[arrenkaetris]

Description

Unprefixed [HACKList] values now follow official TSLPatcher. Delphi writes a 32-bit LongInt at the given offset. It only reverses those four bytes when the target filename ends in ncs.

The previous HoloPatcher path wrote a 2-byte big-endian word for the same INI line. That is a different width, not just a different endianness. 8=1234 on a .ncs file used to overwrite bytes [8,9] with 04 D2. Official TSLPatcher overwrites bytes [8,9,10,11] with 00 00 04 D2.

Most real [HACKList] mods were written and tested against TSLPatcher.exe. This change makes HoloPatcher produce the same bytes.

Official source in KotORPublicDomain/TSLPatcher:

• iValue is a LongInt
• NCS byte swap, then write(iValue, sizeof(iValue))

iValue  : LongInt;
...
iValue  := StrToInt(sVal);
sExt := lowercase(copy(l_dlgopen.FileName, Length(l_dlgopen.FileName) - 2, 3));
if (lowercase(sExt) = 'ncs') then begin
    iValue := (((iValue and longint($FF000000)) shr 24)
            or ((iValue and longint($00FF0000)) shr 8)
            or ((iValue and longint($0000FF00)) shl 8)
            or ((iValue and longint($000000FF)) shl 24));
end;
theFile.seek(iOffset, soFromBeginning);
theFile.write(iValue, sizeof(iValue));

Optional u8: and u16: prefixes still select the narrower HoloPatcher widths.

Type of Change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• Documentation update
• Refactoring (no functional changes)
• Performance improvement
• Test addition or update
• Build system or CI changes
• Code style changes (formatting, renaming, etc.)

The break is only for INI lines that relied on HoloPatcher's unofficial 2-byte default. Mods written for official TSLPatcher now match.

Package(s) Affected

• PyKotor (core library)
• One or more tools under Tools/
• Documentation
• CI/CD
• Other: ___________

HoloPatcher consumes this library. The standalone OpenKotOR/HoloPatcher repo has no HACKList writer of its own.

Changes Made

Unprefixed HACKList values parse as 32-bit integers. .ncs targets are written big-endian. Other extensions stay little-endian, matching Delphi's native write() plus the NCS swap. The INI writer now emits u8: and u16: when those explicit widths are serialized, so a later read does not treat them as LongInts.

Testing

• I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
• New and existing unit tests pass locally with my changes
• I have tested this manually
• I have tested on multiple Python versions (3.8+)
• I have tested on multiple operating systems (if applicable)

Test Results

Libraries/PyKotor/tests/tslpatcher/test_hacklist.py and Libraries/PyKotor/tests/tslpatcher/parity/test_parity_harness.py passed locally (12 tests). The 8=1234 fixture now expects 000004d2. An explicit u16:1234 fixture still expects 04d2.

Checklist

• My code follows the project's style guidelines
• I have performed a self-review of my own code
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
• I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
• My changes generate no new warnings
• I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my feature works
• New and existing unit tests pass locally with my changes
• Any dependent changes have been merged and published

Related Issues

Related to HoloPatcher install compatibility with official TSLPatcher [HACKList] mods.

Additional Notes

This pull request is against PyKotor because that is where [HACKList] is implemented. A pull request to OpenKotOR/HoloPatcher cannot change these bytes. HoloPatcher will pick up the fix when it uses a PyKotor build that includes this commit.

[github-actions]

Message that will be displayed on users' first pull request

[arrenkaetris]

Testing this against a mod or 2 that implements [HACKList] is recommended first.