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SETTINGS_TRIALS.md

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Game settings in development builds

These changes are on main, not in the published beta.2 release.

Everyday settings

Open a game's Settings in the library, or Display / Controls in the game menu. Both places use the same editor and keep edits in a draft:

  • Display: Original / Fit / Stretch, smoothing, image rotation and Phone orientation.
  • Controls: graphical controller mapper; Phone additionally has Phone / Gamepad / Legacy layouts, size, opacity and portrait/landscape positioning.
  • Advanced: virtual phone resolution. The library also links to the full expert compatibility editor. Handheld remains landscape-only without a touch keypad.

Try in game launches the draft. Try changes applies it to the running game. Keep commits it; Undo restores the confirmed configuration. A roughly 20-second preview timer also restores it automatically. Opening the game menu, mapper or backgrounding the app suspends that timer. Keep / Undo are also in the game menu for controller navigation. Closing the editor without trying discards its draft.

The graphical mapper edits this same draft: Use mapping returns to Controls; it does not bypass Try / Keep. The hold-Select shortcut previews its changes directly.

Safety boundary

  • Canonical config.json is written atomically only on Keep. Runtime autosave requests during a preview do not commit it.
  • A library trial is a one-shot settings-trial.json, consumed before engine initialization. A failed launch or process death therefore leaves the confirmed configuration for the next launch, without replaying the trial.
  • This is configuration rollback, not a game-state checkpoint. Game saves are not restored or rolled back; normal gameplay can still change them.
  • Reverting a trial of renderer/compatibility properties ends that game session; the next launch uses the confirmed settings. Live picture/control changes do not need that restart. Save progress before testing compatibility changes.
  • An unopened Java game still runs automatic preparation before showing settings.
  • The legacy layout editor and ordinary edits in the full expert editor retain their existing direct-save behavior. Only its Fix game action uses the trial.
  • A draft survives recreation of the library settings activity. Unfinished edits inside an open mapper are discarded on recreation; confirmed settings remain.

Acceptance checklist

  1. Change Display from the library, try it, then Keep. Relaunch and check it persists.
  2. Change Display in-game and Undo; repeat and let the timer expire.
  3. Start a library trial, terminate the test process before Keep, then relaunch. Check that the last confirmed configuration is used.
  4. On Phone, preview Gamepad / Phone layout changes and restore them. Rotate the device while editing; verify touch targets and game placement.
  5. Open the mapper while a preview is active; the timer must not expire over it.
  6. On Handheld, navigate Display / Controls and Keep / Undo with the controller.
  7. Compare saved game data before/after a settings-only trial. Do not clear app data.

Use the local Android regression suite in Local testing. Physical devices, all games and external launchers require separate acceptance.