The calls that set the taste

Other communities build on the framework; our 1989 Everon server proves it. Core systems are era-agnostic; 1989 Everon is a content pack. Code: no era strings, prices, or prefabs hard-coded in systems; they come from config or content.

We grow through adoption and reputation, never monetization. Amended 2026-11-08: the Workshop build is APL, and the flagship may take cosmetic donations (entries below).

Conventions assume the contributor is an agent; humans can read and reason about everything. Agents improve the tooling (MCP, harness, filming, validators) as they work.

Permissive work (MIT, BSD, Apache, CC0, CC-BY, OFL for fonts) may be copied and modified. We keep its notices and credit it in the README and in THIRD_PARTY.md or assets-source/LICENSES.md. Share-alike work (APL-SA, CC-BY-SA, GPL) and Workshop mods with no licence are never copied into our MIT code. We use them as a Workshop dependency, take them as inspiration for a clean reimplementation, or ask the author. Base-game content is referenced and inherited freely. Why: other people have solved problems we would otherwise solve again, and the project stays MIT. What it means for code: every copied file or asset arrives with its notice and a credit line in the same PR. docs/ecosystem.md lists the candidates and their licences.

A dependency must be maintained, widely used, on terms that allow depending on it, and carry something we cannot reasonably build (for example thebonbon's animations, under evaluation in docs/ecosystem.md). The framework core works without it where practical; the flagship content pack may depend on it. Each dependency is its own entry in this file. Why: polish we cannot build alone (see "Animation and sound are part of done") is worth a small dependency cost. What it means for code: core systems check for the dependency and degrade instead of failing, and the addon's dependency list changes only with a decision entry.

The build we publish on the Workshop is licensed under the Arma Public License (APL). The source on GitHub stays MIT. Why: section 3 of Bohemia's Workshop Terms of Use requires uploaded content to carry an APL-family licence (or a custom non-commercial one), and MIT is not on that list. What it means for code: nothing in the source changes. The README's License section says which licence covers which copy, the Workshop description names APL, and the M1 playtest release (M1-24, #109) publishes under APL. A server owner who wants MIT terms builds from GitHub.

The framework is never monetised. The 1989 Everon flagship may take donations for cosmetics only, within Bohemia's server monetisation policy. It never sells money, gear, vehicles, property, queue priority, or a faster whitelist. Amends "Pure open source (MIT)" (2026-11-07) for the flagship server only. Why: paid advantages broke trust on Altis Life and GTA RP servers, and Bohemia forbids them; cosmetics can pay for hosting at M4 without touching play. What it means for code: no donor flag ever reaches a gameplay system. Cosmetic unlocks, if built, are flagship content, and nothing before M4 needs them.

Anyone may give money to the project. It pays the Claude subscription the AI-first development runs on, the website and domain, and later a game server, and the costs are listed in public on the site's support page (website/content/costs.json). A donation buys nothing in the framework or in any game: no money, gear, vehicles, property, queue priority, or role. The mod, its Workshop page, and its UI carry no donation prompt. Why: the bills are real and small, and paying them in the open keeps the project honest; Bohemia's Workshop terms forbid monetising the mod itself, so the money is tied to the project's costs, not to the content. What it means for code: nothing in the mod reads donor status. The support page, .github/FUNDING.yml, and the README section stay off until a way to give exists (docs/community/support.md).

The owner of Overthrow (ArmaOverthrow/Overthrow.Arma4) gave us explicit permission to use its code and relicense it under our MIT licence (APL on the Workshop build, like the rest of ours). The maintainer holds the record of that permission. This overrides the repo's APL-SA licence for Life Framework only; anyone else still takes Overthrow under APL-SA. Why: Overthrow is a mature Reforger mod with persistence, economy, AI, and UI code that solves problems we would otherwise solve again. What it means for code: a copied or derived file keeps the header // Derived from Overthrow (https://github.com/ArmaOverthrow/Overthrow.Arma4), used with the author's permission, relicensed MIT. and its path is listed under Overthrow in THIRD_PARTY.md. The four files already ported from Overthrow (money format and delta, resource defs, shop rules) carry that header. New classes are LF_ (AGENTS.md rule 5). docs/ecosystem.md lists the systems worth pulling.

