Docs: local Sacred Gold install required, no hard-coded game path

README explains --game-dir and the stored GameDir; the VS Code launch
uses the stored path and builds through build.ps1.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

.vscode/launch.json

@@ -3,13 +3,15 @@
     "configurations": [
         {
             // Builds, then starts the game through the launcher (no debugger in the game).
+            // The game folder comes from build/x86-debug/sacredK.ini: run the
+            // launcher once with --game-dir "<Sacred Gold folder>" (README.md).
             "name": "Run Sacred (sacredK)",
             "type": "cppvsdbg",
             "request": "launch",
             "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/x86-debug/sacredK.exe",
-            "args": ["--game-dir", "D:\\Gaming\\Sacred Gold", "log"],
+            "args": ["log"],
             "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/build/x86-debug",
-            "preLaunchTask": "CMake: build",
+            "preLaunchTask": "Build x86-debug",
             "console": "internalConsole"
         },
         {

.vscode/tasks.json

@@ -2,10 +2,13 @@
     "version": "2.0.0",
     "tasks": [
         {
-            "label": "CMake: build",
+            // build.ps1 enters the MSVC x86 environment and builds the x86-debug
-            "type": "cmake",
+            // preset; unlike a CMake Tools task it needs no preset picked in VS Code.
-            "command": "build",
+            "label": "Build x86-debug",
-            "targets": ["all"],
+            "type": "process",
+            "command": "powershell",
+            "args": ["-NoProfile", "-ExecutionPolicy", "Bypass", "-File", "${workspaceFolder}/build.ps1", "x86-debug"],
+            "options": { "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}" },
             "group": { "kind": "build", "isDefault": true },
             "problemMatcher": ["$msCompile"]
         }

CLAUDE.md

@@ -14,9 +14,11 @@ the work so far is **mods** — behaviour changes on top of the original
 auto-attack, skill reworks, respec, map fixes, ...). The game stays playable
 at every step; the user plays it to test.
 
-- Target binary: the original `sacred.exe` in `D:\Gaming\Sacred Gold\`
+- Target binary: the original `sacred.exe` of a local Sacred Gold 2.28
-  (path in `build\x86-debug\sacredK.ini`, `[paths] GameDir`). Ignore the
+  installation (see `README.md`, Supported build). The game is not in the
-  `SacredReborn*` files in that folder.
+  repo; its folder is given to the launcher once (`--game-dir`) and kept in
+  `build\<preset>\sacredK.ini`, `[paths] GameDir`. Read it from there; never
+  hard-code a local path in code, docs or configs.
 - Game texts are German (Fertigkeiten, Attribute, Blitzschlag, ...); keep the
   game's names when talking about features.
 - The user's monitor is 3440x1440; the game renders about 1835x768 scaled up.

README.md

@@ -41,11 +41,24 @@ the CMake presets.
 
 ## Running
 
+The game is not part of this repository. You need a local installation of
+Sacred Gold 2.28 with the `sacred.exe` listed under [Supported build](#supported-build)
+(e.g. the Steam or GOG release), and you tell the launcher its folder once:
+
 ```powershell
-build\x86-debug\sacredK.exe --game-dir "D:\Gaming\Sacred Gold"   # first run; remembered in sacredK.ini
+build\x86-debug\sacredK.exe --game-dir "<Sacred Gold folder>"   # first run; remembered in sacredK.ini
-build\x86-debug\sacredK.exe log                                  # later runs; extra args go to the game
+build\x86-debug\sacredK.exe log                                 # later runs; extra args go to the game
 ```
 
+The folder is stored as `[paths] GameDir` in `sacredK.ini` next to the
+launcher (one per build preset, not tracked by git). Without it, the launcher
+looks for `sacred.exe` in its own folder and otherwise asks for `--game-dir`.
+The VS Code launch configuration relies on this stored path too.
+
+Save games and the game's `Settings.cfg` live in `Documents\Sacred\save` and
+`Documents\Sacred\config`; on the first start they are copied there from the
+game folder (see `docs/user-folders.md`).
+
 `sacredK.log` (next to the DLL) records what was hooked plus every message the
 game sends to its internal logger, even when the game's own logging is off.