduce the effect.
This is reduction rather than automatic removal. The documentation does not claim that lowering the value eliminates every water animation, reflection, distortion effect, or change in surface lighting. It changes the height of the waves controlled by that value.
A lower wave height may provide a steadier horizon or reduce large repetitive changes when the player moves between the water and open air. However, a completely calm surface can also provide less pronounced visual information about water conditions. Players may need to find a value that reduces discomfort without making the boundary more difficult for them to perceive.
Extending the field-of-view range
Field of view, usually abbreviated as FOV, describes how much of the game world is visible through the camera at once. A narrow field of view magnifies a smaller portion of the scene. A wider field shows more of the surroundings, usually with greater distortion toward the edges.
The MotionSickness mod includes a Max FOV setting. This changes the maximum value available to Subnautica’s existing field-of-view slider. It does not directly select the player’s field of view. After changing the maximum, the player must still choose the actual FOV through the game’s settings.
That distinction prevents the option from being mistaken for an automatic correction. There is no one field-of-view value that is comfortable for every person, display, viewing distance, or play arrangement. A value that feels appropriate on a desktop monitor may feel different on a television viewed from farther away.
The mod author cautions that setting the maximum above 160 may worsen vertigo. More view is not always better. Very wide values can visibly stretch geometry near the edges of the image and make turning appear unusual. Players may benefit from changing FOV gradually and testing it in a safe area rather than immediately selecting the largest available number.
Field-of-view adjustment also does not replace bob, tilt, or shake controls. It changes the apparent scale and amount of the world shown, while the other settings change how the camera or environment moves.
Removing the mask border
While the player is underwater, Subnautica can display the border of a diving mask around the edges of the screen. The MotionSickness mod provides a Disable Mask setting that removes this border. The creator describes the result as equivalent to pressing F6.
Removing the border opens the peripheral portion of the image and eliminates a fixed foreground frame. That may help a player who finds the mask constricting, distracting, or visually uncomfortable. It may also change the relationship between the stationary screen edge and the moving underwater environment.
A fixed frame can have different effects for different people. Some players may find that a stable peripheral reference helps them orient themselves while the world moves. Others may experience it as visual obstruction or a tunnel-like restriction. The presence of a removal option is useful precisely because these responses are not uniform.
Disabling the mask does not change oxygen consumption, swimming behavior, water visibility, depth, or the physical capabilities of the player character. It is a presentation change rather than a gameplay modification.
Hiding the Seamoth interior model
The Seamoth is a small submersible vehicle. When the player enters it, part of the vehicle’s model remains visible around the first-person view. The mod’s Hide Seamoth When Entered option prevents that model from being rendered while the vehicle is occupied.
This can provide a wider unobstructed view. It may reduce the amount of close foreground geometry moving against the more distant ocean environment. The effect is specific to the Seamoth as documented; it should not be assumed to hide the interiors of every vehicle.
Removing the visible model also removes a visual cue that the player is inside the Seamoth. The vehicle frame helps communicate enclosure and may provide a stable reference around the moving world. Hiding it can therefore reduce obstruction while also reducing contextual information.
The setting does not change the Seamoth’s collision boundaries, speed, damage, energy use, depth restrictions, controls, or vulnerability. The vehicle remains mechanically present even though its first-person model is not rendered.
Configuration requires editing a file
The MotionSickness mod does not use SMLHelper or Nautilus and does not provide an in-game menu. Its features are controlled through a configuration file named com.ex3124.MotionSickness.cfg.
This introduces a significant accessibility and usability limitation. The player must locate the file, open it in a text editor, identify the relevant entries, and enter appropriate true, false, or numerical values. Changes may require leaving or restarting the game before their effect can be evaluated.
A configuration file can provide precise and persistent control, but it is less discoverable than an in-game accessibility screen. It may be difficult for players who use a controller without a keyboard, rely on screen magnification, find file navigation cognitively demanding, or play through a living-room interface.
Incorrect editing may also prevent a setting from applying. Keeping a backup of the original configuration can make experimentation easier to reverse. Players should change one or two values at a time so that they can identify which modification produced a useful or unwanted result.
Installation and platform restrictions
MotionSickness is an unofficial third-party mod rather than a setting developed or supported by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. It requires the BepInEx pack configured for Subnautica. Thunderstore lists that pack as a required dependency.
The mod is distributed for the moddable PC release. It does not add these configuration controls to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or other console versions. Updates to Subnautica, BepInEx, or other installed mods may affect compatibility.
Only version 1.0.0 was available from the creator’s distribution pages when this article was verified. The absence of later releases does not establish that the mod will work indefinitely with every future game update. Players should review the project page, recent user reports, and dependency requirements before installing it.
As a client-side visual modification, it should not be treated as an official accessibility guarantee. Mod installation can introduce technical barriers of its own, and troubleshooting may require file access or familiarity with a mod manager.
Combining the controls without treating them as a cure
The mod’s settings can be combined according to the visual trigger being addressed. A player might disable swimming bob and lateral tilt while retaining the mask border as a stationary reference. Another might keep ordinary swimming motion but reduce surface waves and remove the Seamoth model. A wider field of view can be tested independently rather than used as a substitute for camera stabilization.
Other Subnautica settings may remain relevant, including motion blur, display resolution, frame-rate stability, mouse or controller sensitivity, brightness, and graphics quality. Maintaining a stable frame rate may be particularly important because irregular visual updates can add another form of perceived instability, although MotionSickness itself is not a performance-optimization mod.
Breaks, viewing distance, display size, room lighting, and play-session length can also affect individual experiences. These are not replacements for meaningful software controls, but the mod cannot regulate them.
The creator’s official MotionSickness page on Thunderstore provides the current package, dependency information, configuration descriptions, and link to the public source code. Players should use the original distribution page rather than an unofficial re-upload.
Targeted stabilization with clearly defined boundaries
MotionSickness is notable because it does not present camera comfort as one universal switch. It separates vertical bob, lateral tilt, Aurora shaking, wave height, field-of-view range, mask framing, and Seamoth visibility. That structure may help players identify and reduce a specific source of visual discomfort without automatically changing every part of the presentation.
Its limitations are equally practical: it requires PC mod installation and configuration-file editing, has no in-game menu, targets documented effects rather than every possible movement, and cannot guarantee symptom prevention. Access needs vary, and the mod’s usefulness depends on which visual motions affect the individual player and whether the remaining underwater movement is tolerable.