settled-reach/decisions/scope.md

Scope Decisions

What we're building: game concept, design pillars, prototype definition, map specs, POI system.

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D-001: Build a custom game, not a mod

• Date: 2026-02-08
• Decision: We are building a standalone game, not a Stellaris mod.
• Rationale: No existing game provides the right combination of character-driven dynasty play, wormhole-centric space map, and deep internal politics that the Settled Reach universe demands. Stellaris gets the map right but characters wrong. CK3 gets characters right but the map wrong. Neither supports wormhole-as-infrastructure as a core mechanic.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen), after team debate across Rounds 1-3.
• Dissent: None. Team unanimously supports after discussion.

D-003: The Settled Reach is the first campaign, not the only possible one

• Date: 2026-02-08
• Decision: Build a character-driven space grand strategy framework/engine, with the Settled Reach as the first campaign/scenario.
• Rationale: Avoids locking into one IP. The framework has broader value. The Settled Reach provides a rich, opinionated first use case that forces good design decisions.
• Raised by: Gore (Transhumanist Fan), endorsed by team.

D-005: Core concept - single character, first-person, story-generator

• Date: 2026-02-08
• Decision: The game is a first-person, single-character experience. You select a character at game start and play from their perspective. The world is a rich simulation experienced through one person's keyhole view.
• Supersedes: D-002 (dynasty grand strategy concept)
• Elevator pitch: "Pick a character. Step into the Settled Reach. Figure it out."
• Key pillars:
  • Single character selection - who you pick determines where you start, what you know, what you can do, and what you care about
  • Asymmetric information as core mechanic - you only know what your character knows. Others lie, withhold, reveal. The same world-state looks completely different from different characters
  • Rimworld-style story generator - an AI storyteller paces events for dramatic tension. Structural randomness (who's compromised, where evidence is) set at game start. Dramatic randomness (when things happen) driven by pacing
  • Wormhole network as traversable infrastructure - you physically move through wormholes between locations
  • Crisis events emerge from simulation - not timers, not scripted, but consequences
  • Replayability through perspective - same conspiracy, different character, completely different game
• Design references: Rimworld (storyteller/systems), Disco Elysium (character-driven investigation), Sunless Skies (atmosphere/travel), King of Dragon Pass (event-driven decisions)
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen), evolved through Rounds 4-6 with full team input.
• Dissent: None. Team unanimously energized by the pivot.

D-002: Dynasty grand strategy concept [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-08
• Decision: Original concept was a dynasty-based grand strategy game where the player controls a family/faction across generations.
• Superseded by: D-005 (single character, first-person concept)
• Rationale for change: The dynasty model spread the player's attention across multiple characters, diluting the information asymmetry mechanic. Single-character perspective makes "what you know" the central gameplay tension.

D-006: Prototype scenario — Institute/Armstrong/Guardians [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-08
• Decision: The first playable prototype focuses on the Starflyer conspiracy arc, scoped to the investigative/political hub: the Institute, Armstrong City, and the Guardians of Selfhood. This tests the core mechanic (asymmetric information in a conspiracy) with controllable scope.
• Rationale: The conspiracy arc IS asymmetric information. If it's not compelling at this scale, a galaxy won't fix it. If it works, everything else is expansion.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen).
• Superseded by: D-027 (smuggler + detective vertical slice, 2026-02-10)

D-007: Five pillars of game design

• Date: 2026-02-08
• Decision: The game rests on five core design pillars. All systems must serve at least one.
• Pillars:
  1. Characters & Information - who you are, what you know, who you know. Asymmetric information is the master mechanic.
  2. The Wormhole Network - where you go, how you move through the world. Physical traversal of infrastructure.
  3. Society & Factions - the political landscape you navigate from inside, not above.
  4. Crisis & Storyteller - what the world throws at you and when. Rimworld-style AI pacing with structural + dramatic randomness.
  5. Action & Spectacle - what happens when it all goes loud. The punctuation, not the sentence.
• Raised by: Gestalt (pillars 1-4), Team Leader (pillar 5, citing Rimworld's shooter pedigree).

D-013: Diegetic insert/POI navigation system

• Date: 2026-02-09
• Decision: The player's map interface is diegetic - it IS the character's neural insert (Settled Reach technology). Not a game UI bolted on, but the character literally checking their implant's navigation overlay. Points of interest appear on the map only when learned through gameplay.
• How POIs are learned:
  • Character background (starting knowledge based on who you are)
  • NPC interactions (contacts send locations, tips, "meet me here" pins)
  • Research (unisphere searches, case files, institutional databases)
  • Physical discovery (finding something while exploring)
• Different characters see different maps: A cop sees flagged locations from case files. A Guardian sees safehouses and dead drops. A Senator sees political venues. Same city, different POI layer.
• POIs can be manipulated: Tips can be traps. Locations can be outdated. Information channels through the insert system carry the same trust/deception dynamics as verbal information.
• Anti-Ubisoft: No "climb tower to reveal icons." Map fills at the pace of investigation. Early game: sparse, frightening. Late game: dense, and you realize how much you missed.
• Cross-reference: Perception mode overlay in D-017. Time display on insert in D-031.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen) proposed borderless + anchoring concept. Miri confirmed canon basis. Full team contributed mechanics.

