From e6a44b70e08c379fc6dc059ae7cfeca799fb7c58 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alibek Omarov <a1ba.omarov@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 2026 01:15:16 +0500
Subject: [PATCH] engine: client: always load client.dll last to crash on
 nullptr in mods that fetch cvar pointers early, add comment for anyone who
 would modify this file

---
 engine/client/cl_main.c         |  7 ++++---
 engine/client/dll_int/cl_game.c |  1 +
 engine/client/sound.h           |  1 +
 engine/client/sound/s_main.c    | 19 ++++++++++---------
 4 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/engine/client/cl_main.c b/engine/client/cl_main.c
index 539eb626..c15c0f7c 100644
--- a/engine/client/cl_main.c
+++ b/engine/client/cl_main.c
@@ -3723,15 +3723,16 @@ void CL_Init( void )
 
 	COM_GetCommonLibraryPath( LIBRARY_CLIENT, libpath, sizeof( libpath ));
 
-	if( !CL_LoadProgs( libpath ))
-		Host_Error( "can't initialize %s: %s\n", libpath, COM_GetLibraryError( ));
-
 	S_Init();	// init sound
 	Voice_Init( VOICE_DEFAULT_CODEC, 3, true ); // init voice (do not open the device)
 
 	ID_Init();
 	SteamBroker_Init();
 
+	// client must be always initialized last so it can fetch all cvars
+	if( !CL_LoadProgs( libpath ))
+		Host_Error( "can't initialize %s: %s\n", libpath, COM_GetLibraryError( ));
+
 	cls.build_num = 0;
 	cls.initialized = true;
 	cl.maxclients = 1; // allow to drawing player in menu
diff --git a/engine/client/dll_int/cl_game.c b/engine/client/dll_int/cl_game.c
index a5ae74a5..109e9c85 100644
--- a/engine/client/dll_int/cl_game.c
+++ b/engine/client/dll_int/cl_game.c
@@ -4132,6 +4132,7 @@ qboolean CL_LoadProgs( const char *name )
 	clgame.dllFuncs.pfnInit();
 
 	CL_InitStudioAPI();
+	S_InitSoundAPI();
 
 	return true;
 }
diff --git a/engine/client/sound.h b/engine/client/sound.h
index 94a44094..601a8d93 100644
--- a/engine/client/sound.h
+++ b/engine/client/sound.h
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ void SX_RoomFX( portable_samplepair_t *paint, int num_samples );
 void SX_ClearState( void );
 
 qboolean S_Init( void );
+qboolean S_InitSoundAPI( void );
 void S_Shutdown( void );
 void S_SoundList_f( void );
 void S_SoundInfo_f( void );
diff --git a/engine/client/sound/s_main.c b/engine/client/sound/s_main.c
index 1160606c..fa9de497 100644
--- a/engine/client/sound/s_main.c
+++ b/engine/client/sound/s_main.c
@@ -1948,7 +1948,7 @@ static const sound_api_t gSoundAPI = {
 S_InitSoundAPI
 ================
 */
-static qboolean S_InitSoundAPI( void )
+qboolean S_InitSoundAPI( void )
 {
 	// make sure what sound functions is cleared
 	memset( &clgame.soundFuncs, 0, sizeof( clgame.soundFuncs ));
@@ -1967,6 +1967,9 @@ static qboolean S_InitSoundAPI( void )
 		memset( &clgame.soundFuncs, 0, sizeof( clgame.soundFuncs ));
 	}
 
+	if( clgame.soundFuncs.pfnS_Init )
+		clgame.soundFuncs.pfnS_Init( &snd );
+
 	return false;
 }
 
@@ -2030,17 +2033,15 @@ qboolean S_Init( void )
 	S_InitSounds ();
 	VOX_Init ();
 
-	S_InitSoundAPI();
-
-	if( clgame.soundFuncs.pfnS_Init )
-		clgame.soundFuncs.pfnS_Init( &snd );
-
 	return true;
 }
 
-// =======================================================================
-// Shutdown sound engine
-// =======================================================================
+/*
+============
+S_Shutdown
+
+============
+*/
 void S_Shutdown( void )
 {
 	if( !snd.initialized ) return;