# Sprint 25: Emerge — Joint

**Goal:** Prove the generator can extrapolate from minimal input — a rural Krenn village from zone type and culture profile alone, no per-location spec.

## Pre-Sprint

| Item | Owner | Blocks |
|------|-------|--------|
| Coordinate output format for zone identity spec (#609) | Miri + Tyre | #611 |
| Coordinate output format for culture profile (#610) | Miri + Tyre | #611, #612 |
| Confirm `NpcBlueprint` file location and module wiring | Tyre | #612, #613 |

The critical coordination question: does copy deliver YAML files (which the generator reads at runtime) or Markdown design documents (which Tyre reads and encodes into Rust)? Either works — decide at sprint start. YAML is preferred if Tyre can define a schema upfront; Markdown if the profile needs to be free-form first and codified later.

## Sprint Completion Proof — Throwaway Render

**This is not a test suite. It is an eyeball test.**

The proof is a single standalone invocation that feeds the generator minimal parameters and inspects the output for shape and coherence.

**Input (the minimum the generator must accept):**
```
zone_type: "rural"
region: "outside Sova urban zone"
system: "Krenn"
seed: 42
```

Plus the Krenn culture profile (#610) and zone identity taxonomy (#609) — loaded from disk, not hardcoded.

**NO location-specific spec.** No "the village has a tavern." No bespoke social site list. The generator extrapolates entirely from zone type + culture.

**Command (to be written as part of #612):**
```bash
cargo run --bin generator-spike -- --zone rural --seed 42
```

**Expected output (printed to stdout):**
1. `DistrictSkeleton` summary: zone type, block count, social site placements
2. Generated NPC list: one line per NPC with name, role, 2-3 traits, one observable behavior
3. A sample relationship pair (NPC A knows NPC B as X)

**The pass condition (human judgment, not automated):**
- Does the output have *shape*? A rural area should feel different from an industrial one.
- Does it feel like it *belongs in the Krenn System*? Not generic space-village. Krenn-inflected.
- Can you read the NPC relationships from the output? Not infer — *read*.

**The fail condition:**
- Output could be from any game in any setting (culture profile not doing work)
- All rural areas produce identical outputs with different names (zone type not doing work)
- NPC traits are unreadable from text (legibility fails — D-129 gate not met)

**Why this framing matters (from the approval discussion):**
The sprint proof deliberately uses minimal input because the generator's entire value proposition is scaling beyond hand-authored content. If it only works with detailed per-location specs, it fails the brief — because the whole point is the player walking into an unspecified area and it still having shape. The "throwaway render" framing is intentional: this is a rough proof, not a polished demo. Pass/fail is a 5-minute eyeball by the team lead.

## Tickets by Team

| Team | # | Title |
|------|---|-------|
| copy | #609 | Zone identity spec |
| copy | #610 | Krenn culture profile |
| server | #611 | NpcBlueprint struct design |
| server | #612 | Template assembly generator |
| server | #613 | NPC generation pipeline |

## Dependency Chain

```
copy #609 (zone spec) ──┐
                        ├──> server #611 (NpcBlueprint) ──> #612 (template gen) ──> #613 (NPC pipeline)
copy #610 (culture) ───┘
```

Copy (#609, #610) runs in parallel and completes first. Server (#611 → #612 → #613) runs sequentially after copy delivers.

## Open Questions

| ID | Question | Blocking |
|----|----------|---------|
| Q-WTF-033 | AI templating: Claude API, local ollama, or manual for v0.2? | #613, #623 |
| Q-WTF-039 | Character creation screen: portrait render or tile-scale preview? | Sprint 26+ |
| Q-WTF-040 | Do creation choices trace into the generated apartment? | Sprint 26+ |

Q-WTF-033 is the most relevant to this sprint. #613 does not need to implement AI templating — that is #623 (deferred). But the pipeline should be designed so AI templating slots in later without a rewrite. Discuss at sprint start.

## Deferred to Future Sprints

- Tycoon bookmark (#605, #614-617) — needs generator output proven first
- Character creation screen (#606, #618-620) — client work, post-generator
- NPC legibility systems (#607, #621-622) — downstream of generator
- AI content templating (#623) — Q-WTF-033 unresolved
- World feel systems (#608, #624-626) — downstream of everything
- Visual rendering of generated world — out of scope for this spike

## What This Sprint Does NOT Do

- No client work (no rendering of generated content)
- No new content authored beyond the zone spec and culture profile
- No AI templating implementation (design for it, don't build it)
- No playable session from the generated world