D-014: v0.1 map specification [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-09
• Superseded by: D-114 (generator-first proof-of-life replaces hand-built map spec; auto-generated locations at scale replace the hand-crafted tile map approach)
• Decision: First playable tech demo map spec:

Layer	Spec
World map	3 worlds (Hub/Capital/Fringe), node graph with wormhole connections
Local maps	1 per world, ~150x150 tiles, 2-3 z-levels, chunk-based
Key locations	5-8 hand-crafted buildings/rooms per world embedded in procedural space
Ambient fill	Procedural from templates (district types vary per world)
Wormhole gates	Physical locations on local map, observable/traversable, social chokepoints
Fog	LOS-based shadowcasting with vision cone (forward/peripheral/blind), fog returns on departure
Sound	Stereo close-range + visual fog-edge indicators for medium range
Navigation	Diegetic insert minimap - dots when close, border arrows for known distant POIs
Camera	Locked to character, no panning, no rotation in v0.1
Monologue	Internal character voice for non-visual perception, atmosphere, diegetic hints
Perception	Natural vision + basic audio only. Thermal/cameras/tracking deferred to milestones
NPCs	~15 total across all worlds, on schedules, moving between locations
Art	Functional boxes with labels. Atmosphere carried by monologue and interaction models.

• Raised by: Full team across Rounds 8-10.

D-027: Vertical slice — smuggler + detective, two-character proof [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-10
• Superseded by: D-114 (generator-first proof-of-life) and D-117 (tycoon bookmark replaces smuggler + detective; zero investigation content for v0.2)
• Decision: The proof-of-concept vertical slice is one station district containing: 1 workplace social site, 1 social venue (bar), 1 smuggling ring template, shared NPCs. Two playable characters: smuggler (logistics worker, insider access to criminal templates, social camouflage) and detective (institutional investigator, authority access, analytical). Success criteria: (1) 30 minutes of daily-life breathing room before contamination activates, (2) both playthroughs feel like fundamentally different games, (3) after each playthrough player names an NPC they felt conflicted about, (4) the observe→notice→follow→discover sequence emerges from systems not scripts.
• Supersedes: D-006
• Rationale: Smuggler + detective creates adversarial divergence — the detective's target IS the smuggler's daily life. Same templates, same NPCs, inverted relationships. Proves character-as-lens, contamination, life-sim attachment, and replayability simultaneously. Tyre confirms: ~20% more effort than single-character, no new architecture.
• Raised by: Team Leader (smuggler+detective choice), Nigel (two-character requirement), Ozzie (30-min runway), Gore (emotional criterion), Gestalt (systems criterion)
• Dissent: None

D-038: Audio in v0.1 scope — 8 files via Stable Audio Open

• Date: 2026-02-11
• Decision: Audio is included in v0.1 scope. Minimum viable set: 8 AI-generated audio files, produced using Stable Audio Open (self-hosted, free commercial use under $1M revenue). Audio is additive — the game works through text + visuals without it, but audio multiplies atmosphere.
• Audio asset list:
  1. amb_station_base.ogg — station hum, span gate vibration, ventilation (60-90s loop, global ambient)
  2. amb_workplace_layer.ogg — cargo machinery, scanner pings, distant voices (45-60s, logistics hub overlay)
  3. amb_bar_layer.ogg — conversation murmur, glass sounds, low Meridian music (45-60s, bar overlay)
  4. amb_corridor_layer.ogg — echoing footsteps, ventilation whistle, louder gate hum (45-60s, corridor overlay)
  5. sfx_footstep_metal.ogg — single footstep on metal grating (0.3-0.5s, walk trigger)
  6. sfx_footstep_metal_run.ogg — faster footstep (0.2-0.3s, run trigger)
  7. sfx_monologue_chime.ogg — soft crystalline tone, "neural lattice firing" feel (0.5-1.0s, monologue appearance)
  8. sfx_monologue_chime_urgent.ogg — sharper variant for contradiction/anomaly observations (0.5-1.0s)
• Architecture: Event-driven with asset registry + visual fallback. Simulation emits typed sound events; client renders as audio (if asset exists) or visual indicator + monologue trigger (if not). Ambient loops managed separately from event-driven sounds. Monologue chime is a UI sound, not a simulation sound.
• Amendment (2026-02-16, Audio Pipeline Kickoff):
  • Hybrid audio generation approach: Stable Audio Open (SAO) for sounds >200ms with organic character (footsteps, ambient layers). Manual synthesis for sounds <200ms with precise/digital character (UI clicks, scanner beeps). SAO ceiling ~47s; accept 45s loops with crossfade for ambient layers. The insert-tech/organic split (D-074) maps to synthesis/generation split.
  • Sprint 7 scope expansion: Ticket #440 expanded from 6 to 8 assets, adding monologue chimes (assets 7-8) as deliberate placeholders with Sprint 8 redo mandate. Chimes are critical for D-067 cognitive delay feel but acknowledged as difficult to generate correctly — manual synthesis required for production quality.
• Cross-reference: Three-range sound model (D-018), sound event architecture (Gestalt R2 section 6), audio aesthetic (D-074), recognition chime (D-067)
• Raised by: Ozzie (Round 1 minimum viable proposal, Round 2 full spec), project lead (confirmed, directives #3 and #9). Amendment raised by Inigo (hybrid approach), endorsed by Tyre.
• Dissent: Mellanie and Araminta both proposed deferring audio; project lead overruled. Visual sound indicators remain complementary to audio (not replacement).

