- 01Read remaining steps
- 02Build or refine
- 03Update progress/quality
- 04Deliver or scrap
Completion versus quality
Limited work steps must complete an item and improve quality; extra refinement can leave it unfinished.
The player's decision
Secure completion or spend another step on quality?
Original scenario
Original: a flute needs three shaping steps within five actions; two polishing steps give quality, leaving no spare action.
Start with this prototype
Build one recipe, shape/refine controls and five durability steps. Show work needed to finish; score quality only on completed items and replay the ledger without random failure.
Change one variable
Vary completion work and check the opportunity cost of refinement.
What to observe in a playtest
Define finish-at-zero precedence and prevent quality rewards on unfinished items.
Take the full design card
Includes rules, scope, tuning questions and sources for further planning. It does not create a project automatically.
Original analysis · version 1
Common pitfall
Always-better refinement or automatic completion removes the choice.
Observations and sources
Cases refer to public documentation. Developers and community wikis are credited separately; document review is not a claim of hands-on testing.
- Final Fantasy XIV
Official guidance separates progress, durability and quality; durability loss before completion fails synthesis.
- Atelier Sophie
Panel filling and matching colors affect quality/effects, a spatial alternative to quality investment.
Brief for the studio
Opens the AI studio with the brief below in the input. You can edit it. Nothing starts automatically.
Build one recipe, shape/refine controls and five durability steps. Show work needed to finish; score quality only on completed items and replay the ledger without random failure.
Covers are original AI-generated style illustrations. Game names reference publicly visible design choices and remain the property of their owners. This atlas does not supply screenshots or assets from those games. Prompts and combinations are original drafts for new games.