Claude-Code-Game-Studios/.claude/skills/setup-engine/references/5-technical-preferences.md

/setup-engine — Section 5: Populate Technical Preferences

Part of /setup-engine. SKILL.md names when to read this file; the settings it resolved and the rules under its later headings still apply here.

5. Populate Technical Preferences

In this file:

• Engine & Language Section
• Naming Conventions (engine defaults)
• Input & Platform Section
• Remaining Sections
• Engine Specialists Routing
• Collaborative Step

After updating CLAUDE.md, create or update .claude/docs/technical-preferences.md with engine-appropriate defaults. Read the existing template first, then fill in:

Engine & Language Section

• Fill from the engine choice made in step 4

Naming Conventions (engine defaults)

For Godot — see references/godot-language-config.md (A2) for GDScript, C#, and Both variants.

For Unity (C#):

• Classes: PascalCase (e.g., PlayerController)
• Public fields/properties: PascalCase (e.g., MoveSpeed)
• Private fields: _camelCase (e.g., _moveSpeed)
• Methods: PascalCase (e.g., TakeDamage())
• Files: PascalCase matching class (e.g., PlayerController.cs)
• Constants: PascalCase or UPPER_SNAKE_CASE

For Unreal (C++):

• Classes: Prefixed PascalCase (A for Actor, U for UObject, F for struct)
• Variables: PascalCase (e.g., MoveSpeed)
• Functions: PascalCase (e.g., TakeDamage())
• Booleans: b prefix (e.g., bIsAlive)
• Files: Match class without prefix (e.g., PlayerController.h)

Input & Platform Section

Populate ## Input & Platform using the answers gathered in Section 2 (or extracted from the game concept). Derive the values using this mapping:

Platform target	Gamepad Support	Touch Support
PC only	Partial (recommended)	None
Console	Full	None
Mobile	None	Full
PC + Console	Full	None
PC + Mobile	Partial	Full
Web	Partial	Partial

For Primary Input, use the dominant input for the game genre:

• Action/RPG/platformer targeting console → Gamepad
• Strategy/point-and-click/RTS → Keyboard/Mouse
• Mobile game → Touch
• Cross-platform → ask the user

Genre may not exist yet — check before deriving from it. At minimal the design artifact is design/game-brief.md, and it is authored after this skill runs (Section 2 says so explicitly). There is no genre to map. The same is true at any tier when /setup-engine is run before the concept exists.

When genre is unavailable, ask — do not infer one from the platform, and do not leave the field silently blank:

• Prompt: "Primary input for a [2D/3D] [platform] game? Genre isn't established yet — the brief comes next — so this can't be derived."
• Options: the plausible inputs for that platform, plus Leave as [TO BE CONFIGURED] — a legitimate answer here, revisited via /settings once the brief exists.

Gamepad Support and Touch Support still come from the platform table above; only Primary Input depends on genre.

Present the derived values and ask the user to confirm or adjust before writing.

Example filled section:

## Input & Platform
- **Target Platforms**: PC, Console
- **Input Methods**: Keyboard/Mouse, Gamepad
- **Primary Input**: Gamepad
- **Gamepad Support**: Full
- **Touch Support**: None
- **Platform Notes**: All UI must support d-pad navigation. No hover-only interactions.

Remaining Sections

• Performance Budgets: Use AskUserQuestion:
  • Prompt: "Should I set default performance budgets now, or leave them for later?"
  • Options: [A] Set defaults now (60fps, 16.6ms frame budget, engine-appropriate draw call limit) / [B] Leave as [TO BE CONFIGURED] — I'll set these when I know my target hardware
  • If [A]: populate with the suggested defaults. If [B]: leave as placeholder.
• Testing: Suggest the engine-appropriate framework — gdUnit4 for Godot, NUnit for Unity, Automation Spec for Unreal — and ask before adding.

  Must match commands.test in Section 5.5.1, which writes gdUnit4's own runner (res://addons/gdUnit4/bin/GdUnitCmdTool.gd), and .claude/docs/coding-standards.md, which names the same runner. Naming GUT here would have the skill recommend one framework and configure another in the same run.

