This document outlines the specific workarounds and "hacky" solutions implemented in unren-go to support complex features like cross-platform macOS detection and robust automation piping.
Using macOS Game Files on Linux/Windows
Ren'Py games on macOS are packaged as .app bundles, which are directories. The actual game assets (RPYC/RPA) live deep inside at Contents/Resources/autorun/.
To make this transparent to the user (so they can just point at Game.app), we implemented a path redirection hack in detector/detector.go.
Location: detector/detector.go -> DetectGame
The Hack:
// Check for macOS App Bundle structure
if strings.HasSuffix(absDir, ".app") || strings.Contains(absDir, ".app/") {
// ...
macAutorun := filepath.Join(absDir, "Contents", "Resources", "autorun")
if utils.DirExists(macAutorun) {
// Switch context to the autorun folder which acts as the game root
absDir = macAutorun
}
}We aggressively rewrite the absDir variable if we suspect a macOS bundle. This allows the rest of the detection logic (checking for game/) to work unchanged.
Finding Mac Binaries on Linux
Normally, runner.go should verify the OS (runtime.GOOS) before deciding where to look for the Python interpreter. However, to support analyzing macOS games on Linux (detecting version, etc.), we removed the OS guard.
Location: runner/runner.go -> findPython
The Hack:
// Check for macOS App Bundle structure (Check unconditionally to support cross-OS inspection)
macExePath := filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(filepath.Dir(libDir)), "MacOS", "python")
if _, err := os.Stat(macExePath); err == nil {
return macExePath, libDir, true, nil
}We check for the Mac binary unconditionally. While we can't execute this binary on Linux/Windows, detecting it allows the GameInfo struct to be populated correctly, letting the tool report the Ren'Py version and file counts even if it can't run the decompression.
The -e -d Pipeline Fix
When running unren-go -e -d, the tool extracts RPAs and then immediately tries to decompile RPYCs. The problem is that the game struct is populated before extraction, so the decompiler doesn't know about the files that were just created.
Location: main.go -> handleExtractRPA
The Hack:
// Refresh RPYC file list in case new files were extracted
// This ensures that if decompilation runs after this, it sees the new files
if found, err := utils.FindFilesWithExtension(game.GameDir, ".rpyc"); err == nil {
game.RPYCFiles = found
}We actively mutate the game.RPYCFiles slice inside the extraction polling function. This couples the detection state with the extraction action, but it's the most efficient way to ensure the pipeline proceeds without a full re-detection loop.
Fixing rpatool.py Exit Codes
The original rpatool library returns exit code 0 (Success) even if it encounters errors during batch extraction. This made implementing the --clean flag dangerous, as we rely on exit codes to know if it's safe to delete source files.
Location: files/python/rpatool.py (and rpatool_py2.py)
The Hack:
We injected error tracking logic into the upstream script:
errors = 0
# ... inside loops ...
except Exception as e:
errors += 1
# ... at end of file ...
if errors > 0:
sys.exit(1)Instead of wrapping the python execution in complex stderr parsing (which is brittle), we patched the "vendor" code directly to behave like a standard CLI tool. This ensures unren-go receives a clear signal (exit status 1) if anything goes wrong, protecting user data.
Handling Linux/Windows terminal artifacts
When dragging and dropping a folder into a terminal, many shells wrap the path in single (') or double (") quotes. If passed directly to os.Stat, these quotes cause the path to be "not found".
Location: main.go -> main
The Hack:
gameDir = strings.Trim(flag.Arg(0), "\"'")Origin: Inspired by UnRen.command v0.8.2 (Bash version), which used a similar ${temp#\'} pattern to handle this for macOS/Linux users. We adopted and modernized this for unren-go to ensure a smooth "drag and drop" experience across all platforms.
We also applied this to the Recovery Menu, allowing it to accept arbitrary directory paths instead of just menu selections. This allows a user to "drag and drop" a folder directly into the script after it fails its initial detection.