Build From Source

Build From Source

This page walks you through building every ZeusMod component on a fresh Windows dev machine: the native trainer (IcarusInternal.dll), the native injector (IcarusInjector.exe), and the Electron desktop app (ZeusMod.exe).

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Prerequisites

Tool	Tested version	Why
Windows 10 / 11 x64	22H2+	Target platform
Visual Studio 2022	17.9+	MSVC v143, Windows 10 SDK, CMake optional
Node.js	20.x LTS	Electron, electron-builder, koffi
Python	3.9+	inspect.py, pre-build icon generation
Git	2.40+	Everything
(Optional) 7-Zip	22+	For inspecting .nupkg installers during debugging

Install the Visual Studio workload:

Desktop development with C++
  ✔ MSVC v143 — VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools
  ✔ Windows 10 SDK (10.0.19041.0 or newer)
  ✔ C++ CMake tools for Windows
  ✔ Windows Universal CRT SDK

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1. Clone and fetch third-party deps

git clone https://github.com/CyberSnakeH/ZeusMod.git
cd ZeusMod

# Fetch ImGui + MinHook into native/third_party/
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/fetch-native-deps.ps1

The fetch script pins specific commits of Dear ImGui and MinHook and drops them under native/third_party/. That directory is .gitignored on purpose — CI runs the same script and the contents are reproducible.

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2. Build the native solution

# Command line (no VS GUI)
msbuild ZeusMod.sln /t:Rebuild /p:Configuration=Release /p:Platform=x64

Or open ZeusMod.sln in Visual Studio, set the active config to Release | x64, and build the solution.

Outputs:

Project	Output
Shared	native/shared/bin/Release/Shared.lib
IcarusInjector	native/injector/bin/Release/IcarusInjector.exe
IcarusInternal	native/internal/bin/Release/IcarusInternal.dll

After a successful build, copy the DLL + injector into the Electron app's bin/ folder so the packaged launcher can ship them:

Copy-Item native/internal/bin/Release/IcarusInternal.dll app/bin/
Copy-Item native/injector/bin/Release/IcarusInjector.exe app/bin/

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3. Build the Electron app

cd app
npm install
npm start                 # run in dev mode against app/src/

This hot-loads the renderer off app/src/renderer/. Making the DevTools visible: open ZeusMod, Ctrl+Shift+I.

To package a release installer locally (e.g. to test electron-updater):

npm run dist              # builds dist/ZeusMod-Setup-X.Y.Z.exe

electron-builder reads app/package.json → build{} for the NSIS config (oneClick, perMachine=false, runAfterFinish, installer icon). The bundled DLL + injector come from app/bin/ via the extraResources entry.

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4. Run the Python debug client

# Optional polish (tab completion + rich tables)
pip install -r scripts/requirements.txt

# One-shot or REPL
python scripts/inspect.py
python scripts/inspect.py -c "character"
python scripts/inspect.py --watch "playerinv"

See Debug Client for the full command catalog.

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CI — what GitHub Actions does on a tag push

File: .github/workflows/release.yml.

1. Checks out the repo on a Windows runner.
2. Runs scripts/fetch-native-deps.ps1 — fetches ImGui + MinHook.
3. Builds ZeusMod.sln in Release | x64 via MSBuild.
4. Copies IcarusInternal.dll + IcarusInjector.exe into app/bin/.
5. npm ci && npm run dist — electron-builder produces ZeusMod-Setup-X.Y.Z.exe + latest.yml + blockmap.
6. Reads the ## [X.Y.Z] block out of CHANGELOG.md.
7. Reads .github/release-footer.md — static footer (download instructions, disclaimers).
8. Creates a GitHub Release with the composed body and uploads the installer / updater metadata / standalone zip.

The first step that fails fast blocks the release. Tag format: vX.Y.Z (semver) — see Release Process.

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Clean build (troubleshooting)

If a build gets into a weird state:

# Native
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force native/internal/bin, native/internal/obj
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force native/injector/bin, native/injector/obj
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force native/shared/bin, native/shared/obj

# Electron
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force app/node_modules, app/dist
npm cache clean --force

Then start again from step 2.

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Common build errors

Symptom	Cause / fix
error C2712: cannot use __try in functions that require object unwinding	A __try block is mixed with C++ objects that need unwinding. Move the raw-memory probe into a separate helper function that builds no C++ objects.
error MSB8036: The Windows SDK version 10.0.19041.0 was not found	Install the matching SDK through the VS Installer, or point the project at the SDK you have via Project Properties → General → Windows SDK Version.
LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'IcarusInternal.dll'	Icarus still has the DLL mapped. Close the game (or press F10 in it) and rebuild.
electron-builder exit code 1 with "ERR_ELECTRON_BUILDER_CANNOT_EXECUTE_CODE_SIGN"	Code signing disabled in package.json.build. If you re-enable it, you must also set CSC_LINK / CSC_KEY_PASSWORD in the env.
koffi fails to bind kernel32	Ensure npm install completed without errors. koffi ships prebuilt binaries for Windows x64; the node-gyp fallback is not needed.
inspect.py throws ImportError: cannot import name 'dataclass' from dataclasses	The script is named inspect.py, shadowing the stdlib. There is a guard at the top of the file — don't rename the file without updating the guard.

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See also

• Architecture — what each project produces and how they cooperate.
• Release Process — tagging and shipping a new build.
• Contributing — coding style, commit conventions, PR expectations.