Docs
The paperwork
Start with the setup and playtest guides. The rest is grouped by what you need next: direction, current plan, engineering reference, or research. These pages are built from the repository, so contributors and agents read the same source.
One rule runs through all of it: the core decides what the game can do, and the 1989 Everon pack decides what our server is. Core vs pack says which side a change belongs on.
New here? Join the community, open the playtest, then choose a scope.
Start here
- Set up your toolsdocs/setup.mdEverything you need to clone Life Framework, build the mod, run checks, and (optionally) wire up AI tooling. For contribution norms see CONTRIBUTING.md; for engineering rules see AGENTS.md.
- Open the playtestdocs/playtest.mdThere are two ways to play. Host runs the village on this PC as a dedicated server, the way friends will play it: start with Play tonight.
- Contributing to Life FrameworkCONTRIBUTING.mdWelcome. Join the community, choose a piece of work, build it with the team, then raise a pull request. You can contribute code, playtest reports, world building, UI, 3D art, sound, or documentation.
Direction & decisions
- Directiondocs/direction.mdThe north star for Life Framework. Read this before choosing what to build. docs/roadmap/ holds the scoped plan; docs/features.md holds what exists; docs/decisions.md holds the design calls that set...
- Core vs packdocs/architecture/core-vs-pack.mdThe core decides what the game can do. The pack decides what this server is.
- Designdocs/design.mdProduct and design intent for Life Framework: why it exists, how it should feel, and how we decide what belongs in the base mod versus an extension.
- Decisionsdocs/decisions.mdProduct and design calls that set the taste of Life Framework. Each entry is a decision someone could reasonably have made the other way.
Current plan
- Current gameplay plandocs/roadmap/README.mdThe gameplay and release plan. Milestones are the one plan: each ends with a public build and a filmed showcase, and a milestone's features do not start before the previous milestone is done...
- M1: Playtest Towndocs/roadmap/m1-playtest-town.mdM1 is done when a stranger joins a dedicated server hosted from the maintainer's PC and gets through the whole loop with nobody helping.
- M2 Living Town (outline)docs/roadmap/m2-outline.mdM2 leads with four themes the maintainer picked on 2026-11-08: moderation, medic, comms, and investigation. This file is an outline.
- M3 Framework Release (outline)docs/roadmap/m3-outline.mdM3 turns the mod into a product other communities can run. A server owner installs from the Workshop, configures it from documented files or a web generator, adds a job or a shop without writing...
- M4 Flagship Live (outline)docs/roadmap/m4-outline.mdM4 opens the 1989 Everon flagship to the public as a recurring server with its own community. The maintainer set the shape on 2026-11-08. This file is an outline.
- M1-25: the DebugWorld villagedocs/roadmap/m1-25-village.mdIssue #120. Decisions 2026-11-08 "Every M1 site moves onto one street now" and "The playtest town is a 1989 Everon village with a test annex" (decisions).
- Scopesdocs/roadmap/scopes/README.mdA scope is one plan a contributor can finish without boiling the framework. It names the player loop, what ships in the first slice, which assets are legal, and the proof.
- Bank robberydocs/roadmap/scopes/crime/bank-robbery.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: forced entry, Money, Crime, hand-carry
- Contrabanddocs/roadmap/scopes/crime/contraband.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: Gathering, Processing, Trader, hideouts, Police confiscation
- Forced entrydocs/roadmap/scopes/crime/forced-entry.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: door locks (Houses), crime alerts, police
- Gas station robberydocs/roadmap/scopes/crime/gas-station-robbery.mdMilestone: M2 Extends: Crime, Money
- Hospital robberydocs/roadmap/scopes/crime/hospital-robbery.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: forced entry, Crime, Money
- Jailbreakdocs/roadmap/scopes/crime/jailbreak.mdMilestone: M2 Extends: forced entry, jailing
- Craftingdocs/roadmap/scopes/later/crafting.mdMilestone: M5 Extends: Processing
- Eventsdocs/roadmap/scopes/later/events.mdMilestone: Parked Extends: notifications, the world markers used by jobs and missions
- Private housingdocs/roadmap/scopes/later/housing.mdMilestone: M5 Extends: Houses doors and keys, Money, persistence
- Police missionsdocs/roadmap/scopes/later/police-missions.mdMilestone: M4 Extends: ranks, tasks, Police
- Tasksdocs/roadmap/scopes/later/tasks.mdMilestone: M5 Extends: Quests (LF_QuestTrackerComponent)
- UI kitdocs/roadmap/scopes/later/ui-kit.mdMilestone: In the tree Extends: the workspace-widget screens already used by faction pick, character creation, and the death screen. Those screens stay as they are.
