Gate Check: Concept → Systems Design

Date: 2026-08-25 Checked by: gate-check skill (review mode: full)

Required Artifacts: 4/4 present

[x] design/gdd/game-concept.md — 411 lines, document-review validated (READY, 4 fixes applied)
[x] Game pillars — 5 pillars with design tests + 4 anti-pillars (CD-PILLARS sharpening edits applied)
[x] Visual Identity Anchor — "Tideline": one-line rule + 3 principles with design tests
[x] (Recommended) Concept prototype — prototypes/combat-netcode-feel-concept/REPORT.md, PROCEED (CD-modified)

Quality Checks: 4/4 passing

[x] Design review verdict READY (not MAJOR REVISION)
[x] Core loop described at all four time scales
[x] Target audience identified (private friend group, player-type analysis done)
[x] VIA exceeds minimum (1 rule + 3 principles + color philosophy)

Director Panel Assessment

Director	Verdict	Core message
Creative Director (Opus)	CONCERNS	3 scope-to-pillar gaps → carried as binding GDD line items in `design/gdd/systems-design-brief.md`
Technical Director (Opus)	CONCERNS	Constraints not in enforcing docs; scheduler unvalidated; stale engine pointer → ALL RESOLVED same-day (see below)
Producer (Opus)	CONCERNS	GDD scope explosion risk → 5-GDD discipline adopted in phase brief
Art Director (Sonnet)	READY	Tideline anchor sufficient to seed GDDs and art bible

Concern Resolution (same-day)

✅ docs/CLAUDE.md engine pointer fixed (godot → unity)
✅ Forbidden Patterns + Allowed Libraries populated in .claude/docs/technical-preferences.md from the confirmed netcode model
✅ Tide scheduler determinism + harvest-diff dock/undock round-trip validated — 9/9 contract tests pass (prototypes/tide-scheduler-spike-2026-08-25/SPIKE-NOTE.md)
✅ CD + PR guidance recorded as binding phase brief (design/gdd/systems-design-brief.md)
⏳ Friend-group playtest — external task, tracked in phase brief and concept doc Next Steps; gates the netcode ADR, not this phase

Verdict: CONCERNS → advanced with concerns resolved

Chain-of-Verification: 5 questions checked (2 tool-verified: stale pointer and empty Forbidden Patterns both confirmed real before fixing) — verdict unchanged.

User decision: fix concerns, then advance. Stage updated to Systems Design.