Author Overview¶

SexLab Aroused NG is an SKSE plugin that provides a persistent, per-actor arousal system for Skyrim SE/AE. Other mods plug into this system to read and drive arousal values without needing to coordinate storage or update scheduling themselves.

Arousal is a single float per actor (typically 0–100) calculated as the sum of all active effects registered for that actor. Effects can be static (always present, plugin-managed) or dynamic (event-driven, temporary).

The arousal model¶

Each actor has an arousal value that is the sum of all their active effects:

arousal = sum(static effects not in a group)
        + sum(dynamic effect values)
        + sum(effect group values)

Values are floats with no enforced range, though convention is 0–100. Nothing prevents negative or >100 values — clamp in your own plugin if needed.

Time is measured in game days

In-game time is measured in game days (the same unit as Utility.GetCurrentGameTime()). One game day = 24 in-game hours. Most timed effect parameters use this unit, so a half-life of 4 in-game hours is 4.0 / 24.0.

Timed function IDs¶

Both static and dynamic effects can carry one of these built-in timed functions:

ID	Name	Behaviour
0	None	Effect stays at its current value indefinitely
1	Decay	Value halves every `param` game days. Stops (and removes effect) when it reaches `limit`. If `param` is negative the effect grows until reaching `limit`
2	Linear	Value changes by `param` per game day. Stops at `limit`
3	Sine wave	`value = (sin(time * param) + 1.0) * limit` — oscillates continuously, never stops
4	Delayed step	`value = 0` until `param` game days have elapsed, then `value = limit`

Choosing an integration approach¶

Need	Use
Temporary / rare effect from any script	Dynamic effect via `slaSetArousalEffect` ModEvent
Always-on per-actor condition, high-frequency updates	Static effect via an `sla_PluginBase` plugin quest
Effects that scale each other multiplicatively	Static effects + `GroupEffects`
Reacting to what actors see	`RegisterForLOSUpdates` in the plugin base
Reading arousal from a non-plugin script	`slaInternalModules.GetArousal(who)`
Supporting both OSL Aroused and SLA NG	The compatibility shim

Dynamic vs static — performance

Dynamic effects are stored in a map<string, EffectData> per actor. Calling SetDynamicArousalEffect / ModDynamicArousalEffect very frequently (e.g. every frame) is expensive. For high-frequency, always-on updates prefer a static effect.

Repo layout¶

SexlabArousedNG/
├─ src/                              C++ SKSE plugin (CommonLibSSE-NG) → SexlabArousedNG.dll. See building.md.
│  ├─ Main.cpp                         entry point, SKSE registration, cosave setup
│  ├─ ArousalManager.cpp               singleton: effect registry, calculation, serialization
│  ├─ ArousalData.cpp                  per-actor data: static/dynamic effects, groups, timed fns
│  ├─ Papyrus.cpp                      native function bindings (slaInternalModules)
│  └─ SerializationHelper.cpp          cosave read/write templates
├─ include/                          C++ headers (incl. CosSin.h sine/cosine table)
├─ dist/Core/                        everything that ships to the player's Data folder:
│  ├─ Source/Scripts/*.psc             Papyrus SOURCES — edit these.
│  ├─ Scripts/*.pex                    compiled bytecode — build output, don't hand-edit.
│  ├─ SKSE/Plugins/                    compiled .dll lands here.
│  └─ Interface/translations/          localized MCM strings (UTF-16 LE BOM).
├─ dist/Patches/                     optional compatibility patches (DummyESPs, SLEN, PAHE).
├─ dist/fomod/                       FOMOD installer (ModuleConfig.xml + info.xml version).
├─ test/                             Catch2 tests (ArousalMath.cpp).
├─ docs/                             this documentation site.
└─ CLAUDE.md                         contributor/build notes.

The split that matters: Papyrus is edited only in dist/Core/Source/Scripts/ — everything under Scripts/ and SKSE/Plugins/ is build output. See Building from Source.

Key scripts¶

Script	Role
`slamainscr`	Main quest, plugin lifecycle, actor tracking
`slaInternalModules`	Native bridge to C++ (hidden) — the Papyrus API
`sla_PluginBase`	Base class for all plugins — see Static Effects
`sla_defaultplugin`	Nudity, orgasm, denial, sleep effects
`sla_sexlabplugin`	SexLab integration
`sla_ddplugin`	Devious Devices integration
`sla_ostimplugin`	OStim integration
`slaConfigScr`	MCM configuration
`slaFrameworkScr`	Framework utilities, gender, factions — the portable read/write surface used by the compatibility shim
`slax`	Logging utilities

sla_sexlabplugin.psc and sla_ddplugin.psc are complete real-world plugin examples worth reading before you write your own.