Project Templates (Navigation)

Scaffold architecture, then adapt — never dump genre tutorials into the project verbatim.

NEVER Do (Expert Anti-Patterns)

Directory & Scaffolding

• NEVER hardcode scene paths in dozens of call sites — AutoLoad constants or a scene registry.
• NEVER skip .gdignore for designer asset drops outside import pipelines.
• NEVER copy-paste templates as-is — Understand structure, then adapt (see checklist below).

Architecture & Lifecycle

• NEVER use get_tree().paused without process-mode groups — Pause menus need PROCESS_MODE_ALWAYS. Why: pausing the tree freezes _process on menu nodes too, so buttons never receive input; set gameplay to INHERIT (paused) and menu/HUD to ALWAYS via base_menu.gd or explicit process_mode on the pause root.
• NEVER skip virtual lifecycle hooks on base classes — Prefer _initialize_*() over brittle _ready() overrides.
• NEVER rely on monolithic God singletons — Signal Bus or Subsystem Locator.