====== Running and Closing a Game ======

This section describes the behavior of the engine during a game, the process of automatic completion, and options for analyzing the results.

===== Running and Auto-transitions =====

During a game, the engine runs fully autonomously. **No manual actions by the author are required after the start.**

==== "Check Auto-transitions" Button ====
There is only one rare scenario that requires the author's attention:
  * If the last level of your game is configured for a **time-based auto-transition** (timeout), and some teams left the game and did not enter the interface after the auto-transition time occurred.
  * In this case, to correctly record their finish, the author must go to the game statistics page and click the **"Check autopasses"** button. This will force close the levels for the lagging teams and lock in their final times.

That button and its neighbours — the controls over the running game — sit at the bottom of the statistics page:

{{ :authors_main:lifecycle:stat_end_game_en.png?800 |Running-game controls on the statistics page: autopasses, stopping the game, dismissing a level}}

  * The **"Stop the Game"** checkbox is not a button of its own but a modifier to that same **"Check autopasses"**: with it ticked the engine counts the autopasses as if the time were already far ahead, and brings everyone still playing to the finish.
  * **"Dismiss this level" / "Return this level"** — by the level **number**. A dismissed level stops being handed out to teams and the game goes on without it; that is how a broken level is taken out without stopping the game. "Return this level" puts it back.

===== Closing a Game and the Archive =====

  * **Automatic Transfer:** As soon as the game end date and time (specified in the game settings) occurs, the engine automatically moves the game to the archive.
  * **Player Access:** Once archived, the **"Enter game"** button disappears for teams, and active playthrough stops.
  * **Scenario Release:** If the scenario settings had *"Visible in archive"* or *"Visible in archive, but only to players"* selected, the full game scenario with codes and hints becomes automatically visible to players.

===== Player Ratings and Reviews =====

Once the game is over, the player finds a review form on the main page: a star rating from 0 to 5 (in steps of 0.5) and a text comment. Next to the comment is the choice of who gets to see it.

{{ :authors_main:lifecycle:player_review_en.png |A game review: the form reaches the player on the main page once the game has ended}}

Ratings and reviews are available to the author via a direct link:
<code>
https://qeng.org/reviews.php?gid=GAME_ID
</code>
*(Replace ''GAME_ID'' with the numeric identifier of your game).*

{{ :authors_main:lifecycle:game_reviews_en.png?800 |The reviews as the author sees them: the average score, the text and who left it}}

===== Re-launching a Game (Restart for New Teams) =====

If you want to run an already completed archived game again (e.g., for a new group of players):
  * Simply change the **Start time** and **End time** of the game to new dates in the settings.
  * The statistics of teams that have already played will be preserved.
  * Players who have already completed the walkthrough will not be able to re-enter the game.
  * New teams will be able to submit applications and play.

> **Important when restarting:** If levels used absolute time references (templates with ''unix_time'' tags), those timestamps may have already passed. Before restarting, make sure to update all timestamps in level templates so as not to break the experience for new players.