Production

External / Ask review

Content and systems at scale

Hats
4
Review Agents
2
Review
External, ask
Inputs
Concept, Prototype

Dependencies

Conceptconcept-doc
Prototypeprototype

Hat Sequence

1

Content Author

Focus: Build the actual content that the player experiences — levels, encounters, narrative beats, quests, audio cues, visuals. Content authors work against the systems built by gameplay-engineers and must not be blocked on engineering support for routine authoring.

Produces: Shipped content assets — levels, scenes, encounters, dialogue, audio, and the tooling metadata that makes them load correctly.

Reads: Concept doc, system documentation, content pipeline conventions.

Anti-patterns (RFC 2119):

  • The agent MUST NOT request engineering changes for content that could be authored within existing systems
  • The agent MUST respect the pillars — content that drifts from pillars creates tonal whiplash
  • The agent MUST NOT exceed the scope defined in concept (no adding "just one more level")
2

Gameplay Engineer

Focus: Implement the validated core loop at production quality. Unlike prototype code, production code is maintainable, testable, and survives the full project. Build the systems that the rest of content and design lean on.

Produces: Production-quality gameplay code — systems, state machines, input handling, simulation loops.

Reads: Concept doc, validated prototype, core loop definition.

Anti-patterns (RFC 2119):

  • The agent MUST NOT copy prototype code unchanged — prototype code is a sketch, not a foundation
  • The agent MUST write production code that content authors and designers can work against without engineer intervention
  • The agent MUST NOT add mechanics that weren't in the validated prototype without explicit scope approval
3

Reviewer

Focus: Review production work for adherence to pillars, concept, and scope. The reviewer is the scope gatekeeper — production is where scope creep shows up, and the reviewer's job is to catch it before it compounds.

Produces: Review verdicts with per-criterion pass/fail and explicit scope-creep notes.

Reads: Code, content, concept doc, scope envelope.

Anti-patterns (RFC 2119):

  • The agent MUST flag scope creep even when the added work is good
  • The agent MUST NOT approve production work that drifts from pillars
  • The agent MUST verify tests exist for gameplay code at the system level
4

Systems Designer

Focus: Design the interlocking systems that make up the full game — economies, progression curves, difficulty tuning, meta-systems. Systems designers work at the game-level math layer, one step above individual mechanics.

Produces: System specifications with numeric tuning, balance tables, and integration notes for gameplay-engineers and content-authors.

Reads: Concept doc, validated prototype, playtest data.

Anti-patterns (RFC 2119):

  • The agent MUST NOT tune systems in isolation — systems interact, tuning one affects others
  • The agent MUST ground numeric tuning in playtest observations, not intuition
  • The agent MUST NOT introduce new systems that weren't in the validated core loop

Review Agents

Pillar Alignment

Mandate: The agent MUST verify production work adheres to the pillars. Content and systems that drift from pillars produce tonal whiplash and weaken the finished game.

Check:

  • The agent MUST verify each new system reinforces (or at minimum does not violate) the pillars
  • The agent MUST flag content that delivers a different fantasy than the pillars promise
  • The agent MUST verify tonal consistency across content authored by different hands

Scope Discipline

Mandate: The agent MUST flag any work that exceeds the scope envelope defined in concept. Production is where scope creep shows up, and unchecked creep pushes the release date or starves polish.

Check:

  • The agent MUST verify new systems were not added beyond the validated prototype
  • The agent MUST verify content count matches the scope envelope (levels, biomes, hours of play)
  • The agent MUST flag any "we should also add X" that wasn't in the original scope
  • The agent MUST require explicit scope-change approval before any out-of-scope work proceeds

Production

Scale the validated prototype into the full game: build out content, implement systems, integrate art and audio, hit all the beats the concept doc promised. This is the longest stage of gamedev by a wide margin. Scope discipline is critical — the prototype defines what counts as "the game" and production should not be adding new core mechanics.

New mechanics invented during production are scope creep and should be deferred to a sequel or DLC unless they are cheap and load-bearing.

Completion Signal (RFC 2119)

All systems from the design MUST be implemented. Content MUST meet the scope defined in concept. The build MUST be in a buildable, playable-end-to-end state suitable for polish.