- Hideoutsdocs/roadmap/scopes/ownership/hideouts.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: Houses locks, organizations
- Organizationsdocs/roadmap/scopes/ownership/organizations.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: Account, Banking rules, persistence
- Vehiclesdocs/roadmap/scopes/ownership/vehicles.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: VehicleLock, LicensePlate, Shop
- Jailingdocs/roadmap/scopes/police/jailing.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: Police arrest, Account wanted
- Police ranksdocs/roadmap/scopes/police/ranks.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: License, Whitelist, Police duty
- Civilian jobsdocs/roadmap/scopes/work/civilian-jobs.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: Jobs, Level, License, Money
- Resourcesdocs/roadmap/scopes/work/resources.mdMilestone: In the tree (M1) Extends: Gathering, Processing, Resources, Trader
- What the scopes reusedocs/roadmap/sources.mdThree sources, in this order.
- Testing plandocs/roadmap/testing/README.mdEvery roadmap setup is done only when three gates are green. A scope doc's Proof section is the short list. This file is the case list, the DebugWorld entities, and the shots.
Engineering reference
- Life Framework — Implemented Features & Contractsdocs/features.md
- Persistencedocs/persistence.mdHow Life Framework saves and restores player and world state. It uses the base game's first-party persistence (SCR_PersistenceSystem + SaveGameManager + scripted serializers bound in a .conf).
- Foundation Design — Economy, Trade, Processing, Real Estatedocs/foundation-design.mdOverthrow's own best code already answers "how do we do a lot with little": put pure logic in Data/ (world-free, Logic-tier testable), catalogues in .conf config classes, one thin server component...
- Parallel worktrees for agentsdocs/worktrees.mdHow up to ~20 agents work on the Life Framework at once without ever breaking your world-editor session on main, and how their finished work auto-merges.
- Dedicated server sessiondocs/dedicated-session.mdOne session, run later on a worktree's own ports. This pass does not boot the server. The release integrator is in Workbench play.
- Debug log triagedocs/debug-log-triage.mdWhat every line in a DebugWorld boot log means, and what to do about it. Read this BEFORE investigating any log message — most lines are either fixed, benign vanilla noise, or by design.
- Street manifestdocs/street-manifest.mdDebugWorld terrain is the box from 0 to 512 on X and Z. Ground props sit at Y=0. The village main street uses Z=250 (docs/roadmap/m1-25-village.md); this tool's own examples still use Z=120.
Research & community
- Ecosystem leverage mapdocs/ecosystem.mdWhat the Reforger community and free-asset sites can give Life Framework, and under which terms. Surveyed 2026-11-08.
- Life/RP benchmarkdocs/research/life-rp-benchmark.mdWhat the life and roleplay genre built over fifteen years, what kept its players, what drove them away, and what that means for Life Framework after M1. Researched 2026-11-08.
- Overthrow surveydocs/overthrow-survey.mdSurveyed Overthrow.Arma4 main at 9dbb8fa. This is the Reforger mod. Nothing here was ported.
- EveronLife fork surveydocs/everonlife-forks.mdSurvey date: 2026-10-11.
- Discord serverdocs/community/discord.mdHow the Life Framework Discord is laid out and moderated, as restructured on 2026-11-08. Change the server and this file together.
- Support and donationsdocs/community/support.mdHow Life Framework takes money to pay its running costs, and how to switch it on. Status on 2026-11-08: off. No account or wallet exists yet.