pixelheros/.claude/docs/templates/systems-index.md

Systems Index: [Game Title]

Status: [Draft / Under Review / Approved] Created: [Date] Last Updated: [Date] Source Concept: design/gdd/game-concept.md

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Overview

[One paragraph explaining the game's mechanical scope. What kind of systems does this game need? Reference the core loop and game pillars. This should help any team member understand the "big picture" of what needs to be designed and built.]

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Systems Enumeration

#	System Name	Category	Priority	Status	Design Doc	Depends On
1	[e.g., Player Controller]	Core	MVP	[Not Started / In Design / In Review / Approved / Implemented]	[design/gdd/player-controller.md or "—"]	[e.g., Input System, Physics]
2	[e.g., Camera System]	Core	MVP	Not Started	—	Player Controller

[Add a row for every identified system. Use the categories and priority tiers defined below. Mark systems that were inferred (not explicitly in the concept doc) with "(inferred)" in the system name.]

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Categories

Category	Description	Typical Systems
Core	Foundation systems everything depends on	Player controller, input, physics, camera, scene management, state machine
Gameplay	The systems that make the game fun	Combat, AI, stealth, movement abilities, interaction
Progression	How the player grows over time	XP/leveling, skill trees, unlocks, achievements, reputation
Economy	Resource creation and consumption	Currency, loot, crafting, shops, item database, drop tables
Persistence	Save state and continuity	Save/load, settings, cloud sync, profile management
UI	Player-facing information displays	HUD, menus, inventory screen, dialogue UI, map, notifications
Audio	Sound and music systems	Music manager, SFX bus, ambient audio, adaptive music, voice
Narrative	Story and dialogue delivery	Dialogue system, quest tracking, cutscenes, journal, lore entries
Meta	Systems outside the core game loop	Analytics, tutorials/onboarding, accessibility options, photo mode

[Not every game needs every category. Remove categories that don't apply. Add custom categories if needed.]

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Priority Tiers

Tier	Definition	Target Milestone	Design Urgency
MVP	Required for the core loop to function. Without these, you can't test "is this fun?"	First playable prototype	Design FIRST
Vertical Slice	Required for one complete, polished area. Demonstrates the full experience.	Vertical slice / demo	Design SECOND
Alpha	All features present in rough form. Complete mechanical scope, placeholder content OK.	Alpha milestone	Design THIRD
Full Vision	Polish, edge cases, nice-to-haves, and content-complete features.	Beta / Release	Design as needed

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Dependency Map

[Systems sorted by dependency order — design and build from top to bottom. Systems at the top are foundations; systems at the bottom are wrappers.]

Foundation Layer (no dependencies)

1. [System] — [one-line rationale for why this is foundational]

Core Layer (depends on foundation)

1. [System] — depends on: [list]

Feature Layer (depends on core)

1. [System] — depends on: [list]

Presentation Layer (depends on features)

1. [System] — depends on: [list]

Polish Layer (depends on everything)

1. [System] — depends on: [list]

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Recommended Design Order

[Combining dependency sort and priority tiers. Design these systems in this order. Each system's GDD should be completed and reviewed before starting the next, though independent systems at the same layer can be designed in parallel.]

Order	System	Priority	Layer	Agent(s)	Est. Effort
1	[First system to design]	MVP	Foundation	game-designer	[S/M/L]
2	[Second system]	MVP	Foundation	game-designer	[S/M/L]

[Effort estimates: S = 1 session, M = 2-3 sessions, L = 4+ sessions. A "session" is one focused design conversation producing a complete GDD.]

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Circular Dependencies

[List any circular dependency chains found during analysis. These require special architectural attention — either break the cycle with an interface, or design the systems simultaneously.]

• [None found] OR
• [System A <-> System B: Description of the circular relationship and proposed resolution]

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High-Risk Systems

[Systems that are technically unproven, design-uncertain, or scope-dangerous. These should be prototyped early regardless of priority tier.]

System	Risk Type	Risk Description	Mitigation
[System]	[Technical / Design / Scope]	[What could go wrong]	[Prototype, research, or scope fallback]

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Progress Tracker

Metric	Count
Total systems identified	[N]
Design docs started	[N]
Design docs reviewed	[N]
Design docs approved	[N]
MVP systems designed	[N/total MVP]
Vertical Slice systems designed	[N/total VS]

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Next Steps

• Review and approve this systems enumeration
• Design MVP-tier systems first (use /design-system [system-name])
• Run /design-review on each completed GDD
• Run /gate-check pre-production when MVP systems are designed
• Validate the highest-risk systems with /vertical-slice before committing to Production