base exe patch moves the per-chapter coin and flag arrays into free .data space (128 entries), so every testlevel chapter is safe (revision 2, caches rebuilt once); new projects start on a free chapter from 32, manual shows number ranges, texture swatch caches follow texture edits, stray levelbau.md.orig removed

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/editor/io/Templates.java

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.Light;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.NodeKind;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.PathNode;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.Scene;
+import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.save.TestLevelChapters;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ public final class Templates {
         LevelSettings st = s.settings();
         st.setRaw("kind", LevelSettings.NEW);
         st.setRaw("name", "New level");
-        st.setRaw("targetChapter", 1);
+        st.setRaw("targetChapter", TestLevelChapters.FIRST);
         st.setRaw("poolReserve", NEW_LEVEL_RESERVE);
         int[] table = s.regions().table().clone();
         table[0] = 0xffffffff;

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/editor/tools/geometry/GeoWidgets.java

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.tools.geometry;
 
+import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.NodeKind;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.Scene;
+import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.SceneEvent;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.TextureEntry;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.model.TexturePage;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.render.Legend;
@@ -21,10 +23,12 @@ import java.awt.Image;
 import java.awt.RenderingHints;
 import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.WeakHashMap;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
 import java.util.function.IntConsumer;
@@ -148,16 +152,32 @@ final class GeoWidgets {
 
     private static final Map<Scene, Map<String, Integer>> NAMES = new WeakHashMap<>();
 
+    /** Scenes whose texture/page edits clear their cache entries (listener added on first use). */
+    private static final Set<Scene> WATCHED = Collections.newSetFromMap(new WeakHashMap<>());
+
     static void clearCache(Scene s) {
         CACHE.remove(s);
         NAMES.remove(s);
     }
 
+    private static void watch(Scene s) {
+        if (WATCHED.add(s)) {
+            s.addListener(e -> {
+                if (e.type() == SceneEvent.Type.RELOADED
+                        || e.node().kind() == NodeKind.TEXTURE
+                        || e.node().kind() == NodeKind.TEXTURE_PAGE) {
+                    clearCache(s);
+                }
+            });
+        }
+    }
+
     /** Village texture names the scene's textures show (name → index), see {@link BaseTextures}. */
     static Map<String, Integer> names(Scene s) {
         if (s == null) {
             return LevelBuilder.TEX;
         }
+        watch(s);
         return NAMES.computeIfAbsent(s, k -> {
             List<TextChunk.TextureEntry> e = new ArrayList<>();
             for (TextureEntry t : k.textures()) {
@@ -203,6 +223,7 @@ final class GeoWidgets {
         if (s == null || tex == null || tex.isEmpty()) {
             return null;
         }
+        watch(s);
         Map<String, BufferedImage> m = CACHE.computeIfAbsent(s, k -> new LinkedHashMap<>());
         if (m.containsKey(tex)) {
             return m.get(tex);

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/editor/tools/help/ManualContent.java

@@ -337,21 +337,36 @@ public final class ManualContent {
         return switch (o.type()) {
             case BOOL -> "on / off";
             case INT -> o.min() + " – " + o.max();
-            case CHOICE -> {
-                List<String> c = new ArrayList<>();
-                o.choices().forEach(ch -> c.add(ch.label()));
-                yield String.join(", ", c);
-            }
-            case MULTI -> {
-                List<String> c = new ArrayList<>();
-                o.choices().forEach(ch -> c.add(ch.label()));
-                yield "any of " + String.join(", ", c);
-            }
+            case CHOICE -> choiceList(o);
+            case MULTI -> "any of " + choiceList(o);
             case SEED -> "any text";
             case STRING -> "text";
         };
     }
 
