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docs(workshops): add v0.1 content gap analysis workshop brief

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Nine-layer analysis from global (art direction) to specific (audio).
Identifies gaps in content tickets for Mellanie, Paula, and Araminta.
Structured as 2-round workshop with 6 participants to produce missing
tickets, dependency chain, and content team work plan.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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co-authored by Claude Opus 4.6
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# Workshop Brief: v0.1 Content Gap Analysis
## What Does the Vertical Slice Actually Need?
**Project:** The Settled Reach (D-021)
**Date:** 2026-02-11
**Called by:** Jeroen
**Participants:** MELLANIE, PAULA, ARAMINTA, MIRI, GESTALT, OZZIE
---
## The Problem
The server and client teams are building the IPC bridge (Sprint 1). The content team — Mellanie (copywriter), Paula (narrative), Araminta (visual design) — has no actionable work yet. We have strong *architectural* decisions about content (D-023 through D-029) and some critical tickets (#190-192 content packs), but we haven't mapped what content the v0.1 vertical slice actually needs, in what format, and in what order.
This workshop moves from the most global decisions down to the most specific content needs. At each layer we identify what exists, what's missing, and what each team member needs to start working.
**v0.1 scope reminder (D-027):** Smuggler + detective two-character proof. One station district. 3 social site templates (workplace logistics hub, social bar, smuggling ring). ~15 NPCs. 30-minute daily-life runway before conspiracy activation. Success = both playthroughs feel like fundamentally different games.
---
## Layer 1: Art Direction & Visual Identity
**The most global question: what does this game look like?**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| Q-003 (art direction) | OPEN — no decision made |
| #20 Art direction ticket | medium priority, backlog |
| #252 Placeholder art spec | high priority, backlog |
| #133 Placeholder art pipeline | high priority, backlog |
| D-014 says "functional boxes with labels" | — |
| D-016 says "atmosphere carried by monologue" | — |
**Gaps:**
- No color palette, no sprite style guide, no UI visual language
- No resolution/format standards beyond what #252 will define
- No guidance on whether v0.1 should look deliberately placeholder or aim for a mood
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Araminta:** Can you define a v0.1 visual identity without resolving Q-003 fully? Or should we make Q-003 a decision now — even if it's "functional minimalism, atmosphere through text"?
2. **Araminta:** What's the minimum art direction document needed so that anyone producing visual assets stays consistent?
3. **Ozzie:** Does the vertical slice need visual mood, or is "readable placeholder" sufficient to prove the concept?
---
## Layer 2: Narrative Framework & Character Design
**Before writing a single line of dialogue: who are these two characters, and how do they see the world differently?**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| D-027 Vertical slice: smuggler + detective | confirmed |
| Epic #57 Playable Characters | critical, 5 children |
| #179 Character definition schema | backlog |
| #180 Smuggler character build | backlog |
| #181 Detective character build | backlog |
| #182 Divergent starting knowledge | backlog, critical |
| #183 Divergent relationships | backlog, critical |
| #261 Dual Lens Authoring Guide | high priority, backlog |
**Gaps:**
- #261 (Dual Lens Authoring Guide) **must precede ALL content packs** — it defines how the same NPCs, locations, and situations play differently for each character
- No character voice profiles (how does the smuggler's internal monologue sound vs. the detective's?)
- No access tier mapping (which NPCs treat the smuggler as insider vs. the detective?)
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Paula:** What does the Dual Lens Guide need to contain? Is it a document you write solo, or should it be a workshop output?
2. **Paula:** How do you define "divergent starting knowledge" (#182)? Is it a list of facts each character knows, or something more structural?
3. **Mellanie:** What do you need from the character builds before you can write voice-consistent dialogue?
4. **Gestalt:** How do access tiers (D-028 Layer 1) interact with the two character builds mechanically?
