Designing a new system together

The common mistake with a new mechanic is asking for code straight away. If the structure is not settled, the code settles it for you - and usually in a way that does not fit your map.

Reversing the order changes the outcome a great deal.

1. 1Describe the behaviour as an outcome - what the player experiences, not how it is built.
2. 2Tell it what your map already has: which counters exist, which locations, whether something similar is already built.
3. 3Ask for the structure rather than the code: how many counters, how the triggers divide, where it collides with what exists.
4. 4Once the structure makes sense, ask for code - one piece at a time, in sizes you can check.

보스전을 회차제로 만들고 싶어. 원하는 결과는 이거야:
- 보스를 잡으면 회차가 1 오르고, 다음 보스가 더 강해진다
- 13회차까지 있고, 그 뒤로는 더 오르지 않는다
- 회차는 플레이어마다 따로 유지된다

지금 맵에 있는 것:
- 데스 카운터로 Level, Gold, Exp를 쓰고 있어
- 보스는 P8 소유고 "Boss Room" 로케이션에 나온다
- 커스텀 점수는 레벨로 이미 쓰고 있어

코드는 아직 쓰지 말고, 구조부터 제안해줘.
카운터가 몇 개 필요한지, 트리거를 어떻게 나눌지,
기존 시스템과 충돌하는 부분이 있는지 알려줘.

There are things to settle at the structure stage. Skip them and you find out after compiling.

• Whether you actually have spare unit types left - and remember you create those names in the editor yourself.
• Whether it collides with existing triggers in execution order. Two triggers touching one value makes their order part of the specification.
• Whether it is per-player or map-wide. Getting this wrong means rebuilding it later.
• Whether classic triggers can carry it. Ten bands is fine; a thousand is not.

Once the design is settled, write it into CLAUDE.md. You avoid re-explaining it next session, and it records why you built it that way.