settled-reach/docs/workshops/art-direction-mood-board/round2-tracking.md

# Art Direction & Mood Board Workshop — Round 2 Tracking Document

**Compiled by:** Qatux (Documenter)
**Date:** 2026-02-12
**Sources:** round2-araminta.md, round2-ozzie.md, round2-miri.md, round2-gore.md
**Round 2 brief:** round2-brief.md
**Round 1 tracking:** round1-tracking.md

---

## Executive Summary

All five open questions from Round 1 reached **unanimous consensus** in Round 2. The two agents who held middle positions on OQ-02 (Araminta and Ozzie) both moved to the strict-zero-shift position held by Gore and Miri. No new divergences were introduced. The tile-based base building input was unanimously endorsed and strengthened multiple existing positions.

Gore's proposed label for the converged art direction: **"functional warmth."**

---

## 1. OQ-01 Resolution: Neural Insert Overlay

**Status: RESOLVED — Unanimous**

**Resolution: Geometric data layer + soft bloom render pass = precision that feels organic.**

| Agent | Position | Key contribution |
|---|---|---|
| **Araminta** | Accepts synthesis. Geometric underneath, bloom on top. | Specific implementation: 2-3px gaussian blur at ~40% blend on the insert CanvasLayer. D-033 colors gain soft halos rather than hard edges — "amber feels like a vague sense of concern, not a data flag." |
| **Ozzie** | Endorses. | Player experience test: "After 10 minutes, does the player forget the insert is there? If yes, we've succeeded." Geometric = trustworthy — Commonwealth tech so mature it's invisible. |
| **Miri** | Endorses. Setting-grounded. | Explains WHY both are simultaneously correct: data is computational (geometric), delivery is neural (organic). Brain receives precise data and renders it with biological softness. **New addition:** lattice overlay differs per character — smuggler's is thinner/sparser, detective's is denser/crisper (different hardware). |
| **Gore** | Accepts. | "Araminta is right about the source, I was right about the experience." Test: if switching the overlay OFF would feel like going deaf rather than closing a window, it's working. |

**Araminta's original position (geometric) and Gore's original position (organic) both survive in the synthesis.** The data is precise; the rendering is soft. One CanvasLayer, one shader pass.

**New detail from Miri (not in Round 1):** The smuggler's baseline lattice produces a thinner, sparser overlay; the detective's augmented lattice produces a denser overlay with crisper rendering. This creates a visual difference between playthroughs that is character-driven, not environment-driven — consistent with the zero-shift principle (OQ-02).

---

## 2. OQ-02 Resolution: Environmental Shift When Conspiracy Activates

**Status: RESOLVED — Unanimous (two agents moved)**

**Resolution: Strict zero environmental shift. All changes are character-driven (insert overlay, monologue, D-033 entity colors).**

| Agent | Round 1 position | Round 2 position | What changed their mind |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Araminta** | Subtle shifts allowed (5% cooler CanvasModulate) | **Moved to strict zero** | "If the station itself helps the player detect conspiracy, it undermines the core loop." Gore's "absence of change IS the horror" and Miri's mechanical argument convinced her. |
| **Ozzie** | On the fence — slight shifts, but real shift is internal | **Moved to strict zero** | "If the environment gets 5% cooler, the player will LEARN that... the RENDERING is doing detective work instead of the PLAYER." Subconscious calibration breaks investigation mechanic. |
| **Miri** | Strict zero (held) | Strict zero (confirmed) | Setting logic: the conspiracy was there before the game started. Nothing in the physical environment changes when the player discovers it. |
| **Gore** | Strict zero (held) | Strict zero (confirmed) | "The rendering engine isn't a character. It doesn't have opinions." Araminta's 5% shift is "seductive because it would be invisible consciously. That's exactly why it's wrong." |

**What CAN change:**
- Insert overlay density (more annotations, more flags, more connection lines)
- Entity colors (D-033 shifts: green → amber → red)
- Monologue frequency and urgency
- Player character sprite posture/animation (Araminta's proposal — stress visible on the self, not the world)

**What CANNOT change:**
- Light color temperature
- Shadow depth or direction
- Ambient sound register (visual side — Inigo's call on audio)
- Tile colors, wall tones, floor patterns
- Any CanvasModulate shift correlated with conspiracy state

**Agreed exceptions (diegetic, everyone experiences them):**
- Time-of-day cycle (D-031) — dimmer at night, brighter in morning. Physical reality.
- Weather — storms, fog, rain. Physical reality. The storyteller can TIME weather for dramatic effect, but the weather itself is causally neutral.