D-039: v0.1 wow moment scope — all 6 moments [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-11
• Superseded by: D-127 (emergent life-sim replaces detective-specific authored wow moments) and D-136 (new first moment: apartment + insert activation). The 6 wow moments were designed for the detective/smuggler frame. No detective-specific wow moments in v0.2.
• Decision: All 6 wow moments identified by Ozzie are in v0.1 scope. The original 4 "essential" moments are promoted to must-have. The 2 "nice-to-have" moments are also promoted to must-have (project lead directive).
• The 6 wow moments (chronological in a 30-minute session):
  1. Arrival (minute 0-1): Station hum playing, NPCs already moving, first monologue chime. "Where am I? This feels real." Content: opening monologue, station ambient, pre-populated routines.
  2. The Character's Eye (minute 5-15): Monologue flags something the player didn't notice. Urgent chime. "My character is smarter than me." Content: observation monologue + NPC routine deviation.
  3. THE FRIEND's Contradiction (minute 20-25): THE FRIEND in the wrong place, urgent chime, deflection when asked. "I trusted you. What are you doing?" Content: full FRIEND content package + spatial staging.
  4. The Divergence Reveal (second playthrough, minute 5-10): Same room, different colors, different names, different monologue. "I was only seeing HALF of this." Content: all dual-lens content for first location.
  5. The News Ticker Gut-Punch: Same ticker, opposite monologue reactions per character. "The asymmetry in three words." Content: ticker + dual monologue reactions.
  6. The Quiet Moment: Idle in a corridor, unprompted reflective monologue. "I care about this person." Content: 2 monologue lines + time_idle trigger.
• Cross-reference: Vertical slice criteria (D-027), THE FRIEND (D-034)
• Raised by: Ozzie (Round 1 identification, Round 2 budget), project lead (all 6 promoted, directive #8)
• Dissent: None

D-051: "Settling is placement" — design principle

• Date: 2026-02-12
• Decision: Object density in a space correlates with how settled it is. The bar is full because Lera made it home. Empty corridors are unsettled. Investigation reads placement as intention — every placed tile is someone's decision. The tile-based world (D-043, 64x64px visual tiles on dual-scale grid per D-066) is thematically load-bearing: stations are literally built from prefab modular construction, so the tile grid IS the construction grid.
• Corollary — "Investigation is archaeology of intention" (Gore): Reading the tile world is reading decisions. A cargo crate in the wrong place. A personal item in a maintenance corridor. The mundane environment IS the evidence.
• Cross-reference: Favorite colors (D-052)
• Canonical reference: docs/workshops/art-direction-mood-board/workshop-outcomes.md §1.3, §7
• Raised by: Gore (both principles), unanimously endorsed.
• Dissent: None

D-053: Movement as stance toggle system

• Date: 2026-02-13
• Decision: Movement uses a stance toggle ladder: Sprint / Walk / Careful / Crouch / (Prone future). Toggle-based, not hold-to-activate. Each archetype has a default stance via MovementProfile component (e.g., smuggler defaults to Walk, detective defaults to Walk). All characters have access to all stances. Prone: toggle out only in normal play (must explicitly stand up); future combat allows "hit the deck" quick-entry.
• Stance values (server — ticks per move):
  • Sprint: 1 tile/1 tick. Monologue at 40% rate (urgent only). Loud footsteps. Interaction buffer cleared (D-055).
  • Walk: 1 tile/2 ticks. Monologue at 100% rate. Normal footsteps. Default stance.
  • Careful: 1 tile/3 ticks. Monologue at 150% rate + "tell notice bonus." Quiet footsteps. Enhanced eavesdropping via ListeningFocus (stationary_ticks accumulation).
  • Crouch: 1 tile/4 ticks. Very quiet footsteps. Uses Prone/Seated occupancy layer (D-054).
  • Prone: Future. Minimal noise. Toggle-out only.
• Client throttle (ms between commands): Sprint=200ms (5/s), Walk=400ms (2.5/s), Careful=600ms (~1.7/s), Crouch=800ms (1.25/s). Prevents input flooding; server cooldown remains authoritative. Tuned via playtesting: 5 tiles/sec feels like a flat-out sprint, 2.5/sec is a comfortable walk.
• Input model: Hold-to-move (polled each frame), discrete actions on press. Composite diagonals via simultaneous keys (W+D → northeast). See client/scripts/autoloads/input_mapper.gd.
• Perception coupling: Sprint suppresses interpretation (monologue), not data (overlays still render). Careful enhances observation. Composable via multiplicative formula: movement_modifier * perception_load_modifier. All stances: NO vision cone change — perception change is cognitive, not sensory.
• Emergent tactics: Sprint ahead to get position → Careful to wait and observe → Walk when target passes. Speed modes compose into surveillance patterns.
• v0.1: Sprint, Walk, Careful, Crouch. Prone deferred.
• Cross-reference: Tile-based movement (D-054), sprint suppression (D-055), sound model (D-018)
• Source: Control & Interaction Workshop (2026-02-13)
• Raised by: Lead (stance toggle, final call), Gestalt (Walk/Sprint/Careful triad + perception coupling), Dudley (MovementProfile + tick values), Ozzie (perception gradient), Nigel (character-defining speed)
• Dissent: None after lead call.

