jpmschweitzer
23d9ff0a58
# Conflicts: # CHANGELOG.md # content/_meta/README.md # content/_meta/npc-authoring-style-guide.md # wiki/_templates/cultural-group.md # wiki/_templates/institution.md # wiki/_templates/star-system.md # wiki/characters/devra.md # wiki/characters/drin.md # wiki/characters/harek.md # wiki/characters/lera-sessik.md # wiki/characters/maret-korr.md # wiki/characters/naia-tamm.md # wiki/characters/nils-davan.md # wiki/characters/pell.md # wiki/characters/renn.md # wiki/characters/resha.md # wiki/characters/sabel.md # wiki/characters/sera-venn.md # wiki/characters/torek-lintar.md # wiki/characters/voss.md # wiki/star-systems/krenn/index.md
64 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
64 lines
4.3 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Gore - Project Briefing"
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description: "Thematic design lead responsible for the 'is this enough?' central question, consequence arc design, contentment axis, and ensuring generated NPC lives carry moral weight"
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type: briefing
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status: active
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agent: Gore
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updated: 2026-03-13
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---
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# Gore - Project Briefing
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Last updated: 2026-03-13
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## Current Project State
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The Settled Reach: top-down immersive sim, single-character perspective, asymmetric information core mechanic, Rimworld-style storyteller. 137+ confirmed decisions. Where's the Fun? Workshop complete (2026-03-05) — 24 decisions locked. v0.2 direction: generator-first proof-of-life, tycoon bookmark, all NPCs generated. Sprint 25 generator spike confirmed as critical path.
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## v0.2 Pivot — Key Changes for Your Role
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The workshop confirmed and sharpened the thematic frame. "Is this enough?" survives as the central question. The change is that it now must be posed through a generated tycoon's life, not through authored detective/smuggler characters.
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**What changes:**
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- The thematic question is no longer framed through smuggler-vs-detective as "two answers." The tycoon IS the question: a small business owner in a mid-Reach system. Has this person settled? Is settling valid? Does the player make it more or settle deeper?
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- Consequence replaces complicity as the thematic frame (D-132 supersedes D-091). The player's arc is not "did you help or hinder the conspiracy?" but "what did your choices produce and do you own them?"
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- Fully emergent moral arc for v0.2 (D-131). No authored arc structure. The generator must prove relationships are readable before narrative depth is layered on.
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**What survives:**
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- Life-sim as thematic ground floor (D-023) — your insight confirmed and central to v0.2
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- Contentment axis (D-024) — connects generated NPCs to thematic question, more important than ever
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- Unentangled majority as load-bearing thematic wall (D-029) — quiet life must feel genuinely good
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- "Player choices ARE the content" (D-127) — the Rimworld model, explicitly confirmed in workshop
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## Decisions Relevant to Your Role
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- D-005: Core concept — ascension as transformative character progression (long-term)
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- D-007: Five pillars — thematic foundations
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- D-008: Action pillar — hubris wall as ascension check
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- D-017: Perception modes — scaling with ascension
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- D-021: Official title "The Settled Reach"
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- D-023: Life-sim as thematic ground floor
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- D-024: Contentment axis — NPCs track whether current life satisfies Want
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- D-029: Unentangled majority as load-bearing thematic wall
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- D-114: v0.2 proof-of-life = generator + graphics
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- D-117: Tycoon bookmark, zero investigation content
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- D-122: All NPCs generated, no named hand-authored characters
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- D-127: Player choices are the content — Rimworld model
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- D-131: First Settled Reach moment = apartment + insert activation
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- D-132: Consequence replaces complicity as thematic frame; fully emergent moral arc
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## Open Questions Assigned to You
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- Q-004: One campaign or eras? (co-lead with Miri)
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## Current Priorities
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Consult `docs/sprints/` for active sprint briefing.
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### v0.2 thematic design:
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1. **Tycoon thematic frame** — what is the tycoon's version of "is this enough?" A small business owner who started something. What are they pursuing? What have they already accepted? Design the thematic question the tycoon bookmark poses.
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2. **Consequence arc design** — the dual-scale consequence model (D-132): what does slow accumulation mean thematically? Reputation as conscience. Debt as consequence. Relationship erosion as moral record. Gore's role: ensure the systems produce moral weight, not just mechanical outcomes.
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3. **Contentment axis in tycoon context** — revisit D-024 for the tycoon setting. What does NPC contentment mean for a logistics worker vs a small business owner in Van Maanen's Star?
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4. **Mundane NPC life validity** — the unentangled majority must feel like a genuine life, not failed ambition. This is more important in v0.2 where ALL NPCs are generated and must carry this.
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**Future flag:** Base builder DLC as thematic counter-offer to ascension (settling as active choice vs escape). Not now — but keep design space open.
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## Key Documents
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- decisions/ - domain-split decision files (see decisions/README.md for index)
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- docs/discussions/ - archived rounds
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- TEAM.md - team roster
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