> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.summerengine.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Release readiness checklist > Checks to run before you publish or promote a version of your Summer game, so players can actually play it: the server starts its server scene, online join works, progress is saved, and players can get back to the title. Each check comes from a real release that failed. Summer checks every upload: the platforms, the packs and the files they name. Those checks show that your export is well formed. They can't show that a player who presses **Play online** gets into a game. This page covers what the upload checks can't see. Each check is here because a real release failed without it. We add a check whenever that happens again. ## Before every release ### Games with a server * [ ] **Your server starts its server scene.** See [check 1](#1-your-server-starts-its-server-scene). * [ ] **Online join works with the version you release.** See [check 2](#2-join-online-with-the-version-you-release). ### Games with online play * [ ] **Players can find online play** without changing a setting, or you decided on purpose that they can't. See [check 3](#3-players-can-find-online-play). * [ ] **Online progress is saved by your server**, not only on the player's device. See [check 4](#4-your-server-saves-online-progress). * [ ] **Players can get back to the title** from inside the game. See [check 5](#5-players-can-get-back-to-the-title). ### Every game that uses Summer * [ ] **Your game doesn't hard-code its Game ID.** See [check 6](#6-your-game-doesnt-hard-code-its-game-id). ## The checks Run the checks on the file you upload: your summer.games `.zip`. Export it as usual, in the editor (**Project → Export**, the **summer.games** preset) or with your agent, and take the server out of it: ```sh theme={null} unzip -o build/my-game.summer.zip server.pck -d build/bundle ``` A server pack you export on its own with your server preset is not the same file. It can pass a check that the uploaded `.zip` fails. ### 1. Your server starts its server scene Summer starts your game's server with no scene named. The server pack's own main scene decides what runs. Your server preset carries the custom feature `summer_authority`, and `project.godot` sets that feature's main scene to your server scene: ```ini title="project.godot" theme={null} [application] run/main_scene="res://client/main.tscn" run/main_scene.summer_client="res://client/main.tscn" run/main_scene.summer_authority="res://authority/main.tscn" ``` ```ini title="export_presets.cfg (your server preset)" theme={null} name="Duel Authority" platform="Linux" dedicated_server=true custom_features="summer_authority" ``` If the preset is missing `summer_authority`, the server starts your **players'** main scene instead, usually the title screen. That scene never tells Summer the server is ready, so every online join fails. **Check it.** Start the server from your `.zip` the way Summer does, with no scene named: ```sh theme={null} --headless --verbose --main-pack build/bundle/server.pck ``` `` is the Summer Engine executable. Stop it after a few seconds and find the first `Completed load for: 'res://…tscn'` line. It must be your server scene, such as `res://authority/main.tscn`. If it shows your title or client scene, add `summer_authority` to the server preset's **Custom Features** and export again. Local Play always starts your server scene by name, so a game can work there and still fail this check. ### 2. Join online with the version you release The check above runs on your computer. Players use a hosted server, so also test there: right after you promote a new version, open your game in a Summer Games app, join online and play until you're in the game. Do it before you tell players about the update. If the join fails, see [Players can't join online](#players-cant-join-online). ### 3. Players can find online play A new player should reach online play without changing a setting. If online play is off by default, for example behind a grown-ups setting, make that a deliberate choice. Then join online yourself before every release, because no player will find it broken for you. ### 4. Your server saves online progress In online play, your server saves each player's progress with [player progress](/build/player-progress) and loads it when they join. Progress kept only on the player's device is lost when they reinstall or switch device, and players can edit it. To test, play online, earn something, leave, then join from another device. ### 5. Players can get back to the title Inside a game, players need a way back to the title screen, such as a pause menu or a **Leave** button, online and offline. Without one, the only way out is to close the app. ### 6. Your game doesn't hard-code its Game ID Start Summer with no Game ID: ```gdscript theme={null} var result: SummerResult = await Summer.initialize().get_result_or_completed_signal() ``` Summer then takes your game's identity from wherever the game runs: the Summer Games app, your hosted server or Local Play. The exported `.zip` is portable, so its `summer.build.json` has no `gameId`. If your code reads `gameId` from that file and falls back to a made-up ID such as `"game.my-game"`, the hosted server refuses it with `game_identity_mismatch`. Your server then stops before it is ready, and players' online joins fail. The Summer Games app refuses it the same way. **Check it.** Search your project for `Summer.initialize`. Every call passes no ID, or an ID your game received from Summer, never a fixed string or a fallback. Then join online with the released version (check 2). Local Play and a local run of `server.pck` don't run under a hosted identity, so they can't catch this. ## Troubleshooting ### Players can't join online Every online join waits and then fails with `world_start_timeout`, while the game works in Local Play. **Most likely causes:** * **Your server pack starts the wrong scene.** Run [check 1](#1-your-server-starts-its-server-scene). If it loads your title or client scene, add `summer_authority` to your server preset's **Custom Features**, export a new version, upload it and promote it. * **Your game passes a fixed Game ID.** Run [check 6](#6-your-game-doesnt-hard-code-its-game-id). Call `Summer.initialize()` with no ID, export a new version, upload it and promote it. **An empty server log does not mean nothing ran.** A release server holds back what your game prints when it isn't attached to a terminal. Its output can look empty even while your title scene is running. Use check 1 on your own computer to see which scene starts. If checks 1 and 6 pass and joins still fail, ask on [Discord](https://discord.gg/summerengine) with your game's name and the time you tried. ## Ask your agent Check that my Summer game is ready to release. Follow [https://docs.summerengine.com/publishing/release-readiness.md](https://docs.summerengine.com/publishing/release-readiness.md). * For a game with a server, export the summer.games .zip, take server.pck out of it and run it with --main-pack and no scene, as the page shows. Tell me which scene it loads first. * Find every Summer.initialize call and tell me which Game ID it passes. * Go through every other check on the page and tell me pass, fail or "I can't check this, you need to" for each one. * Don't change anything until I've seen the list. *** Does this not help you? [Reach out on Discord!](https://discord.gg/summerengine) This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.