**Gore's framing (endorsed by all):** "The player walks into the bar after discovering the conspiracy and it's STILL warm and inviting. That's the horror. The warm light isn't ironic — it's indifferent."

---

## 3. OQ-03 Resolution: Entity Detail + Tile Object Vocabulary

**Status: RESOLVED — Unanimous**

**Resolution: 64x64 tile grid, 24x32 entity sprites, three-layer visual hierarchy, Rimworld object detail as production target.**

### Accepted specifications (Araminta's, endorsed by all)

**Structural tiles (walls, floors, doors):** 64x64. Muted. Minimal or no outlines. Zone palette + construction era differentiation. The visual background.

**Object tiles (furniture, equipment, containers):** 64x64 per 1x1 object. Larger objects composed of 1x1 sub-tiles. Medium outline weight (1px). Mid-detail. Rimworld's object sprites as the right target: clear top-down silhouette, identifiable at a glance, flat-lit (engine adds atmosphere). Must read WITHOUT color (perception modes strip color).

**Entity sprites:** 24x32 pixel footprint within a 64x64 tile. Boldest outlines (2px). D-033 color as primary signal. One identifying silhouette feature per named NPC. 3-4 template silhouettes for generic NPCs. Entity is smaller than the tile it occupies — creates clear figure-ground relationship.

### Visual hierarchy (unanimous)

**Entities > Objects > Structure**

| Layer | Outline weight | Color saturation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entity sprites | 2px (boldest) | Highest — D-033 relationship colors | Information / social layer |
| Object tiles | 1px (medium) | Moderate — era-appropriate palette | Function / lived-in character |
| Structural tiles | Minimal / none | Lowest — muted zone palette | Spatial backbone |

### Three construction eras as tile palettes (Araminta + Miri)

| Era | Palette character | Object examples | Zones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Era 1 (~40 years ago) | Institutional grey, uniform, regulation markings | Standard wall panels, composite floors, heavy pressure doors | Terminal structure, main corridors, maintenance |
| Era 2 (~20-30 years ago) | Different manufacturers, visible seams, surface-mounted additions | Retrofit Meridian junction boxes, modified partitions, expansion-era floor | Terminal modifications, bar corridor |
| Era 3 (recent/ongoing) | Personal/commercial, most varied, warm tones | Bar furnishings, locker decorations, hand-lettered signs, patch repairs | Bar interior, break rooms, personal spaces |

### Comprehensive tile vocabulary (Miri)

Miri provides a detailed inventory of ~25+ distinct tile types across structural and furniture categories in her Round 2 response, organized by zone. This serves as the base object vocabulary for the Nano Banana style guide. See `round2-miri.md`, OQ-03 section for the full tables.

### Key agent contributions

- **Araminta:** Exact pixel specs, outline hierarchy, production pipeline logic. "Nano Banana's job becomes: generate individual object sprites at 64x64 with consistent style."
- **Ozzie:** Player experience implications. Tile-based world = routine deviations are PHYSICAL ("that crate wasn't there yesterday"). Station evolves visibly. Player ownership through placement.
- **Miri:** Setting grounding. "Stations are literally built this way — prefab modular construction." Full tile vocabulary. Three-era palette system. Floor tiles as primary visual surface.
- **Gore:** Thematic framing. "Settling is placement." "Investigation is archaeology of intention." Object density = how "settled" a space is. Production priority: "Twenty distinct object tiles matter more than ten frames of entity animation."

---

## 4. OQ-04 Resolution: Animation Ambiguity vs. Readability

**Status: RESOLVED — Unanimous**

**Resolution: Two-tier animation system. Clear for daily routine activities. Ambiguous for investigatively relevant behaviors.**

### Tier 1: CLEAR animation (daily life / public activities)

| Activity | Frames | Readability requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Walking/running | 4-6 frames directional cycle | Instantly readable direction and speed |
| Working at terminal/handling cargo | 2-3 states | Unambiguous "this person is working" |
| Eating/drinking | 2-3 states (seated, arm-to-face) | Readable from across the map |
| Talking (two entities face-to-face) | 2-3 states (subtle gesticulation) | Clearly distinguishable from "standing near someone" |
| Sleeping | 1 state (horizontal, no movement) | Unambiguous |

### Tier 2: AMBIGUOUS animation (investigation / private intention)

| Behavior | Animation | What the player sees vs. what they DON'T know |
|---|---|---|
| Pausing/stopping | Entity halts | Sees: stopped. Doesn't know: why (message? listening? checking surroundings? resting?) |
| Looking around | Head rotation | Sees: scanning. Doesn't know: checking for witnesses? admiring view? searching for someone? |
| Lingering near a location | Idle-aware state | Sees: staying. Doesn't know: waiting for contact? taking a break? lost? |
| Changing direction | Walk direction reversal | Sees: turned around. Doesn't know: forgot something? avoiding someone? noticed something? |
| Proximity without clear interaction | Two entities near, NOT in "talking" animation | Sees: nearness. Doesn't know: together intentionally? coincidence? |

