craft-loop

# Craft Loop

A survival game is a ladder, not a loot pile. Gather is gated by the tool you can craft; craft consumes all inputs then adds the output; needs decay with *dt*, not frames; the next biome opens only when the last tier paid for it; the base holds overflow so the pack can stay small. Break the ladder and you shipped grind.

Inspired by gamedev-skills/awesome-gamedev-agent-skills survival-crafting (Apache-2.0). Original Grok remake. Complements gold-sink (loot tables — not this loop), seed-map (world/biome procgen), save-slot (persist world+base+needs), hud-stack (inventory chrome), pawn-mind (creature brains), tick-mass (physics feel), juice-pass (craft/gather juice), room-flow (authored rooms), godot-teacher (engine APIs). Not RPG side-craft. Not a roguelike permadeath dungeon. Gaming only. Not a Godot tutor.

Read `references/loop-rails.md` before you design. Fill the three templates under `templates/`.

## When to use

- Survival crafting, gather-craft-build, hunger/thirst, a tech tree, a base that is more than a chest
- Resource nodes with tool-tier gates and respawn
- Recipes as data with station/tech gates and atomic craft
- Graded needs (hunger, thirst, temp, stamina, health) that decay and recover
- Day/night driving threats; a ladder that unlocks the next biome or node family
- Persist hand-off of world + base + needs (save-slot owns the file format)

## When NOT to use

- RPG minor-craft (one station, no survival ladder) — different genre
- Roguelike permadeath dungeon loops
- Loot tables, shops, sinks → gold-sink
- World / biome / heightmap procgen → seed-map
- Persist schema / slot files → save-slot
- Inventory / hotbar chrome layout → hud-stack
- Creature / NPC brains → pawn-mind
- Rigid-body feel → tick-mass
- Craft pop / hit-stop → juice-pass
- Authored room pacing → room-flow
- Godot/Unity APIs, copied GDScript/C# → godot-teacher
- Cheats, aimbots, wallhacks, malware, CSAM

## Inputs

- Fantasy in their words (forest-craft, desert-scarcity, winter-needs, mix — name the mix last)
- One primary loop they want to land first
- Tool tiers they named (or a labeled `[GUESS]` three-rung ladder: stone / copper / iron)
- Inventory model: stacks + slots, or weight, plus a hotbar size
- Needs they care about (hunger / thirst / temp / stamina / health — do not invent a sixth)
- Day length and whether night is the threat driver
- What later systems consume (save-slot, hud-stack, seed-map, gold-sink)

## Procedure

1. Read `references/loop-rails.md`. Refuse cheats, aimbots, wallhacks, malware, CSAM, copied GDScript/C#, and Godot/Unity API tours. Hand off: gold-sink (loot), seed-map (procgen), save-slot (persist), hud-stack (chrome), pawn-mind (brains), tick-mass (physics), juice-pass (FX), room-flow (authored rooms), godot-teacher (node APIs).
2. Fill `templates/loop-card.md`. Name **one** primary loop: gather raw → craft tools → build/upgrade base → manage needs → explore farther → survive escalating threats → repeat at a higher tier. Each cycle must unlock the next (better tool → new nodes → new resource → better craft). If a cycle does not unlock, stop and fix the ladder before adding systems.
3. Lock resource nodes: what they drop, which tool tier can harvest them, and how they respawn. A permanently stripped world is a pitfall, not a feature. Lock inventory: stack size, slot or weight cap, hotbar. Unlimited packs hide the base.
4. Fill `templates/craft-tree.md`. Recipes are data (inputs, output, station, tech gate). Craft is atomic: validate, then consume-all, then add — never half-eat materials on a failed craft. The tree is a ladder: each unlock opens a new node family or biome, not a cosmetic skin.
5. Needs decay scaled by *dt*. Graded consequences (slow, DoT, incapacitate) — not instant death at zero. Recovery when fed **and** safe (shelter / fire / night inside the base). Pick decay cadence as a knob, not a per-frame constant.
6. Base: grid or snap, storage for overflow, stations that gate recipes. Day/night drives threat, not just a skybox. Persist world + base + needs via save-slot — this skill names *what* to keep, not the file format.
7. Fill `templates/verify-loop.md`. Prove: ladder unlocks, atomic craft, *dt*-scaled needs, respawn, inventory cap, threat ramp, save-slot handoff, no instant death.
8. Tiny original engine-neutral notes only if useful. No copied tutorial snippets. No cheat overlays.
9. Deliver the three templates. One closing line: this is a survival-loop worksheet; not a Godot tutor or a loot table.

## Output format

- Loop card (primary loop, nodes, tool-tier gate, inventory cap, day/night, survive goal)
- Craft-tree card (recipes as data, station/tech gates, atomic rule, ladder, needs)
- Verify-loop checklist (ladder, atomic, *dt*, respawn, cap, ramp, save, no instant death)
- One line: survival-loop worksheet; not a Godot tutor or a loot table

## Safety

- Follow `references/loop-rails.md` with no exceptions.
- Gaming design only. Engine-neutral notes. Not a Godot tutor.
- No cheats, aimbots, wallhacks, malware, or exploit kits.
- No CSAM in resource names, flavor text, or mock loops.
- No copied GDScript/C# or vendor survival dumps. Tiny original notes only.

## Stop conditions

- Three templates delivered, or refused for cheats / wallhacks / godot-teacher API tours / loot tables (gold-sink) / world procgen (seed-map) / persist schema (save-slot) / HUD chrome (hud-stack) / NPC AI (pawn-mind) / physics feel (tick-mass) / juice FX (juice-pass) / authored rooms (room-flow) / RPG minor-craft / roguelike dungeon / copied vendor dumps