PlaybackForge

The hardest bugs to fix are the ones you cannot reproduce. PlaybackForge puts an end to the "I can't repro this" cycle.

PlaybackForge records every input event during Play Mode — keyboard keys, mouse position and buttons, scroll wheel, horizontal and vertical axes — every frame, automatically. When recording stops, the complete session is saved as a readable JSON file. Attach it to a bug report and your developer has an exact frame-by-frame account of what the player did before the crash.

WHAT IT DOES

InputRecorder is a MonoBehaviour you attach to any GameObject. Check Record On Start and it begins capturing from the first frame of Play Mode. Set Max Frames to prevent accidental runaway recordings on long-lived scenes. No code changes to your game are required.

The Session Manager Editor window brings every saved session into a single view. Select a session to see its metadata, a session stats summary (total key presses, click counts, most-used key), and a paginated frame-by-frame preview. Toggle the active-frame filter to hide idle frames and jump straight to the moments where input actually happened. Tag any session with a plain-language label — "water physics crash", "final boss death loop" — so your list stays organised even after dozens of recordings.

Re-export any session as JSON with one button and copy the file path to your clipboard. Drop it into your bug tracker, Slack, or email. Remote QA teams get the complete input sequence without a screen recording.

BEYOND THE BASICS

Place event markers at key frames — press F8 during recording, or call PlaceMarker("label") from any script. Track custom Input Manager axes (Fire1, CameraX, etc.) by adding them to the Inspector list. Need only specific frames? Select a range and save it as a tight repro clip. Export any session to CSV for spreadsheet analysis in Excel, Jira, or TestRail.

The Guided Reproduction window walks you through a recorded session step-by-step, showing exactly which keys to hold, where to move the mouse, and what axes to push. Use auto-advance mode to follow the guide at recorded speed. The Mouse Path Visualizer renders an interactive canvas showing your complete cursor trajectory with click markers and custom overlays.

KEY FEATURES

- One-component setup: attach InputRecorder to any GameObject, no scripting required
- Automatic save when Play Mode exits or StopRecording() is called
- Record On Start: begin capturing from frame zero automatically
- Max Frames cap: configurable safety limit to prevent oversized recordings
- 26 tracked keys: WASD, arrows, Space, Enter, Escape, modifiers, Q/E/R/F, digits 1–5
- Mouse tracking: position (X, Y), left/right/middle buttons, scroll wheel delta
- Axis tracking: Horizontal and Vertical via Input.GetAxis
- Custom axes: capture arbitrary Input Manager axes (Fire1, CameraX, StickVertical, etc.)
- Session tagging: editable label saved into the JSON file
- Session stats: total key presses, click counts, most-used key computed automatically
- Active-frame filter: hides idle frames, shows only frames with actual input
- Event markers: place named markers at key frames (hotkey or PlaceMarker() API)
- Frame-by-frame preview: 60 frames per page with axis, key, scroll, and mouse data
- Copy Session ID and Copy File Path buttons for fast bug-report attachment
- Clip extraction: select frame ranges and save as standalone sessions
- CSV export: export sessions for analysis in Excel, TestRail, or spreadsheet pipelines
- Guided Reproduction: step-by-step input walk-through with auto-advance sync to real-time
- Mouse Path Visualizer: interactive canvas with cursor path, click dots, marker labels
- Export / Re-save any session to a new JSON file with one click
- Human-readable JSON: readable in any text editor, diffable in git

WHO IS IT FOR

QA testers who want to attach a precise input log to a bug report instead of describing steps from memory. Solo developers chasing flaky edge-case bugs. Team leads who want permanent records of specific input scenarios for regression testing. Any developer who has ever heard "it just stopped working and I don't know what I did."

WHAT IT DOES NOT DO

PlaybackForge records and displays input. It does not automatically replay input back into the game engine. Unity does not expose a public API for injecting synthetic input at runtime in a portable way. The session JSON is designed as a manual reference, a bug report attachment, or a seed for your own custom test harness.

COMPATIBILITY

Requires Unity 2021 LTS or later. Uses Unity's legacy Input Manager (Input.GetKey, Input.GetAxis, Input.GetMouseButton). Compatible with both the legacy Input Manager and "Both" input handling mode. Not compatible with projects that have exclusively enabled the New Input System package and disabled the legacy Input Manager.

No additional packages required. Editor-only window; runtime recorder compiles safely into development builds. No prefabs, ScriptableObjects, materials, or runtime scene modifications are created.