+    /** Choice labels, comma-separated; runs of three or more consecutive numbers as "a – b". */
+    static String choiceList(ModOption o) {
+        List<String> labels = o.choices().stream().map(ModOption.Choice::label).toList();
+        List<String> out = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (int i = 0; i < labels.size(); ) {
+            int j = i;
+            while (j + 1 < labels.size() && consecutive(labels.get(j), labels.get(j + 1))) {
+                j++;
+            }
+            if (j - i >= 2) {
+                out.add(labels.get(i) + " – " + labels.get(j));
+            } else {
+                out.addAll(labels.subList(i, j + 1));
+            }
+            i = j + 1;
+        }
+        return String.join(", ", out);
+    }
+
+    private static boolean consecutive(String a, String b) {
+        return a.matches("-?\\d{1,9}") && b.matches("-?\\d{1,9}") && Integer.parseInt(b) == Integer.parseInt(a) + 1;
+    }
+
     private static String defaultText(ModOption o) {
         return switch (o.type()) {
             case BOOL -> "true".equals(o.defaultValue()) ? "on" : "off";

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/editor/ui/NewLevelDialog.java

@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 package com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.ui;
 
-import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.io.ProjectIO;
-import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.io.ProjectInfo;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.editor.io.Templates;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.mods.levels.LevelProjects;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.save.TestLevelChapters;
@@ -13,11 +11,8 @@ import java.awt.Font;
 import java.awt.GridBagConstraints;
 import java.awt.GridBagLayout;
 import java.awt.Insets;
-import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Set;
 import javax.swing.BorderFactory;
 import javax.swing.BoxLayout;
 import javax.swing.ButtonGroup;
@@ -53,7 +48,7 @@ final class NewLevelDialog extends JDialog {
             }
         }
         JSpinner chapter = new JSpinner(new SpinnerListModel(TestLevelChapters.all()));
-        chapter.setValue(nextFreeChapter(w));
+        chapter.setValue(LevelProjects.nextFreeChapter(w.env().levelsDir()));
         PicturePanel pic = new PicturePanel(300, 170);
         Runnable updatePic = () -> {
             OriginalLevels.Level l = (OriginalLevels.Level) base.getSelectedItem();
@@ -164,22 +159,6 @@ final class NewLevelDialog extends JDialog {
         return row + 1;
     }
 
-    /** First usable TestLevel chapter from 32 that no project in the levels folder uses. */
-    static int nextFreeChapter(EditorWindow w) {
-        Set<Integer> used = new HashSet<>();
-        for (Path p : LevelProjects.list(w.env().levelsDir())) {
-            try {
-                ProjectInfo i = ProjectIO.info(Files.readAllBytes(p));
-                if (i.isNewLevel()) {
-                    used.add(i.targetChapter());
-                }
-            } catch (Exception e) {
-                // skip broken files
-            }
-        }
-        return TestLevelChapters.pick(TestLevelChapters.FIRST, used);
-    }
-
     Result result() {
         return result;
     }

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/mods/ModManager.java

@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ public final class ModManager {
         }
     }
 
-    /** original/hd/groove.exe with the HKCU patch, or null if there is no original exe (tests). */
+    /** original/hd/groove.exe with the base patch ({@link ExePatcher#changes}), or null if there is no original exe (tests). */
     private ExeImage baseExe(ApplyLog log) throws IOException {
         Path orig = Files.isDirectory(paths.originalHd()) ? Integrity.find(paths.originalHd(), "groove.exe") : null;
         if (orig == null || !Files.isRegularFile(orig)) {
@@ -563,8 +563,8 @@ public final class ModManager {
         byte[] b = Files.readAllBytes(orig);
         ExeImage img = ExeImage.parse(b);
         img.setOwner(BASE_EXE_OWNER);
-        for (int off : ExePatcher.patchHkcu(b).patchedOffsets()) {
-            img.patch(img.va(off), new byte[] {2}, new byte[] {1}, "registry HKLM -> HKCU");
+        for (ExePatcher.Change c : ExePatcher.changes(b)) {
+            img.patch(img.va(c.offset()), c.original(), c.replacement(), c.label());
         }
         logExe(log, img, BASE_EXE_OWNER);
         return img;

