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jpmschweitzerandClaude Opus 4.6 5c3c2a527b docs(workshops): Control & Interaction Workshop outputs

Workshop notes (2 rounds), outcomes document (13 decisions, 27 tickets,
v0.1 interaction model), and updated brief with final lead direction.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

2026-02-14 09:34:49 +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: 2026-02-13 Called by: Jeroen Prerequisite: Wiki Review workshop established WASD direct control with context-sensitive interaction as unanimous direction. Participants: Gestalt, Ozzie, Tyre, Stig, Dudley, Paula, Araminta, Nigel

Context

The Wiki Review workshop produced unanimous consensus: the player controls their character directly via WASD movement with context-sensitive interaction prompts. The player IS the character. Their body is their attention mechanism.

This workshop designs the specifics of how the player controls the character, interacts with entities and objects, and accesses information through the UI.

Already decided (do not re-litigate):

D-005: Single-character perspective
D-013: Diegetic insert (neural implant) as map/information interface
D-015: Camera locked to character, no panning. Rotation deferred to post-v0.1.
D-016: Internal monologue as core perception/atmosphere system
D-017: Perception modes as character build system
D-018: Three-range sound model (close/medium/long)
D-019: Top-down camera at ~15-20° shallow tilt ("the angle"), orthographic, perspective in sprite art
D-028: Dialogue architecture (4-layer: access, history, trust, unprompted)
D-031: Time system (10 ticks/game-minute, 4 day phases, pause available)
D-033: Entity color = relationship to player (palette defined)
D-041: Knowledge graph (confidence hierarchy gates dialogue and monologue)
D-043: Visual style — "functional warmth," clean 2D, bold silhouettes, Light2D-driven atmosphere
D-044: Visual hierarchy — entity (2px) > object (1px) > structure (minimal). Entity always wins.
D-045: Environmental neutrality — strict zero visual shift from narrative state
D-046: Lighting — Darkwood cone + BR2049 color temperature + Hopper composition
D-047: Two-tier animation — clear (public routine) vs ambiguous (private intention)
D-048: Neural insert overlay — geometric data + bloom shader, not affected by fog
D-049: Z-level rendering stack — 8 layers, fog on layer 5, insert on layer 6

Lead Seed: Current Thinking on Controls

The following is Jeroen's initial direction. Workshop participants should use this as a starting point — challenge, refine, or extend, but this is the baseline.

Movement

WASD movement, character stays center-screen, map scrolls.
Movement direction snaps to the nearest cardinal 8-axis direction from the input.
Mouse pointer controls facing direction. The character looks where the mouse points. This decouples movement from facing — you can strafe sideways while looking at a person of interest.

Camera

Fixed top-down angle at ~15-20° from vertical ("the angle," D-019 amendment). Orthographic camera with perspective faked in sprite art. Rimworld's approach: sprites drawn as if viewed from a shallow tilt, south-facing front faces visible. 3D render pipeline Camera3D at -72.5° produces this. Vision cone math remains pure 2D.
Scroll wheel zooms in/out, but vision cone and fog still apply — zooming out doesn't grant omniscience. You see more floor, but the fog boundaries don't change.
Character remains center-screen at all times (D-015).

Mouse & Interaction

Mouse cursor is context-sensitive. It changes appearance when hovering over interactable entities (NPCs, objects, terminals, doors).
Left click performs the default action on an interactable. When there is exactly one interaction option, the cursor shows the verb as a tooltip (e.g., "Talk", "Read", "Open"). When there are multiple options, the tooltip shows "Interact..." and left click opens the menu.
Radial or dropdown menu for multi-option interactions. Never more than one click away from any action.
Mouse doubles as targeting reticle when a weapon is selected — the cursor becomes the aim point.
Right click opens a world interaction menu — a general-purpose context menu for non-entity actions: observe room, call taxi, open phone (the neural implant interface). This is the entry point to the insert UI, comms, maps, journal, and any lattice-connected tools the character has.

Fog & Visibility Layers

The map is visible at all times, but layers of fog encode information quality:

Clear (forward vision cone): Full visibility, no fog. Blocked by walls/obstacles as normal (D-011 shadowcasting).
Light fog (peripheral vision): Reduced clarity. You can see shapes and movement but detail is diminished.
Sound pings in fog: When you hear something in the fog (D-018 medium range), a visual ping appears at the fog edge with binaural audio reinforcement. Direction and distance are approximate.
Recognized movement in fog: People you have previously seen (knowledge graph entry exists) and can currently hear moving appear as visible figures in the gray fog. Their identity is known because you recognize them — the character icon overlays the gray figure to communicate how you know they're there.
Unrecognized presence: When you hear someone you haven't identified, a generic gray blob appears at an approximate (fuzzy, non-exact) position. Secondary senses tell you something is there, but not who.
Augmented senses: If your character has IR or sensor implants (D-017 perception modes), additional overlays appear in the fog:
- IR/thermal: A blob in heat-signature colors.
- Sensor sweep: A stylized digital effect (matrix-style falling characters or similar) indicating a detected presence.
- When you know who that entity is, their character icon overlays the sensor blob — showing both the detection method and the identification.

Lead note: "I want a clear distinction between active senses and obscured areas, but I don't want it to look boring." The fog should feel alive — not a flat gray overlay but something with depth and atmosphere. Pings, movement, sensor ghosts should make the fog an active information surface, not a dead zone.

Map Awareness (Fog of War for Unexplored Areas)

What you see in areas you haven't visited depends on your implant loadout:

With a maps app (implant): Building outlines and structural layout are visible in the fog — you can see the shape of corridors, rooms, exits. But no movable entities — no characters, vehicles, destructible objects, or anything generated/modified by the story engine. The map data is static infrastructure only.
Without an implant (or without maps app): Total fog. Zero information about unexplored areas.
Physical map (purchased at a shop): Same as maps app but non-dynamic — shows the map as it was when printed. Doesn't update with story-engine changes.

This creates a meaningful difference between implant loadouts at the start of the game without gating core gameplay.

Layer 1: Movement & Interaction Details

The lead's seed covers the broad strokes. The workshop should resolve these remaining specifics: