I switched Workshop off today and tried starting the game. I'd just authored two items in it. How much does the game still depend on it being there?
Catnip container model sheet, related to one of the two authored test items.
I authored Catnip and Cat Ball Red in Workshop and published a snapshot. At this checkpoint the game checked the export and matched item names, equipment roles and prop identities with Unity’s data.
With the service stopped, the editor started a new game, traveled and autosaved four times. The next Play session reconstructed those saves.
That run covered offline editor startup and save recovery. I still had no evidence from it of either item being used in play or of a standalone build. I still want to see what happens in a standalone build.
The useful thing about this test was how plainly I could state what passed. Codex could test the boundary with me, and we could keep the design open as the authoring needs changed.