Playtest checklist — look and feel¶

One pass through every demo and system, done by a person at a real machine. Each section says which project thread built it, how to start it, and what to look for. Tick a box when it's right. When something is wrong, leave the box empty and write what you saw on the Fix: line (a screenshot helps). Send the file back, or paste the sections with notes, and each note becomes a fix or a BUGS.md row.

This list is about how things look, sound and feel. Measurements that need real hardware (benchmarks, thread scaling, min-spec, voice echo) stay in HARDWARE_TESTS.md; where a check here overlaps one there, it links to it instead of repeating it.

Before you start

git pull
cmake --workflow --preset everything-release   # zero warnings expected
cd build-release/bin

Keep the terminal visible: a warning or error in the log is a bug even when the game looks fine, so copy any [warn]/[error] line onto the Fix line of the section you were in. Have a controller plugged in and try it everywhere. sea_demo, melt_demo, jiggle_demo, physics_demo and audio_demo now have a settings panel (DEMO_PANEL.md): View or F3 gives it the controller. Demos marked (Synty) need your packs in KKE_ASSETS_DIR (or assets/synty/); without them they say so on screen and in the log.

0. Every demo (all threads)¶

Do these once per demo as you go through the list below.

[ ] The Kreative Kompas logo intro plays, any key or button skips it.
[ ] The log has no warn or error lines from start to quit.
[ ] Closing the window (not Ctrl+C) quits cleanly, no crash output (HW-006).
[ ] Resizing the window small and large keeps all text and panels on screen and readable.
[ ] Button hints show the glyphs of the device you last touched (keyboard keys vs. controller buttons) and switch when you swap.
[ ] The sky, light colour and background sound fit the demo (moods, below).

Fix:

1. Climb Race — `./climb_race`¶

Threads: Climbing race demo, Climbing hands and how-to-play, Start menu and joining players, Online play with local players, Climb Race flagship game (its notes go to that thread).

Start menu

[ ] Climbers stand in front of the mountain, each above their player card.
[ ] A second controller pressing A joins; keyboard joins with Enter when player 1 is on a pad.
[ ] Name, colour, CPU count (0-5) and difficulty change and are remembered on the next start.
[ ] The Mountain row lists the open mountains with best time and medal; locked ones aren't pickable.
[ ] Menus are fully usable with only a controller (no mouse needed).

Climbing

[ ] The how-to-play screen appears before the first race and X / H brings it back.
[ ] Hands land on the holds (not floating beside them); fingers curl round the hold.
[ ] Feet find footholds; hips move sensibly; no limb bends backwards.
[ ] Hold colours match the how-to-play screen: green jug, orange crimp, blue sloper.
[ ] Stamina drains and recovers as described; a lunge feels risky but useful.
[ ] Loose rock falls believably and knocks a climber off.
[ ] The finish (mantle over the summit) and results screen read clearly; the next mountain opens.
[ ] CPU climbers of each difficulty feel different (Easy slow, Expert quick).
[ ] Split screen with 2, 3 and 4 players: each view follows its climber; with 3 the fourth quarter shows the whole mountain.

Party modes and results (Mode row)

[ ] Rockfall: rocks come at each climber more often as the leader climbs; a hit reads clearly and costs stamina.
[ ] Elimination: every 30 s the lowest climber lets go; it's clear who is out and why.
[ ] Time trial: the pale ghost repeats your best run; beating it replaces it.
[ ] The results list (times or heights, medals, new bests, falls) is easy to read.
[ ] Grabs, broken holds, falls, rocks, the countdown and medals each have a sound that fits.

Online (needs two PCs, or two copies on one PC)

[ ] Host from the menu; the other copy finds it (LAN) or joins by address.
[ ] Two local players on the joining PC both race online.
[ ] Remote climbers' hands and feet look as good as local ones.
[ ] Quitting the host shows "the host ended the game" on the client, not an error.

Fix:

2. Showcase — `./kke_demo`¶

Threads: Continue kk-engine work, Lava station and wall run, Idle and walk flicker, Networking v2, Game saves and voice polish, Assets, logo intro and banner.

