author-armor

name	author-armor
description	Author a culture's LOTRLOME armor items and swap troop equipment rosters via the generator + validation pipeline. Use when adding/revamping armor. Enforces the canonical-folder + cover-attribute rules.
argument-hint	["culture"]

Armor Item Authoring + Troop Roster Revamp

Author or revamp a culture's LOTRLOME_Armory armor items and re-point troop equipment rosters. This is the armor-only flow (revamps like #99 / #211 / #212 / #224). For a brand-new culture (armor + troops + recruitment + culture wiring), use /new-culture instead.

Reference: CLAUDE.md "Equipment & Armory" table + tools/README.md (Content Generation / Rebalancing sections).

Step 0 — Find the canonical folder (MANDATORY, the recurring bug)

Before authoring ANY item, grep all LOTRLOME_items/*/ subfolders for the item-id prefix:

grep -rl 'sk_<prefix>_' "<armory>/ModuleData/LOTRLOME_items/"

The first folder that already contains that prefix is the canonical home. Authoring into a different folder creates runtime duplicate-ID warnings (the engine silently shadows one). Even when the spec is named for culture X, the home may be a sub-culture — e.g. sk_dwarf_iron_* lives in iron_hills/, NOT erebor/ (caught in #211). CLAUDE.md has the full per-prefix → folder table. Memory: feedback_multi_folder_id_uniqueness.md.

Step 1 — Author the armor items

• Use/clone the matching generator: tools/generate_<culture>_armor.py (--dry-run then --apply; --armory-path to target the Steam install).
• Cover attributes — leg items need covers_legs="true", gloves covers_hands="true", or the engine equips but doesn't render the mesh (bare legs/hands). Memory: feedback_lotrlome_armor_cover_attributes.md.
• <Flags UseTeamColor="true" /> for banner tint.
• Standalone <EquipmentRosters> civ rosters need equipmentType="Civilian" (battle is the implicit default) — memory feedback_equipmenttype_civilian_required.md.

Step 2 — Swap troop rosters

• tools/apply_<culture>_troop_revamp.py --dry-run / --apply — mechanical EquipmentRoster swap (+ any new troops / deletes).
• If troops were added/deleted, also run the sweep + party-template scripts (tools/cleanup_deleted_troops_*.py, tools/expand_party_templates_*.py).

Step 3 — Validate (underwear-bug gate)

python tools/validate_all_troop_refs.py

Cross-checks every sk_*/ar_*/clo_urukscout_*/urukscout_* ref across all 7 culture troop XMLs against the Armory. Missing refs → characters spawn in underwear. Prefer this over the Gondor-only validate_gondor_refs.py.

Step 4 — Ship

/ship if any C# changed; otherwise /verify + CHANGELOG + issue.

Gotchas

• Verify troop IDs against canonical troop XML — sibling-naming symmetry is a false signal (memory feedback_verify_troop_ids_against_canonical_xml.md).
• Armory dependency is LOTRLOME_Armory (NOT Armory_2 — being deleted).