Contributing to Anemora

Status: draft v0.3 (2026-05-06). Anemora is currently near the end of Stage 3 Vertical Slice verification. The primary public release path is Steam Early Access, and the code license remains All Rights Reserved by default until Stage 4 re-evaluation.

1. Current Contribution Posture

Anemora is currently a single-developer project. External issue intake, pull request intake, review rules, contributor legal terms, and moderation policy are not open workflows yet.

This document is a Stage 4 preparation draft. It records the current project state and the decisions that must be made before public contribution intake can be treated as supported.

Current public-facing project facts:

• Protagonist: Niro / ニロ (provisional).
• First zone: Antela / アンテラ (provisional).
• Public release direction: Steam Early Access as the primary public path.
• Code and project-owned assets: All Rights Reserved by default unless a third-party license explicitly applies.
• Contribution intake: single-developer workflow continues until Stage 4 decides otherwise.

2. Development Setup

Use the setup flow in README.md:

1. Install Unity 6000.3.14f1 through Unity Hub.
2. Clone the repository.
3. Add the cloned anemora/ project in Unity Hub.
4. Open Assets/Scenes/Anemora_Main.unity.
5. Press Play in the Unity Editor.

Additional layout / automation references:

• docs/ASSET_STRUCTURE.md — canonical asset directory layout.
• docs/EDITOR_AUTOMATION.md — Unity editor automation and helper script usage.
• docs/adr/ — Architecture Decision Records.

3. Coding Style

Formal public coding style guide: TBD for Stage 4.

Current observed code structure:

• Assets/Scripts/Data/ contains the Anemora.Data POCO layer.
• Assets/Scripts/Save/ contains the Anemora.Save layer.
• Assets/Scripts/Game/ contains game-facing ScriptableObject / runtime code.
• Assets/Scripts/TimeManagement/, Assets/Scripts/Player/, Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/, and Assets/UI/Scripts/ hold feature-specific runtime components.
• Assets/Scripts/PerformanceHarness/ contains Stage 4 stress-sample harness scaffolding.

If this repository accepts external pull requests later, formatting, naming, asmdef boundaries, nullable policy, Unity serialization conventions, and generated-asset boundaries should be documented here.

4. Commit Message Conventions

Formal commit convention: TBD for Stage 4.

Observed Stage 3 Day 1 commit subjects use short imperative phrases, for example:

• Add trailer script v0 (30s / 60s / 180s)
• Polish README post-lore-reflection
• Add Stage 4 roadmap preliminary draft
• Add stress sample harness design and skeleton

The current history does not follow strict Conventional Commits syntax such as feat:, fix:, or docs:. Stage 4 should decide whether to keep the existing imperative-subject convention, adopt Conventional Commits, or use another release-note workflow.

5. Issues and Pull Requests

Pull request intake: TBD for Stage 4.

Issue template set: TBD for Stage 4.

At this draft point, external PRs should not be treated as an accepted workflow. Before opening public PR intake, decide:

• Whether pull requests are accepted at all.
• Review owner and review expectations.
• Required tests / manual verification before merge.
• Branch naming and target branch policy.
• Whether Unity scene / prefab / asset changes require separate review from code changes.
• Whether contributors may submit generated assets or only source code / docs.

At scan time, no .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ directory was present. If public issue intake opens, add templates for bugs, feature requests, asset review, localization feedback, and documentation fixes as appropriate.

6. Code License / Conduct / DCO / CLA

Code license remains All Rights Reserved by default. Stage 4 may re-evaluate this, but this contributing draft does not grant an open-source license. See NOTICES.md for the consumer-facing license summary.

Code of Conduct: TBD for Stage 4.

DCO / CLA handling: TBD for Stage 4.

At scan time, no CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md file was present. Contributor legal handling depends on the Stage 4 re-evaluation of the current All Rights Reserved default. Options such as no external contributions, project-license-only contribution, Developer Certificate of Origin, Contributor License Agreement, or custom written contribution terms are not selected here.

Related docs:

• NOTICES.md — current consumer-facing license and third-party notices.
• docs/legal/code_license_options.md — neutral code license option notes.

7. Asset Contribution Policy

External asset contribution acceptance: TBD for Stage 4.

Current asset provenance is tracked through docs/legal/asset_ledger.md. Stage 3 Day 1 state includes:

• Niro / Antela provisional identity decisions reflected in sprite and documentation rows.
• Zone1 BGM Assets/Audio/Music/Zone1_Ambient.ogg.
• Zone1 SFX 30 entries across environment, footsteps, time-window, NPC, and UI categories.
• TMP Japanese / English font atlases and third-party font license references.
• Meshy / Blender building assets, PixelLab / Aseprite sprite assets, and AI-assisted audio records.

Any future asset contribution policy must account for:

• Third-party source licenses.
• AI-generation tool terms and paid-plan evidence.
• Steam AI disclosure category.
• Intermediate files under art/_intermediate/ and audio/_intermediate/.
• Final Unity import paths under Assets/.

Do not assume that a code license, once selected or re-evaluated, also licenses sprites, audio, models, fonts, TMP atlases, or other assets. Asset licensing remains separate until Stage 4 re-evaluates it.

8. Testing Expectations

Required public PR test gates: TBD until a PR workflow opens.

Current verification references:

• EditMode expected count: 31 tests by source scan under Assets/Tests/EditMode/.
• PlayMode expected count: 27 UnityTests by source scan under Assets/Tests/PlayMode/.
• Verification catalog: docs/VERIFICATION_SUITE.md.
• G5 acceptance checklist: docs/G5_ACCEPTANCE_MATRIX.md.
• G5 preflight: docs/G5_PREFLIGHT.md.
• Manual G5 rubric: docs/G5_MANUAL_RUBRIC.md.

Before any future PR process is opened, this section should define which checks are required for code changes, Unity scene / prefab changes, generated asset changes, documentation-only changes, and release candidates.

9. Documentation Updates

Current navigation docs that may need updates when a contribution changes project behavior:

• README.md — public project entry point.
• CHANGELOG.md — milestone / release-note level.
• docs/devlog/INDEX.md — devlog navigation.
• docs/ASSET_STRUCTURE.md — directory layout.
• docs/EDITOR_AUTOMATION.md — automation usage.
• docs/legal/asset_ledger.md — asset provenance and license tracking.
• docs/STAGE4_ROADMAP.md — preliminary Stage 4 sequencing.

10. Public Release and Public-Facing References

The current primary public release path is Steam Early Access. Exact release timing, price, store-page copy, trailer final cut, and final license handling remain Stage 4 review items.

• docs/PITCH_PUBLIC.md — Steam description / trailer / press-kit source text.
• docs/TRAILER_SCRIPT.md — 30s / 60s / 180s trailer script draft.
• docs/STAGE3_RETROSPECTIVE.md — Stage 3 retrospective draft.
• docs/STAGE4_ROADMAP.md — Stage 4 preliminary roadmap.
• AUTHORS.md — primary author and contribution status.
• NOTICES.md — consumer-facing third-party notices and current license status.

11. Change History