[ ] Walking, running (Shift), slow walk (Alt) and stopping: no flashing between idle and walk.
[ ] Parkour lane: vault the fence and low wall, climb the block and the 2.1 m ledge, hang and shimmy on the 3 m wall, jump off.
[ ] Wall run and ledge leaps feel responsive; landing never snaps or sinks into the ground.
[ ] Lava station, pool and breaking yard work; the Synty art around them looks placed, not floating (Synty).
[ ] V switches first/third person; left click shoots; E pushes.
[ ] Controller: every action above works from a pad (RT shoot, Y push, R3 view, X reset, d-pad up/down zoom, d-pad left ping), and the menu (Esc / Start) is usable with it. The HUD's corner shows Esc on the keyboard and the Start glyph on a pad.
[ ] Lua toys on the pad: RB builds a tower, View throws a ball, holding View a second clears. D-pad right starts break-the-targets.
[ ] Push-to-talk (voice builds): P or LB.
[ ] Split screen (KKE_SPLIT=2 ./kke_demo): the second player gets a pad and their own view, and can shoot (RT), push (Y), reset (X) and open the menu (Start) with it.
[ ] Multiplayer: KKE_NET=host on one copy, KKE_NET=join:127.0.0.1 on another; both see each other move smoothly.
[ ] F1 engine panels open, can be dragged, and close again.
[ ] Voice chat echo/noise: see HW-018. The 1-core walk with sound: HW-019.

Fix:

3. Sandbox and Play mode — `./sandbox`¶

Threads: Play-to-make (simple, nodes, Lua), Node graph editor, Lua v2 (audio v2, thumbnails), Physics bridge leftovers, Fracture interior fill, Procedural animation (Shove / Look at blocks).

Play mode (opens first)

[ ] The row of big pictures is clear to a child: drag one out and it appears where you let go.
[ ] Bat: swing at a person, they fall over (ragdoll) and Get up stands them back up.
[ ] Throwing a ball, bonking, and breaking things all feel satisfying.
[ ] Controller: the ring cursor, hold A to drag, LB/RB through the pictures, B cancels, Y stands everyone up.
[ ] Touch (if you have a touchscreen): drag, tap, two-finger turn, pinch zoom (HW-016).

Node graph (the Look picture)

[ ] Opening the bat's recipe shows When someone is hit → Knock over → Play sound.
[ ] Editing it changes the bat straight away; blocks light up as they run.
[ ] Show Lua shows readable code; the graph is still there after save and load.
[ ] Shove makes a person stagger (light) or fall and get up (hard).

Build mode (F2)

[ ] Asset browser thumbnails load for every pack; search and filters work (Synty).
[ ] Place, rotate, move, scale with the gizmo; grid snap feels right; Shift turns snapping off.
[ ] Make a prop breakable, shoot it: pieces break along natural cracks, no hollow faces, no exploding pieces.
[ ] Save the level, quit, load it: everything comes back, including the Mood.
[ ] With only a controller: pick an asset in the Assets panel, place it, change its size with + (hold A), undo with d-pad left, and get back to Play with Start.

Fix:

4. Physics — `./physics_demo`¶

Threads: Fracture interior fill, Physics bridge leftovers, Continue kk-engine work. Detailed hardware checks: HW-005, HW-007, HW-014.

[ ] Every scene button spawns its scene on the floor (nothing mid-air).
[ ] Glass shatters into shards, brick into chunks, rubber bounces, iron dents.
[ ] Broken pieces show solid inside faces along the cracks, from every side.
[ ] Piles settle and stop jittering; nothing sinks through the floor.
[ ] The panel's Fracture seed slider and New fracture seed button work from the controller; the same seed breaks the same way again (HW-014).

Fix:

5. Melt — `./melt_demo`¶

Thread: Continue kk-engine work. Speed on hardware: HW-012.

[ ] Space pours lava; ice, wax, chocolate and aluminium each melt differently and at a believable speed.
[ ] The liquid surface looks like a liquid, not a pile of balls.
[ ] Melt starts at the block's surface (no invisible cube around it, BUG-049).
[ ] R resets when the liquid budget is full.

Fix:

6. Sea — `./sea_demo`¶

Thread: Continue kk-engine work. Hardware: HW-013.

[ ] Arrow keys drive the boat; it rides the swell and doesn't capsize by itself.
[ ] 1-5 pick what to throw; foam and wood float, iron sinks.
[ ] C follows the boat; R resets.

Fix:

7. Jiggle — `./jiggle_demo`¶

Thread: Jiggle physics and demos.

[ ] The jelly on the plate wobbles and settles; Space rains balls onto it.
[ ] The jogging character's soft tissue moves naturally, not rubbery or stiff.
[ ] Tab switches between the scenes.