### Why this works (agent convergence)

- **Araminta (production):** Clear activities need 2-3 states each. Ambiguous behaviors need only 1-2 generic states. "Cheaper to produce AND better for gameplay."
- **Ozzie (player experience):** Creates natural investigation loop — scan → notice → approach → observe → decide. "The clear/ambiguous division isn't an art decision — it's the investigation mechanic expressed through animation."
- **Miri (setting):** "Daily activities are socially public. Investigatively relevant behaviors are privately motivated." Maps to NPC tell system (D-024). Critical: "The boundary between tiers should NOT be visually signaled."
- **Gore (theme):** "Routine is readable because routine is public. Deception looks like normal but slightly off." Serves the 30-minute life-sim runway — if routine isn't readable, you can't notice when it breaks.

---

## 5. OQ-05 Resolution: Darkwood as Lighting Reference

**Status: RESOLVED — Unanimous**

**Resolution: Darkwood endorsed as primary vision cone lighting model, with emotional retuning from dread to uncertainty. Three-reference lighting system established.**

### The three-reference lighting system (Araminta's formulation, endorsed by all)

| Reference | Provides | Aspect |
|---|---|---|
| **Darkwood** | Vision cone mechanics | Light pooling, graduated fade from known to unknown, darkness-as-weight, the emotional gradient of restricted LOS |
| **Blade Runner 2049 / Roger Deakins** | Color temperature language | Warm amber = social/inhabited, cool white = institutional/official, mixed = transitional. Color as emotional storytelling. |
| **Edward Hopper (*Nighthawks*)** | Emotional composition | Warm interior light surrounded by unknowable dark. The central image of the game. |

### The critical retuning (all four agents)

| Darkwood | The Settled Reach |
|---|---|
| Darkness = hostile | Darkness = uncertain |
| Light = safety | Light = visibility (not necessarily safety) |
| Beyond the cone: monsters | Beyond the cone: life continuing without you |
| Emotional register: dread | Emotional register: uncertainty |
| Gradient: bright → dim → dark → terror | Gradient: clear → reduced → uncertain → ignorant |

### Where Darkwood's model applies (Miri's scoping)

- **Maintenance corridors with manual-switch lighting** (~20-30% of spaces): dark by default, player/NPC activates light, creating pools. This IS Darkwood's core mechanic directly.
- **Exterior sections during night cycle or weather:** reduced ambient light, Darkwood's emotional gradient at the vision cone boundary.
- **The fog boundary everywhere:** graduated fade from known to unknown, not a hard cutoff.

### Where Darkwood's model needs adaptation (Miri)

- **Most of Sova is lit.** The Terminal, bar, and main corridors have adequate institutional/commercial lighting. Darkwood's model applies to limited-light spaces, not the whole game.
- **Light doesn't equal safety.** The bar's warm light is where the detective observes AND where THE FRIEND's contradiction might be noticed. "Well-lit" means "visible," not "nothing to find."

### Godot 4 implementation (Ozzie's confirmation)

PointLight2D (per fixture, per zone) + LightOccluder2D (on walls/obstacles) + CanvasModulate (global ambient) + textured PointLight2D on player (vision cone shape: brighter forward, dimmer peripheral, absent behind). Stock Godot 4 pipeline — no custom engine work.

---

## 6. Tile-Based Base Building — New Input Response

**Status: Unanimously endorsed. No dissent.**

All four agents endorse the tile-based world composition and identify it as strengthening, not changing, their Round 1 positions.

### Agent framings

| Agent | Framing | Key phrase |
|---|---|---|
| **Araminta** | Production confirmation | "The world is assembled, not illustrated." Nano Banana generates individual 64x64 object sprites — easier for consistency than scene painting. |
| **Ozzie** | Player experience wins | "Routine deviations become PHYSICAL." Crate positions, furniture changes, sealed hatches — all are evidence. Investigation becomes spatial memory. Maps to all 4 wow moments. |
| **Miri** | Setting-faithful | "Stations are literally built this way." Prefab modular construction = tile grid IS the construction grid. Full tile vocabulary provided. |
| **Gore** | Thematic expression | "Settling is placement. Investigation is archaeology of intention." Object density = how settled a space is. "Settling is visible as object density." |

### Consensus implications

1. **Object density IS environmental storytelling.** Dense, varied objects = inhabited space (bar). Sparse, uniform objects = institutional space (Terminal). Near-empty = unsettled space (corridors). This replaces "painted background detail" as the source of environmental richness.

