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Contributing to DMC Native Reader

DMC Native Reader currently has an accepted Android v1 baseline on main (versionName 1.0, versionCode 24) and evidence-gated development candidates. The production registry is intentionally limited to MOD / SCM / DDS / PTX.

Contributions are welcome when they improve correctness, safety, real-file compatibility, inspection/rendering quality, Android integration, evidence quality or a bounded format promotion.

Ground rule: do not invent format semantics

This project is evidence-aware. Distinguish between:

  • filename/extension recognition;
  • content-confirmed identity;
  • structural parsing;
  • semantic interpretation;
  • presentation/rendering behavior;
  • original-game/runtime behavior.

Generated names, plausible guesses or UI convenience are not reverse-engineering evidence. If a field or relationship is unknown, keep it unknown/preserved until evidence supports promotion.

Architecture rules

A contribution must preserve the current direction:

DMC Rengine / native canonical authority
  -> NativeModuleRegistry
  -> typed Architecture v2 projection
  -> portable DMCNativeReader::Core
  -> thin platform shell

Please do not:

  • add Java/Kotlin DMC binary parsers;
  • add renderer-owned format parsers;
  • reintroduce wildcard family decoding;
  • restore the old recognition-only production catalog;
  • duplicate MOD/SCM/DDS/PTX offsets or codecs already owned by DMC Rengine/native modules;
  • infer spatial hierarchy from mesh vertices or fabricate missing transforms;
  • parse diagnostic strings to make application/UI decisions;
  • add Android-only writers/repackers to the read-only product.

High-value contributions

  • reproducible failures using legally obtained user-owned resources from Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition in Devil May Cry HD Collection;
  • bounds/memory-safety hardening;
  • MOD/SCM geometry, hierarchy, UV, skin or texture-binding regressions backed by canonical evidence;
  • DDS/PTX decode/framing/gallery/companion fixes;
  • capability-driven UI/inspection improvements that reuse typed native contracts;
  • Android routing and real-device diagnostics;
  • documentation corrections tied to actual code/evidence;
  • a new family promotion backed by canonical DMC Rengine readiness and dedicated tests.

New format promotion

Historical branches contain more resource families than production main. That does not make those families supported.

A new family should document:

  • family identity and evidence;
  • canonical parser/read-side authority;
  • bounded byte/layout invariants;
  • typed projection contract;
  • unresolved fields/semantics;
  • malformed-input behavior;
  • regression/corpus evidence;
  • UI capabilities actually justified by that evidence.

Prefer consuming the corresponding VrUaCom/dmc-rengine-cpp authority rather than rediscovering the format in Native Reader.

Testing and acceptance

Before opening/promoting a PR:

  1. run the relevant portable/native regressions;
  2. keep unknown/unpromoted input fail-closed;
  3. verify a clean Android build when Android code/package behavior changes;
  4. update APK identity/module/JNI/signing checks when the interface changes;
  5. add a regression for the bug/feature rather than relying on visual inspection alone;
  6. for device-visible behavior, keep the PR draft until the required real-device/corpus acceptance succeeds;
  7. update repository documentation in the same promotion slice when accepted state changes.

A hosted CI failure that executes no steps is infrastructure evidence, not proof that the source is broken; likewise it is not a green gate. Report exactly what did and did not execute.

Bug reports

Useful reports include:

  • Native Reader version/versionCode and commit when self-built;
  • device/Android version and file-opening path;
  • resource extension/family and size/hash when safe to share;
  • exact visible result;
  • whether the failure is routing, parse, inspection, render, hierarchy, texture/companion, gallery/navigation or memory-safety;
  • screenshots/logs or a minimal legally shareable fixture when available.

Do not upload copyrighted game archives, proprietary executables or redistribution-restricted assets unless you have the right to do so.

AI-assisted contributions

AI-assisted development is allowed, but generated code/explanations do not count as reverse-engineering evidence. Contributors remain responsible for correctness, provenance, testing and licensing.

Legal boundary

DMC Native Reader is an independent fan-made interoperability/modding project and is not affiliated with Capcom. Do not submit proprietary Capcom source code, leaked materials, game binaries or assets you cannot legally redistribute.