save-system-patterns

Save System Patterns

Purpose

Define reliable persistence boundaries, save formats, recovery behavior, and migration policy.

Use When

• the game needs persistent progress or settings
• save corruption risk exists
• schema changes are likely

Inputs

• state ownership map
• progression model
• platform limits
• backward-compatibility expectations

Process

1. identify what must persist and when
2. design versioning and migration strategy
3. handle partial writes, invalid data, and fallback behavior
4. separate runtime objects from persistent data representation
5. define tests and release gates for save compatibility

Outputs

• save model
• migration strategy
• error-handling policy
• save QA checklist

Quality Bar

• makes ownership, state flow, and failure behavior explicit
• improves maintainability without over-abstracting
• supports testing, debugging, and safe iteration

Common Failure Modes

• coupling systems through hidden globals or timing assumptions
• writing logic that is hard to test or debug
• optimizing the wrong layer before measuring

Related Agents

• technical-design-lead
• gameplay-programmer
• qa-lead

Related Commands

• save-system-review
• tech-design
• verify

Notes

• Keep this skill aligned with the relevant rules layer and current project documentation.
• If engine-specific constraints materially change the workflow, hand off to the matching engine skill or engine-specific reviewer.