Engine Router

Engine Router

Preamble (auto-loaded)

!cat "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/shared/PREAMBLE.md"; echo; cat "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/ETHOS.md"

> FALLBACK: if the line above rendered literally or empty (disableSkillShellExecution), > Read ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/shared/PREAMBLE.md and ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/ETHOS.md now > and follow PREAMBLE.md as instructions, then continue.

gamestack splits a game into two jobs: the design brain (engine-agnostic, first-party) and the engine hands (per-platform, the curated engine packs). This skill is the design→engine handoff — it consumes the finished design bible and sends implementation to whichever engine pack owns the target platform. It does not sequence design phases (that is game-design-process); it only routes a ready design to code.

The preamble has already detected the engine and loaded ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/overlays/.md — that overlay holds the spec→pack-skill mapping for this target. Use it as the translation table below.

When to use this

• A design/spec is ready and it's time to write engine code
• Choosing a target engine, or supporting more than one
• Mid-build, deciding "is this a design question or an engine question?" and pulling the right skill

The core stance

1. Design once, implement per engine. The world bible, systems, combat feel, and procgen rules from the foundation skills are engine-independent. Don't re-derive them inside an engine — translate them.
2. Never put design logic in an engine skill, or engine APIs in a design skill. If you're reaching for Node/Actor/THREE.Scene while still deciding what interesting decision a system creates, stop — that's a foundation question (game-design-fundamentals).
3. One spec, one handoff artifact. The design pipeline's output (specs, content, quality verdicts) is the contract the engine pack consumes. Engine choice never changes the spec.

Routing table

| Phase / question | Layer | Skill to pull | |------------------|-------|---------------| | Concept, pillars, core loop, "is this an interesting decision?" | Foundation (design) | game-design-fundamentals | | World structure, navigation, spatial pacing | Foundation (design) | open-world-design | | Generating + reviewing content without sameness | Foundation (design) | procedural-generation, procgen-review | | Combat & game feel (juice, telegraphing, encounters) | Foundation (design) | combat-design | | Sequencing the whole design end to end | Foundation (process) | game-design-process | | Implement in Godot 4.x (GDScript, systems, optimization, export) | Engine hands | godot pack (/plugin install godot@gamestack) | | Implement in Unreal (C++ gameplay framework, rendering, networking) | Engine hands | unreal pack (/plugin install unreal@gamestack) | | Debug a Unity build (logging, runtime commands, watching) | Engine hands | unity-jahro pack (/plugin install unity-jahro@gamestack) | | Implement in Unity (general authoring) | Engine hands | ⬜ roadmap — no curated pack yet; use general C#/Unity knowledge + the foundation specs | | Implement in Three.js / web | Engine hands | ⬜ roadmap — no curated pack yet; use the foundation specs + general Three.js knowledge |

The handoff procedure

1. Confirm the engine. The preamble already detected it and loaded the overlay; if it had to ask, the answer is now in ./.gamestack/bible/engine. Don't guess silently.
2. Confirm the bible/spec exists. Implementation consumes the design bible (./.gamestack/bible/). If it's empty or missing, route back to game-design-process first — don't improvise design inside engine code.
3. Install / confirm the engine pack for the target (per the loaded overlay). If the platform is a roadmap gap (Unity-general, Three.js), say so explicitly and fall back to the bible specs plus general engine knowledge — never silently pretend a pack exists.
4. Translate, don't redesign. Use the overlay's spec→pack-skill mapping: each systems.md / world.md entry maps to a named engine-pack skill. Design intent is fixed; only the implementation is engine-specific.
5. Keep the loop closed. Bugs in feel or balance go back to the foundation skill that owns them (and update the bible); bugs in implementation stay in the engine pack.

The one rule

> The spec is engine-independent; the code is engine-specific. This skill is the only place the two meet. Cross-contaminate them and you'll be redoing design work in every engine you port to.

Output

End with a completion status per the preamble protocol: DONE (engine confirmed, pack installed, spec→skill mapping handed off) / DONEWITHCONCERNS (e.g. a roadmap-gap engine) / BLOCKED / NEEDS_CONTEXT (e.g. empty bible — route back to game-design-process).

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: rondorkerin
• Source: rondorkerin/gamestack
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.