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/mods/levels/EditorCli.java

@@ -83,6 +83,10 @@ public final class EditorCli {
                 need(rest, 1, "--editor-new <project.llamalevel> [base level]");
                 String base = rest.size() > 1 ? rest.get(1) : Templates.DEFAULT_BASE;
                 Project p = Project.create(cd, "new", base);
+                p.scene()
+                        .settings()
+                        .prop("targetChapter")
+                        .setRaw(p.scene().settings(), LevelProjects.nextFreeChapter(LevelProjects.dir(paths)));
                 if (name != null) {
                     p.scene().settings().prop("name").setRaw(p.scene().settings(), name);
                 }

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/mods/levels/LevelProjects.java

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.mods.Mod;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.mods.ModRegistry;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.platform.AppPaths;
 import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.platform.Config;
+import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.save.TestLevelChapters;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
@@ -13,8 +14,10 @@ import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption;
 import java.time.LocalDateTime;
 import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 /**
@@ -138,6 +141,25 @@ public final class LevelProjects {
         return new Removed(out, cfg.activeMods.contains(mod.id()));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * First usable TestLevel chapter from 32 that no new-level project in {@code dir} uses (chapter 1
+     * belongs to the Test World mod).
+     */
+    public static int nextFreeChapter(Path dir) {
+        Set<Integer> used = new HashSet<>();
+        for (Path p : list(dir)) {
+            try {
+                ProjectInfo i = ProjectIO.info(Files.readAllBytes(p));
+                if (i.isNewLevel()) {
+                    used.add(i.targetChapter());
+                }
+            } catch (IOException | RuntimeException e) {
+                // skip broken files
+            }
+        }
+        return TestLevelChapters.pick(TestLevelChapters.FIRST, used);
+    }
+
     /** Project files in the folder, sorted by name. */
     public static List<Path> list(Path dir) {
         List<Path> out = new ArrayList<>();

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/platform/ExePatcher.java

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package com.eliasmueller.llamamod.platform;
 
+import com.eliasmueller.llamamod.exe.ExeImage;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
@@ -16,17 +17,107 @@ import java.util.List;
  * (HKLM to HKCU) in those five instructions. Located by pattern rather than fixed offsets so other
  * language versions work too; German CD: file offsets 0x579b, 0x57d0, 0x5810, 0x5859, 0x5880
  * (the byte after 68).
+ *
+ * <p>Second part ({@link #relocateLevelRecords}): the per-chapter coin counters (u32 0x584F1C) and
+ * flags (u8 0x584EC8), indexed world·6 + chapter, only have rows for worlds 0–8; TestLevel (world 9,
+ * chapters up to 49) wrote over progress, language and options. Every reference is moved to a
+ * 128-entry copy in the unused tail of .data's last page (notes/testlevel-chapters.md).
  */
 public final class ExePatcher {
     private ExePatcher() {}
 
     /** Revision of the base patch; part of the mod cache key, bump when the patch changes. */
-    public static final int REVISION = 1;
+    public static final int REVISION = 2;
 
     public static final String SUBKEY = "Software\\Disney Interactive\\Emperors New Groove\\1.0";
 
     public record Result(byte[] data, List<Integer> patchedOffsets, int alreadyPatched) {}
 