When a project's copyright holder publishes its code on GitHub under MIT, BSD, Apache-2.0, CC0, or CC-BY, that licence governs our use of the code in that repo, even if the same mod's Workshop page carries an APL-family licence. An author may license the same work differently in different places, and Bohemia requires an APL-family licence on every Workshop upload anyway. Two conditions: the repo is published by the copyright holder (an author or official account, not a third-party re-upload), and the grant covers only what is in the repo; an asset that exists only in the Workshop build stays under the Workshop licence. Why: the Workshop licence is often a requirement of the upload, not the author's choice for the source. What it means for code: read the LICENSE file on the commit we copy from (a badge or README line does not count), then follow the copy rules in docs/ecosystem.md section 5.

Systems live in the environment, not behind a UI. Things that matter are real items: cash, keys, ID and license cards, a fine ticket, a paycheck, goods on a shelf, a notice on a board. Feedback comes from the world first (an item changing hands, a sound, an animation, a door that opens) and a UI toast second. A UI is right only where the in-world version adds friction without adding play: reading a sign's detail, typing an amount, a confirmation. When a UI is used, make it feel like an object in the world (a paper form, a terminal screen, a card), not a game menu. The test for every design: "how would this exist in the world, and does doing it in the world make it more fun or just slower?" Every feature PR says how it applied this.

On death, carried cash and items stay on the body and can be looted. Bank balance, vehicles, and property are safe. Why: it makes robbery, the ATM, and police stakes real. Framework: configurable (drop all / cash only / nothing plus a hospital bill). Flagship: drop all carried.

The framework supports a range of progression styles (visible levels, hidden experience, none). Flagship: jobs use hidden experience (you get better and paid more without an XP bar); professions (police rank, licensed trades, medic) are exposed as titles and certifications. No arcade text ("LEVEL UP!", "+5 XP") on the flagship.

Civilians can buy legal firearms with a license at a gun shop; heavier and military weapons are illegal and come from the black market, armory robberies, or contraband. Framework: the legal/illegal split and license requirements are config.

Signs are 1989 boards, posters, and notices that belong in the scene. Each can be read for a short card: what this is, how to use it, what it needs, the rules. The card is the depth; the board is the world.

A 5-10 minute arrival chain (ID card, first job, first paycheck, bank it) built on the quest system, then the world opens. It proves the loop to every new player.

Life systems are the game; RP is welcome and emergent, not enforced. A few server rules (no random killing at spawn) are admin-enforced. Framework: tone is the server owner's call.

NPC buyers and shops adjust prices from recent volume (selling 500 apples lowers the apple price, which recovers over time). Why: stops grind exploits, creates trade routes. Framework: curves and recovery are config; a fixed-price mode is a curve of 0. Scheduled after M1 unless an exploit forces it earlier.

A vehicle persists across restarts only when parked in a garage or an owned spot. Anything left on the street at restart goes to the impound lot, collected for a fee. Why: mostly in-world, controls clutter and car-camping. Framework: impound fee and owned spots are config.

The timer paycheck ($700 every 300 s to every job, unemployed included) is gone. Civilians are paid cash at the drop for each completed run and by selling to traders. Police are paid duty pay in cash at the station desk when they go off duty (on-duty seconds times a rate). A player whose bank balance is below a threshold, who is not on duty as police and has no active delivery run, collects a cash benefit in person at the job counter, once per cooldown. Why: removes the invisible mint while keeping a safety net for broke players. Framework: duty rate, benefit threshold, amount, and cooldown are config (Configs/Jobs/LF_Jobs.conf). Flagship: $0.50 per duty second; $100 benefit below a $500 balance, once per 20 minutes. (Maintainer decision.)

