settled-reach/docs/workshops/wiki-review/wiki-review-workshop-brief.md

Workshop Brief: Wiki Review & Content Standards

Locking Down the Foundation

Project: The Settled Reach (D-021) Date: 2026-02-12 Called by: Jeroen Participants: PAULA (librarian), MELLANIE (librarian), MIRI, GESTALT, GORE, NIGEL, OZZIE, TYRE, QATUX (documenter), SI (work prep)

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Context

Sprint 2 just produced wiki/ — 45 files covering the full knowledge vocabulary for v0.1 (ticket #368). This includes NPC profiles (17 NPCs across 3 tiers), location pages, faction pages, technology/contraband references, knowledge system vocabulary (FactIds, entity attributes, relationship states), and an authoring guide.

Before we commit this as canonical and build YAML content files on top of it (#299, #300, #309), we need to review it as a team. Paula and Mellanie served as the primary authors and can explain the reasoning behind structure and content decisions.

What this wiki represents: The single source of truth for all game content. Every NPC profile, every location description, every knowledge fact flows through here before becoming engine-readable YAML.

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Topic 1: Direction Check — Are We Building the Right Game?

The question: Does this wiki, as written, describe the game we actually want to make?

Review the wiki holistically. Check that:

• The NPCs, triangles, and contradiction arcs create the asymmetric-information drama we designed
• The two-character proof (smuggler vs. detective) produces genuinely different experiences
• The tone matches "quotidian-with-undertow" — comfortable enough to be complacent, tight enough that extra income is tempting
• THE FRIEND pattern (Kael/Sera) delivers the emotional gut-punch we designed in D-034
• The knowledge vocabulary (FactIds, relationship states, confidence levels) can express everything the narrative needs

Key files to review:

• wiki/npcs/index.md — roster + triangle diagrams
• wiki/npcs/kael-davan.md — Tier 1 FRIEND reference
• wiki/npcs/sera-venn.md — Tier 1 FRIEND reference
• wiki/knowledge/relationship-states.md — contradiction arcs
• wiki/knowledge/fact-catalog.md — FactId vocabulary

Questions:

1. Gore: Does this capture what the game is fundamentally ABOUT? The philosophical questions, the identity tensions?
2. Gestalt: Do the 5 triangles create interesting decisions? Are any mechanically redundant?
3. Ozzie: Reading these profiles — does any NPC make you feel something? Which ones fall flat?
4. Paula/Mellanie: Where did you make trade-offs or compromises during authoring? What would you change with more time?

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Topic 2: Style Guides for Repeatability

The question: If someone new joins the project and needs to write an NPC profile, a location page, or a faction entry — can they produce something consistent with what exists?

We need explicit style guides that make the wiki reproducible. Not just "here's an example, follow it" but documented conventions.

What needs a style guide:

• NPC profiles: axis definitions, voice sample format, dual-lens structure, triangle role notes
• Location pages: what sections, what detail level, how to cross-reference NPCs and factions
• Faction pages: structure, relationship to locations, political positioning
• Technology/contraband: detail level, gameplay integration notes
• Knowledge entries: FactId naming, confidence progression examples, prerequisite format

Questions:

1. Mellanie: What conventions did you follow (or wish existed) when writing monologue-guide.md?
2. Paula: Are the Tier 1/2/3 templates documented well enough to replicate? What's implicit that should be explicit?
3. Gestalt: What mechanical constraints should be in the style guide? (e.g., "every NPC must have a routine axis because the schedule system reads it")

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Topic 3: Regional Style Guide — Pattern + Krenn System Brief

The question: How do we ensure naming and cultural flavor feel historically cohesive rather than generic sci-fi?

The vision: When gates opened, people didn't just mix uniformly everywhere. There are clusters — groups with enough cultural cohesion and financial clout to settle together. Some regions feel distinctly American, Egyptian, Thai, Peruvian, Maya, Aboriginal, or any combination. Corporations add another layer — they may have a heritage or an ethic that shapes naming. In most places, first/last names and location names follow existing real-world patterns. In some places, new naming conventions emerged (the "Star Wars" feel — genuinely novel names from cultural mixing over centuries).

Scope for this workshop: NOT a full set of regional briefs. We need:

1. A pattern/template for regional style guides — what a style guide for any region should contain
2. One filled brief for Krenn System / Sova Transit District — the v0.1 location, fully specified
3. Naming principles — how real-world naming patterns evolve over ~180 years of space settlement

The pattern should cover:

• Dominant cultural heritage(s) of the region
• Naming conventions (first names, family names, place names, business names)
• Language echoes (what words from heritage languages survive in daily speech?)
• Corporate presence and its naming influence
• How the naming has drifted from Earth-origin patterns (180 years of evolution)
• Aesthetic markers (architecture, food, dress — things that inform environmental text)

Questions:

1. Miri: What cultural cluster makes sense for Krenn System? What does 180 years of drift look like?
2. Gore: How does cultural identity connect to the game's themes? Should the player notice heritage, or is it ambient?
3. Paula: How do naming conventions affect NPC authoring? Do the current 17 NPCs already follow a pattern?
4. Mellanie: What environmental text (signs, menus, graffiti) changes based on regional culture?