+    /** One changed byte run of the base patch (file offset). */
+    public record Change(int offset, byte[] original, byte[] replacement, String label) {}
+
+    static final long COINS = 0x584F1C;
+    static final long FLAGS = 0x584EC8;
+    static final int ROWS = 54; // worlds 0-8 x 6
+    static final int SLOTS = 128; // world 9 chapter 49 = index 103
+
+    /** The complete base patch: HKCU registry plus the level record relocation. */
+    public static byte[] patch(byte[] exe) throws IOException {
+        byte[] out = patchHkcu(exe).data();
+        for (Change c : relocateLevelRecords(out)) {
+            System.arraycopy(c.replacement(), 0, out, c.offset(), c.replacement().length);
+        }
+        return out;
+    }
+
+    /** All byte changes of {@link #patch} relative to {@code exe}, in file order. */
+    public static List<Change> changes(byte[] exe) throws IOException {
+        List<Change> l = new ArrayList<>();
+        for (int off : patchHkcu(exe).patchedOffsets()) {
+            l.add(new Change(off, new byte[] {2}, new byte[] {1}, "registry HKLM -> HKCU"));
+        }
+        l.addAll(relocateLevelRecords(exe));
+        return l;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Moves the coin and flag arrays to a buffer in the slack after .data's VirtualSize (zeroed and
+     * mapped read/write by the loader as part of the section's last page). Every absolute address of
+     * both arrays in .text is rewritten: bases 0x584F1C / 0x584EC8, the world-1 flag base 0x584ECE
+     * (selection map, gold count), the flag loop end 0x584EFE and the coin loop end 0x584FF4 (KSV
+     * load/save; matched as {@code cmp eax, imm32; jl}, the address is also a separate counter).
+     * Returns nothing if the exe is already relocated or the references differ from the known build.
+     */
+    public static List<Change> relocateLevelRecords(byte[] exe) throws IOException {
+        ExeImage img = ExeImage.parse(exe);
+        ExeImage.Section data;
+        try {
+            data = img.section(".data");
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+            return List.of();
+        }
+        long end = data.va() + data.virtualSize();
+        long coins = (end + 15) & ~15L;
+        long flags = coins + 4L * SLOTS;
+        if (data.virtualSize() == 0 || flags + SLOTS > ((end + 0xfff) & ~0xfffL)) {
+            return List.of();
+        }
+        List<Change> l = new ArrayList<>();
+        boolean ok = retarget(img, l, "%s", COINS, coins, 11, "coins")
+                && retarget(img, l, "%s", FLAGS, flags, 9, "flags")
+                && retarget(img, l, "%s", FLAGS + 6, flags + 6, 5, "flags from world 1")
+                && retarget(img, l, "%s", FLAGS + ROWS, flags + ROWS, 3, "flags end")
+                && retarget(img, l, "3D %s 7C", COINS + 4 * ROWS, coins + 4 * ROWS, 2, "coins end");
+        if (!ok) {
+            return List.of();
+        }
+        l.sort((x, y) -> Integer.compare(x.offset(), y.offset()));
+        return l;
+    }
+
+    /** {@code pattern}: hex with {@code %s} = the address operand; all hits must be {@code expected}. */
+    private static boolean retarget(
+            ExeImage img, List<Change> out, String pattern, long from, long to, int expected, String label) {
+        List<Long> hits = img.find(".text", pattern.formatted(hex32(from)));
+        if (hits.size() != expected) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        int skip = pattern.indexOf("%s") / 3;
+        for (long va : hits) {
+            out.add(new Change(img.fileOffset(va + skip), le32(from), le32(to), "level records: " + label));
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    private static String hex32(long v) {
+        byte[] b = le32(v);
+        return String.format("%02X %02X %02X %02X", b[0], b[1], b[2], b[3]);
+    }
+
+    private static byte[] le32(long v) {
+        return new byte[] {(byte) v, (byte) (v >> 8), (byte) (v >> 16), (byte) (v >> 24)};
+    }
+
     public static Result patchHkcu(byte[] exe) throws IOException {
         byte[] out = exe.clone();
         long va = stringVa(exe, SUBKEY);

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/platform/Installer.java

@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ public final class Installer {
                 }
             } else if (name.equals("groove.exe")) {
                 byte[] orig = Files.readAllBytes(f);
-                FileOps.writeAtomic(t, ExePatcher.patchHkcu(orig).data());
+                FileOps.writeAtomic(t, ExePatcher.patch(orig));
                 cfg.exeSha256 = FileOps.sha256(orig);
             } else {
                 Files.createDirectories(t.getParent());

src/main/java/com/eliasmueller/llamamod/save/TestLevelChapters.java

@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ import java.util.List;
  *   30..49 coin slots of world 0 (never read).
  * </pre>
  *
- * Safe: chapter 1 (Test World) and 32–49.
+ * Safe: chapter 1 (Test World) and 32–49. Since base patch revision 2 ({@code
+ * ExePatcher.relocateLevelRecords}) LlamaMod's groove.exe keeps both arrays in a buffer big enough
+ * for world 9, so the other chapters (map, Boot to level) are harmless too; mod levels still stay on
+ * these chapters.
  */
 public final class TestLevelChapters {
     private TestLevelChapters() {}