game-research-websearch

1# Game research: web search that survives dead forums
2 
3Modding knowledge lives on forums that died in 2020, in Discord channels nobody can fetch
4anonymously, and on pages that move. This skill makes searching for it systematic: archive first,
5live sources second, screenshots as evidence, and an explicit handoff when a page needs the
6human's login.
7 
8Search engines are the index, not the source — every conclusion gets a real URL behind it.
9 
10## Never fetched
11 
12- Leaked code, SDKs or builds; pirated games, ROMs or ISOs; keygens or license keys; cracked exes;
13  DRM or anti-cheat bypass tools. Don't fetch, link or paste them. What others learned from a leak
14  can go in the journal in your own words, with where it came from (CONTRIBUTING.md).
15- Forum attachments, archived downloads and file-host mirrors. Read the posts; install tools only from
16  their official repo or releases, with the human's OK (`skills/mod-any-game/references/safety.md`).
17 
18## Core loop
19 
200. `um kb search "<game>"` — check the knowledge base and field notes first, as AGENTS.md says.
211. Form 3-5 query variants (see *Query formulation*).
222. Search live sources (GitHub, Nexus APIs, Reddit, YouTube).
233. Whatever is dead, deleted or 404 → archive lookup (see *Internet Archive suite*).
244. Login-gated → semi-auto handoff (see *Login-gated sources*). Never handle credentials.
255. Capture evidence: source URLs in the working journal, screenshots for visual claims.
26…