platform-first

name	platform-first
description	Core development philosophy - fix platform code, not mod content. Load when making decisions about what to fix or implement.

Platform-First Development Philosophy

The Golden Rule

Fix the platform, not the content.

At this stage of development, all agents focus on platform code (core/, scenes/, Sparkling Editor), NOT mod content (mods/).

Why This Matters

The Captain (user) creates all mod content exactly as a real modder would. This ensures:

1. Real-world testing of the modding experience
2. No special treatment for demo content
3. Tool validation - if content is broken, the tool that made it is broken

Decision Framework

Symptom	Wrong Response	Correct Response
Character data is malformed	Fix the .tres file	Fix the Sparkling Editor component that generated it
Battle doesn't load correctly	Edit the battle resource	Fix BattleManager or MapMetadataLoader
Item stats are wrong	Edit the item resource	Fix the item editor or validation
Cinematic breaks	Edit the JSON file	Fix CinematicLoader or the cinematic editor

What Agents Should Do

1. Identify the root cause in platform code
2. Fix the tool or system that produces/consumes the content
3. Validate the fix by having the Captain recreate the content
4. Never edit mod content to work around platform bugs

What Agents Should NOT Do

• Edit files in mods/*/data/
• Create new mod content (characters, items, battles, etc.)
• "Fix" mod resources that appear broken
• Hardcode workarounds for specific content

Exception

Direct mod content changes are acceptable ONLY when:

• The Captain explicitly requests it
• The change is for testing/debugging purposes (then reverted)
• The mod system itself is being tested

Remember

If a modder would hit the same problem the Captain hit, the platform is broken. Fix the platform.