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jpmschweitzerandClaude Opus 4.6 8c95bda639 docs(workshops): add control & interaction brief, update workshop index 
Add workshop brief for Control & Interaction Scheme (next workshop).
Update index with wiki-review (complete) and v0.1-content-scoping
(complete, 38 tickets).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-02-12 16:19:10 +01:00

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Workshop Brief: Control & Interaction Scheme

How Does the Player Touch the World?

Project: The Settled Reach (D-021) Date: 2026-02-12 Called by: Jeroen Prerequisite: Wiki Review workshop established WASD direct control with context-sensitive interaction as unanimous direction. Participants: TBD — likely GESTALT, OZZIE, TYRE, STIG, DUDLEY, PAULA, MELLANIE, ARAMINTA

Context

The Wiki Review workshop (2026-02-12) produced unanimous consensus: the player controls their character directly via WASD movement with context-sensitive interaction prompts. The game is not Sims/Rimworld (drafted characters), not point-and-click. The player IS the character. Their body is their attention mechanism.

This workshop designs the specifics. The interaction model determines everything downstream: camera, UI, dialogue triggers, NPC approach, environmental interaction, inventory, information access, and the perception modes that are core to the game's asymmetric information design.

Design constraints from existing decisions:

  • D-005: Single-character perspective
  • D-013: Diegetic insert (neural implant map/minimap)
  • D-016: Internal monologue as perception bridge
  • D-017: Perception modes as character build
  • D-018: Three-range sound model
  • D-020: Godot 4 client + Rust/bevy_ecs server
  • Wiki Review: WASD direct control, context-sensitive interaction, body-as-attention-mechanism

Layer 1: Movement & Camera

How does the character move through space?

  • Movement: WASD (confirmed). But: 8-directional grid? Free movement? Physics-based? Sprint/walk toggle? Sneak mode?
  • Camera: Top-down (confirmed by "top-down immersive sim"). But: fixed angle? Rotatable? Zoom level? How close before you can read a sign? How far before NPCs are silhouettes?
  • Collision: Tile-based? Free-form? Can you squeeze between tables? Block doorways?
  • Speed: Does speed affect perception? Walking slowly = more monologue triggers? Running = less observation?

Questions:

  1. Gestalt: Does movement speed affect information gathering? Should walking vs. running change what you notice?
  2. Tyre: Godot 4 tile-based or free movement? What's the technical recommendation?
  3. Ozzie: What camera distance feels right for "I am this person" vs. "I can see the room"?
  4. Araminta: What visual information density works at the proposed camera distance?

Layer 2: Context-Sensitive Interaction

What happens when you approach something?

The Wiki Review poll referenced Disco Elysium interaction and Hotline Miami movement. The key design question: how do interaction prompts appear, and how does the player select from options?

  • Proximity trigger: How close before options appear? Line-of-sight required?
  • Prompt style: Single action prompt (changes based on context)? Radial menu? List? Paula suggested single-action prompts that change based on proximity + relationship + knowledge.
  • NPC interaction: Walk up to NPC → what appears? "Talk"? Multiple options (talk, observe, confront)? Does relationship state change the options?
  • Object interaction: Examine, use, take? How do you read a manifest on a desk vs. pick up a crate?
  • Environmental interaction: Doors, terminals, cargo containers, signs — each different?
  • Eavesdropping: Can you hear NPCs talking without direct interaction? How does proximity affect this?

Questions:

  1. Gestalt: How many interaction options per NPC at once? Does complexity vary by relationship state?
  2. Paula: How does dialogue initiation work? Player approaches NPC → what's the UX to the first line of dialogue?
  3. Stig: What UI patterns support context-sensitive prompts without cluttering the screen?
  4. Dudley: How does the server determine what interaction options are available based on entity state?

Layer 3: Information & Perception

How does the player ACCESS information vs. RECEIVE information?