Fix:

8. Audio — `./audio_demo` (headphones)¶

Thread: Lua v2, audio v2, thumbnails. HW-017 passed on 2026-09-27; this only re-checks the ambience that came later.

[ ] The background loop is pleasant, at a sensible volume, and loops without a click.

Fix:

9. Farm — `./farm_demo` (Synty)¶

Thread: AI behavior and farm wildlife.

[ ] Sheep bolt as a flock when you run at them and calm down after.
[ ] Cows come to look; pigs root about; horses spook; the fox keeps its distance.
[ ] Space (bark) makes every animal in range react.
[ ] Animals walk round fences, the barn and trees (F2 shows the navmesh).
[ ] Teaching: Tab picks a lesson, E shows it, L makes them learn; the change is visible.
[ ] Animals face the way they walk (no moonwalking or sliding).

Fix:

10. Procedural animation — `./procedural_demo`¶

Thread: Procedural animation.

[ ] Spider, beetle, dog and person walk over hills and steps with feet planted (no sliding).
[ ] Clicking the ground brings everyone to the flag.
[ ] A click staggers the dog or person; Shift+click knocks them down and they get up.
[ ] 1 / 2 / 3 walk, trot, gallop look like a real dog's gaits.

Fix:

11. Pet companion — `./pet_companion` (Synty)¶

Thread: Pet companion and platoon demos.

[ ] Come, Sit, Stay, Fetch, Drop (1-5, or the D-pad and X) each do what they say.
[ ] Q or View pings the surroundings; the d-pad down only makes the pug sit.
[ ] The order wheel (Tab / LB) is easy to use with mouse and controller.
[ ] Petting (E / Y) looks cute and reads as petting.
[ ] The pug never blocks your path or clips through you.

Fix:

12. Platoon — `./platoon`¶

Thread: Pet companion and platoon demos.

[ ] Selecting (click, box, groups 1-9) and ordering (right click, wheel) feel like an RTS.
[ ] Soldiers take cover, keep formation, focus fire; the enemy fights back sensibly.
[ ] Controller: reticle select, RB orders, LB wheel all work.

Fix:

13. Duel — `./duel`¶

Thread: Fighting and goblin horde demos.

[ ] Jab, uppercut, knee, block/parry, dodge each read clearly and feel responsive.
[ ] Knockdowns ragdoll and the fighter gets up without popping.
[ ] The bot is beatable but not trivial.
[ ] F2 / Back: a second player takes the red corner (second pad or arrow keys).

Fix:

14. Goblin horde — `./goblin_horde` (Synty)¶

Thread: Fighting and goblin horde demos.

[ ] Goblins are visible and animated (no T-pose), and the five types look different.
[ ] Goblins surround you, wait their turn, and break and run when morale drops.
[ ] Sword: three-hit combo, heavy swing, hold heavy to spin; inventory (Tab / d-pad up) swaps weapons.
[ ] Bow: hold to draw, a full draw hits harder; crossbow reloads slowly, same damage every bolt.
[ ] Wave 5: a giant comes, its attacks are marked on the ground first.
[ ] Two players split screen; online host and join; both at once.
[ ] Esc pauses; Super+Q closes the game.
[ ] Frame rate holds with a big wave.

Fix:

15. UI showcase — `./rmlui_demo`¶

Threads: Xelu button prompts, Continue kk-engine work. Full desktop check: HW-008.

[ ] The live input tester shows the right Xelu glyph for keys, pad buttons and sticks.
[ ] The whole menu can be driven with a controller (focus ring visible, no mouse).

Fix:

16. Synty demo — `./synty_demo` (Synty)¶

Thread: Physics bridge leftovers (ragdolls). Full check: HW-009.

[ ] Ragdolls (R, Shift+R, T, G) fall believably, joints stay in human and animal ranges.

Fix:

17. Moods and skies (every demo)¶

Thread: Skies and mood for demos, Threat Interactive rendering review.

[ ] Each demo's sky and light fit it (Climb Race golden hour, Goblin Horde sunset, Duel night ring...).
[ ] No banding or dithering noise in the sky or fog.
[ ] KKE_MOOD=night ./climb_race (and a couple of others) changes the whole look.
[ ] Colours look natural (AgX), not washed out or oversaturated.

