Results
The robust retail init path is an internal queue within idCommonLocal::Init(), not the user file Wolfenstein II The New ColossusConfig.cfg. From the EXE string pool, the following order and origin are derived:
Executing build.cfg...→base/build.cfg(plaintext).resourceExec default.cfg -s→default.cfgfrom the Resource-File (the loose file inbase/is not proof of the used copy).resourceExec default_sp.cfg -sordefault_mp.cfg→ Resource-File.exec initial_video_%s.cfg -s→ loose file inbase/.exec "%s/binary.cfg" -s→binary.cfgin the game folder.resourceExec package.cfg -s→ Resource-File.
Evidence: docs/ladepfade.md:240-269; EXE NewColossus_x64vk.exe, string neighborhood at file offsets 0x26c1648 (Config name), 0x26c17d0 (resourceExec, Executing default.cfg...), 0x26e31b0 (exec disclayout.cfg -s, exec candidate.cfg -s, exec "%s/binary.cfg" -s, resourceExec package.cfg -s). The EXE string USAGE: resourceExec <filename> -s [define]: execute a script file is located at 0x26c5267.
autoexec.cfg is not a found queue candidate: a byte search in the retail EXE for autoexec yields 0 hits; the documentation also records this (docs/devmodus.md:430-436). startup appears only as a description of startup Cvars, not as a filename/queue command.
Why +map, +exec, +loadGame were not visible in direct launch
The existing runtime logs show the arguments in the logged command line but do not show an apparent connection as a LoadMap/Save-Load route:
%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\MachineGames\Wolfenstein II The New Colossus\base\qconsole.log:9182-9183contains... +map game/wolf/c02/c02p0.- The same log:
:9384-9385contains... +exec probe_map.cfg;:9790-9791contains... +exec load_save.cfg. - The isolated samples confirm the used file contents:
re_probes/tnc_dlc_test/runtime_primary_c02/probe_map.cfg:1=map game/wolf/c02/c02p0;load_save.cfg:1=loadGame savegame.user/<SteamID>/SLOT2/GAME-AUTOSAVE0. - In all three relevant excerpts, following
idCommonLocal::Init()comes the renderer/input initialization, followed only by the quadrupleExecuting default.cfg ... Finished executing default.cfg; in the probe logs (qconsole.primary_v2.log:5-84,qconsole.loadsave.log:5-84) there is noMap loaded, noMap change, and no Savegame-load evidence. re_probes/tnc_dlc_test/runtime_primary_c02/RESULT.md:17-18documents this negative finding explicitly: direct retail launch ignores+map,+exec,+loadGamebefore the menu; no newLoadMapproof.
The static explanation is therefore: Retail takes the arguments initially into the start line (they appear in the log), but executes the visible user/map route only via the subsequent engine/menu initialization. +exec is therefore not equivalent to "execute any file before the menu"; the provenly executed configs are the internal init queue above. +loadGame strings in the EXE are predominantly UI dialog actions, e.g., exec default.cfg followed by loadGame %s dev slowcombo ... at 0x2608895; this proves text occurrence but not a freely registered retail launch option.
Actual Registration vs. Mere String Occurrence
build.cfgexists and is executed according to the Queue string. Its content consists solely of:+sys_ratingversion 0,+sys_languages "...",+image_useLooseStreaming 1,+image_materialEncoding 1(\steamapps\common\Wolfenstein.II.The.New.Colossus\base\build.cfg, 192 Bytes). It contains neither exec,map, norloadGame.- Loose
base/default.cfgcontains only Bindings/Print; relevant lines arebind F5 "savegame quicksave",bind F9 "loadgame quicksave", and the End Print (File lines 78-83). The user config contains the same Bindings (Wolfenstein II The New ColossusConfig.cfg, lines 56 respectively Bindset block), but no Startup Queue. default.cfg,resourceExec,loadGame, andexecare visible in the EXE as strings or configuration expressions. This alone does not prove registration as publicly accepted Retail start commands. As a negative control,qconsole.logexplicitly shows real unregistered/incompatible commands asUnknown command 'build_packageParent'and'build_packageBranch'(e.g.,:9263-9264), while no positive execution marker appears for the three start arguments.com_*arguments are a different channel: the log documents, for example,+com_skipIntroVideo,+com_allowConsole,+com_enableDeveloperMode, followed byResetting cheat cvar: ...or, in device configs,Unknown command 'com_skipIntroVideo'(qconsole.before.log:8608-8610). Therefore, an existingcom_*string cannot be treated as evidence for+map/+exec/+loadGameexecution.
More precise next single test
Only if a run is permitted: a single harmless binary.cfg probe in the game folder (secure beforehand), e.g., a uniquely visible, non-game-changing Print line, then Retail start without +map/+exec/+loadGame and evaluation of qconsole.log for Executing binary.cfg/the Print line. This tests exactly the Queue candidate statically proven after build.cfg/default*.cfg. Negative criterion: file exists, but neither Executing binary.cfg nor Print → binary.cfg is not visibly executed in this Retail configuration. No statement can be derived from a mere EXE string search regarding actual registration.