Asset overrides and sanpacks

The asset loader scans base content and two Mods directories. A later path replaces an earlier entry when both entries have the same PathToID override key.

Search order

engine\Sanctuary_Data\Gamedata\Base content
engine\Sanctuary_Data\Mods\Installation mods
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Games\Enhearten Media\Sanctuary\Mods\User mods

The user Mods directory has the highest priority among these paths. Both Mods paths are gated by the managed AllowMods flag, which is true in this snapshot. A stock installation does not contain Sanctuary_Data\Mods\; create it before testing an installation-local override.

Archive and loose-file support

The loader walks each existing search directory recursively. It caches loose files and reads each file inside a .sanpack archive. A sanpack is a ZIP container whose entries retain virtual paths.

Use a new archive or the user Mods directory instead of changing a shipped archive. Exact path casing, normalization, and references between loose files still need runtime tests.

Safe first test

Replace one visible client-side asset and preserve its internal path. Record the archive path, entry path, log output, and whether the game needed a restart. Do not start with simulation data.