Mass Forge support policy

Mass Forge support covers reproducible defects in the distributed plugin, incorrect or incomplete documentation, packaging failures on advertised platforms, and compatibility regressions on supported Unreal Engine versions. The exact supported matrix is maintained in ENGINE_VERSION_SUPPORT.md.

Before requesting support

1. Update to the latest patch release in the same Mass Forge version line when practical.
2. Open Tools > Mass Forge Project Health and run Scan Project.
3. Resolve setup and asset-validation errors that explain the behavior.
4. Select Copy Support Report, or run MassForge.CopySupportReport in Unreal Editor's console.
5. Reproduce the issue in the smallest project or asset setup possible.
6. Complete SUPPORT_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md and review every attachment for private information.

The generated report contains plugin, engine, platform, build, project-health, schema-capacity, and configured queue-limit information. It does not collect filesystem paths, usernames, machine names, account data, saved-game contents, or gameplay state. Windows absolute paths and exact machine-identity strings are redacted even inside project-authored validation text. Asset names and remaining validation messages are included; always review the text before sharing it.

Supported requests

• Crashes, assertions, corrupt state, or deterministic runtime failures attributable to Mass Forge.
• Blueprint nodes or C++ APIs that contradict their documented result contract.
• Editor tools that fail to open, validate, generate, or inspect supported assets.
• Source or packaged builds that fail on an advertised engine/platform baseline.
• Save snapshot or migration behavior that contradicts the documented atomicity and version rules.
• Documentation, accessibility, or localization defects.

Outside the support boundary

• Designing a project's combat balance, AI, UI, replication model, or proprietary gameplay architecture.
• Debugging modified Mass Forge source until the behavior also reproduces against an unmodified release.
• Third-party plugin defects or Unreal Engine defects that do not originate in Mass Forge.
• Platforms and engine lines not listed as supported.
• Multiplayer, replication, prediction, or network transport behavior in the initial 0.2.x release; the retained networking code and guide are post-v1 experimental research.
• Recovery of project data when no backup or source-control history exists.

Support may still offer guidance for an out-of-scope case, but it is not treated as a release defect.

Severity and handling

Severity	Meaning	Expected handling
Critical	Repeatable data loss, security exposure, or a crash blocking normal editor/project use	Triage first; publish a mitigation or corrective-release plan as soon as the report is reproducible.
High	Advertised core behavior or a supported build is unusable with no reasonable workaround	Prioritize for the next corrective release.
Normal	Incorrect behavior with a safe workaround, editor usability defect, or documentation error	Schedule by impact and reproducibility.
Question	Integration or usage guidance within the documented product boundary	Answer or route to the relevant guide.

The 0.2.x beta line is supported on a best-effort basis and does not promise a response-time SLA. A public support destination and any commercial response targets must be published in the plugin descriptor's SupportURL before the beta flag is removed.

Fix and compatibility policy

• Corrective releases preserve serialized IDs and documented Blueprint/C++ behavior whenever possible.
• Breaking changes require release notes, a migration path, and the deprecation policy defined by a future stable-version compatibility document.
• A defect is closed only after a regression test or an equally strong reproducible verification covers the corrected behavior.
• Reports are never required to include a complete proprietary project. A minimal reproduction, sanitized report, relevant logs, and affected assets are preferred.