D-065: Smuggler inventory — knowledge-primary with physical evidence [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-13
• Superseded by: D-117 (no smuggler character in v0.2). The knowledge-primary inventory concept and physical evidence design survive as patterns for future character implementation.
• Decision: Knowledge is the primary "inventory" for all characters (you SAW the manifest, not you HAVE it). The smuggler additionally gets a minimal physical inventory for v0.1: 3 specific items (manifest copy, corridor access token, personal comm log). Capacity per archetype: smuggler 3-4 slots, detective 2 slots. Carried items are PRIVATE — they exist behind the information boundary (D-010 principle 2) and are not visible to other entities unless revealed via search, scan, or confrontation. Server implementation: world entities with CarriedBy component. Verbs: Take, Place.
• Evidence presentation differs by archetype: Detective sees case-file-style entries (structured: what/where/when/source/confidence, insert suggests links). Smuggler sees personal notebook (organized by person, informal voice, no contradiction flags). Same underlying knowledge graph, different presentation layer.
• v0.1 items (Paula):
  1. Manifest copy — proves cargo discrepancy. Leverage proof (smuggler's word doesn't carry institutional weight).
  2. Corridor access token — proves ring membership. Physical proof of social network position.
  3. Personal comm log — bridge between KG knowledge and provable leverage. Recorded conversations.
• UI: Pocket icons, bottom-right of screen, 40x40px. No empty slots displayed — icons appear only when items are carried.
• Rationale: Smuggler's word doesn't carry institutional weight — they need tangible proof for leverage. Detective's word IS evidence (institutional authority), so they're mostly KG-only. Three items demonstrate the risk/reward concept and differentiate the smuggler's gameplay loop. Contraband carried on person can be detected if scanned by security.
• Cross-reference: Knowledge graph (D-041), information boundaries (D-010), vertical slice (D-027), contraband (D-037)
• Source: Control & Interaction Workshop (2026-02-13)
• Raised by: Lead (smuggler needs inventory), Paula (three items + presentation split), Gestalt (knowledge-primary framework), Tyre (minimal implementation: SmallVec<3>), Dudley (server model: BTreeMap + info boundary)
• Dissent: Tyre initially argued zero physical items in v0.1 (saves 3-4 sprints). Adapted with minimal implementation after lead directive.

D-087: v0.1 triangle configuration — 3 active forks, 2 passive tensions [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-12
• Superseded by: D-122 (all NPCs generated; no named triangles with hand-authored characters) and D-117 (no investigation-specific triangle configuration for v0.2). Triangle generation follows the generator-first model (D-114).
• Decision: v0.1 vertical slice uses 5 relationship triangles. Three are active forks (T1: Kael-Smuggler-Ring, T2: Sera-Detective-Commission, T4: Drin-System-Ring) with branching outcomes driven by player observation. Two are passive tensions (T3: Naia-Kael-Hael, T5: Worried Partner background) that provide atmosphere and secondary discovery paths. Active forks require authored content per branch. Passive tensions are system-driven.
• Rationale: Three active forks are within v0.1 content authoring capacity. Passive tensions require no branching content — they enrich discovery space without multiplying authored lines.
• Raised by: Gestalt, Paula
• Dissent: None
• Source: v0.1 Content Scoping Workshop, Round 2 synthesis
• Cross-reference: D-027 (vertical slice), D-034 (THE FRIEND pattern)

D-089: Self-contained triangle forks for v0.1, no cross-triangle cascade [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-12
• Superseded by: D-117 and D-122. No hand-authored triangle forks in v0.2; triangle generation follows the generator-first model. Cross-triangle cascade design is preserved as a future consideration once the generator proves relationships are readable.
• Decision: In v0.1, each triangle fork resolves independently. No triangle outcome triggers escalation in another triangle. Cross-triangle cascade (storyteller-managed, where resolving T1 affects T2 pressure) is deferred to v0.2+. This keeps v0.1 content authoring manageable — each triangle is a self-contained narrative unit.
• Rationale: Cross-triangle cascade requires the storyteller to track inter-triangle state and authors to write contingent branches. Both are out of scope for v0.1. Self-contained triangles can be authored, tested, and validated independently.
• Raised by: Paula, Gestalt
• Dissent: None
• Source: v0.1 Content Scoping Workshop, Round 2 synthesis
• Cross-reference: D-087 (triangle configuration), D-027 (vertical slice)