A sign shows its title on the physical prop, not only in the Read: <title> prompt. The maintainer chose this over the plan default (prompt only, render-target text as a later spike). Why: a player reads the street from a distance and knows what a place is before walking up to it. What it means for code: LF_SignComponent draws the title into a paper sheet through an RTTextureWidget on LF_Sign_Board and LF_Sign_Notice (#119). LF_Sign_Pub and LF_Sign_Chalkboard ship with the face off until #116 places their sheets. The Read card stays the depth. A dedicated server draws nothing.

Everyone spawns as a civilian. A whitelisted player becomes police by clocking in at the station duty desk. The whitelist is checked there, and going on duty sets the police loadout. The maintainer chose this over the plan default (keep the screen for M1, move in M2). Why: police is a job you go to work at, so it belongs in the world, and nothing stands between joining and playing. What it means for code: M1-11 (#96) deletes the faction screen and its code path. The registration form (M1-08, #93) asks for name and age only. Spawn points and loadouts no longer depend on a faction pick. Framework: the whitelist source and the duty loadout are config.

The officer writes a ticket face to face and the suspect carries it. It is paid in cash at the police desk within N minutes. A ticket unpaid at the first deadline doubles once. Unpaid at the second deadline, the player gets +1 wanted. Fines never come out of the bank. The maintainer chose this over the plan default (pay on the spot or refuse and become arrestable). Why: money stays physical, and the ticket gives the player a reason to walk into the station. What it means for code: the ticket item records amount, issuing officer, and issue time. The server owns the deadlines and the wanted change (M1-19, #104). Framework: both deadlines and the multiplier are config. Flagship: double once, then +1 wanted.

Bank, hospital, and convoy jobs run even when no officer is on duty. With nobody on duty, the alarm at the site is louder and more noticeable in the world, so other players hear and see it. Supersedes "Major crimes need police online" (2026-11-07). The maintainer chose this over the plan default (bank and hospital need 1 or more on duty). Why: a town with few players still has its heists, and the world answers the crime when no officer can. What it means for code: the alarm (M1-20, #105) picks its level from the on-duty count when the crime starts. Framework: a configurable minimum per crime stays. Flagship: minimum 0 for every crime, with the louder alarm. AI police that respond when officers are offline stays on the roadmap, after M1.

After death, the player respawns in a hospital bed and pays a small hospital bill from the bank. A player who cannot pay goes into debt: the balance goes negative and later deposits clear it first. What it means for code: the server picks the bed and charges the bill; the client never sends an amount (M1-26, #121). The bill shows in the world first (a paper bill or a card on waking). Framework: the respawn point and the bill amount are config. Flagship: a hospital bed and a small bill.

Once someone has introduced themselves, their name shows only when you look at them from a few metres away. Names never float over a crowd. Introductions are remembered across sessions. What it means for code: the player interaction menu (M1-12, #98) persists who knows whom per account and shows the name on a short-range look check, not as a name tag. Strangers still show nothing.

Clocking in stores the player's civilian inventory and restores the police inventory they had when they last clocked out. The first clock-in gives a starter police kit. Clocking out swaps back. Why: duty gear cannot be smuggled into civilian life. This replaces the once-per-shift armory idea for M1. What it means for code: the duty desk (M1-11, #96) swaps the two inventories on the server, and both persist across a restart through the carried-inventory save (M1-04, #89). Framework: the starter police kit is config.

Walking up to another player offers a short, simple list of person-to-person actions: introduce yourself, show ID, give cash or an item, and role actions (search, cuff, fine) when the role allows. Names: strangers show nothing; after someone introduces themselves, their name shows for you. The ID card is a real item police can ask for. Keep it simple: one menu, few options, every option one press.

Period comms: handheld and vehicle radios on frequencies (reuse Reforger's radio system), payphones at fixed spots (anonymous tips, calling a service), and a pager item that receives short dispatch messages for jobs and police. No phone UI.

Selected real buildings are for sale (for-sale sign out front, real keys); owners place furniture and storage inside, and stored items exist physically in the building. Big system: after M1, built on the existing house lock and key code.

