0.5 Release Testing

0.5 Release Testing

SwanSong 0.5.0 is the first stable release since 0.1.1 and the first public build with Story Forge and Cartridge Lab. Start with the part you care about, then use the focused checks below to help keep the release dependable.

Test only games, manuscripts, homebrew, SDK projects, cartridges, and save data you own or are authorized to use. Never attach ROMs, saves, private screenshots or audio, manuscripts, cartridge-source evidence, or project evidence to a public report.

Story Forge

• select a compatible schema-v3 Story Forge checkout;
• create and reopen a novel, then move it through Concept, Outline, Draft, Revision, and Release;
• run editorial, continuity, reader, rights, art, music, catalog, lock, EPUB, and PDF actions;
• confirm incomplete, stale, or rejected evidence remains blocking;
• verify SwanSong never invents a human editorial or art approval; and
• choose Continue in Studio without losing the open novel.

Manuscripts, reports, art, music, approvals, rights records, and editions stay inside the explicitly selected folders. Story Forge exposes status and navigation—not unattended project writes—through local MCP.

Cartridge Lab

• use a WonderSwan Color or SwanCrystal, Yokoi Boot, and a 3.3 V ExtFriend-compatible adapter to inspect an authorized cartridge;
• create exact ROM and save backups and verify their reported checksums;
• interrupt a controlled transfer and confirm no partial destination is promoted;
• prove save restoration rejects the wrong size and requires Mac confirmation, physical A+B confirmation, and complete readback; and
• add the Yokoi Boot installer to controlled compatible flash-cartridge media, confirm a different existing file is never replaced, and verify the copied payload before ejecting the card.

Never connect the WonderSwan EXT port to PC RS-232 voltage. Use disposable save data for write testing. Retail mask ROM remains read-only, and cartridge operations remain intentionally absent from MCP.

Studio and Translation Lab

• use the verified SwanSong SDK 0.4.0 payload or an explicitly selected compatible development checkout;
• move projects through New, Assets, Build, Test, Play, Profile, Evidence, and Release;
• exercise Doctor, Dev, Scenario Recorder, Evidence Diff, fuzzing, Sprite/VRAM profiling, Asset Optimizer, Save/RTC Laboratory, authoring documents, replay timelines, and failing-plan minimization;
• confirm incomplete or stale PNG/WAV evidence blocks Release;
• probe map, raster, palette, and sprite-attribute sources through ABI 9 while MCP returns only source-free aggregates; and
• retain deterministic routes, paired capture, display-owner/source probes, observed-play recovery, and the complete installed MCP surface.

Python 3.11+ and Wonderful remain separate Studio prerequisites. SwanSong is the only gameplay-validation backend.

Everyday Mac experience

• add and play authorized WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color, SwanCrystal, and Pocket Challenge V2 software without a BIOS;
• verify keyboard and controller input, portrait play, Time Ribbon, visual save states, Pocket save exchange, and native 224×157 window fitting;
• inspect the Finder, Dock, direct-launch, and menu-bar swan artwork in light and dark appearances;
• open Story Forge from the sidebar and Cartridge Lab from the Hardware and File menus; and
• check that Library, Homebrew, Translation Lab, Analogue Pocket, Studio, Settings, Updates, Support, and the new workspaces remain readable at their real window sizes.

Updates and publication

• confirm SwanSong 0.5.0 (10) in About SwanSong;
• verify GitHub identifies 0.5.0 as the repository's Latest release rather than a prerelease;
• prove the normal stable update channel offers 0.5.0 to 0.1.1 and the latest supported 0.4 build;
• confirm the signed archive, source archive, manifest, and checksums agree;
• retain the prior app after an unreachable feed, bad signature, interrupted download, cancellation, or failed installation; and
• confirm updater traffic includes no system profile or per-user identifier.

The Homebrew Catalog stays offline until an explicit Browse, Refresh, or Add action. The Analogue Pocket workflow stays locked until the separate SwanSong Core project publishes an authorized stable release.

Reporting checklist

1. Record Mac model, macOS version, architecture, controller or cartridge hardware when relevant, and exact SwanSong version/build.
2. For Story Forge, report the visible workspace and sanitized action/result without attaching private project material.
3. For Cartridge Lab, report console model, adapter family, cartridge/save type, action, byte count, and sanitized result without attaching a dump.
4. For Studio, include the workspace, visible command, project recipe, and whether a new generated project reproduces the issue.
5. For provenance, report only frame, rectangle dimensions, selected components, completeness, and source-free counts.
6. Distinguish Picture Appeared from an end-to-end Works verdict.

See Story Forge, Cartridge Lab, SwanSong Studio, Translation Lab, Local MCP and Automation, Build and Test, Release Gates, App Updates, and Playing and Library for the exact boundaries.