The game has two information channels:

  1. Active: Player chooses to look, examine, query the lattice, read something
  2. Passive: Monologue fires based on observation triggers, overheard conversations, environmental tells
  • Lattice queries: How do you look up an NPC via the neural lattice? A UI panel? A diegetic device? Walk up and "scan"?
  • Monologue delivery: Text overlay? Speech bubble? Dedicated UI area? How does it not compete with dialogue?
  • Tell observation: Player walks past NPC with a behavioral tell — how is it surfaced? Monologue? Visual indicator? Both?
  • Knowledge journal: How do you review what you know? Diegetic (the implant's records)? Pause menu?

Questions:

  1. Gestalt: Where's the line between "the game tells you" (monologue) and "you have to look" (active observation)?
  2. Ozzie: When does information delivery feel immersive vs. intrusive?
  3. Tyre: How does the knowledge graph surface in the UI without becoming a database viewer?
  4. Mellanie: How much monologue can appear before the player stops reading?

Layer 4: Dialogue & Conversation

How do conversations work mechanically?

  • Initiation: Player walks up, presses interact. Then what? Dialogue box? In-world text? Camera zoom?
  • Response selection: Menu of options? Single-branch with trust-gated variations? How does the 4-layer dialogue system (access, history, trust, unprompted) translate to player-facing UX?
  • Conversation persistence: Can you walk away mid-conversation? Resume later? Does the NPC react?
  • Dual-lens integration: Same NPC, different options per character. How does the UI show what's available vs. locked?
  • Confrontation: How does "I know you're involved" differ from casual conversation in the UX?

Questions:

  1. Paula: What does the confrontation UX look like vs. casual conversation? Should the player feel the tension mechanically?
  2. Mellanie: How does monologue fire DURING dialogue? (Character reacts to what the NPC said)
  3. Stig: Dialogue box design — full screen? Corner overlay? In-world?
  4. Gestalt: How do trust-gated options appear (or not appear) without revealing the gating system?

Layer 5: Environmental Interaction & Inventory

What can you touch, carry, and use?

  • Inventory: Does the character have inventory? Pockets? A bag? Or is everything contextual (use the terminal, read the manifest, you don't carry things)?
  • Evidence: How does the detective collect evidence? Take a photo? Log it in the lattice? Pick it up?
  • Contraband: How does the smuggler interact with cargo? Physical handling? Abstract management?
  • Keys/access: Physical keys? Access codes? Lattice authorization levels? How does restricted access feel in the UX?

Questions:

  1. Gestalt: How physical is the interaction model? Carry objects? Or is everything knowledge-based (you SAW the manifest, you don't HAVE the manifest)?
  2. Tyre: What's feasible for v0.1 inventory? Full system or knowledge-only?
  3. Nigel: Does inventory variation matter for replayability, or is knowledge-based sufficient?

Layer 6: Time & Routine

How does time pass and how does the player relate to schedules?

  • Time control: Real-time? Acceleratable? Pause-to-think? Day/night cycle?
  • Routine awareness: Can you see NPC schedules? Predict where someone will be? Or do you learn through observation?
  • Waiting: Can you wait/skip time? Stand outside someone's shift and wait for them?
  • Urgency: Is there time pressure? Can you miss events? Or is the world patient?

Questions:

  1. Gestalt: Does time pressure create interesting decisions or just stress?
  2. Ozzie: What pacing feels right for "quotidian with undertow"?
  3. Dudley: How does the tick-based simulation map to player-perceived time?

Workshop Format

2-3 rounds.

Round 1: Layer-by-layer proposals. Each participant addresses their domain questions with concrete UX descriptions.

Round 2: Integration — how do the layers interact? Movement affects perception, perception affects dialogue options, dialogue affects knowledge, knowledge affects interaction prompts.

Round 3 (if needed): V0.1 minimum viable interaction model — what ships first?

Expected Outputs

  • Interaction model spec: Complete description of how the player touches the world
  • UI wireframe direction: Enough for Stig/Araminta to begin prototyping
  • Perception UX spec: How information flows to the player through the interaction model
  • V0.1 scope: Minimum viable interaction for the vertical slice
  • Tickets: New implementation tickets for the interaction model
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