Introduction
Hi3Helper.Plugin.Core is a NativeAOT-compatible plugin framework for Collapse Launcher. It provides a set of COM-based interfaces and base classes that allow third-party developers to write game plugins — extending the launcher with support for additional games without modifying the launcher itself.
Architecture overview
Plugins are compiled as native shared libraries (.dll on Windows) and loaded dynamically by the launcher at runtime. Communication between the launcher and the plugin uses COM interop via System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshalling, which is fully compatible with .NET NativeAOT.
Collapse Launcher
│
│ GetApiExport("GetPlugin") ──────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
▼ ▼
Plugin.dll (NativeAOT)
├── SharedStatic / SharedStaticV1Ext<T> (export registry)
├── IPlugin ──► PluginBase (plugin metadata)
│ └── IPluginPresetConfig[n] ──► PluginPresetConfigBase (per-region config)
│ ├── IGameManager ──► GameManagerBase (runtime management)
│ ├── IGameInstaller ──► GameInstallerBase (install / update)
│ ├── ILauncherApiMedia ──► LauncherApiMediaBase (launcher backgrounds)
│ └── ILauncherApiNews ──► LauncherApiNewsBase (launcher news feed)
└── IPluginSelfUpdate ──► PluginSelfUpdateBase (plugin self-update)
Key concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
IPlugin / PluginBase |
Root interface. Provides plugin metadata (name, author, version) and exposes one or more IPluginPresetConfig regions. |
IPluginPresetConfig / PluginPresetConfigBase |
Describes a single game region/zone (e.g. "Global", "SEA"). Holds all static metadata and references to the live management objects. |
IGameManager / GameManagerBase |
Handles in-game controls such as launching the game. |
IGameInstaller / GameInstallerBase |
Handles installation, repair, and game updates. |
ILauncherApiMedia / LauncherApiMediaBase |
Supplies launcher background images, icons, and other media. |
ILauncherApiNews / LauncherApiNewsBase |
Supplies the launcher news carousel and social media links. |
IPluginSelfUpdate / PluginSelfUpdateBase |
Allows the plugin DLL itself to be updated from a CDN. |
SharedStatic |
Static registry that maps export names to function pointers. The launcher calls GetApiExport to obtain any of these pointers at runtime. |
API standard versioning
The current API standard version is v0.1.5. All plugins must implement at minimum the v0.1 core exports. Optional feature sets are versioned as update packages (v0.1-update1, v0.1-update2, etc.) and are handled automatically by SharedStaticV1Ext<T>.
| Update | Export(s) added | Description |
|---|---|---|
| v0.1-update1 | LaunchGameFromGameManagerAsync, IsGameRunning, WaitRunningGameAsync, KillRunningGame, GetPluginUpdateCdnList, SetDnsResolverCallbackAsync |
Game launch/runtime management, async DNS resolver, CDN self-update |
| v0.1-update2 | GetCurrentDiscordPresenceInfo |
Discord Rich Presence |
| v0.1-update3 | StartResizableWindowHookAsync |
Resizable window hook |
| v0.1-update4 | RegisterSpeedThrottlerService |
Download speed throttling |
| v0.1-update5 | SetPerFileProgressCallback |
Per-file install/download progress reporting |
Next steps
Follow the Getting Started guide to create your first plugin.