Version-resilient Harmony patch discovery

✅ Source verified pattern ⚠️ Version-sensitive area WorldBox 0.51.2 build 719

Harmony lets a mod alter game behavior without replacing the whole game method, but a patch is only useful if the mod finds the correct method and overload on the installed WorldBox build.

Political World’s integration code uses several defensive techniques instead of assuming one forever-stable method name.

1. Keep WorldBox integration isolated

Political World places these patches under:

Core/Integration/WorldBox/

This is intentionally treated as compatibility-sensitive code.

That makes version review easier: after a WorldBox update, integration code can be audited without confusing it with unrelated political simulation code.

2. Try known method-name fallbacks

For the city army capacity multiplier, the inspected source tries:

getArmyMaxMultiplier
getArmyMaxTotalPercentage
getArmyMaxPercentage
getArmyMaxTotalPercent
getArmyLimitPercentage
getArmyLimitPercent

The source comment identifies getArmyMaxMultiplier as the actual final multiplier on WorldBox 0.51.2 build 719 while retaining older names as compatibility fallbacks.

This is more robust than:

AccessTools.Method(typeof(City), "oneNameForever");

with no validation.

3. Filter overloads

Political World’s helper scans methods and checks the parameter count before selecting a target.

Another helper accepts an explicit expected parameter count for methods such as City.getLoyalty.

Why?

Two methods with the same name can have different signatures. Patching the wrong overload can fail at load time or, worse, patch behavior you did not intend.

A stronger production implementation may also compare parameter types and return type when necessary.

4. Fail with diagnostics, not silence

If the expected army method cannot be patched, Political World scans City methods whose names contain army and logs candidate name, parameter count and return type.

That turns an update breakage from:

"my mod stopped working"

into something closer to:

"the expected method disappeared; these are the nearby candidates on this build"

This is exactly the information needed for a compatibility update.

5. Do not let an optional bonus break vanilla calculations

Several Postfix bodies wrap Political World’s extra behavior in try/catch.

The source comments explicitly state that an error in a political bonus should not interrupt WorldBox’s main army/stat calculation.

This is an important modding rule:

If your patch adds an optional modifier, prefer degrading to “modifier missing” over breaking the vanilla system.

Simplified helper

static MethodInfo FindMethod(
    Type type,
    string[] candidateNames,
    int parameterCount)
{
    MethodInfo[] methods = type.GetMethods(MemberFlags);

    foreach (string name in candidateNames)
    {
        foreach (MethodInfo method in methods)
        {
            if (method.Name == name &&
                method.GetParameters().Length == parameterCount)
            {
                return method;
            }
        }
    }

    return null;
}

Then log clearly if the target is absent before calling Harmony.Patch(...).

Important limitation

Method-name fallback is not magic compatibility.

A method can keep the same name while changing semantics.

After a game update, you still need:

1. target discovery;
2. signature validation;
3. runtime behavior test;
4. log confirmation;
5. gameplay verification.

Fallback names only make discovery and graceful failure better.

AI rule

An AI assistant should never invent a WorldBox method name merely because it sounds plausible.

If the current documentation does not verify a target:

• inspect the type;
• list candidates;
• verify signature;
• run a minimal patch/probe;
• only then mark it as supported.