Committing a crime makes you wanted at once, with no officer needed. The police learn only a vague description: clothing, vehicle, and place. They learn the name when they identify the suspect, by an ID check or by catching them in the act. Why: police work becomes finding and identifying someone, and a criminal who changes clothes or cars has a real way out. What it means for code: crimes already raise wanted on the server (EL_RobAction, LF_Breach, LF_Hospital). Each crime report also records a description snapshot, and the account keeps an "identified" flag per wanted entry that an ID check or an arrest in the act sets. The wanted board (M1-11, #96) and dispatch (M1-20, #105) show the description until the suspect is identified.

A kill of a player or a civilian is murder, reported with the same vague description as other crimes. The spawn plaza is a safe zone where players cannot hurt each other. Admins handle repeat offenders; there is no automatic punishment. Why: killing has a cost in the world, and a new arrival is never shot before they can play. What it means for code: M1-27 (#125) adds the kill hook and the zone. Framework: the murder wanted amount, the on-duty officer exemption, and the zone radius are config.

Hunger and thirst drain slowly. At worst they cap health at about 75% and reduce stamina. They never kill. Why: eating is a reason to visit the shop, not a chore that ends a session. What it means for code: today EL_SurvivalStats drains health to zero below 20 hunger or thirst, and the rates are hard-coded. M1-28 (#126) moves them to config and adds the cap. Framework: drain rates, the health cap, and the stamina penalty are config. Flagship: slow drain, about a 75% cap.

A sentence counts down only while the prisoner is connected. In-jail activities (cleaning, labour) take time off. Why: logging off does not serve a sentence, and a prisoner has something to do. What it means for code: LF_Jail.Tick advances every serving sentence today without checking the connection; M1-21 (#106) pauses offline prisoners. In-jail activities are after M1 (#127): each needs its own interaction with animation and sound, and M1's loop is proven by a prisoner who serves visible online time and walks out. Framework: activities, seconds per task, and cooldown are config.

The economy direction: money drains through fuel and vehicle repairs; food, medical supplies, and hospital bills; property upkeep, rent, and taxes; licences, fines, and impound fees. Why: income from jobs and crime needs places to go, or prices lose meaning. What it means for code: every sink is a config price, never a literal in a system. In M1: food and medicine at the general store (EL_ShopComponent, exists), the hospital bill (M1-26, #121), paper fines (M1-19, #104), and impound fees (M1-16, #101). After M1: paying for fuel at the pump, vehicle repairs, property upkeep, rent, and taxes (with property), and licences as paid cards (with the gun shop). Licences cost skill points today, not money.

A player applies with a paper application form at the police station desk. Admins or police chiefs approve it, in game at the desk or by editing the whitelist file. Why: joining the police is part of the world, and admins keep control. What it means for code: approval writes through EL_WhitelistManager, so the file stays the source of truth. Framework: approvers, open or closed applications, and the rejection cooldown are config. After M1 (#128); M1 playtests use the file.

The flagship runs a faster day and night cycle. Server owners can switch to real time instead. Why: players who join in the evening still see daylight, and night play comes round often. What it means for code: prefer vanilla TimeAndWeatherManager settings over a script loop. Framework: day length, night speed, and the real-time mode are config. After M1 (#129).

The flagship has one marked remote place, such as the quarry or the islands, where the server rules about starting a fight do not apply. Gangs and contraband are drawn there; the town keeps its rules. Why: Altis servers that kept a war zone moved PvP away from town and gave gangs a home. One clearly marked area keeps that without turning Everon into Wasteland. What it means for code: zones are a framework feature. A zone has a shape, a rule set (lawless, safe like the spawn plaza, or normal), and in-world markings (signs, a gate, a fence line). Systems ask the zone service, never a hard-coded position. The incident log records the zone with every event, so a moderator sees at once whether a fight broke a rule. Framework: zones and their rule sets are config. Flagship: one lawless area, the spawn plaza safe, the rest normal.

