Streaming model

World integration starts with a registration path, not with a loose sector file. A mod-owned node becomes discoverable only when a registered streaming block has a descriptor that points to its sector and gives the engine enough context to stream it.

Vanilla references

These focused base-game resources are useful comparisons. Extract them from your own installation; they are references, not files to copy into the project.

base\worlds\03_night_city\_compiled\default\03_night_city.streamingworld
base\worlds\03_night_city\_compiled\default\blocks\all.streamingblock
base\worlds\03_night_city\_compiled\default\quest_606b61008df2ba6f.streamingsector
base\worlds\03_night_city\_compiled\default\always_loaded_0.streamingsector

The ownership chain

worldStreamingWorld
└─ blockRefs[]
   └─ worldStreamingBlock
      └─ descriptors[]
         └─ worldStreamingSectorDescriptor
            ├─ data -> *.streamingsector
            ├─ streamingBox
            ├─ category
            ├─ level
            └─ questPrefabNodeRef

The base worldStreamingWorld is useful research evidence, but a mod should not replace it merely to add a sector. ArchiveXL can register a separate, mod-owned block:

streaming:
  blocks:
    - mod\cqa\cqa003\world\cqa003_boundary.streamingblock

That is Lab 3’s structurally checked registration path. The runtime protocol must still bind the installed .archive.xl hash and confirm that ArchiveXL logged its registration.

worldStreamingWorld

The world root’s blockRefs identifies compiled streaming blocks. The same resource also has references for global world systems, including device, mappin, point-of-interest mappin, area, loot, and location resources. Those references show that world registration is broader than quest placement; they do not mean a quest author should edit every global resource.

For a focused quest addition, inspect the world root to understand the native shape, then add the mod block through ArchiveXL. Replacing the vanilla root would couple a small quest to a large, shared resource and create needless conflict and redistribution risk.

Blocks and descriptors

worldStreamingBlock contains a block index and a descriptors array. Each worldStreamingSectorDescriptor supplies the streaming metadata for one sector.

The worldStreamingSectorCategory values present in the retained type information are Exterior = 0, Interior = 1, Quest = 2, Navigation = 3, AlwaysLoaded = 4, and Unknown = -1. This enum explains serialized values; it does not prove when every category loads or unloads.

In the structurally validated prior fixture, the Quest sector root used category Quest and level 255, while its block descriptor used category Quest and level 0. The AlwaysLoaded sector and descriptor used category AlwaysLoaded and level 1. Preserve known-good values when studying that shape, but do not elevate this small sample into a universal invariant.

The vanilla mq003 comparison likewise has a Quest sector root at level 255 and its Quest block descriptor at level 0; this is Observed in vanilla. The retained vanilla always_loaded_0.streamingsector root is category AlwaysLoaded at level 255. These examples reinforce that sector-root and descriptor values occupy different records, while also showing that level is not a single constant for every AlwaysLoaded arrangement.

Quest and AlwaysLoaded responsibilities

Lab 3 separates responsibilities:

Experimental runtime boundary: the checked structure is not a promise that any node in an AlwaysLoaded sector is perpetually active under every runtime condition. Nor is AlwaysLoaded a reason to put all quest content into one sector. Category, block bounds, node bounds, distance fields, and game state can have distinct roles that must be isolated in game.

The focused vanilla Quest sector at quest_606b61008df2ba6f.streamingsector is useful because its retained extract contains AI spots, trigger areas, splines, and a vehicle-forbidden area under a quest-prefab namespace.

A separate derived world-asset index catalogs 23 worldStaticMarkerNode records across always_loaded_0, always_loaded_1, and always_loaded_2.streamingsector. One representative record is node index 1550 in always_loaded_0.streamingsector, with debug name q104_02a_sm_breaking_antena_carmocap. That index was built from 760 serialized sectors and 10,055 selected assets; it is not an exhaustive node census or a substitute for inspecting the cited depot resource. This is Observed in vanilla support for the category pattern, not proof that Lab 3’s marker will load or display correctly.

Bounds are part of the experiment

A descriptor streamingBox and a sector node’s placement bounds are separate records. A box should enclose the content it is intended to stream, with deliberate padding for approach and test movement. Making a box finite is more diagnostic than using an unexplained enormous volume: the author can test outside, approach, inside, reload, and departure states.

Do not infer exact activation distance from streamingBox alone. Node data also contains values such as MaxStreamingDistance, while retained WolvenKit schemas expose fields named UkFloat1 and Uk10 through Uk14. Those Uk* names are opaque serialization labels. Preserve known-good values and change one variable at a time; do not rename them conceptually as proven range or culling controls.

Validation sequence

1. Open the block and every referenced sector in the pinned WolvenKit version.
2. Confirm exact depot paths, descriptor categories, levels, bounds, and quest-prefab roots.
3. Save, convert or pack as required, then round-trip the CR2W and re-inspect the same properties.
4. Confirm the intended files are present in the packed archive.
5. Confirm ArchiveXL registered the mod-owned block in its log.
6. Test approach, entry, active-state save/reload, ordinary stream-away and return, departure, and completed-save reload from a clean starting save.

Steps 1–4 can support Structurally validated. Step 5 proves registration, not player-facing behavior. Only the controlled in-game cases can support a bounded Runtime-proven claim. See Lifecycle, cleanup, and evidence.

Common failures

An archive change cannot erase save-backed facts or journal state. Use a save created before any version of the lab was installed for the acceptance matrix, and also test a mid-flow reload as its own case. Resetting one quest fact is not a substitute for diagnosing an unregistered block or bad sector path.