// the find
Fukashiro-Yukari/LuaLoader
Lua Loader using MelonLoader
A MelonLoader plugin that embeds a modified Lua 5.4 interpreter into Unity/il2cpp games, letting modders write gameplay mods in Lua instead of C#. It's aimed squarely at Unity game modders, particularly ones coming from Garry's Mod who want a similar scripting workflow (hook, timer, JSON globals all mirror GMod's Lua API almost exactly).
Ships a genuinely custom Lua build rather than a vanilla NLua wrapper — backports 5.1-5.4 compatibility shims and GMod-style convenience libs (hook.lua, timer.lua, table/string extensions), which is real work, not just glue code. Autorun directory + hot console reload (lua_reload) means you can iterate on scripts without restarting the game, which matters a lot for modding workflows. Reuses UnityExplorer's input manager and cursor-unlock code instead of reinventing il2cpp input handling, which is a reasonable call given how fiddly that layer is.
Dead since October 2022 — four years with no commits, no response to the game updates or MelonLoader API changes that have happened since, so it likely needs patching just to load on a current MelonLoader/Unity version. Zero tests, no CI, and the README is three sentences; there's no documentation of the actual Lua-to-C# binding surface (what Unity types/methods are exposed), so you're reading LuaClass/*.cs to figure out what you can even call from a script. Mixing GPL-licensed UnityExplorer code into what's otherwise an MIT-flavored project is a licensing landmine for anyone redistributing a derivative mod. 32 stars and no real issue/PR activity suggests a thin user base, so you're on your own if the il2cpp interop breaks.