2. **Nano Banana pipeline simplifies.** Single-object 64x64 sprites are easier for AI consistency than scene composition. Style guide needs: outline weight, color palette per era, shadow direction (or flat-lit with engine lighting), interior detail density per tile.

3. **Three construction eras apply to OBJECTS, not backgrounds.** Original-era desk vs. renovation-era desk vs. recent desk. Mixed-vintage objects in a single room = visual temporal layering without exposition.

4. **Gore's production priority:** "Twenty distinct, bold, instantly-readable object tiles matter more than ten frames of entity animation." Object vocabulary IS environment vocabulary.

---

## 7. Additional Items from Round 2

### 7a. Planet naming (Miri)

Miri proposes **Velen** as the name for Sova's planet (Krenn System). Temperate-maritime climate, regular rainfall, morning/evening fog, mild temperature range, occasional heavy squalls. Gravity ~0.9G. Naming conventions: compact, consonant-weighted, two-syllable, Nordic-influenced. **Needs confirmation from project lead.**

### 7b. Player character stress visibility (Araminta)

Araminta proposes one exception to the zero-shift rule: "The player character's OWN entity sprite could shift subtly — posture or animation change reflecting stress." The character carries the conspiracy's weight visually; the station doesn't. **Not contested by other agents but not explicitly endorsed either. Flagging as a minor open item.**

### 7c. Lattice overlay density per character (Miri)

New detail not in Round 1: the smuggler's baseline lattice produces thinner, sparser overlay; the detective's augmented lattice produces denser, crisper overlay. Different hardware = different visual density. This creates a playthrough-specific visual difference that is character-driven, not environment-driven. **Endorsed implicitly by Araminta (Round 1 insert density table) and Ozzie (Round 1 smuggler vs detective section). Consistent with all positions.**

### 7d. Outline weight hierarchy (Araminta)

New production spec: entities 2px outline > objects 1px outline > structure minimal/no outline. This creates the visual hierarchy (entities > objects > structure) through outline weight alone — a concrete, implementable rule for the style guide. **Not contested.**

### 7e. Mood board image #8 prompts

All four agents provided prompt suggestions for the "world as collection of 1x1 placed items" image. Common elements across all prompts:
- True top-down, tile-grid visible
- The Last Shift bar as primary subject (warm, dense objects)
- Zone transition visible (warm bar → cool corridor through doorway)
- NPC entities at correct scale (24-32px on 64px tiles)
- Object density difference between zones as visual storytelling
- Lighting doing emotional work on top of tile shapes

---

## 8. Updated Consensus — Full Workshop Resolution

### All Open Questions Resolved

| OQ | Round 1 status | Round 2 resolution | Consensus |
|---|---|---|---|
| **OQ-01:** Insert overlay | Divergent (Araminta geometric vs. Gore organic) | Geometric data + bloom render = precision that feels organic | **Unanimous** |
| **OQ-02:** Environment shift | Split (Araminta/Ozzie allow subtle vs. Gore/Miri strict zero) | Strict zero. Character-driven changes only. | **Unanimous (Araminta + Ozzie moved)** |
| **OQ-03:** Entity detail + tiles | Approximate agreement, no spec | 64x64 tiles, 24x32 entities, three-layer hierarchy, Rimworld object target | **Unanimous** |
| **OQ-04:** Animation | Split (clear vs. ambiguous) | Two-tier: clear for routine, ambiguous for investigation | **Unanimous** |
| **OQ-05:** Darkwood lighting | Ozzie strong advocacy, others hadn't engaged | Darkwood cone mechanics + BR2049 color + Hopper emotion. Uncertainty not dread. | **Unanimous** |
| **New:** Tile-based world | N/A (new Round 2 input) | Unanimously endorsed. Strengthens all existing positions. | **Unanimous** |

