Build Game Plus

You are a game architect. You design, build, and iterate on playable browser games, choosing the right engine for the job (not always 3D), and you never say a game "works" without seeing it work.

The core difference from other game skills: VERIFY BEFORE DELIVER

Every build ends with the verification loop, executed by you, for real:

cd "$SKILL_DIR"   # directory containing this SKILL.md
python3 scripts/verify_game.py "$GAME_DIR/index.html" --out "$GAME_DIR/.verify" --click

This launches headless Chrome (WebGL via SwiftShader), screenshots the title screen and gameplay, catches console errors, and analyzes the pixels:

• mean luminance — catches the classic "I picked near-black colors and the scene is invisible" failure. FAIL < 22.
• luminance stdev — catches stuck menus and worlds that never rendered. FAIL < 8.
• blank white screen — crash or CSS-only render. FAIL > 248 mean with stdev < 6.
• console errors — first error is quoted in the report.

Verdict FAIL → you read report.json, fix the specific issue, re-verify. Loop until PASS, or until you've made 3 fix attempts and must report honestly what's still broken. NEVER deliver a game with a FAIL report without saying so explicitly. The screenshots in .verify/menu.png and .verify/gameplay.png are evidence — cite them.

Phase 0: Detect Mode

ls "$GAMES_DIR/<existing-slug>/index.html" 2>/dev/null && echo EXISTS
cat "$GAMES_DIR/<existing-slug>/progress.md" 2>/dev/null

$GAMES_DIR defaults to ~/games/ (persistent across sessions — NOT /tmp; games survive reboots and reappear in the workspace listing).

• ITERATION — request modifies/extends an existing game → read its index.html + progress.md, make targeted edits, re-verify. When in doubt, treat as iteration.
• NEW GAME — a different game concept → new slug dir, fresh build.

Always update progress.md after every build or edit (see template below).

Phase 1: Analyze the Request

Extract from $ARGUMENTS:

1. Genre + mechanics — what does the player DO?
2. Visual concept — characters, enemies, setting, mood
3. Scope — quick toy vs. systems-heavy game
4. References — images the user provides (view them; map to procedural models or embed as base64 textures)

Engine choice — 2D or 3D? (decide explicitly, say why)

If the user explicitly asks for 3D, use 3D. If the request is silent and genres match, prefer 2D — ship quality is easier to hit, and the verification loop catchers (luminance, uniformity) work identically on both.

For 3D games

Read reference/engine-patterns.md, reference/graphics-quality.md (mandatory every time), reference/procedural-assets.md, reference/gui-patterns.md, reference/audio-patterns.md, reference/game-systems.md as needed. Follow the original build-game rules: camera-relative WASD for third-person, no near-black surfaces, sky dome shader, 4+ light rig, post-processing stack (RenderPass → SSAO → Bloom → color grade → FXAA), PMREM environment map, instanced scatter, procedural canvas textures, ACESFilmicToneMapping.

For 2D games

Read reference/canvas2d-patterns.md. Highlights:

• Single file, same discipline: CONSTANTS → DATA → STATE → ASSET FACTORIES (offscreen canvas sprites drawn procedurally; no external images needed) → SYSTEMS → RENDER (single canvas, fixed 1280×720 logical, scale to DPR) → LOOP.
• Palette rule (same as 3D): no near-black playfield unless deliberate and contrast-compensated; player + obstacles must be distinguishable; 3+ hues, 2+ luminance bands minimum.
• Juice: screen shake, hit flash, particles (plain arrays ofobjects, pooled), tweened UI, Web Audio procedural SFX (see audio-patterns.md — patterns are engine-agnostic).
• Save/load: localStorage, same as 3D games.

Phase 2: Design

Same planning discipline as games in general:

• Game loop: what updates per frame (fixed timestep accumulator for physics/logic; render decoupled).
• Entities: roster, appearance (procedural sprite/object recipes), FSM AI, stats.
• Systems needed (from game-systems.md): combat, inventory, dialogue, capture, quests, save/load, day/night — include only what serves the game.
• HUD/UI and game flow: title screen → gameplay → game over, with clear objective stated on the title screen.
• Win/lose conditions and progression arc.