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Topic 4: Wiki Taxonomy Hardening

The question: How do we prevent name collisions, ambiguity, and organizational confusion as the wiki grows beyond v0.1?

Current issue: "The Terminal" could exist in multiple systems. "Maintenance Corridors" is generic. We already moved locations to locations/krenn-system/ for disambiguation, but this needs a principled approach.

Specific concerns:

• Location names that recur across systems (terminals, bars, maintenance areas)
• NPC names that could collide (common first names in a larger roster)
• Faction presence varying by system (Commission operates everywhere, Ring is local)
• Technology that has different names in different cultures (same device, local slang)

Questions:

1. Tyre: What nesting scheme scales? locations/{system}/{station}/ or locations/{system}/? How deep before it's unwieldy?
2. Miri: How do we handle the fact that v0.2+ adds more systems? Do we restructure, or namespace from the start?
3. Paula: Do NPC pages need system prefixing, or is the NPC roster per-district sufficient?

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Topic 5: Content Directory Structure & Moddability

The question: How does this wiki structure translate to actual game content directories, and how do modders extend it?

The wiki is the authoring source. But the game needs content in engine-readable format (YAML → parsed at load). The directory structure of the game's content/ directory matters for:

• Load order (which files override which)
• Mod packaging (modders add/replace content packs)
• Hot-reloading during development
• Content validation (schema checks)

Questions:

1. Tyre: Propose a content/ directory structure that mirrors the wiki but serves the engine. How does a mod overlay work?
2. Gestalt: What content is per-district vs. global? (e.g., FactIds are global, NPC profiles are per-district, faction descriptions are global but presence is per-district)
3. Nigel: What does a mod look like? "Add a new NPC to the bar" — what files does the modder create?
4. Tyre: How does content validation work? Schema per content type, or one schema?

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Topic 6: Randomizer, Procedural Generation & PC Briefs

The question: How do we leverage the wiki patterns for procedural variation, and how does a player character fit into NPC structures?

The PC-as-NPC concept: "The Customs Detective" and "The Smuggler" exist as NPC archetypes in multiple districts/stations. When the player starts a game, they get assigned an existing NPC with a name, relationships, and surroundings — then that NPC is "upgraded" to a PC. The NPC's existing brief becomes the player character's starting knowledge, relationships, and position.

Randomizer integration: If locations have style guides and NPCs follow templates, a randomizer can:

• Generate new NPCs from tier templates + regional naming conventions
• Create new triangles from relationship patterns
• Vary which NPC becomes THE FRIEND (from a pool of candidates)
• Shift contraband types, faction pressures, economic conditions

Questions:

1. Nigel: What makes the second playthrough feel different? Name 3 things the randomizer should vary.
2. Gestalt: How does "PC is an upgraded NPC" work mechanically? What data transfers? What's generated?
3. Gore: Does procedural generation dilute the authored moments, or amplify them?
4. Ozzie: What's the "wow moment" when a player realizes their character has a pre-existing life in this place?
5. Paula: What NPC template fields are required for PC upgrade? Which are optional/generated?

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Workshop Format

2 rounds.

Round 1 — Topic responses. Each participant addresses the topics in their domain. Provide concrete proposals, not just observations. If you see a problem, propose a solution.

Round 2 — Synthesis. Cross-pollinate. Respond to each other's proposals. Produce:

1. Decisions to record (new D-entries or amendments)
2. Style guide documents to create
3. Regional brief for Krenn System
4. Content directory structure proposal
5. New tickets for SI to create
6. Amendments to existing wiki pages

Expected Outputs

• Style guide template: Reusable pattern for NPC, location, faction, technology wiki pages
• Regional style guide pattern: Template for any region's cultural naming/flavor guide
• Krenn System regional brief: Filled-in style guide for v0.1 location
• Wiki taxonomy rules: Nesting and naming conventions document
• Content directory structure: Proposed content/ layout with mod overlay spec
• PC-as-NPC spec: How player character briefs integrate with NPC templates
• Ticket list: New tickets from workshop decisions (SI creates post-workshop)
• Decision amendments: Updates to existing decisions based on workshop findings

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Source Material

Participants should read before responding:

• Wiki index: wiki/index.md
• NPC roster: wiki/npcs/index.md
• Kael profile (Tier 1 reference): wiki/npcs/kael-davan.md
• Sera profile (Tier 1 reference): wiki/npcs/sera-venn.md
• Relationship states: wiki/knowledge/relationship-states.md
• Fact catalog: wiki/knowledge/fact-catalog.md
• Monologue guide: wiki/authoring/monologue-guide.md
• Decisions: decisions/content.md, decisions/scope.md, decisions/perception.md
• Previous workshops: docs/workshops/content-gap-analysis_v0_1/, docs/workshops/v01-gap-analysis/