📘 Articles

This section includes detailed guides, breakdowns, and architectural notes for each major CosterGraphics system.

These articles are meant to give you insight into the why behind the code — helping you understand how things are wired, how to extend them, and why certain design decisions were made.

✍️ Article Topics

  • 🖥️ VirtualOSSystems – High-level overview of the major systems in CosterGraphics related to the Virtual In-game Computers, Operating System and DesktopEnvironment.
  • 🖥️ Computers – In-game virtual computer system for creating interactive computers that simulate real stand-alone hardware and operating systems.
  • 🥼 Operating System – Boot process, kernel-like services, process handling, and the bridge between hardware and applications.
  • 📦 App System – Registry of available apps, process lifecycle, and app launch management.
  • 🧰 Console System – Runtime in-game debug console, command parsing, and history system.
  • 🪟 UI Window System – UI hierarchy, docking logic, window instances, and task management.
  • 📂 UI Floating Panel System – Panels such as Start Menu, Volume Mixer, and Power Menu; interaction model and relationship to UIWindowSystem.
  • 🪟 DesktopEnvironment - A stand-alone or in-game Computer DesktopEnvironment for running UIWindows, Taskbar and Apps.
  • 📱 Apps – Individual applications, design guidelines, singleton vs. multi-instance apps, and integration with the App System.
  • ⚙️ Settings System – System for storing, syncing, and exposing system settings to the UI.
  • 🔳 OutlineSystem - System for drawing full screen outline effects for 3D GameObjects using a custom RendererFeature, ScriptableRenderPasses and a Outline3D component for filtering.
  • 💥 Combat / Weapon Systems – Procedural targeting, shooting, weapons, sensors, and firing logic.
  • 🗺 Grid + Chunk Systems – World navigation, pathfinding nodes, flood fills, and node chunk anchoring.
  • 🧪 Experimental – Notes on XR, narrative layers, or yet-to-be-finalized modules.

💡 DocFX Tip: Write your articles with [!NOTE], [!TIP], [!WARNING], etc. to get styled callouts in DocFX output.

You can always edit or expand this list later by updating the Documentation/articles/toc.yml and regenerating the site.