Commonwealth-Online-Public/docs/architecture.md

Architecture

Main Components

F4SE Plugin

The native plugin is responsible for:

• Loading into Fallout 4
• Reading local player state
• Sending local player data to the server
• Receiving remote player data
• Applying remote player updates safely

External Server

The server is responsible for:

• Accepting client connections
• Assigning player IDs
• Receiving player state
• Broadcasting player state
• Tracking disconnects

Creation Kit Plugin

The Creation Kit side is responsible for:

• Test cells
• Placeholder actors
• Optional Papyrus helper scripts
• Debug objects
• Controlled test environments

Threading Model

Networking should run separately from game update logic.

Recommended approach:

Networking thread receives packets
Networking thread stores remote player state
Game update reads remote player state
Game update applies actor movement

The networking thread should avoid directly modifying Fallout 4 game objects unless the operation is known to be safe.