V5 — Architecture (Page Index) — Open-World Narrative

This directory holds the V5 (a UE5 open-world narrative universe of six "ruleset cells" — urban crime, period drama, frontier, monster hunter, and two sci-fi — on a shared engine; the largest V-product) architecture reference, decomposed from the single ../V5_ARCHITECTURE.md hub into focused, in-depth, code-grounded pages. The hub remains the canonical entry point and preserves every section heading; each page below expands one part of the system with richer, code-grounded detail and an honest implemented / spec-only status. The companion feature map lives in ../V5_features.md.

Cross-reference convention. Page-to-page links are relative (./<slug>.md). Platform-foundation links point at the shared platform/ space.

Architecture landscape#

flowchart TB Host[V5 world and ruleset host] --> Cells[Cell plugins and content versions] Cells --> Gameplay[GAS animation input combat vehicles mounts and ships] Gameplay --> AI[Perception crowds morality dialogue and interrogation] AI --> Mind[Mind Palace case evidence and deduction] Gameplay --> World[Modes streaming procgen and open-world state] World --> Authority[Netcode persistence cross-play and progression] Creator[Creator suite authored corpus and workshop] --> Mind Creator --> Cells Mind --> Data[(Cases clues saves world revisions provenance and rights)] Authority --> Services[Online live service community companion and providers] Data --> Build[Telemetry build cook quality security compliance and release] Services --> Build

V5 composes a large shared runtime, but canonical cell truth and authored case truth remain versioned inputs rather than mutable side effects. Creator tools publish reviewed versions; active sessions and saves never read an ungoverned draft directly.

Use this index to trace one change through module/plugin ownership, authored schemas and compatibility, shared/cell gameplay, world and authority, persistence/services, presentation, telemetry, build, and recovery. Pair the trace with the feature index and name the applicable cells, content versions, platforms, and player journey.

Every focused architecture page appears exactly once below. The V5 documentation guide provides the six-cell truth model and role paths; the diagram atlas provides the shared visual vocabulary. Backlog, dependencies, current implementation/assets, tests, rights, builds, and operational evidence govern completion.

Orientation#

Product Promise & Subsystem Glossary — what V5 commits to and every subsystem mapped to code.
Topology, Project Layout & Module Split — the runtime topology and how the 74 modules split by concern.

Shared Gameplay Foundations#

GAS, Animation & Input — the shared ability, animation, and input pipelines.
Perception, Crowd & the Morality System — AI perception, crowd simulation, and the morality/reputation system.

Multiplayer, Modes & World Simulation#

Netcode, Authority & Determinism — the netcode model, server authority, and determinism.
Modes, World Streaming & Procedural Generation — the modes, world streaming, and procgen.

Platform, Services & Live Operations#

Persistence, Online Services & Cross-Play — persistence, online services, and cross-play/cross-progression.
Audio, VFX, Cinematics & UI — the presentation pipelines.
Telemetry, Build & Data — telemetry, build/cook, and data architecture.
Live Service & DLC — the live-service architecture and DLC delivery.

Launch Readiness & Quality#

Accessibility, Security & Compliance — accessibility, security/privacy, and compliance.
Observability, Performance, Testing & the Content Pipeline — observability, performance, testing/eval gates, and the content pipeline.

Signature Subsystems#

The Creator Suite & the Mind Palace — the case-authoring suite and the detective deduction system.
Interrogation, Dialogue & Heist Systems — the interrogation, dialogue, and heist systems.
Spaceships, Vehicles & Mounts — the Newtonian ship solver, vehicles, and mounts.
Hunter, Period & Bureau Cell Systems — the monster-hunter, period-drama, and urban-crime cell-specific systems.