Add offline fallbacks for remote components #9

2026-09-03T18:52:00Z

Dusk-92 commented

2026-09-03 18:52:00 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Summary

restore bundled SuperWoW 2.2 and SuperAPI fallback after redistribution permission was reported by the Modernization Tool maintainer
keep upstream SuperWoW release and SuperAPI master as the preferred online sources
verify the complete bundled SuperAPI tree before fallback installation
keep valid installed components instead of downgrading when an update source is temporarily unavailable
keep visual MPQ mods online-only: no bundled MPQ fallback and no MPQ cache fallback
keep Vanilla Tweaks independent from SuperWoW
make Tool-owned executable Vanilla Tweaks authoritative on inherited pre-patched WoW.exe states where original/patched signatures are known
run a read-only Vanilla Tweaks source preflight before any installation files are changed and recheck the source immediately before patching
preserve client-owned Custom GlueXML regions byte-for-byte instead of overwriting unknown Turtle/Octo/community loader code
preserve an already valid installed MPQ only for genuine remote-source failures
let local MPQ write/permission/install failures surface instead of misreporting them as network failures
seed WowPresence cache only from tool-managed binaries whose recorded SHA-256 hashes still match
preserve valid unknown/manual WowPresence binaries without promoting them into the trusted cache
repair modified tool-managed WowPresence binaries and legacy managed installs without recorded hashes instead of preserving them as manual installs
force legacy tool-managed WowPresence manifests through a verified online refresh when the source is available
use WowPresence offline recovery only for source/package failures; local write, permission and transactional install errors surface as local failures
reject malformed, tampered or path-escaping cache metadata
bundle a verified known-good WowPresence fallback during release/test builds
add regression coverage for strict MPQ error classification, WowPresence cache/trust/recovery behavior, SuperAPI integrity and authoritative Vanilla Tweaks normalization
update README, provenance and third-party notices

Fallback order

SuperWoW / SuperAPI

prefer the current upstream source
keep an already valid installed version when an update cannot be fetched
use the bundled known-good pair when repair or first-time offline installation is required

WowPresence

prefer the current upstream release
keep a hash-verified tool-managed install, or a valid unknown/manual install, when the release source is unavailable
repair modified or legacy-unverified tool-managed installs from the validated local cache when available
use the release-bundled known-good fallback when cache repair or first-time offline installation is required

Only hash-verified tool-managed WowPresence binaries may seed the validated cache. Unknown/manual binaries are preserved when valid but are never promoted into that cache. Legacy tool-managed installs without recorded hashes are refreshed or repaired rather than treated as manual installs. Local installation/write/permission failures do not enter the offline fallback path.

Visual MPQ mods

no offline fallback is distributed or cached
keep an already valid installed MPQ only when the original source is unavailable or returns an invalid package
local installation/write/permission errors are reported as failures
first-time installation requires the original online source

Vanilla Tweaks and SuperWoW

SuperWoW does not disable, grey out or suppress Vanilla Tweaks controls
the FoV Calculator remains available, including automatic screen aspect-ratio detection and calculated FoV
the Tool normalizes FoV, Farclip, Frill Distance, Nameplate Distance, Max Camera Distance, Sound Channels, QuickLoot, Background Sound, Large Address Aware and Camera Skip Fix to the selected Tool values
Custom GlueXML remains authoritative when the original source region is a recognized vanilla/upstream state
if the original WoW.exe contains a different Custom GlueXML region, that exact client-owned byte sequence is preserved through the staged patch instead of being replaced by vanilla-tweaks
recognized pre-patched Vanilla/Octo/Turtle states can therefore be restored or overridden without sacrificing client-specific loader code
Blue Moon and Cross-faction Resurrection intentionally keep their previous upstream vanilla-tweaks behavior and are not post-normalized
enabling or disabling SuperWoW does not change the executable patch settings signature

Executable safety

the original WoW.exe is checked read-only before the installer performs cleanup, downloads, plugin updates or other installation writes
selected numeric Vanilla Tweaks values are validated during the same preflight
unknown QuickLoot, Background Sound, LAA or Camera Skip source signatures abort before vanilla-tweaks is launched
a foreign Custom GlueXML source region is treated as client-owned and recorded for exact preservation rather than being considered an error
the source is checked again immediately before the Vanilla Tweaks transaction
vanilla-tweaks runs only against a staged copy of WoW.exe
normalization is applied only to staged output
client-owned Custom GlueXML bytes recorded during source preflight are restored byte-for-byte after the upstream patcher runs
unknown post-patcher signatures without matching source proof still abort the build
the staged executable is validated again before commit
WoW_Modernized.exe is replaced only after the complete staged build succeeds
any normalization or validation failure leaves the previous live WoW_Modernized.exe unchanged

Safety

draft PR only
no changes to main
remote sources remain preferred when available
SuperWoW + SuperAPI fallback is installed transactionally as one pair
WowPresence fallback packages are validated before installation
visual MPQs are never bundled into the Tool
regression tests cover source preflight, client-owned Custom GlueXML preservation, authoritative Vanilla Tweaks on/off states, legacy Blue Moon/Cross-faction behavior and transactional rollback