A "hold up" action, or a raised weapon aimed at someone, marks intent toward that player. The server records it in the incident log. There is no forced dialogue, no countdown, and no menu. Why: every lasting life community wrote initiation rules ("talk first"). Recording the hold-up makes those rules cheap to enforce without adding friction to play. What it means for code: the hold-up is an entry in the player interaction menu (M1-12, #98) with an animation and a sound. The server detects a raised and aimed weapon and logs it with throttling. Intent marks are facts for moderators; on their own they change no damage rules. Framework: the aim window, the range, and whether aim alone counts are config.

The armory, the cash van, and the bank vault need tools (a drill, charges, a keycard) sold only by a black-market fence. The fence deals with you after you have done smaller jobs. There is no reputation bar and no menu: the fence turns you away until he has seen your work. Why: the top tier stays rare and earned, and each tier feeds the next, as the Altis Federal Reserve and GTA RP heist tools did. "Major crimes are always allowed" still holds once you have the tools. What it means for code: a hidden per-account crime record (count and kind of completed jobs) that the fence NPC checks on the server. The tools are real items with their own animation and sound in use. Framework: the fence's thresholds, tool list, and prices are config.

You wake in hospital with the bill (decision "You wake up in hospital"). You also forget the fight that killed you and must not return to that scene for about 15 minutes. This is a server rule with a soft in-world cue: a hospital wristband or a note on waking, and a quiet reminder if you walk back toward the scene. Why: death needs a cost beyond money, or a fight restarts the moment the loser respawns. Altis's New Life Rule is the tested answer. What it means for code: the server stores the death position and time per player, and the incident log records a return inside the radius and window. Nothing blocks the player physically. Framework: the radius, the window, and the cue are config. Permanent character death is not planned.

For M1 and M2 a fine or sentence for a crime is the amount the server's penalty table sets. The officer writes the ticket or the jail slip; the amount is not theirs to choose. A player-staffed bail and appeal desk is a later option, not planned. Why: fixed penalties are fair between officers and easy to explain on a sign; a court needs players we do not have yet. What it means for code: the paper ticket (M1-19, #104) and jailing (M1-21, #106) read the amount from a config table keyed by crime. Framework: the table is config.

Arrest and escort are the core police loop, and a new officer can do both from the first minute on duty. Rank gates the fine cap, the armory tier, and later supervisory actions (promotion, and what M2 adds), not the loop. Why: on a fresh server nobody is senior, and senior took an hour on duty, so the first hour of police play had no arrests (#165). What it means for code: LF_PoliceConfig (Configs/Police/LF_Police.conf) holds the lowest rank that may arrest and the lowest that may escort, and the patrol fine cap. Every arrest and escort path re-checks it on the server (LF_Jail.Arrest, LF_JailEscort); the offers read the same rule from the replicated rank. Framework: per-rank permissions are config. Flagship: arrest and escort at rank 0 (patrol), patrol fine cap 1000.

Every interaction works on a gamepad: amounts come from presets, lists stay short, and typing is rare. Crossplay is on. Design and testing happen on PC first. Why: Workshop mods reach Xbox and PS5 players, and a menu that needs a keyboard shuts them out. What it means for code: every action binds keyboard plus gamepad0: (AGENTS.md input rules). A UI that takes a number offers presets first and free entry second. A feature PR names how a gamepad player completes it. Console playtests come after the PC loop is proven.

A newly registered character starts with $1,000 in the bank, the price of the S105 on the lot, on top of the $500 cash in the starter kit. Why: the maintainer's first playtest stalled at the car lot with $650 in the bank; a first car should be a choice on day one, not a grind. Framework: config (EL_SpawnLogic.m_iStartingBank, paid once at registration). Flagship: the cheapest car on the lot.

Every loop playable end to end with in-world signs explaining it, before any Everon placement.

DebugWorld gets one proper town street: the spawn plaza at one end, then the sites in the order of the arrival chain. The maintainer chose this over the plan default (signpost the sites where they stand, x 94 to 243, then tidy). Why: a stranger walks one street and meets the loop in order. What it means for code: M1-25 moves the Street_* layer entities, keeping their names and GUIDs and changing positions only. Sign placement (M1-09), the police station (M1-11), and the town tidy (M1-22) build on the new street.

