# Game Studio Agent Architecture -- Quick Start Guide

## What Is This?

This is a complete Claude Code agent architecture for game development. It
organizes 48 specialized AI agents into a studio hierarchy that mirrors
real game development teams, with defined responsibilities, delegation
rules, and coordination protocols. It includes engine-specialist agents
for Godot, Unity, and Unreal — each with dedicated sub-specialists for
major engine subsystems. All design agents and templates are grounded in
established game design theory (MDA Framework, Self-Determination Theory,
Flow State, Bartle Player Types). Use whichever engine set matches your project.

## How to Use

### 1. Understand the Hierarchy

There are three tiers of agents:

- **Tier 1 (Opus)**: Directors who make high-level decisions
  - `creative-director` -- vision and creative conflict resolution
  - `technical-director` -- architecture and technology decisions
  - `producer` -- scheduling, coordination, and risk management

- **Tier 2 (Sonnet)**: Department leads who own their domain
  - `game-designer`, `lead-programmer`, `art-director`, `audio-director`,
    `narrative-director`, `qa-lead`, `release-manager`, `localization-lead`

- **Tier 3 (Sonnet/Haiku)**: Specialists who execute within their domain
  - Designers, programmers, artists, writers, testers, engineers

### 2. Pick the Right Agent for the Job

Ask yourself: "What department would handle this in a real studio?"

| I need to... | Use this agent |
|-------------|---------------|
| Design a new mechanic | `game-designer` |
| Write combat code | `gameplay-programmer` |
| Create a shader | `technical-artist` |
| Write dialogue | `writer` |
| Plan the next sprint | `producer` |
| Review code quality | `lead-programmer` |
| Write test cases | `qa-tester` |
| Design a level | `level-designer` |
| Fix a performance problem | `performance-analyst` |
| Set up CI/CD | `devops-engineer` |
| Design a loot table | `economy-designer` |
| Resolve a creative conflict | `creative-director` |
| Make an architecture decision | `technical-director` |
| Manage a release | `release-manager` |
| Prepare strings for translation | `localization-lead` |
| Test a mechanic idea quickly | `prototyper` |
| Review code for security issues | `security-engineer` |
| Check accessibility compliance | `accessibility-specialist` |
| Get Unreal Engine advice | `unreal-specialist` |
| Get Unity advice | `unity-specialist` |
| Get Godot advice | `godot-specialist` |
| Design GAS abilities/effects | `ue-gas-specialist` |
| Define BP/C++ boundaries | `ue-blueprint-specialist` |
| Implement UE replication | `ue-replication-specialist` |
| Build UMG/CommonUI widgets | `ue-umg-specialist` |
| Design DOTS/ECS architecture | `unity-dots-specialist` |
| Write Unity shaders/VFX | `unity-shader-specialist` |
| Manage Addressable assets | `unity-addressables-specialist` |
| Build UI Toolkit/UGUI screens | `unity-ui-specialist` |
| Write idiomatic GDScript | `godot-gdscript-specialist` |
| Create Godot shaders | `godot-shader-specialist` |
| Build GDExtension modules | `godot-gdextension-specialist` |
| Plan live events and seasons | `live-ops-designer` |
| Write patch notes for players | `community-manager` |
| Brainstorm a new game idea | Use `/brainstorm` skill |

### 3. Use Slash Commands for Common Tasks

| Command | What it does |
|---------|-------------|
| `/design-review` | Reviews a design document |
| `/code-review` | Reviews code for quality and architecture |
| `/playtest-report` | Creates or analyzes playtest feedback |
| `/balance-check` | Analyzes game balance data |
| `/sprint-plan` | Creates or updates sprint plans |
| `/architecture-decision` | Creates an ADR |
| `/asset-audit` | Audits assets for compliance |
| `/milestone-review` | Reviews milestone progress |
| `/onboard` | Generates onboarding docs for a role |
| `/prototype` | Scaffolds a throwaway prototype |
| `/release-checklist` | Validates pre-release checklist |
| `/changelog` | Generates changelog from git history |
| `/retrospective` | Runs sprint/milestone retrospective |
| `/estimate` | Produces structured effort estimates |
| `/hotfix` | Emergency fix with audit trail |
| `/tech-debt` | Scan, track, and prioritize tech debt |
| `/scope-check` | Detect scope creep against plan |
| `/localize` | Localization scan, extract, validate |
| `/perf-profile` | Performance profiling and bottleneck ID |
| `/gate-check` | Validate phase readiness (PASS/CONCERNS/FAIL) |
| `/project-stage-detect` | Analyze project state, detect stage, identify gaps |
| `/reverse-document` | Generate design/architecture docs from existing code |
| `/setup-engine` | Configure engine + version, populate reference docs |
| `/team-combat` | Orchestrate full combat team pipeline |
| `/team-narrative` | Orchestrate full narrative team pipeline |
| `/team-ui` | Orchestrate full UI team pipeline |
| `/team-release` | Orchestrate full release team pipeline |
| `/team-polish` | Orchestrate full polish team pipeline |
| `/team-audio` | Orchestrate full audio team pipeline |
| `/team-level` | Orchestrate full level creation pipeline |
| `/launch-checklist` | Complete launch readiness validation |
| `/patch-notes` | Generate player-facing patch notes |
| `/brainstorm` | Guided game concept ideation from scratch |