Fix:

18. Starter game, tutorials and cookbook¶

Threads: Docs site and starter template, Docs cookbook with examples.

[ ] tools/new_game my_game, build, run: you can walk, jump and climb.
[ ] Follow the first tutorial page; every step works as written.
[ ] Open https://khyretos.github.io/kk-engine/ — pages load, cookbook screenshots show.
[ ] ./cookbook: keys 1-8 switch between the eight cameras (first, third, orbit, top-down, isometric, side-on, fixed, cinematic); each feels usable.
[ ] Copy two recipes from the cookbook into your game's scripts; they do what the page says.

Fix:

19. Servers, join codes and saves¶

Threads: Networking v2, Server Lua and join codes, Game saves and voice polish. Commands are in SERVER_HOSTING.md.

[ ] ./kke_server starts, the console answers (help, seen <name>, backup).
[ ] With a relay (kke_server --roles relay), a game server gets a join code and a friend joins by typing it.
[ ] F1 → Network → Internet servers lists a server and Join works.
[ ] Input replay (KKE_NET_REPLAY=1 on the host): the joiner can run the parkour lane without rubber-banding.

Fix:

20. Mods and DLC¶

Thread: DLC, mods and workshop. Commands in MODDING.md.

[ ] kke_packs new then kke_packs check on a test pack: messages are clear.
[ ] A pack that overrides a file really changes it in the game; removing it brings the original back.

Fix:

21. Downloads and releases¶

Threads: Downloadable builds, Local release build errors.

[ ] The v0.1.0-alpha download (GitHub Releases) unzips and runs on Linux (and Windows if you have it).
[ ] A demo without packs shows its "assets not found" screen, not a crash.
[ ] Your local GCC 16 build has zero warnings.

Fix:

22. Website — engine.kreative-kompas.com¶

Thread: Presentable repo and README.

[ ] Front page, feature sections and screenshots look right on desktop and phone.
[ ] The README front page on GitHub reads well and its links work.

Fix:

Threads with nothing to look at¶

These threads finished work that has no look or feel to check; they can be resolved once CI is green: Weekly build and test health (a routine), Check network access, Engine status audit, Check new share link, Recheck new share link, Zero warnings pass, Roadmap and path to market, Benchmarks and contributor setup, Non-invasive anti-cheat (covered by the shipping build in CI), JSON and YAML everywhere, Dependencies and licences, Console and platform targets (real hardware checks are issues #69 and #70), Fix failing CI pipeline, Polish and verify idle threads.

Playtest checklist — look and feel¶

0. Every demo (all threads)¶

1. Climb Race — ./climb_race¶

2. Showcase — ./kke_demo¶

3. Sandbox and Play mode — ./sandbox¶

4. Physics — ./physics_demo¶

5. Melt — ./melt_demo¶

6. Sea — ./sea_demo¶

7. Jiggle — ./jiggle_demo¶

8. Audio — ./audio_demo (headphones)¶

9. Farm — ./farm_demo (Synty)¶

10. Procedural animation — ./procedural_demo¶

11. Pet companion — ./pet_companion (Synty)¶

12. Platoon — ./platoon¶

13. Duel — ./duel¶

14. Goblin horde — ./goblin_horde (Synty)¶

15. UI showcase — ./rmlui_demo¶

16. Synty demo — ./synty_demo (Synty)¶

17. Moods and skies (every demo)¶

18. Starter game, tutorials and cookbook¶

19. Servers, join codes and saves¶

20. Mods and DLC¶

21. Downloads and releases¶

22. Website — engine.kreative-kompas.com¶

Threads with nothing to look at¶

1. Climb Race — `./climb_race`¶

2. Showcase — `./kke_demo`¶

3. Sandbox and Play mode — `./sandbox`¶

4. Physics — `./physics_demo`¶

5. Melt — `./melt_demo`¶

6. Sea — `./sea_demo`¶

7. Jiggle — `./jiggle_demo`¶

8. Audio — `./audio_demo` (headphones)¶

9. Farm — `./farm_demo` (Synty)¶

10. Procedural animation — `./procedural_demo`¶

11. Pet companion — `./pet_companion` (Synty)¶

12. Platoon — `./platoon`¶

13. Duel — `./duel`¶

14. Goblin horde — `./goblin_horde` (Synty)¶

15. UI showcase — `./rmlui_demo`¶

16. Synty demo — `./synty_demo` (Synty)¶