Game recon

Goal: in about five minutes, know what you're dealing with and which route to take. Write the answer down so every later step can rely on it.

0. Has another agent been here?

um kb search "<game>" (and the engine name). A field note in the shared knowledge base can hand you the working versions, the route, and the gotchas before you touch anything. See the share-field-notes skill.

1. Find it and fingerprint it

um scan --list                 # Steam, Epic and Xbox installs (Windows, WSL, Linux, macOS)
um scan "<name or folder>"     # host, engine, version, exes (.NET?), anti-cheat, loaders,
                               # mod folders, saves, routes
um scan "<game>" --json        # the same, machine-readable

um lives at bin/um in the universal-modder repo (plugins and clones put it on PATH). Anywhere else: uv tool install git+https://github.com/rehan-remade/universal-modder.

um scan reads files only. It indexes the install (bounded), sniffs PE headers, the Unity/Godot/GameMaker headers and the Unreal version string, maps known games to their community loader, and points to the playbook to read: skills/mod-any-game/references/engines/<engine>.md.

The scan can't see everything, so check these by hand:

• Game not in a store library (GOG, itch, a standalone folder): pass the folder path.
• Several engines' signals: launchers and web helpers are common. The top score wins, but read the "also" line.
• Anti-cheat installed elsewhere: kernel drivers (Vanguard's vgk.sys) and launcher-level protection don't live in the game folder. Search " anti-cheat".
• Online-only or live-service games: treat them as protected even if nothing was detected.

1b. Can this machine run it?

Skip this when the game is native to the host: a Windows game on Windows or from WSL, a macOS or Linux build on its own OS (um scan prints the host: and each exe's CPU, and warns when a Windows build meets another OS). Otherwise (a Windows-only game on macOS or Linux, an x64 game on an ARM CPU), or when a game that should run here won't start, search the notes by situation and exact error text first (um kb search "windows game on mac", um kb search "proton", um kb search "<error text>"), then follow references/compatibility.md: host checks, per-game reports, the layers, anti-cheat, probes.

2. Research the living community (always; versions move)

Search, in order:

1. " modding" / " mod loader" / " modding wiki". The game's wiki often has a modding page.
2. Nexus Mods (most popular mods show which frameworks they depend on), Thunderstore (Unity games: BepInEx packs), mod.io, the Steam Workshop (does the game have one? um scan shows installed Workshop content).
3. GitHub: " mod", " modding api", " decompile", " sdk", " mod loader".
4. Recent posts (X/Reddit/Discord announcements) for new frameworks. The loader might be days old.

Capture: the loader's name, repo, current version and install steps, the game versions it supports, a "hello world" example mod, and where logs go.

3. Decide

• Can it be modded safely? Look at anti-cheat, online-only parts, the EULA or mod policy, and the ownership checks that loaders rely on (see skills/mod-any-game/references/safety.md). If not: say so, and offer what is possible (official tools, offline modes, a different game with the same idea).
• Route: loader API > data/asset mod > managed patching > native hooks > reimplementation/mashup. Pick the first that reaches the user's idea.

4. Write MODDING_PLAN.md

# <Game> modding plan
- Install: <path> (<store> <appid>), version <x>
- Engine: <engine + version>, code: managed .NET / IL2CPP / native, 64-bit
- Anti-cheat / online: <none | what + verdict>
- Host / compat (if not native): <host OS, CPU, GPU> vs <game CPU + graphics API>; layer: <name + version>;
  verified by: <probe, log or screenshot>
- Saves: <path>   Config: <path>   Logs: <path>
- Community route: <loader vX.Y (repo)>, install: <steps>, example mod: <link>
- Chosen route for "<idea>": <route> because <reason>
- Lab plan: backup <folders> (um backup), lab profile <how>, windowed <how>
- Unknowns to resolve first: <list>

Then continue with the mod-any-game loop (lab setup → source of truth → vertical slice).