Game Studio Skill

The director's workflow for GameForge: turn "make me a game about X" into a playable, playtested, shareable build, using the forge_* tools for every asset and the playtester as the quality gate. It does not replace engine-specific depth: load gameforge:godot-dev or gameforge:unity-dev for that.

When to Use

• The user wants a game (or a prototype, jam entry, level, vertical slice) built end to end.
• The user hands you an existing GameForge project and asks to make it better or more fun.

Prerequisites

• GameForge enabled (hermes plugins enable gameforge) with the gameforge toolset on.
• Nothing else for the web path. Optional: Godot 4, Unity, Blender (see forge_engine action=status).

How to Run

1. forge_engine engine=web action=status — learn what this machine has (engines, browser, providers).
2. Pin the design in 6 lines before touching tools: genre, core verb, win/lose, session length, mood, art direction (palette + theme). Write it to <project>/DESIGN.md with write_file.
3. Scaffold: forge_engine engine=web action=scaffold theme=<forest|winter|desert|volcano|dungeon> hero=<archetype>. This generates every asset (sprites, tiles, SFX pools, music loop) and a playable build in web/.
4. Customise through data first: web/game.json (map rows, speeds, HP, attack radius). Regenerate any single asset with its tool and the same name (the ledger keeps recipes), then re-run the scaffold.
5. Gate on the playtester: forge_playtest target=web duration=90. Fix every critical/major issue, then reconsider each design issue. Re-test until the verdict is SOLID or PLAYABLE with reasons you accept.
6. Second engine when wanted: forge_engine engine=godot action=scaffold reuses the same assets and level; forge_playtest target=godot duration=300 bot-plays 5 minutes in seconds.
7. Ship: load gameforge:ship-it.

Quick Reference

Procedure — making it fun

• First 10 seconds: something must happen. The playtester's time_to_first_event_s should be < 5.
• Event density: "Nothing happens" issues mean dead zones — add coins/enemies to those map areas.
• Difficulty: more than 2 deaths/minute for the explorer bot = too hard; a no-damage win = too easy. Tune enemy.speed, enemy.chase_radius, player.hp, player.attack_radius in game.json.
• Juice: every player action needs feedback — a sound from a variation pool plus particles.
• Audio identity: one music mood per area; SFX style retro for chiptune, modern for synthwave.

Pitfalls

• Don't hand-write pixel art or synth code inline — the tools are seeded and recorded; inline work is lost.
• Don't call the job done on "it runs". Done means a playtest report without critical/major issues.
• Keep the map rectangular (all rows equal length) and ensure exactly one @ and one X.

Verification

• forge_playtest report verdict and its moments.jpg screenshots look right (send them to the user).
• gameforge.json lists every asset with a recipe; /forge <project> summarises it.