The project model
GDE keeps a game’s design and development context together without replacing the tools that own it.
One root, ordinary files
Section titled “One root, ordinary files”The project root is a real folder or repository. Notes and designs are readable files. Maps, saved views and other authored surfaces have their own files beside them. The file tree reflects that filesystem.
You do not need an account or an engine to make a useful project. Scratch is a separate place for ideas that do not yet belong to one.
| Information | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Design, worldbuilding and accepted knowledge | Project files |
| Recorded source changes | Git |
| Live implementation tasks | GitHub issues |
| Model conversation and execution | Codex, with project associations shown in GDE |
| Game assets and runtime behavior | The game project and its engine |
| Personal layout and local tool choices | Local application settings |
A page is a subject; a collection is a view
Section titled “A page is a subject; a collection is a view”A page describes one subject: a creature, mechanic, quest, design question or reference. Its heading supplies its title. Properties and artwork are optional.
A collection selects existing subjects and shows them as a List, Table or Gallery. Changing the presentation does not create copies. A property edited in the table is the same property shown on the page.
Select a subject to preview it. Expand it when you want more room. Use Back to return. Switching between preview and the full page keeps the same working document.
Design and implementation are different states
Section titled “Design and implementation are different states”A page can be a rough idea, an accepted design, or an unimplemented feature. None of those states needs to create an issue automatically.
An issue’s board lane describes the workflow. Ready means it is ready in that workflow; it does not authorize a model to begin. An explicit implementation request or Implement action starts that work.
A Run records an attempt
Section titled “A Run records an attempt”A Run connects the requested implementation with its source context, working location, execution state and collected results. A finished model turn is not evidence that a game builds or behaves correctly.
Review the changed files, check results and exact output. A result from an older source revision or a changed output remains historical evidence, not proof about the current files. Results and evidence explains what each state can tell you.
Director uses the same project
Section titled “Director uses the same project”Director helps with the subject or context you provide and can perform supported project actions. A conversation is useful working context; save accepted decisions into the project when they need to survive the conversation.
Adding a page to a message captures context at that moment. It is not a promise that the message will follow every later edit to the file.