D-091: Complicity as named thematic core [SUPERSEDED]

• Date: 2026-02-12
• Superseded by: D-132 (consequence replaces complicity as the primary experiential frame — Gore's reframe, Where's the Fun? Workshop convergence). The detective/smuggler frame that gave "complicity" its specific meaning has been replaced by the life-sim frame (D-117). All careers produce consequence at dual scales; complicity was archetype-specific to the detective/smuggler lens.
• Decision: The game's thematic identity is complicity — not conspiracy, not detection, not information asymmetry (which is the mechanical core per D-007). The player becomes complicit through observation: seeing something means choosing whether to act on it. The smuggler is complicit in the ring's operations. The detective is complicit in the institution's blindness. Both discover they are already entangled before they choose to be. This framing governs narrative design, wow moment emotional targets (D-039), and the Divergence Reveal (D-027 criterion 4).
• Rationale: "Complicity" names the emotional experience that information asymmetry produces. It distinguishes this game from pure detective games (you uncover truth) and pure action games (you do things). Here: you watch, and the watching implicates you.
• Raised by: Gore
• Dissent: None
• Source: Wiki Review Workshop, Gore Round 2 proposal, confirmed by lead interview
• Cross-reference: D-007 (five pillars), D-039 (wow moments), D-027 (vertical slice)

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D-114: v0.2 proof-of-life — generator + graphics, not hand-built slice

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: The v0.2 proof-of-life milestone is defined as: the generator producing usable output (auto-generated locations at scale with legible characters) plus better graphics. A hand-built vertical slice is explicitly NOT the proof-of-life. The v0.1 lesson: descoping toward a hand-built approach produced the wrong game. v0.2 must first prove the foundational generator can produce usable output, then build the game on top of that foundation.
• Rationale: v0.1 was built as a detective puzzle game with hand-placed NPCs and dots for characters. The designer's vision is a single-character life sim. The generator-first approach prevents the same mistake — we prove the generative foundation works before committing to content on top of it.
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 4 Interview, Decision 1
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen)
• Dissent: None
• Supersedes: D-027 (hand-built vertical slice), D-014 (hand-built map spec)

D-115: Character creation scoped to skills + bookmark for v0.2

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: v0.2 character creation is limited to two elements: skills (what the character is good at) and bookmark (which starting scenario/location the character inhabits). Family, culture, and religion are deferred from character creation. Culture is available in the game through the starting location (see D-128), not as a creation slider.
• Rationale: Skills and bookmark are the minimum needed to differentiate playthroughs. Adding family/culture/religion at creation gates content that is better delivered through gameplay. Religion in particular is NOT a game system (D-116).
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 4 Interview, Decision 2
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen)
• Dissent: None
• Cross-reference: D-128 (culture implicit in location)

D-116: Religion is not a game system

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: Religion is not a game system in The Settled Reach. It was mentioned as a reference point for the cultural richness of CK3, not as a design requirement. Religion is not a character creation axis, not a faction mechanic, not a dialogue filter, and not a storyline driver.
• Rationale: The reference to religion in workshop discussions came from CK3 influence. The Settled Reach's mechanical identity is economic + social + information asymmetry, not religious politics. Excluding religion from game systems focuses design on the core mechanics.
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 4 Interview, Decision 3
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen)
• Dissent: None

D-117: Tycoon is the v0.2 bookmark — zero investigation content

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: The v0.2 bookmark is the tycoon — a small business owner in Van Maanen's Star. v0.2 ships zero investigation content. The detective and smuggler framing from v0.1 is explicitly abandoned for v0.2. The tycoon naturally blends career models: active management, remote investment via insert (WFH model), and one-off deals (gig model). Investigation content will be revisited when the life-sim foundation is proven stable.
• Rationale: v0.1's detective/smuggler frame produced the wrong game. The tycoon bookmark is thematically and mechanically richer: economic complicity, life-sim attachment loops, and narrative emergence from everyday decisions. Clean break from investigation content removes the frame that distorted v0.1.
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 4 Interview, Decision 4
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen)
• Dissent: None
• Supersedes: D-027

D-118: Small business owner starting state — tycoon is aspiration, not starting position

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: The tycoon bookmark begins as an existing small business owner, not a mogul. The player starts with a small operation (bar, logistics contract, storage franchise) and grows into a tycoon over time — or sells out and pivots to exploration. The bookmark name "tycoon" describes the aspiration and growth trajectory, not the starting state. A true tycoon starting position would be overpowered and would skip the interesting growth phase.
• Rationale: Economic complicity and life-sim attachment require a character with something to lose and room to grow. Starting as a mogul eliminates the growth arc and removes economic stakes. The small business owner start grounds the player in a human-scale economic reality before scaling up.
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 5 Interview, Decision 20
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen)
• Dissent: None