### Confirmed Art Direction Principles (Rounds 1 + 2 combined)

1. **Readability over beauty.** Always. (Round 1 C-01, reconfirmed)
2. **Lighting over detail.** Sprites and tiles provide shape; Light2D provides mood. (Round 1 C-03, strengthened by tile input)
3. **Restraint IS the aesthetic.** "Functional warmth" — Gore's label. Not flashy, not grim. (Round 1 C-02, named in Round 2)
4. **Environment never tips its hand.** Strict zero shift. Investigation signals are behavioral and informational only. (Round 1 C-05, made unanimous in Round 2)
5. **Silhouette carries identity.** Color is spoken for by D-033. Shape differentiates. (Round 1 I-01, reconfirmed)
6. **One asset vocabulary, many lighting profiles.** Muted tiles + solar color tinting = every system looks different with the same art. (Round 1 I-06, strengthened by tile input)
7. **Weather is gameplay.** Perception modifier, NPC routine disruptor, storyteller tool. Diegetic — the one thing that CAN shift the environment. (Round 1 C-06, exception clarified in Round 2)
8. **Production constraints = design strengths.** Bold silhouettes + limited palette + tile objects + lighting atmosphere serves readability, D-033, Godot 4, AND Nano Banana simultaneously. (Round 1 I-03, strengthened)
9. **Settling is placement.** Object density IS environmental storytelling. The bar is full because Lera settled it. The corridors are empty because nobody did. (New Round 2, Gore)
10. **Investigation is archaeology of intention.** Every placed tile is someone's decision. Reading the tile world is reading decisions. (New Round 2, Gore)
11. **Two-tier animation.** Clear for public routine, ambiguous for private intention. The boundary is invisible. (New Round 2, resolved)
12. **Three-reference lighting.** Darkwood (cone mechanics) + BR2049 (color temperature) + Hopper (emotional composition). Uncertainty, not dread. (New Round 2, resolved)
13. **Insert = geometric precision, organic perception.** Bloom-softened data layer. Smuggler's is sparse, detective's is dense. Forgotten when quiet, precise when needed. (New Round 2, resolved)

### Remaining Minor Items (not blocking)

| Item | Status | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Planet name "Velen" | Proposed by Miri, needs project lead confirmation | Miri / Lead |
| Player character stress sprite | Proposed by Araminta, not contested, not formally endorsed | Araminta |
| Mood board image #8 | Prompts provided by all four agents, needs generation | Lead / Araminta |
| Nano Banana style guide | Specs now exist (outline weights, palette per era, tile dimensions) — needs formal document | Araminta |

---

## 9. Decisions Ready for Formal Recording

The following workshop outputs are candidates for formal decision recording in `decisions/` domain files. All have unanimous consensus.

**Candidate D-XXX: Art Direction — Visual Style**
Clean 2D with bold silhouettes, tile-based world composition, lighting-driven atmosphere. Not pixel art, not painted, not 3D. Godot 4 Light2D pipeline. Nano Banana asset generation for 64x64 tile objects and 24x32 entity sprites.

**Candidate D-XXX: Art Direction — Visual Hierarchy**
Three-layer system: entities (2px outline, D-033 color, boldest) > objects (1px outline, era palette, mid-detail) > structure (minimal outline, muted zone palette, background). Readability priority: entities first, always.

**Candidate D-XXX: Art Direction — Environmental Neutrality**
Strict zero visual shift on the base world layer correlated with narrative/conspiracy state. All investigation signals are character-driven: insert overlay density, D-033 entity colors, monologue. Exceptions: time-of-day cycle and weather (diegetic, physical reality). The rendering engine has no narrative opinions.

**Candidate D-XXX: Art Direction — Lighting System**
Three-reference model: Darkwood (vision cone mechanics, light pooling, graduated fog boundary), Blade Runner 2049 / Roger Deakins (color temperature as emotional language), Edward Hopper (warm interior surrounded by unknowable dark). Emotional register: uncertainty, not dread.

**Candidate D-XXX: Art Direction — Animation System**
Two-tier animation: Tier 1 (clear) for public daily activities — walking, working, eating, talking, sleeping. Tier 2 (ambiguous) for privately motivated behaviors — pausing, looking around, lingering, changing direction, unexplained proximity. Boundary between tiers is invisible to the player.

**Candidate D-XXX: Neural Insert Overlay**
Geometric data layer (precise positioning, clean lines, structured information) rendered with soft bloom shader pass (~2-3px gaussian, ~40% blend). Smuggler's overlay: thinner, sparser (baseline lattice). Detective's overlay: denser, crisper (augmented lattice). Passive state nearly invisible; active state clean and precise.

*Formal decision recording pending project lead direction on timing and numbering.*

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*For the record: this workshop achieved unanimous consensus on all contested items across two rounds. The strongest signal is that Araminta and Ozzie both independently moved to the strict-zero-shift position on OQ-02 after reading Gore and Miri's arguments — convergence through persuasion, not compromise. The tile-based base building input, rather than creating new tensions, resolved existing ones by making the Rimworld production model structural rather than analogical. The art direction is now specific enough for a style guide and a Nano Banana prompt template.*

*Compiled by Qatux. Every claim above is cited to its source document.*