---
## Layer 3: Station District Setting
**What does this place feel like? What's the vibe, the history, the texture?**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| D-014 v0.1 map spec | confirmed |
| Epic #58 Station District Content | critical, 5 children |
| #184 Workplace template — logistics hub | backlog |
| #185 Social venue template — bar | backlog |
| #186 Smuggling ring template | backlog |
| #189 Cultural generation guide | critical, assigned to Miri |
| D-025 Social site structure (4-8 NPCs, 15-40 tiles) | confirmed |
**Gaps:**
- No station district lore document — what is this place? Who built it? What's the economic engine?
- No environmental storytelling plan — what do signs say? What's on the news ticker? What's the graffiti?
- No location "feel" descriptions — is the workplace sterile or chaotic? Is the bar upscale or dive?
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Miri:** Can you write a one-page station district setting document? Just enough for v0.1 — name, purpose, atmosphere, recent history, what makes it interesting.
2. **Paula:** How does the station's character feed into NPC motivations? (E.g., economic pressure → smuggling opportunity)
3. **Ozzie:** What environmental details make a player feel present in the first 30 seconds?
---
## Layer 4: Content Pipeline & Authoring Format
**Before Mellanie writes 500+ lines of dialogue: what format do they go in?**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| D-028 Tagged line pool architecture | confirmed |
| Epic #55 Dialogue system architecture | high, 7 children |
| #168 Tagged line pool structure | backlog |
| #193 Line previewer CLI | critical, backlog |
**Gaps:**
- No concrete authoring format defined — what does a line pool file actually look like? YAML? JSON? CSV with tags?
- No tag taxonomy — what tags exist? (role, trust_tier, mood, topic, situation, character_class)
- Line previewer (#193) doesn't exist yet — Mellanie can't test what she writes
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Gestalt:** Propose a concrete line pool format. What metadata per line? What's the minimum viable tag set for v0.1?
2. **Mellanie:** Can you write content packs in a provisional format before the previewer exists, or does the format need to be locked first?
3. **Gestalt:** How do the 4 dialogue layers (access, history, trust, unprompted) map to line tags? One tag per layer, or more complex?
---
## Layer 5: Template Content (3 Social Sites)
**The core content deliverables for v0.1.**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| #190 Workplace content pack | critical, backlog |
| #191 Bar content pack | critical, backlog |
| #192 Smuggling ring content pack | critical, backlog |
| D-025 Social site = 4-8 NPCs, 15-40 tiles | confirmed |
| D-028 ~165-210 authored lines per template | confirmed |
| D-029 Entanglement ratio: 30/50/20 | confirmed |
**Gaps:**
- No NPC personality profiles — the 10-axis model (D-024) is an ECS schema, not character descriptions
- No relationship web — who knows whom, who's lying to whom, who's sleeping with whom
- No routine descriptions — where does each NPC go and when?
- No triangle definitions — D-029 requires mundane triangles, but none are designed
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Mellanie:** What does a content pack deliverable look like? Break down #190 into what you'd actually write.
2. **Paula:** How do you design the relationship web for 3 overlapping social sites? Who are the "bridge" NPCs that connect them?
3. **Paula:** How many triangles per template? D-029 says 2 minimum per template + 1 cross-template. What do they look like concretely?
4. **Gestalt:** How does the entanglement ratio (30/50/20) play out across ~15 NPCs? That's ~4-5 flat, ~7-8 mundane-triangle, ~3 entangled?
---
## Layer 6: NPC Profiles & Dialogue
**Making ~15 NPCs feel like people, not database entries.**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| D-024 NPC 10-axis model | confirmed |
| #86 Core NPC data model components | backlog |
| #87 Relationship tracking system | backlog |
| #88 Daily routine system | backlog |
| #168-174 Dialogue system tickets | backlog |
| #251 Tell visual/behavioral expression | high, backlog |
**Gaps:**
- No tickets for writing actual NPC profiles (personality, backstory, voice)
- No tickets for voice kit authoring (15-25 lines per NPC role)
- No tickets for relationship history content (what happened between these people before the game starts?)
- No tell catalog (what observable behaviors map to what internal states?)
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Paula + Mellanie:** How deep does each NPC profile need to be? Full backstory, or just the 10 axes plus a voice sample?