D-119: Generator spike confirmed for Sprint 25 — critical path

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: The Sprint 25 generator spike is the confirmed first deliverable. If the generator cannot produce usable output, nothing else matters. If it can, everything else has a foundation. The generator proof-of-life gates all subsequent v0.2 development. Sprint 25 prerequisites that must exist before or during the spike: zone identity spec (Miri), one culture profile for Van Maanen's Star / Station Sova (Miri), and NpcBlueprint struct design (Tyre). Estimated timeline (Tyre): 7 sprints to proof-of-life playtest (generated location + legible characters + tycoon bookmark from creation to Day 3).
• Rationale: The v0.1 lesson established that building without a proven generator produces the wrong game. The sprint 25 spike tests whether the generator can produce auto-generated locations at scale with legible characters — the translation risk mitigation before anything else.
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 5 Interview, Decision 22
• Raised by: Tyre (proposal), Team Leader (confirmed)
• Dissent: None
• Cross-reference: D-114 (generator-first proof-of-life)
• Amendment (2026-04-05): The sequencing described here (Sprint 25 as first deliverable, generator proof-of-life gates all subsequent work) is superseded by D-166 (2026-03-24), which establishes a strict 6-phase development cascade. The generator spike falls in Phase 5 (World Generation), not Phase 1. The cascade is the authoritative build order.

D-120: No skill ceiling in v0.2 — transhumanist ladder deferred

• Date: 2026-03-05
• Decision: Skills have no hard cap in v0.2. The transhumanist ladder (baseline human → Higher → ANA-connected) is a later design layer. v0.2 proves the life-sim loop without skill constraints. The skill_ceiling architectural field is preserved in the implementation but not enforced in gameplay until the base game loop is proven.
• Rationale: Skill ceilings add complexity that is not load-bearing for the v0.2 proof-of-life. The life-sim loop must prove itself first. The transhumanist ladder is a rich design space but belongs in a later iteration when the foundational systems are stable.
• Source: Where's the Fun? Workshop, Round 5 Interview, Decision 24
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen)
• Dissent: None

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D-145: Base building DLC — GJ 902 unclaimed moon as player settlement site

• Date: 2026-03-15
• Decision: The unsettled system GJ 902 (south_reach, hop 7, K-type dead-end) contains a habitable moon with an iron core orbiting a gas giant. This is deliberately left unclaimed as prep for a future base building DLC where players could claim and settle it. The marginally habitable planet in the same system provides contrast; the moon is the prize.
• Rationale: Having a genuinely good piece of unclaimed real estate in the star map gives the base building DLC a natural entry point with existing lore context. The dead-end topology and quiet corridor explain why nobody has claimed it yet.
• Source: Wiki writing session, 2026-03-15
• Raised by: Jeroen

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D-146: Character creation preview — tile-scale sprite with heavy zoom

• Date: 2026-03-17
• Decision: The character creation screen shows the player character's game sprite at heavy zoom — the same top-down tile-scale rendering used in gameplay, rendered at high resolution so it holds up when zoomed in. No separate portrait rendering system. Cosmetic choices (hair, clothing, colors) update the zoomed sprite in real time. Rimworld uses this exact approach: the character customisation screen shows the same pawn sprite rendered larger, with clothing/equipment layers visible.
• Rationale: The tile-scale sprite IS the player's character for the entire game. Showing it zoomed in character creation: (1) sets accurate expectations for in-game appearance, (2) reuses the production sprite/animation pipeline — zero new rendering infrastructure, (3) validates that cosmetic customisation (#619) reads correctly at game scale, (4) keeps #618 as a single client ticket with no visual-team split. A separate portrait system would be a one-off rendering context (different camera, lighting, asset pipeline) that serves no other game feature. "CK3-style" in the bookmark concept refers to the bookmark structure, not the portrait aesthetic. Portraits can be added later as an additive feature if needed.
• Team implication: Ticket #618 (CK3-style character creation screen) stays as a single client team ticket. No split required.
• Source: Sprint 27 planning pass — Q-WTF-039 resolution
• Raised by: Tyre (architecture), Paula (narrative), Gestalt (systems), confirmed by project lead
• Dissent: Ozzie argued for portrait render (emotional attachment). Overruled: tile-scale at heavy zoom provides sufficient character identity without a second rendering pipeline.
• Cross-reference: D-115 (creation scope), D-134 (full character customisation), D-136 (first game moment), ticket #618 (CK3-style character creation screen)
• Resolves: Q-WTF-039

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D-153: Player character not visually distinct from NPCs

• Date: 2026-03-17
• Decision: The player character uses the same 3D models, same body types, same clothing variety, and same uniform outlines as all other characters. The only visual difference between the player character and NPCs comes from what gear the player chose and bought in-game. No protagonist glow, no saturation boost, no special outline color, no distinct tint.
• Rationale: This is a life-sim, not an action game. The player character is not a hero with a visual aura — they are a person among people. Visual distinctness would undermine the asymmetric information design: the player's privileged knowledge comes from the insert and perception layers, not from being visually flagged in the world. Immersion requires the player to feel like they live in the world, not observe it from above.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen) — Sprint 28 Round 1 overrule
• Dissent: None (Round 1 proposal for protagonist distinction overruled)
• Cross-reference: D-154, D-149

