Builder Guide

Playtest and Iterate

Use the editor and runtime as a single loop so balance, readability, and event flow improve continuously instead of in late bursts.

1 min read Tooling Loop playtest iteration workflow
A save menu confirming in-game progress in the terminal runtime.
A project improves fastest when authoring, saving, and playtesting stay in the same rhythm.

The engine is strongest when authoring and playtesting stay side by side.

After a map tweak, a dialogue change, or a battle adjustment, run the game immediately:

ichiloto play

Saving progress during a live playtest session

That habit catches issues early:

  • events that feel unclear
  • combat pacing that drags
  • dialogue that overruns the space
  • maps that look readable in the editor but feel awkward in motion

Run project validation alongside those playtests:

ichiloto validate

Validation catches structural problems that a short play session may never reach, including missing references, identity conflicts, invalid event and map contracts, and save-compatibility mistakes. Use ichiloto validate --strict when warnings should also fail a release or continuous-integration check.

Notifications surfacing feedback during gameplay

The longer a change goes unplayed, the more likely it is to accumulate context around assumptions instead of observed feel. Short feedback loops are not just good discipline in Ichiloto. They are part of the engine's design philosophy.