Golden Era v0.1.299

This release is built from the tested May 24 Golden Era install and packages a refreshed single-file installer EXE plus checksum.

Installer and Packaging

Added Update mode for existing Golden Era installs. Update does not recopy the Steam folder; it restores the clean Core.zip baseline saved inside the Golden Era target folder, applies the new bundled overlay, refreshes the plugin/BepInEx/Doorstop payload, and records the new package state.
Kept the vanilla-safe install model: Steam's Olden Era folder is still only a clean source for Install/Repair, while Golden Era launches from its own copied game folder.
Refreshed the release payload from the live Golden Era install. The new payload exports 7,430 Core overlay operations and includes Castle, Rampart, Tower, Inferno, Necropolis, Dungeon, Stronghold, Fortress, Conflux, and Cove content.
Added curated release notes to the GitHub Actions release flow so user-facing release history includes the mod and installer changes, not only commit titles.

Reworked Inferno Gating into a safer hero-action shape, away from the older avatar/egg summon path, with spell-power scaling and restored cooldown handling.
Improved retaliation and damage-preview behavior, including safer damage histogram mappings, clearer forecast output, and creature ability retaliation forecasts.
Fixed several custom portrait/UI paths: Quick Play faction labels, battle and autobattle unit portrait selection, tooltip portrait masking, and placeholder cleanup in pooled UI rows.
Refreshed recent faction presentation/runtime work from the local tested install, including Tower, Cove, Inferno, and general custom-faction asset/runtime fixes that landed over the last couple of days.
Preserved recent Steam-build stabilization work around release-safe runtime hooks, custom biome registration, town UI visibility, and map/town presentation reload behavior.

Added modding_guide/mod_helper.md, a practical Olden Era modding architecture and failure guide.
Added modding_guide/GameSymbols.cs, the current central symbol-registry snapshot used by the Golden Era plugin.

Existing side-by-side installs should try Update first.
If Update reports that the clean baseline is missing or mismatched, use Repair with a clean Steam source folder.
This is still an experimental release. Some factions are more complete than others, and balance feedback is still needed.

Full Changelog: v0.1.298...v0.1.299