## Summary - restore bundled SuperWoW 2.2 and SuperAPI fallback after redistribution permission was reported by the Modernization Tool maintainer - keep upstream SuperWoW release and SuperAPI master as the preferred online sources - verify the complete bundled SuperAPI tree before fallback installation - keep valid installed components instead of downgrading when an update source is temporarily unavailable - keep visual MPQ mods online-only: no bundled MPQ fallback and no MPQ cache fallback - keep Vanilla Tweaks independent from SuperWoW - make Tool-owned executable Vanilla Tweaks authoritative on inherited pre-patched WoW.exe states where original/patched signatures are known - run a read-only Vanilla Tweaks source preflight before any installation files are changed and recheck the source immediately before patching - preserve client-owned Custom GlueXML regions byte-for-byte instead of overwriting unknown Turtle/Octo/community loader code - preserve an already valid installed MPQ only for genuine remote-source failures - let local MPQ write/permission/install failures surface instead of misreporting them as network failures - seed WowPresence cache only from tool-managed binaries whose recorded SHA-256 hashes still match - preserve valid unknown/manual WowPresence binaries without promoting them into the trusted cache - repair modified tool-managed WowPresence binaries and legacy managed installs without recorded hashes instead of preserving them as manual installs - force legacy tool-managed WowPresence manifests through a verified online refresh when the source is available - use WowPresence offline recovery only for source/package failures; local write, permission and transactional install errors surface as local failures - reject malformed, tampered or path-escaping cache metadata - bundle a verified known-good WowPresence fallback during release/test builds - add regression coverage for strict MPQ error classification, WowPresence cache/trust/recovery behavior, SuperAPI integrity and authoritative Vanilla Tweaks normalization - update README, provenance and third-party notices ## Fallback order ### SuperWoW / SuperAPI 1. prefer the current upstream source 2. keep an already valid installed version when an update cannot be fetched 3. use the bundled known-good pair when repair or first-time offline installation is required ### WowPresence 1. prefer the current upstream release 2. keep a hash-verified tool-managed install, or a valid unknown/manual install, when the release source is unavailable 3. repair modified or legacy-unverified tool-managed installs from the validated local cache when available 4. use the release-bundled known-good fallback when cache repair or first-time offline installation is required Only hash-verified tool-managed WowPresence binaries may seed the validated cache. Unknown/manual binaries are preserved when valid but are never promoted into that cache. Legacy tool-managed installs without recorded hashes are refreshed or repaired rather than treated as manual installs. Local installation/write/permission failures do not enter the offline fallback path. ### Visual MPQ mods - no offline fallback is distributed or cached - keep an already valid installed MPQ only when the original source is unavailable or returns an invalid package - local installation/write/permission errors are reported as failures - first-time installation requires the original online source ## Vanilla Tweaks and SuperWoW - SuperWoW does not disable, grey out or suppress Vanilla Tweaks controls - the FoV Calculator remains available, including automatic screen aspect-ratio detection and calculated FoV - the Tool normalizes FoV, Farclip, Frill Distance, Nameplate Distance, Max Camera Distance, Sound Channels, QuickLoot, Background Sound, Large Address Aware and Camera Skip Fix to the selected Tool values - Custom GlueXML remains authoritative when the original source region is a recognized vanilla/upstream state - if the original WoW.exe contains a different Custom GlueXML region, that exact client-owned byte sequence is preserved through the staged patch instead of being replaced by vanilla-tweaks - recognized pre-patched Vanilla/Octo/Turtle states can therefore be restored or overridden without sacrificing client-specific loader code - Blue Moon and Cross-faction Resurrection intentionally keep their previous upstream vanilla-tweaks behavior and are not post-normalized - enabling or disabling SuperWoW does not change the executable patch settings signature ## Executable safety - the original WoW.exe is checked read-only before the installer performs cleanup, downloads, plugin updates or other installation writes - selected numeric Vanilla Tweaks values are validated during the same preflight - unknown QuickLoot, Background Sound, LAA or Camera Skip source signatures abort before vanilla-tweaks is launched - a foreign Custom GlueXML source region is treated as client-owned and recorded for exact preservation rather than being considered an error - the source is checked again immediately before the Vanilla Tweaks transaction - vanilla-tweaks runs only against a staged copy of WoW.exe - normalization is applied only to staged output - client-owned Custom GlueXML bytes recorded during source preflight are restored byte-for-byte after the upstream patcher runs - unknown post-patcher signatures without matching source proof still abort the build - the staged executable is validated again before commit - WoW_Modernized.exe is replaced only after the complete staged build succeeds - any normalization or validation failure leaves the previous live WoW_Modernized.exe unchanged ## Safety - draft PR only - no changes to main - remote sources remain preferred when available - SuperWoW + SuperAPI fallback is installed transactionally as one pair - WowPresence fallback packages are validated before installation - visual MPQs are never bundled into the Tool - regression tests cover source preflight, client-owned Custom GlueXML preservation, authoritative Vanilla Tweaks on/off states, legacy Blue Moon/Cross-faction behavior and transactional rollback

Sign in to join this conversation.

1 Participants

Notifications

Due Date

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: Dusk/Modernization-Tool#9