# Modding

Tools and reference material for modding System Shock (1994) itself - distinct
from the rest of this repository, which is the [QuestShock](../README.md) VR
port of the game engine. Everything modding-related lives under this folder.

Both pieces here come from the [InkyBlackness](https://inkyblackness.github.io)
project and are vendored unmodified, each under its own upstream license (see
below) - neither is relicensed by this repository's own MIT license.

## 1. Layout

- `hacked/` - [InkyBlackness HackEd](https://github.com/inkyblackness/hacked),
  the graphical mod editor. A vendored source snapshot (New BSD License),
  taken from the `main` branch on 2026-09-26. To update it, replace this
  directory with a fresh checkout and update that date.
- `ss-specs/` - [InkyBlackness ss-specs](https://github.com/inkyblackness/ss-specs),
  the unofficial file-format specifications the editor (and any other modding
  tool) is written against. Reference documentation only, not built. A
  vendored snapshot (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 - **non-commercial**, unlike the rest of
  this repository), taken from the `main` branch on 2026-09-26.
- `hacked-build-image/` - the Dockerfile (and supporting scripts) for the
  `hacked` build environment: the Go toolchain plus every dependency
  `hacked/go.mod` pins, fetched once at image-build time so the actual build
  needs no network access. Mirrors the main project's own `build-image/`
  (see the repository root's [README.md](../README.md) section 4) one level
  down, for this subproject.
- `hacked-build-image.sh` / `hacked-build-run-image.sh` /
  `hacked-build-upload-image.sh` - build the image, run it to compile
  `hacked/`, and push it to a registry, respectively. Same pattern as the
  root project's own `build-image.sh`/`run-image.sh`/`upload-image.sh`.
- `Makefile` - `hacked` (default) builds `hacked/` via the image; `build-image`
  (re)builds the image itself; `clean` removes `dist/`.
- `dist/` - build output (git-ignored), created by `make hacked`.

Shockolate (the engine `../engine/` vendors) already has its own modding
support (level/resource files, `res/data/`); this folder is about the
external tools that create and inspect that content, not about changing the
engine itself.

## 2. Building `hacked`

Packages `dist/<version>.linux64.tgz` and `dist/<version>.win64.zip` (native
Linux build, Windows amd64 cross-compiled via mingw-w64 - both from the same
source, in one run).

**Prerequisites:** Docker - same as the root project, nothing modding-specific
to install locally.

```sh
cd modding

# 1. Build the hacked-build-image (once, or after hacked-build-image/ or
#    hacked/go.mod|go.sum changes)
./hacked-build-image.sh

# 2. Compile hacked/ for Linux and Windows
make hacked
```

`<version>` is `hacked-<date>`, not an InkyBlackness release version:
`hacked/` is a vendored snapshot here, not its own git checkout, so there is
no tag to derive a real version from (see
`hacked-build-image/build-hacked.sh`'s own comment).

Run the result: `dist/linux/hacked/hacked` on Linux,
`dist\win\hacked\hacked.exe` on Windows. Needs OpenGL 3.2; usage is documented
on [hacked's own wiki](https://github.com/inkyblackness/hacked/wiki).

### 2.1. Publishing the build-image

Same registry as the root project's own build-image (see the repository
root's `registry.env.example`), under a separate image name so the two don't
collide:

```sh
./hacked-build-upload-image.sh
```

Reads `REGISTRY`/`REGISTRY_USER`/`REGISTRY_PASSWORD` and (optionally)
`HACKED_REGISTRY_IMAGE` from `../registry.env`, same as the root scripts.
Don't bump `hacked-build-image/VERSION` just because the Dockerfile changed -
only once a build with the current version has actually succeeded, same
policy as the root project's own `build-image/VERSION`.

## 3. Example: Editing a message

`hacked` has no inline text editor - every text field is edited by right-click
-> **Copy to Clipboard**, editing the text in an external editor, then
right-click -> **Copy from Clipboard** back into the field. Example: changing
Rebecca Lansing's first email.

1. Run `dist/linux/hacked/hacked` (or the Windows build).
2. **Window -> Project.** Under **Static World Data**, **Add...** and browse to
   the game's whole `res/assets/ss_ee/data/` directory (see the root
   [README.md](../README.md) section 3 for where that comes from), so every
   `.res`/`.dat` file is available.
3. **Window -> Messages** (F5). **Message Type**: `Mails`. **Index**: `26`
   (Rebecca's first mail). Edit **Sender**/**Subject**/**Title**/the message
   text via the clipboard round-trip above.
4. Back in the **Project** window, under **Mod Location**, click **Save**
   (first time: **Browse...** to an empty folder, for example
   `./modding/mymod`).
5. Test it from the root project's desktop build:
   ```sh
   ./dist/run.sh "$(pwd)/modding/mymod"
   ```
   The mod-folder argument **must be an absolute path**: `run.sh` `cd`s into
   `dist/` before launching the engine, so a relative path resolves against
   the wrong directory and the mod silently fails to load (the engine's
   `ProcessModDirectory()` reports nothing on a bad path). When the path is
   right, the terminal shows `ProcessModDirectory ...` / `Found resource
   file: ...` / `Loading mod file ...` for confirmation.