2. **Mellanie:** How many lines per NPC for v0.1? D-028 estimates 15-25 per role in a template. With ~15 NPCs, that's 225-375 lines of role dialogue alone.
3. **Gestalt:** What's the minimum viable tell system? One behavioral marker per axis, or fewer?
4. **Ozzie:** Which NPC should the player remember after 30 minutes? What makes them memorable — a line, a routine, a contradiction?
---
## Layer 7: Monologue & Observation Text
**The character's inner voice — the primary content delivery mechanism in v0.1.**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| D-016 Internal monologue as perception bridge | confirmed |
| #119 Monologue event generation | backlog |
| #120 Monologue line pool system | backlog |
| #121 Character voice variation | high, backlog |
| #253 Monologue content architecture | high, backlog |
| #239 Observation event generator | critical, backlog |
**Gaps:**
- No monologue line count estimates per location type
- No character voice variation specs (how does the smuggler interpret vs. the detective?)
- No observation trigger catalog (what events produce monologue?)
- No "mirror moment" content — lines that hint at the other character's perspective
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Mellanie:** How many monologue lines make v0.1 feel alive? D-028 workshop estimated 200-300 across location types for atmosphere floor. Sound right?
2. **Mellanie:** Can the same observation event produce different monologue for smuggler vs. detective? Or do you need separate pools?
3. **Paula:** What are the "mirror moments" — places where the monologue hints that this situation looks different from another perspective?
4. **Ozzie:** When does the first monologue surprise the player? What's the moment where they think "wait, my character noticed something I didn't"?
---
## Layer 8: UI Text & Environmental Content
**Everything on screen that isn't dialogue or monologue.**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| #262 Environmental text content | medium, backlog |
| #263 Time display on insert HUD | medium, backlog |
| #264 Knowledge/journal display | medium, backlog |
| #174 Dialogue UI | backlog |
| D-013 Diegetic insert (neural implant map) | confirmed |
**Gaps:**
- No UI copy document (button labels, menu text, notification strings)
- No tutorial/onboarding text (how does the player learn the controls?)
- No diegetic content (signs, terminal screens, manifests, notices, news feeds)
- No insert/minimap text (POI labels, status indicators)
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Mellanie + Araminta:** What text appears on screen that isn't dialogue or monologue? Make a list.
2. **Araminta:** How does the neural implant UI look? Is it a literal implant overlay, or abstracted?
3. **Gestalt:** Does v0.1 need onboarding text, or can the monologue system serve as the tutorial (D-016 "diegetic tutorial")?
---
## Layer 9: Audio Direction
**The most deferred question: what does the game sound like?**
| What exists | Status |
|-------------|--------|
| D-018 Three-range sound model | confirmed |
| #124-128 Sound propagation tech tickets | backlog |
| #46 Sound Propagation Model epic | 5 children |
**Gaps:**
- Zero audio content tickets — no ambient soundscapes, no foley, no music direction
- No decision on whether v0.1 uses placeholder audio or real audio
- No audio style guide
**Questions for the team:**
1. **Ozzie:** Does placeholder audio kill the atmosphere, or is silence acceptable for a concept proof?
2. **Gestalt:** Does the three-range sound model need audio content to prove itself, or can it work with system beeps and text?
3. **Team:** Should we defer audio entirely to a later sprint, or establish direction now?
---
## Workshop Format
**2 rounds.**
**Round 1 — Layer-by-layer gap identification.** Each participant responds to the questions in their domain. Propose concrete answers, not just "we need to figure this out."
**Round 2 — Synthesis.** Review Round 1 answers. Produce:
1. Missing ticket list (new tickets to create)
2. Dependency chain (what must come before what)
3. Content team work order for Sprint 2 or a parallel content track
## Expected Outputs
- **Decision:** Art direction approach for v0.1 (resolve or scope Q-003)
- **Document:** Dual Lens Authoring Guide outline (Paula)
- **Document:** Station district setting brief (Miri)
- **Specification:** Line pool authoring format (Gestalt)
- **List:** New tickets filling content gaps (Si creates post-workshop)
- **Plan:** Dependency-ordered content work plan for Mellanie, Paula, Araminta