• Forbidden Patterns: Leave as placeholder — do NOT pre-populate.
• Allowed Libraries: Leave as placeholder — do NOT pre-populate dependencies the project does not currently need. Only add a library here when it is actively being integrated, not speculatively.

Guardrail: Never add speculative dependencies to Allowed Libraries. For example, do NOT add GodotSteam unless Steam integration is actively beginning in this session. Post-launch integrations should be added to Allowed Libraries when that work begins, not during engine setup.

Engine Specialists Routing

Also populate the ## Engine Specialists section in technical-preferences.md with the correct routing for the chosen engine:

For Godot — see references/godot-language-config.md (A3) for the routing table matching the language chosen.

For Unity:

## Engine Specialists
- **Primary**: unity-specialist
- **Language/Code Specialist**: unity-specialist (C# review — primary covers it)
- **Shader Specialist**: unity-shader-specialist (Shader Graph, HLSL, URP/HDRP materials)
- **UI Specialist**: unity-ui-specialist (UI Toolkit UXML/USS, UGUI Canvas, runtime UI)
- **Additional Specialists**: unity-dots-specialist (ECS, Jobs system, Burst compiler), unity-addressables-specialist (asset loading, memory management, content catalogs)
- **Routing Notes**: Invoke primary for architecture and general C# code review. Invoke DOTS specialist for any ECS/Jobs/Burst code. Invoke shader specialist for rendering and visual effects. Invoke UI specialist for all interface implementation. Invoke Addressables specialist for asset management systems.

### File Extension Routing

| File Extension / Type | Specialist to Spawn |
|-----------------------|---------------------|
| Game code (.cs files) | unity-specialist |
| Shader / material files (.shader, .shadergraph, .mat) | unity-shader-specialist |
| UI / screen files (.uxml, .uss, Canvas prefabs) | unity-ui-specialist |
| Scene / prefab / level files (.unity, .prefab) | unity-specialist |
| Native extension / plugin files (.dll, native plugins) | unity-specialist |
| General architecture review | unity-specialist |

For Unreal:

## Engine Specialists
- **Primary**: unreal-specialist
- **Language/Code Specialist**: ue-blueprint-specialist (Blueprint graphs) or unreal-specialist (C++)
- **Shader Specialist**: unreal-specialist (no dedicated shader specialist — primary covers materials)
- **UI Specialist**: ue-umg-specialist (UMG widgets, CommonUI, input routing, widget styling)
- **Additional Specialists**: ue-gas-specialist (Gameplay Ability System, attributes, gameplay effects), ue-replication-specialist (property replication, RPCs, client prediction, netcode)
- **Routing Notes**: Invoke primary for C++ architecture and broad engine decisions. Invoke Blueprint specialist for Blueprint graph architecture and BP/C++ boundary design. Invoke GAS specialist for all ability and attribute code. Invoke replication specialist for any multiplayer or networked systems. Invoke UMG specialist for all UI implementation.

### File Extension Routing

| File Extension / Type | Specialist to Spawn |
|-----------------------|---------------------|
| Game code (.cpp, .h files) | unreal-specialist |
| Shader / material files (.usf, .ush, Material assets) | unreal-specialist |
| UI / screen files (.umg, UMG Widget Blueprints) | ue-umg-specialist |
| Scene / prefab / level files (.umap, .uasset) | unreal-specialist |
| Native extension / plugin files (Plugin .uplugin, modules) | unreal-specialist |
| Blueprint graphs (.uasset BP classes) | ue-blueprint-specialist |
| General architecture review | unreal-specialist |

Collaborative Step

Present the filled-in preferences to the user. For Godot, include the chosen language and note where the full naming conventions and routing tables live:

"Here are the default technical preferences for [engine] ([language if Godot]). The naming conventions and specialist routing are in this skill's references directory — I'll apply the [GDScript/C#/Both] variant. Want to customize any of these, or may I save them to .claude/docs/technical-preferences.md?"

For all other engines, present the defaults directly without referencing the appendix.

Wait for approval before writing the file.

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