BoardState.CaptureSave/RestoreFromSave deep-copy every mutable field
(grid, pieces, demands, transformers, buffers, stock, campaign progress)
into a WorldSave slot. GameSim.QuickSave/QuickLoad expose slotted saves
and emit StateSavedEvent / StateRestoredEvent — the latter carries a
fresh BoardSnapshot so the presentation can rebuild board, pieces,
trajectories, objectives, stock, camera, and control bar in one pass.
F5/F9 trigger it in Main; harness gains quick_save/quick_load commands so
UI tests can checkpoint a scenario and resume without replaying from
scratch. Seven xUnit tests cover the roundtrip (including independence
from post-save mutations, campaign state, and multi-slot isolation).
Launching Godot with --automation=<dir> activates an AutomationHarness
node that polls <dir>/inbox/ for JSON command files, executes them via
a thin facade over existing public surfaces (GameSim, InputMapper,
EventAnimator, ControlBar, PieceStockPanel), and writes results plus
screenshots back to disk. The black-box simulation boundary is not
crossed — every command routes through the same signals/methods a real
player would trigger.
A stdlib-only Python helper (tools/automation/harness.py) wraps the
protocol for test scripts and interactive REPLs. Smoke test passes
end-to-end: load mission, place a piece, step 10 turns, capture 14
1280x720 PNGs, handle rejections, quit cleanly. Existing 102 engine
unit tests still green.