v0.18.0 adds a private step between a local package preview and Marketplace publication. A creator can run the candidate in a real world before making it public.
Private test worlds
Upload a package to Creator Studio and keep it as an immutable candidate. It carries its version, dependencies, capabilities and rights declaration.
An owner or maintainer can use an owned world as a private test world. The world stays marked as private while the package graph is resolved and the candidate is installed. Named testers join through normal invitations and can test the world without managing the package.
The test world uses the normal system, mod, content-pack, service and companion-app paths. A creator can test the complete package instead of a special preview that behaves differently from a running world.
Promote what was tested
Creator Studio shows the graph used by the test world before promotion. The same candidate goes to publication, and the private test world keeps its marker. Other worlds are not touched.
If a candidate changes, expires or is revoked, it cannot launch. Restore the candidate, and Aether checks the retained package and graph again before launch.