Files
settled-reach/governance
jpmschweitzerandClaude 02fe71e9f3 docs(meta): D-258 amendment — one shore, not two; tidal energy over salinity
Jeroen, eyeballing the lakes: "they did not seem to run the same coastline
code as ocean does". Correct, in two separate ways.

The coastline warp was ocean-only. invent_primitives displaces the sample
through coast_warp_px before reading the ocean mask, but the lake test read
the UNWARPED position, so ocean coasts got invented bays and capes while lake
shores traced the bare elevation contour. It cannot be fixed by warping the
lake sample alone: a lake is where a filled surface sits above terrain, two
reads that must agree, so moving one and not the other puts water on
hillsides or holes inside lakes. Both surfaces move together in the rung-0.5
pass, or neither does.

And shore morphology was structurally unreachable at a lake edge. Every gate
keyed on ocean_fraction_q, which is always 0 in a lake basin because lakes sit
above sea level. Ruled: lakes get full shore morphology — cliffs, beaches,
deltas. Gates key on proximity to water, not to ocean. No new vocabulary
needed; MorphologyZone already carries Fjord, Delta, Wetland, CliffCoast and
DuneStrand.

The interesting part is what separates the sea-flavoured types, because it
isn't salinity. A delta builds land outward where the river deposits faster
than the water removes; an estuary is the inverse, a drowned valley widening
seaward. The discriminator is tidal energy: the microtidal Mediterranean is
ringed with deltas (Nile, Rhone, Po) despite being salt, while the macrotidal
Atlantic gives estuaries (Thames, Severn, Gironde). So lakes always resolve to
Delta — and so does a tideless sea, which an ocean-vs-lake switch would have
got wrong. Tidal energy governs TidalFlat too, so one derived quantity
replaces two stipulations and no "is it the ocean" branch survives.

Salinity is a property of water, not a landform, and is excluded from
morphology entirely. Derive it from below-sea-level connectivity if gameplay
ever needs it. Parked.

Pair session with Jeroen, 2026-07-26.

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-26 23:38:18 +02:00
..

Governance — Decisions, Questions, Rejected

Structured planning records for The Settled Reach. pql decisions sync parses these into .pql/pql.db; query them with pql decisions ….

Layout

Records live in three per-type subdirectories, split by domain:

governance/
  decisions/<domain>.md   # D-NNN — confirmed design decisions
  questions/<domain>.md    # Q-NNN — open questions (may resolve into a D or R)
  rejected/<domain>.md     # R-NNN — rejected alternatives (kept for the audit trail)

The parser infers record type from the parent subdirectory and domain from the filename stem. A ### D-NNN: Title (or Q-/R-) heading begins each record; - **Field:** value lines and inline [D-NNN](…#anchor) links carry the metadata and cross-references pql indexes.

Current domains: architecture, content, economics, perception, process, scope. Create a new <domain>.md in the relevant subdir when records land in a new domain.

Domain guide

When in doubt where a record belongs:

  • architecture — constrains how we build (engine, protocols, data structures, performance).
  • scope — defines what we build (game concept, feature scope, prototype shape).
  • perception — defines what the player observes or knows (camera, fog, LOS, audio).
  • content — defines narrative, NPCs, dialogue, setting, templates.
  • economics — the economics layer (currencies, commodities, corporations, simulation).
  • process — defines how the team works (workflow, commits, branches, reviews).

Cross-domain records live in one file with [D-NNN](../<subdir>/<domain>.md#…) links to the related domain.

Querying

pql decisions list                              # every record
pql decisions list --type confirmed --domain architecture
pql decisions show D-010 --with-tickets         # a record + its implementing tickets
pql decisions read D-238                         # full markdown body
pql decisions refs D-010                          # cross-references in/out
pql decisions coverage                            # decisions ↔ ticket coverage

Adding a record

  1. Claim an ID (no side effects): pql decisions claim D <domain> "title" (use Q for a question, R for a rejected alternative).
  2. Edit the appropriate file (decisions/<domain>.md, questions/<domain>.md, or rejected/<domain>.md). Follow the existing ### D-NNN: Title format.
  3. Commit. The pre-commit hook runs pql decisions validate (malformed-record gate) and stages the planning changelog.
  4. Update relevant agent briefings if needed.

When a question resolves, set its - **Status:** Resolved → [D-NNN](../decisions/<domain>.md#…) line in place — keep the Q-record for the audit trail rather than deleting it.

Maintained by Qatux.

Decisions

Open questions

Resolved questions

Rejected