TECHNICAL MANUAL // 07

Validation & Publishing

Validation rules, local saves, and publishing to the server

Validation

Before a map can be published, it must pass a set of structural and metadata checks. The validator catches design errors that would make the map unplayable or confusing.

Switch to the Save tab and the validator runs automatically. Results appear as a summary badge — errors (red) block publishing, warnings (amber) are advisory, and all clear (teal) means the map is ready.

Three validation states: errors, warnings, and all clear — Validation states. Errors must be fixed before publishing. Warnings suggest improvements but don't block.

Structural Rules

These check whether the map forms a valid game board:

Rule	Severity	Description
At least one territory	Error	The map must have nodes
At least one connection	Error	Territories must be linked
No orphaned nodes	Error	Every territory must have at least one connection
Connected graph	Error	All territories must be reachable from all others
All territories attackable	Error	Every node must have at least one incoming connection
At least 6 populatable nodes	Error	Minimum territory count for viable gameplay
No dead ends	Warning	Territories with no outgoing attacks limit strategy
At least one bonus zone	Warning	Maps without bonuses have fewer strategic options

Metadata Rules

These check the map’s identity and image:

Rule	Severity	Description
Name 5–100 characters	Error	Map needs a valid name
Image required	Error	A background image must be uploaded
Image ≤ 10 MB	Error	File size limit
PNG/JPEG/WebP format	Error	Supported formats only
Dimensions 1080–3840px	Error	Width and height must be in range

Saving Locally

The Save Changes button writes your current work to the browser’s local storage. This happens entirely on your device — nothing is sent to the server. Save frequently to avoid losing work.

Your project persists across browser sessions. You can close the editor and come back later to resume where you left off.

Exporting to Disk

The Save to Disk button downloads your map as a JSON file. This is useful for backup, sharing with collaborators, or transferring between devices. You can reload an exported file later with the Load button.

Publishing

When validation passes, the Publish button sends your map to the server. A confirmation dialog appears before the first publish — once published, the map is visible to all players in the map browser.

What happens on publish:

The map definition (territories, connections, bonuses, spawn groups) is serialized as JSON
The map image is encoded and uploaded
The server assigns a unique map ID and version hash
The map appears in the public map browser

Updating a Published Map

You can update a published map by making changes and publishing again. A second confirmation dialog warns that the update will overwrite the live version. The server tracks versions — older games using the previous version continue to work, but new games will use the updated map.

The save panel with local save, disk export, and publish options — The save panel. Save locally, export to disk, or publish to the server.

Preview Before Publishing

Before you publish — and before you ask a playtester to spend time on your draft — open the map in the read-only viewer. Players see your map at their default zoom, with their HUD covering part of the screen, with bonus zones and connection arrows rendered exactly as the game renders them. The author view in the editor doesn’t show any of that. The viewer does.

The Save tab has two buttons next to the publish controls:

Preview in Viewer — opens the current draft in /map-viewer in a new tab. Use this to sanity-check your own work between save and publish.
Generate Share Link — copies a /map-viewer?map=<id>&version=<draft-version> URL to your clipboard. Send this to a playtester for feedback before you publish.

The share link includes the draft version number, so testers always see the version you intended to share — not whatever you happen to have open in the editor right now. Drafts shared this way render with an UNPUBLISHED badge in the panel header so the tester knows they’re looking at a work-in-progress.

The save panel with Preview in Viewer and Generate Share Link buttons — Preview in Viewer opens the current draft. Generate Share Link gives you a URL to send to playtesters.

The map viewer panel header with an UNPUBLISHED badge — A shared draft renders with the UNPUBLISHED badge so the viewer knows it isn't the live version.

Use it for playtesting

Send the share link to a playtester and ask them to walk through it before they sit down at a lobby. Two things to look for:

Readability — can they tell where the bonus zones are without you explaining? Are spawn groups visually distinct?
Strategic surface — do they see decisions to make, or does the map collapse into one obvious move?

Bug reports during playtest go through the in-app bug-report flow (testers know the drill from the tester landing page). Discussion-level feedback — “this bonus is too generous”, “spawns A and B feel imbalanced” — is better in Discord or wherever you’d normally hash out design.