The loop lives in a small village built from vanilla Everon buildings, on a real road, with a square at the spawn. Dev fixtures and test-only content move to a fenced test annex off to the side. Why: a stranger sees a real place, and the tests keep their fixtures. What it means for code: M1-25 (#120) builds the village and the annex. The town tidy (M1-22, #107) moves dev fixtures into the annex instead of deleting them, keeping names so tests still find them.

No rented hosting yet.

The first public Workshop release comes after two or three private M1 playtests with friends and the fixes they turn up. It ships with a showcase video. Why: a stranger's first impression should be of a town that friends have already broken and we have fixed. What it means for code: M1-24 (#109) runs the private rounds first (an unlisted or private Workshop item, or a direct install), then the public publish and the video.

Where the player does something physical, the interaction has a fitting animation and sound. A flagship feature with a placeholder or missing animation or sound effect is not done. Why: world feedback comes first (decision "In-world first"), and in a life game the feel of an action is the content. What it means for code: every feature PR names the animation and sound each physical interaction uses (vanilla, a recorded dependency, or our own) and shows them in its clip. A framework system exposes the animation and sound as config so a server can swap them.

The visual harness and a filming harness run on any machine with the game; clips are PR evidence and showcase material.

The "F to gather" action on ore rocks is gone. A pickaxe hit takes the same melee damage path as woodcutting; every few hits a nugget breaks off and drops beside the rock, and a spent rock crumbles and grows back on its ResourceChains.conf cooldown. The maintainer has thebonbon's permission to take the pickaxe-hit mining from thebonbon/EveronLife branch enhancement/Main_World (MIT); the port keeps a // Ported from header and a THIRD_PARTY.md line. Why: playtest feedback asked for physical mining instead of a prompt (decision "In-world first"). What it means for code: LF_OreNodeComponent owns yield, depletion and grow-back on the server; the hit zone only gates the tool. The spent state is not saved, so a restart grows every rock back.

Organised events (a rally, a gang war night, a strike at the factory) are interesting for a later roadmap phase and are not planned for M2. Why: the sandbox has to prove its emergent loops before a schedule sits on top of them. What it means for code: nothing now. Game Master is the likely base when events come back.

M2 builds moderation (the incident log and Game Master tools), medic (downed state, EMS, ambulance), comms (payphones, pagers, a dispatch board), and investigation (witnesses and evidence, which make the vague-description wanted system real). The maintainer picked all four from the benchmark's top ten (docs/research/life-rp-benchmark.md). The lawless zone, the hold-up, the fence, and the New Life Rule ship as scopes under these themes. Why: moderation decides whether a server lives, and the other three give police, medics, and criminals something to do when the other side is absent. What it means for code: docs/roadmap/m2-outline.md holds the outline; M2 is planned in full after the M1 playtests. Placing the town in Everon from reusable site prefabs stays in M2 as its closing step (docs/direction.md).

LifeFramework is the era-agnostic core: every system, the persistence layer, the test suite, and neutral defaults. LF_Everon1989 is the flagship pack: the 1989 village and town, period prefabs, flagship values, and period copy. Both live in this monorepo and ship as two Workshop items. The pack depends on the core; the core never references the pack. Why: an owner must be able to swap the flagship for their own pack without forking the systems. What it means for code: M3 moves pack resources with their .meta (the GUIDs stay the same), and a validator guards the one-way boundary (docs/roadmap/m3-outline.md).

The core (addons/LifeFramework/) gets script, components, anything a server in another setting would use unchanged, anything a test needs, base prefabs a system spawns with a neutral look, and one neutral working default per system. The pack (addons/LF_Everon1989/) gets the choices: placement and the village, names and flavour copy, prices and timers as .conf values, the 1989 look, the vehicle catalogue, and the flagship mission header. A resource belongs in the core when the pack can be deleted and the core still boots and passes the suite, or when a modern-setting server would use it as is. Script in the pack is a smell; the fix is an extension point in the core. The maintainer set the line and its grey cases. Why: without one written rule every agent classifies by feel, and the boundary leaks before the move happens. What it means for code: every new resource is classified with docs/architecture/core-vs-pack.md; validate-addon-boundary fails when the core references the pack or the pack holds script.

