game-development – Design & UI skill for AI agents

Game Development

> Orchestrator skill — principles plus routing to specialized sub-skills.

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When to Use This Skill

You are working on a game development project. This skill teaches PRINCIPLES and directs you to the right sub-skill based on context.

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Sub-Skill Routing

Platform Selection

| If the game targets... | Use Sub-Skill |

|------------------------|---------------|

| Web browsers (HTML5, WebGL, WebGPU) | game-development/web-games |

| Mobile (iOS, Android) | game-development/mobile-games |

| PC (Steam, Desktop) | game-development/pc-games |

| VR/AR headsets | game-development/vr-ar |

Dimension Selection

| If the game is... | Use Sub-Skill |

|-------------------|---------------|

| 2D (sprites, tilemaps) | game-development/2d-games |

| 3D (meshes, shaders) | game-development/3d-games |

Architecture / tooling

| If you need... | Use Sub-Skill |

|----------------|---------------|

| Engine / framework choice, shell vs guest, fit tiers | game-development/engine-selection |

| GDD, balancing, player psychology | game-development/game-design |

| Multiplayer, networking | game-development/multiplayer |

| Visual style, asset pipeline, animation | game-development/game-art |

| Sound design, music, adaptive audio | game-development/game-audio |

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Core Principles (All Platforms)

1. The Game Loop

INPUT  → Read player actions
UPDATE → Process game logic (fixed timestep)
RENDER → Draw the frame (interpolated)

Fixed-timestep starting point (not required for every game):

• Physics/logic: Fixed rate (e.g., 50Hz)
• Rendering: Synchronize with the display/frame scheduler and chosen power budget
• Interpolate where appropriate; cap accumulated lag/substeps after pauses to avoid a catch-up spiral

Hybrid / UI-heavy games: the outer app may be DOM/event-driven; use a classic game loop only in canvas/WebGL viewports (or wherever simulation ticks).

2. Pattern Selection Matrix

| Pattern | Use When | Example |

|---------|----------|---------|

| State Machine | 3-5 discrete states | Player: Idle→Walk→Jump |

| Object Pooling | Frequent spawn/destroy | Bullets, particles |

| Observer/Events | Cross-system communication | Health→UI updates |

| ECS | Thousands of similar entities | RTS units, particles |

| Command | Undo, replay, networking | Input recording |

| Behavior Tree | Complex AI decisions | Enemy AI |

| Content-as-data | Designers ship levels/events without code | JSON/YAML packs |

Decision Rule: Start with State Machine. Add ECS only when performance demands.

3. Input Abstraction

Abstract input into ACTIONS, not raw keys:

"jump"  → Space, Gamepad A, Touch tap
"move"  → WASD, Left stick, Virtual joystick

4. Illustrative Performance Budget (60 FPS = 16.67ms)

| System | Budget |

|--------|--------|

| Input | 1ms |

| Physics | 3ms |

| AI | 2ms |

| Game Logic | 4ms |

| Rendering | 5ms |

| Buffer | 1.67ms |

Profile CPU and GPU paths on target hardware before choosing an optimization; these techniques do not have a universal priority order.

5. AI Selection by Complexity

| AI Type | Complexity | Use When |

|---------|------------|----------|

| FSM | Simple | 3-5 states, predictable behavior |

| Behavior Tree | Medium | Modular, designer-friendly |

| GOAP | High | Emergent, planning-based |

| Utility AI | High | Scoring-based decisions |

6. Collision Strategy

| Type | Best For |

|------|----------|

| AABB | Rectangles, fast checks |

| Circle | Round objects, cheap |

| Spatial Hash | Many similar-sized objects |

| Quadtree | Large worlds, varying sizes |

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Anti-Patterns (Universal)

| Don't | Do |

|-------|-----|

| Update everything every frame | Use events, dirty flags |

| Create objects in hot loops | Object pooling |

| Cache nothing | Cache references |

| Optimize without profiling | Profile first |

| Mix input with logic | Abstract input layer |

| Pick an engine by hype | Match engine to genre + team + delivery target |

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Routing Examples

“Browser 2D platformer”

→ game-development/engine-selection → game-development/web-games → game-development/2d-games → game-development/game-design

“UI-heavy web game with small arcade challenges”

→ game-development/engine-selection (shell vs guest) → game-development/web-games → game-development/2d-games for guests only

“Mobile puzzle”

→ game-development/mobile-games → game-development/game-design

“Multiplayer VR shooter”

→ game-development/vr-ar → game-development/3d-games → game-development/multiplayer

“Branching narrative with light stats”

→ game-development/engine-selection (Ink/Twine) → host UI of your choice

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> Remember: Great games come from iteration, not perfection. Prototype fast, then polish.

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.