DINOForge

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Roadmap ​

DINOForge follows a milestone-based development plan, building from low-level runtime to high-level content packs.

Milestones ​

M0 — Reverse-Engineering Harness ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Install BepInEx, confirm plugin loading, test plugin, dump entities.

  • BepInEx 5.4.23.5 installed with modified Doorstop pre-loader
  • Runtime builds to BepInEx/ecs_plugins/DINOForge.Runtime.dll
  • Entity Dumper, System Enumerator, Debug Overlay scaffolded
  • Initial test suite passing (xUnit + FluentAssertions)

M1 — Runtime Scaffold ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Bootstrap plugin, version detection, logging, ECS introspection, debug overlay.

  • BepInEx plugin bootstrap with version-aware initialization
  • ECS system and component discovery
  • Runtime logging infrastructure
  • Debug overlay foundation (F9 key)

M2 — Generic Mod SDK ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Pack manifest format, registry system, schema validation, override model, dependency resolver.

  • Pack manifest model with YAML loader (YamlDotNet)
  • Generic Registry<T> system with priority layers and conflict detection
  • Schema validation pipeline (NJsonSchema)
  • Content override model with 4-layer priority (BaseGame -> Framework -> DomainPlugin -> Pack)
  • Dependency resolver with cycle detection
  • 17 JSON/YAML schemas covering all content types
  • Content loader for YAML pack ingestion
  • Asset service with addressables catalog support

M3 — Dev Tooling ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Pack compiler CLI, validator CLI, test harness, diff tools, diagnostics.

  • PackCompiler CLI (validate, build, assets commands)
  • DumpTools CLI with Spectre.Console interactive terminal UI
  • dinoforge CLI with 11 commands (status, query, override, reload, watch, dump, resources, screenshot, verify, component-map, etc.)
  • MCP Server with 13 game interaction tools for Claude Code integration

M3.5 — QA Harness ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Bridge Protocol/Client for IPC, integration test suite, CI-runnable tests.

  • Bridge Protocol: JSON-RPC message types, IGameBridge interface, typed result models
  • Bridge Client: GameClient for out-of-process game communication with connection state management
  • Integration test project (DINOForge.Tests.Integration) with assertions, fixtures, and test data
  • 14 integration tests covering content loading, bridge communication, end-to-end pack application
  • CI solution (DINOForge.CI.sln) excluding Runtime for headless builds

M4 — Warfare Domain Plugin ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Factions, doctrines, unit classes, weapons, waves, defenses.

  • Faction archetype system (Order, Industrial Swarm, Asymmetric)
  • 5 factions: Republic, CIS, West, Classic West Enemy, Guerrilla
  • Unit role matrix with 13 shared slots across all factions
  • Weapon classes (12 types) and defense tags (8 types)
  • Wave composition templates
  • Doctrine modifiers
  • Balance validation

M5 — First Example Packs ✅ ​

Status: Complete

Full set of example packs demonstrating all content types.

  • warfare-modern — West vs Classic West Enemy (Modern Warfare theme)
  • warfare-starwars — Republic vs CIS (Star Wars Clone Wars theme)
  • warfare-guerrilla — Asymmetric warfare (Guerrilla faction)
  • example-balance — Simple stat override balance mod
  • economy-balanced — Economy balance profiles and trade rules
  • scenario-tutorial — Tutorial scenario with scripted conditions

M6 — In-Game Mod Menu & HMR ✅ ​

Status: Complete

F10 mod menu overlay, hot module replacement for YAML packs.

  • Mod menu overlay (F10) with pack listing, enable/disable, manual reload
  • Mod settings panel for per-pack configuration
  • Pack file watcher (HMR) for live YAML reload during gameplay
  • Hot reload bridge wiring changes to re-validation and re-application

M7 — Installer & Universe Bible ✅ ​

Status: Complete

PowerShell/Bash installer, Universe Bible system, pack generator.

  • Install-DINOForge.ps1 (Windows) and install.sh (Linux/macOS) installer scripts
  • Installer library with programmatic installation support
  • Universe Bible system: faction taxonomies, naming guides, style guides, crosswalk dictionaries
  • Universe loader for parsing Bible documents
  • Pack generator for scaffolding total conversion packs from a Universe Bible

M8 — Runtime Integration 🚧 ​

Status: In Progress

ModPlatform orchestrator wiring SDK to Bridge to UI to HMR.

  • ModPlatform class owns entire mod platform lifecycle (ADR-009)
  • Lifecycle phases: Initialize -> OnWorldReady -> LoadPacks -> StartHotReload -> Shutdown
  • Plugin.cs stays thin (bootstrap only, forwards Unity callbacks)
  • ECS bridge with component mapping, stat modifiers, entity queries, override applicator
  • Remaining work: end-to-end in-game validation with live DINO instance

Current Stats ​

  • 17 projects in the solution
  • 342 tests passing (328 unit + 14 integration)
  • 17 schemas covering all content types
  • 6 example packs demonstrating all mod categories
  • 4 domain plugins: Warfare, Economy, Scenario, UI

Success Criteria ​

A new mod can be created mostly by editing validated pack files and running the toolchain, without new reverse engineering.

If every mod still needs runtime surgery, the framework failed.

Released under the MIT License.

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