D-154: Character outline is not a relationship indicator — uniform dark

• Date: 2026-03-17
• Decision: All character outlines are uniform dark gray/black (#1a1a1a) at all times in normal gameplay. The outline is a rendering artifact (inverted hull) — it carries zero semantic information. Relationship information lives on the minimap, name bubbles, and optionally in a dedicated insert/perception mode overlay. The entity relationship color system (D-033) remains valid within the insert/perception mode context but is NOT displayed via the character outline in normal gameplay.
• Rationale: If outline color encodes relationship, the player must consciously parse color to extract meaning — this competes with the scene's primary readability job (who is where). The insert is the designed channel for relationship and social data. The outline's only job is silhouette separation from the background.
• Amendment note for D-033: D-033's entity color palette (#4a9ebb, #6bc9a6, etc.) remains valid as an insert/perception mode overlay, not as the default entity rendering. Normal gameplay shows uniform dark outlines only.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen) — Sprint 28 Round 1 overrule
• Dissent: None (Round 1 proposal for relationship-colored outlines overruled)
• Cross-reference: D-033 (amended — perception mode only), D-150

D-155: Character editor rotation — cardinal directions only, no free-spin

• Date: 2026-03-17
• Decision: The character creation/editor screen allows rotation of the character preview using N/E/S/W cardinal direction buttons only. No free-spin (drag to rotate). The four directions match the four client visual groups from D-151.
• Rationale: Free-spin would expose intermediate angles that don't correspond to any in-game facing, giving a misleading preview of how the character will actually look during gameplay. Cardinal directions match the visual groups the player will see in-game and build correct expectations. The isometric cognitive model is reinforced, not undermined, by the editor.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen) — Sprint 28 Round 1 overrule
• Dissent: None (free-spin proposal overruled)
• Cross-reference: D-151, D-146

D-156: Faction colors are narrative, not a visual compositor concern

• Date: 2026-03-17
• Decision: Faction affiliation is not encoded in character rendering by the compositor. A faction may optionally adopt shared clothing colors as an emergent narrative pattern (members choose to dress alike), but this emerges from character choices — the compositor does not pipeline faction data into color overrides. No "faction color slot" in the compositor API.
• Rationale: The game is a life-sim with emergent narrative, not an RTS with team colors. Visual homogeneity within a faction can emerge naturally from shared cultural tastes and social norms (via D-147, aesthetic taste trait), not from a forced compositor rule. Hard-coded faction colors would undermine per-character identity.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen) — Sprint 28 Round 1 overrule
• Dissent: None
• Cross-reference: D-147 (aesthetic taste as shared root), D-149

D-157: Game start sequence — alarm clock fade from black, not camera pull-back

• Date: 2026-03-17
• Decision: The game begins with a fade from black + alarm clock sound, the player character waking up in their apartment. The character creation screen is a separate prior context that does not transition directly into gameplay via a cinematic. No camera pull-back from the editor into the game world.
• Rationale: The first game moment (D-136: auto-generated apartment + insert activation) is a designed experience — an alarm clock wake-up reinforces the life-sim context and grounds the player in their character's daily reality. A camera pull-back from a creation screen to a game world is a cinematic convention from RPGs where the player is a hero arriving somewhere. The Settled Reach player is already somewhere.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen) — Sprint 28 Round 1 overrule
• Dissent: None (camera pull-back proposal overruled)
• Cross-reference: D-136 (first game moment), D-146 (character creation as separate context)

D-158: Frontal camera angle is default for character editor / mugshot UI

• Date: 2026-03-18
• Decision: The character editor and mugshot UI use a frontal camera angle (-5° tilt, near eye-level) by default. Three confirmed camera presets: frontal (-5°, editor default), dramatic/low-angle (-30°, gameplay default), overhead (-80°, top-down). Isometric (-45°) superseded — not part of the confirmed set.
• Rationale: Frontal view is the natural angle for inspecting a character's face and outfit in an editor context. Identified during the Quaternius aesthetic spike — the frontal preset immediately felt right for close inspection while the tilted angles serve gameplay readability.
• Raised by: Jeroen, during spike validation.
• Cross-reference: D-146 (character creation as separate context), D-155 (editor rotation)

D-159: Character body type enum: 5 types × 2 genders + 1 child skeleton (11 total)