### 4. Use Templates for New Documents

Templates are in `.claude/docs/templates/`:

- `game-design-document.md` -- for new mechanics and systems
- `architecture-decision-record.md` -- for technical decisions
- `risk-register-entry.md` -- for new risks
- `narrative-character-sheet.md` -- for new characters
- `test-plan.md` -- for feature test plans
- `sprint-plan.md` -- for sprint planning
- `milestone-definition.md` -- for new milestones
- `level-design-document.md` -- for new levels
- `game-pillars.md` -- for core design pillars
- `art-bible.md` -- for visual style reference
- `technical-design-document.md` -- for per-system technical designs
- `post-mortem.md` -- for project/milestone retrospectives
- `sound-bible.md` -- for audio style reference
- `release-checklist-template.md` -- for platform release checklists
- `changelog-template.md` -- for player-facing patch notes
- `release-notes.md` -- for player-facing release notes
- `incident-response.md` -- for live incident response playbooks
- `game-concept.md` -- for initial game concepts (MDA, SDT, Flow, Bartle)
- `pitch-document.md` -- for pitching the game to stakeholders
- `economy-model.md` -- for virtual economy design (sink/faucet model)
- `faction-design.md` -- for faction identity, lore, and gameplay role

### 5. Follow the Coordination Rules

1. Work flows down the hierarchy: Directors -> Leads -> Specialists
2. Conflicts escalate up the hierarchy
3. Cross-department work is coordinated by the `producer`
4. Agents do not modify files outside their domain without delegation
5. All decisions are documented

## First Steps for a New Project

### Path A: "I have no idea what to build"

Start from zero — the system will guide you through the entire process:

1. **Discover your game** — Run `/brainstorm` (or `/brainstorm open`)
   - Guided creative exploration: what excites you, what you've played, your constraints
   - Generates 3 concepts, helps you pick one, defines core loop and pillars
   - Produces a game concept document and recommends an engine
2. **Set up the engine** — Run `/setup-engine` (uses the brainstorm recommendation)
   - Configures CLAUDE.md, detects knowledge gaps, populates reference docs
   - Creates `.claude/docs/technical-preferences.md` with naming conventions,
     performance budgets, and engine-specific defaults
   - If the engine version is newer than the LLM's training data, it fetches
     current docs from the web so agents suggest correct APIs
3. **Validate the concept** — Run `/design-review design/gdd/game-concept.md`
4. **Test the core loop** — Run `/prototype [core-mechanic]`
5. **Playtest it** — Run `/playtest-report` to validate the hypothesis
6. **Plan the first sprint** — Run `/sprint-plan new`
7. Start building

### Path B: "I know what I want to build"

If you already have a game concept and engine choice:

1. **Set up the engine** — Run `/setup-engine [engine] [version]`
   (e.g., `/setup-engine godot 4.6`) — also creates technical preferences
2. **Write the Game Pillars** — delegate to `creative-director`
3. **Create the initial ADR** — Run `/architecture-decision`
4. **Create the first milestone** in `production/milestones/`
5. **Plan the first sprint** — Run `/sprint-plan new`
6. Start building

### Path C: "I know the game but not the engine"

If you have a concept but don't know which engine fits:

1. **Run `/setup-engine`** with no arguments — it will ask about your game's
   needs (2D/3D, platforms, team size, language preferences) and recommend
   an engine based on your answers
2. Follow Path B from step 2 onward

## File Structure Reference

```
CLAUDE.md                          -- Master config (read this first, ~60 lines)
.claude/
  settings.json                    -- Claude Code hooks and project settings
  agents/                          -- 48 agent definitions (YAML frontmatter)
  skills/                          -- 34 slash command definitions (YAML frontmatter)
  hooks/                           -- 8 hook scripts (.sh) wired by settings.json
  rules/                           -- 11 path-specific rule files
  docs/
    quick-start.md                 -- This file
    technical-preferences.md       -- Project-specific standards (populated by /setup-engine)
    coding-standards.md            -- Coding and design doc standards
    coordination-rules.md          -- Agent coordination rules
    context-management.md          -- Context budgets and compaction instructions
    review-workflow.md             -- Review and sign-off process
    directory-structure.md         -- Project directory layout
    agent-roster.md                -- Full agent list with tiers
    skills-reference.md            -- All slash commands
    rules-reference.md             -- Path-specific rules
    hooks-reference.md             -- Active hooks
    agent-coordination-map.md      -- Full delegation and workflow map
    setup-requirements.md          -- System prerequisites (Git Bash, jq, Python)
    settings-local-template.md     -- Personal settings.local.json guide
    hooks-reference/               -- Hook documentation and git hook examples
    templates/                     -- 28 document templates
```