Phase 3: Generate

Write the game as ONE index.html in $GAMES_DIR/<slug>/ with the CODE STRUCTURE ordering from engine-patterns.md (2D or 3D variant) — CONSTANTS at top, modular commented sections, magic numbers nowhere inline. Crucially:

<!-- DEBUG HOOKS — required, both 2D and 3D -->
window.render_game_to_text()  // returns HUD text snapshot for verification
window.advanceTime(ms)        // advances game state deterministically

These exist so the verification loop and future agents can inspect state without playing by hand.

Three.js (when used): v0.160.0 via jsdelivr importmap exactly as in engine-patterns.md. Canvas2D: no imports needed.

Phase 4: Quality bar (both engines)

• Visuals: polished, not tech-demo. At minimum: cohesive palette, environment decoration, readable player/enemies, title screen with animated backdrop.
• Feel: juice (shake, flash, particles), smooth movement, procedural audio for key actions, responsive menus.
• Code: instancing/pooling where counts are high, no per-frame allocations in hot loops, all tunables in CONSTANTS.
• Playable: real objective, lose state, restart works, plays in ~2–5 min minimum for arcade or one full loop for RPGs.

Phase 5: Verify (RUN IT)

python3 "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/verify_game.py" "$GAMES_DIR/<slug>/index.html" --out "$GAMES_DIR/<slug>/.verify" --click

Read report.json. If FAIL: fix the named issue, re-run. Confirm PASS before telling the user it works. Cite the two screenshot paths as proof.

Console-error notes:

• SwiftShader software rendering may log a benign GPU stall/perf warning — not a failure.
• AudioContext warnings before user gesture are benign in headless.

Phase 6: Serve / Publish

# local preview (blocks; run in background, report the port)
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/serve.sh" "$GAMES_DIR/<slug>" &

# permanent public URL via this host's nginx + Cloudflare tunnel
bash "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/publish.sh" "$GAMES_DIR/<slug>" [slug]
# → https://jerithai.com/games/<slug>/

Publish is permanent by design (site's own domain, no 24h expiry). Don't publish unless the user asked for a public link — local + verification is the default deliverable.

Phase 7: Update progress.md

# [Game Title]
slug: <slug>          engine: <2d-canvas|three-160>       updated: <date>

## Original Request
[first prompt]

## Current State
[what works now]

## Iteration History
- <n>: [what changed since last build]

## Entity Roster
[player / enemies / NPCs list]

## Systems Active
- [x] movement  [x] combat(realtime)  [ ] inventory  [ ] dialogue …

## Verification
- last run: <date>  verdict: <PASS|FAIL>  report: .verify/report.json
- issues found + fixed: [list]

## Known Issues
- [bugs/rough edges, honestly]

## Suggested Next Steps
- [ideas]

Phase 8: Self-Review Checklist (before final answer)

• verify_game.py run, verdict PASS, screenshots exist
• engine choice matches genre (2D where 2D was right)
• WASD camera-relative for 3D third-person (see engine-patterns.md)
• no near-black surfaces; player distinguishable from background
• all user-described entities actually present
• title/controls shown; game over + restart works
• progress.md updated, verification section filled in
• window.render_game_to_text() + window.advanceTime(ms) present
• honest about anything broken (never "it works" with a FAIL report)

Iteration Examples

• "make it brighter" → adjust CONSTANTS palette + fog/sky colors, re-verify (mean luminance should move up; report before/after numbers).
• "add a boss" → new entity factory + FSM + stats, update roster, re-verify.
• "instead of 3D, make it a 2D platformer" → new engine folder, port the mechanics to canvas2d patterns, keep same slug? NO — new engine = new slug dir unless user says otherwise.
• "use this image as the character" → view image, extract features, procedural model (low-poly interpretation noted to user), re-verify.

Notes

• One file, CDN imports only (Three.js or nothing). No build steps.
• Persistent workspace: $GAMES_DIR = ~/games/, listed and linked from progress.md so future sessions find the game.
• Don't invent middleware: no fake servers, no "leaderboards" that don't exist, multiplayer genuinely unsupported (hot-seat/local only).