BC-0197 · TROUBLESHOOTING
Editorial review 2026-09-26
Restart Keeps Progress That Should Reset
A restarted round can retain more than a stale score: consumed objects, outcome flags, active hazards or lingering feedback may carry into the fresh attempt. Compare the new attempt with its intended starting state and identify the residual behavior, rather than clearing every form of progress indiscriminately.
Symptom
A usable new round begins with previous-attempt state or effects that should have ended.
Immediate action
Compare the fresh attempt's first behavior with the intended starting contract, not only its labels.
Diagnostic branches
- A display resets but an old completion or failure still takes effect.
- Request behavioral reset of the outcome boundary, not just new text.
- Consumed objects fail to return for the fresh objective.
- Restore the intended round inventory while retaining legitimate session state.
- An old hazard or feedback effect continues into active play.
- Specify that its old-attempt behavior ends before the next round starts.
- The retained progress was intentionally session-long.
- Leave it intact and clarify the distinction from unwanted round residue.
Least-destructive change
Clear the observed round residue selectively without erasing valid longer-lived progress.
Retest
- The first action in the new round follows fresh-attempt rules.
- Prior outcomes and effects cannot alter the new attempt unexpectedly.
- Declared session unlocks remain usable after the selective reset.
Escalation
Preserve the initial-state contradiction and residual-effect trace if a repair fails. This guide does not identify internal flags or encourage repeated exploitation of a carried-over reward.
Working notes
Describe the contaminated starting state concretely. Does the next attempt begin already completed, lack objects consumed earlier, continue a previous timer or show a stale failure panel? Those observations identify different missing reset responsibilities even when the restart button itself works.
Compare behavior as well as labels. A score display that returns to its initial value while the goal immediately completes can hide retained objective state. An enemy that looks reset but continues an old attack after the new start shows a different lifecycle problem. Do not claim a specific hidden flag or timer callback is responsible.
Write the fresh-attempt contract alongside the intentional session retention. Clear outcome feedback and consumed-item state only where the design says the round should restart, while keeping longer-lived unlocks intact. A global reset everything instruction can trade stale round state for lost legitimate progress.
Inspect the first meaningful action after retry. Waiting for an old effect to disappear is not equivalent to a clean initial state if it can harm or reward the player first. Use ordinary safe retries and stop when the observation is sufficient; there is no need to farm an unintended carried-over reward.
Examples
- Hidden-residue observation: the score text resets, but entering the goal immediately shows completion before the new objective is performed. Record the contradiction between fresh display and outcome behavior.
- Proposed repair: On the existing Retry, restore the round's collectible inventory and clear prior completion feedback before active play begins. Preserve session unlocks and require the new attempt's objective to be completed again.
- Ongoing-effect case: the previous failure's hazard action continues after the player returns to the starting position. Include the effect's observable lifetime in the reset request instead of only resetting position and score.