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OpenRA3/docs/ARCHITECTURE.md
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# Architecture
OpenRA3 is organised as a stack of C++26 modules. Each layer may import the ones
below it, never the ones above. Every module uses `import std;` for the standard
library; the engine is built with Clang + libc++ on Linux and cross-compiled
with llvm-mingw for Windows.
```
┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
applications │ openra3 (apps/openra3) │
└───────────────────┬───────────────────┘
│ import ra3
┌───────────────────▼───────────────────┐
umbrella │ ra3 (re-exports everything) │
└───────────────────┬───────────────────┘
┌──────────────┬───────────────┼───────────────┬──────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
ra3.ui ra3.render ra3.skirmish ra3.client ra3.game
SDL3 window framebuffer match rules display/loop RA3 sides
│ │ │ │ │
└──────┬───────┘ └───────┬───────┘ │
▼ ▼ │
ra3.core ra3.logic │
simulation │
┌───────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────┘
▼ ▼
ra3.map ra3.fs
map catalog BIG4 + RefPack
```
## Module responsibilities
### `ra3.core`
The vocabulary every other module shares, mirroring SAGE's `GameEngine/Common`:
`real`/`int32`/`uint32`, `coord3d`/`coord2d`/`rgb_color`, `ascii_string` +
`make_name_key`, the deterministic `random` stream, and the `message_stream`
command bus (node layout derived from retail `MessageStream::appendMessage`,
`0x0060c4a0`).
### `ra3.logic`
The deterministic simulation, mirroring SAGE's `GameLogic`: `thing` → `object`
with pluggable `update_module`s, `player`/`player_list`, the `partition_manager`
spatial grid, and the 30 Hz `game_logic` driver (`prepare_new_game` /
`start_new_game` / `update`).
### `ra3.client`
The presentation boundary: an abstract `display` with a `headless_display`
implementation, and `game_client`, the seam a future W3D/D3D9 renderer plugs
into.
### `ra3.game`
Red Alert 3 data that SAGE keeps in `PlayerTemplate`: the three sides
(`faction` flags `Empire=2`, `Allied=4`, `Soviet=8`, `Random=7`, recovered from
the retail skirmish setup) and skirmish defaults.
### `ra3.fs`
Reading the user's installation. Implements the `BIG4` archive container and
EA's RefPack codec, plus `find_game_dir` (`--game-dir` / `$RA3_GAME_DIR` /
`C:\Red Alert 3`). Only the archive index is held in memory; payloads are read
on demand.
### `ra3.map`
Map discovery and loading: scans `MapsMultiplayer.big` for main map entries,
unwraps the two compression layers (`BIG4` RefPack → `EAR\0` wrapper → RefPack →
`CkMp`), and recovers `Player_N_Start` waypoint coordinates. Degenerate
extractions are rejected so the caller can fall back.
### `ra3.skirmish`
The minimal match: two players, unit classes (harvester/infantry/tank/base),
passive + harvester income, a simple build AI, movement and combat on a fixed
30 Hz step, and a base-destruction win condition. Fully deterministic.
### `ra3.render`
A dependency-free software renderer: an ARGB8888 `image` framebuffer with
blit/line/circle primitives, a TGA decoder for the game's map art, a 24-bit BMP
encoder for headless output, and `compose` which overlays a world grid and
markers (start positions, live units) onto the map art.
### `ra3.ui`
The windowed viewer. The SDL3 backend streams the rendered image to a texture
with pan/zoom and Esc-to-quit; when the build has no SDL3, a null backend
returns `false` so the caller writes an offscreen image instead.
## Design rules
1. **No raw owning pointers.** Ownership is `std::unique_ptr`; the partition
manager holds non-owning `thing *` views only.
2. **Portable simulation.** No platform APIs in `ra3.core` / `ra3.logic`. All
platform concerns live behind `display`.
3. **Determinism.** Anything that can diverge between runs (random, iteration
order) is explicit and seedable.
4. **RE-traceable.** Where a structure or constant comes from the retail
binary, the address is cited in the comment.
5. **No bundled assets, no online.** Game data is read from the user's install
and never committed; there is no networking or online service.