• Date: 2026-03-18 (updated 2026-03-19)
• Decision: The character system supports 5 body types × 2 genders (10 base meshes) plus 1 gender-neutral child skeleton (11 total). The body types are: Thin (ectomorph, narrow), Average (regular proportions, canonical/default), Muscular (broad shoulders, thick limbs), Heavy (wide torso, thick midsection), Teen (adolescent proportions). Children use a distinct skeleton with correct child proportions (larger head-to-body ratio, shorter limbs) — not a scaled-down adult. Child gender differentiation comes from animation, not mesh. Elderly is an animation/posture layer on adult bodies (slight stoop, different gait), not a separate body type. Quaternius source kit mapping: Teen→teen, Regular→average, Superhero→muscular. Thin, heavy, and child were auto-scaled forks from the spike (flagged for artist review).
• Rationale: Identified during the Quaternius aesthetic spike — the standard tier only has 3 body types (Superhero/Regular/Tiny) with no heavy/fat variation and clothing locked per body type. A populated life-sim world needs visually distinct people. 5 types (including teen) gives readable silhouette variety at isometric zoom without exploding the clothing authoring burden (clothing authored on Average, batch-generated for others via Blender Surface Deform). All 11 body type segment GLBs were delivered by the visual team in Sprint 28.
• Raised by: Jeroen, during spike review. Araminta and Tyre confirmed. Updated during wireframe design to include teen (was missing from original count).
• Cross-reference: D-153 (same models for player and NPCs), D-158 (editor camera)

D-165: Character creator color palette: 5x9 muted hues + 1x9 neutral gray

• Date: 2026-03-19
• Decision: The character creation color picker uses a fixed 6×9 (54 swatch) palette plus a hex input field with 9 recent custom color slots persisted at game level. The palette rows are computed from HSL with fixed hue and saturation per row, 9 evenly spaced lightness steps (L=18→76% for chromatic rows). Row layout:
  1. Reds H=0° S=35%: #3d1d1d #522727 #673131 #7f3d3d #974848 #af5959 #bc7575 #c99090 #d7acac
  2. Greens H=150° S=28%: #213a2d #2c4e3d #37614c #43785e #508f70 #62a684 #7cb599 #96c4ad #b0d2c1
  3. Blues H=215° S=35%: #1d2b3d #273952 #314867 #3d587f #486997 #597daf #7593bc #90a8c9 #acbed7
  4. Purples H=275° S=28%: #30213a #402c4e #503761 #624378 #75508f #8a62a6 #9d7cb5 #b196c4 #c4b0d2
  5. Browns H=28° S=35%: #3d2c1d #523b27 #674a31 #7f5c3d #976d48 #af8159 #bc9675 #c9ab90 #d7c0ac
  6. Neutral grays R=G=B even steps: #000000 #1f1f1f #3f3f3f #5f5f5f #7f7f7f #9f9f9f #bfbfbf #dfdfdf #ffffff
• Rationale: Art direction reference is Invisible Inc — muted, desaturated, adult. No primary colors. Palette covers practical clothing colors (workwear, jumpsuits, military surplus) without flashy tones. Players who want exact colors use the hex field; recent custom colors persist across character creation sessions at the game (save) level. HSL computation ensures each row stays in its hue family from dark to light with no drift.
• Raised by: Jeroen, during character creation wireframe design.
• Cross-reference: D-155 (editor rotation), D-134 (character customisation)

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D-236: Sol / GJ-0 — player-inaccessible, Atlas highest-level only, deeper Sol is future DLC

• Date: 2026-05-26
• Decision: Sol (system GJ-0) is permanently out of player scope. Three concrete consequences:
  • (a) No body-level generation. All Phase-4+ generation pipelines (founding_age backfill, body skeleton generation, FillChunk, etc.) EXCLUDE Sol bodies entirely. system_history.settlement_wave = 'origin' is the gate flag — GJ-0's wiki frontmatter already documents this as a placeholder that flags the system as exceptional, predating the wave taxonomy.
  • (b) Atlas highest-level only. The Atlas renders Sol at its system-level pregenerated map and nothing more — no zoom-in, no per-body click-through, no in-world rendering of Sol bodies. The Sol map is a leaf node in the Atlas hierarchy.
  • (c) Deeper Sol is a future DLC. Any treatment that makes Sol feel like actual Sol (real Earth/Mars/Luna geography, real history, real political textures) is reserved for a separate, future DLC with its own scope. Explicitly NOT current work.
• Rationale: Sol carries enormous authorial expectation (real Earth/Mars/Luna geography, real human history). Fudging it would land worse than leaving it sealed. Keeping Sol out of scope keeps the Reach the focus and the realism debt manageable; reserving Sol for a hypothetical DLC keeps the door open without committing to the (massive) job now.
• Implementation: generation pipelines filter out bodies whose system has settlement_wave = 'origin'; the Atlas zoom UI gates Sol at the system map (no body-level navigation panes). Effective immediately on the Phase-4 fill-seam cascade (#1000 founding_age backfill explicitly excludes Sol).
• Raised by: Jeroen, 2026-05-26 — formalising what was previously implicit in D-223's naming exemption and GJ-0's wiki frontmatter into a single canonical scope rule.
• Cross-reference: D-145 (DLC-scoping precedent), D-191 (Atlas Phase-3 — this constrains Sol's Atlas treatment), D-223 (Sol naming exemption + offline sol_import.py geometry — this generalises that scope), D-171 / D-174 (Sol-as-shadow-currency — orthogonal, unaffected), GJ-0 wiki frontmatter (settlement_wave: origin, political_zone: earth_sphere).
• Dissent: None

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35 decisions (26 active, 9 superseded). Last updated: 2026-05-26 (D-236 added — Sol player-access scope)