Shipped .conf files are the defaults (core, then pack). The owner writes $profile:LifeFramework/config.json with sections for jobs, shops, crime, licences, vehicles, zones, and persistence. The owner file wins. An invalid field logs, falls back to its default, and the server stays up. Unknown keys are kept. Clients get what they need through a versioned stream. Why: Workshop paks are read-only, and Overthrow's knobs-only JSON forces owners to fork for real changes. What it means for code: every LF_*Config.Get() reads effective values through one config service.

A checked-in config.schema.json, generated from the script config classes, feeds the game's validation, tools\cli config-check, the web generator on life-framework.org, and the owner docs. CI fails when it drifts. Why: four copies of the field list would disagree within a release.

M4 starts once M3 has shipped, on the released core and pack. Sessions are ad hoc, sized for about 40 players, and hosted from the maintainer's PC. The server moves to a rented box for 24/7 play once sessions fill several times in a row and donations cover three months of the box. M4 has no closing bar. Why: the flagship proves the same path owners take, and rent is paid only when demand and funding exist.

The Alpha, Release, and After-release phases are retired; milestones are the one plan. Jailbreak, gas-station robbery, the police application (#128), and jail work (#127) go to M2. Day and night (#129) and police missions go to M4. Bus stops (#203), trash cans (#205), housing, crafting, and tasks go to M5 with the flagship story (#214). Revive folds into the M2 medic theme. Scheduled events stay parked. M3 carries no new gameplay.

Core features publish typed events (OnMoneyMoved, OnCrimeCommitted, OnPlayerDowned, ...) on LF_EventBus, and other features and packs subscribe instead of calling each other. A failing subscriber logs and the rest still run. The event list is part of the supported API. Why: M2's crime, dispatch, incident log and investigation all react to the same moments; direct calls would tangle them and leave packs nothing to hook. Scope #329, first in M2.

Every cash and bank change goes through LF_Ledger as a recorded transaction (who, why, amount, source, balance after). Balances can be rebuilt from the log, and a validate rule bans direct balance writes. Why: moderation must trace and reverse money, and a dupe on a live server is otherwise unrecoverable. Scope #330.

The framework keys every record by a stable character id and allows characters.maxPerAccount characters. The flagship ships one per account with an in-world "start a new life" form. Bans and whitelists attach to the account; reputation and records attach to the character. Why: the New Life Rule, whitelists and save keys all depend on it, and changing it after live data is a migration. Scope #331.

Shops, jobs, desks and other sites exist as placed prefabs in a world. There is no config-driven spawn at coordinates. An owner on another map places the core's site prefabs in their own world and tunes them through config. Why: placement is world authoring, Workbench does it well, and a second placement path would double the surface to test.

One scripted rename in a short freeze right after M1 sign-off, before M2 features fan out (#334). Any type name written into a save gets a load-time alias. Afterwards a validator rejects new EL_ declarations. Why: EL_ collides with the real EveronLife mod, mixed prefixes confuse contributors, and the M3 public API must start with final names.

Any 1.x save loads in every later 1.x. A test loads saves recorded from older versions, and wt e2e proves each persistence change. Before M4 runs 24/7, writes are atomic with rolling backups, so a crash mid-save loses nothing. Why: owners and the flagship keep player progress across updates; a broken save is a lost community.

Systems are designed and benchmarked for 128 players on a dedicated server: replication, server frame cost, save size and time, UI fan-out. Budget and gate in #335. Why: the target sets every replication and persistence choice, and raising it later means rework.

The core and the flagship pack ship under MIT. The project keeps the option to license future versions of the pack differently; the core stays MIT for good. CONTRIBUTING.md asks pack contributors to agree to that relicensing, since without it the option would need every contributor's consent. Published releases stay MIT. Assets pulled in under CC-BY or similar keep their own terms.