settled-reach/decisions/content.md

Content Decisions

How narrative, NPCs, and world content are created: content tiers, NPC generation, templates, dialogue, population.

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D-023: Three-tier content model with life-sim substrate

• Date: 2026-02-10
• Decision: The game uses a three-tier content architecture: Tier 1 (authored drama modules drawn from a pool at game start — plural, optional, relocatable), Tier 2 (templated content with combinatorial variation — both intrigue and life templates), Tier 3 (procedural filler with systemic hooks for Tier 2 colonization). Daily life is the substrate; conspiracies are weather. Players can investigate, pursue careers/relationships, or both. All are valid playthroughs. The storyteller activates Tier 1 modules based on player proximity and engagement, not timers.
• Rationale: A galaxy-spanning game needs content architecture that scales without hand-crafting everything. The life-sim substrate creates attachment that gives conspiracies emotional weight. Pool-based Tier 1 modules enable replayability and DLC expansion.
• Raised by: Team Leader (Jeroen), with full team endorsement across 3 rounds
• Dissent: None

D-024: NPC generation model — 10 axes + combat component

• Date: 2026-02-10
• Decision: NPCs are generated with 10 axes: 7 essential (Want, Secret/vulnerability, Relationships 1-3, Tolerance threshold, Daily routine, Information inventory, Contentment) and 3 supporting (Personality traits 2-3, Tell system, Skill set including combat tag). Combat capability lives as an optional CombatCapability ECS component triggered by the combat-trained skill tag, not as an axis. Faction loyalty is folded into Relationships+Secret (discoverable, not labeled). Romantic profile is folded into Want+Personality+compatibility tag. Cultural/origin template is generation-time flavor, not a runtime axis. Triangles (3 NPCs with conflicting interests) are the atomic unit of social intrigue — 2 per template minimum, 1 cross-template.
• Rationale: Axes that create contradictions within NPCs produce player decisions. The 5 key interactions (Want×Secret, Routine×Secret, Tolerance×Relationships, Want×Relationships, Personality×Tolerance) drive the full investigation-and-social gameplay loop. Contentment axis (proposed by Gore) connects generated NPCs to the thematic spine. Combat as component follows the same pattern as perception modes (D-017).
• Raised by: Gestalt (consolidation), Gore (contentment axis), Paula (triangle model), Tyre (combat component). Full team endorsed.
• Dissent: None

D-025: Social site / functional cluster as atomic template unit

• Date: 2026-02-10
• Decision: The atomic Tier 2 template unit is a "social site" (mechanical term) housed in a "functional cluster" (spatial term): 4-8 NPCs who regularly interact, within 15-40 tiles of connected space with internal sightlines. Social group defines systemic identity (who, what triangles). Physical cluster defines spatial identity (sightlines, overhearing, public/private). Templates define roles; NPCs fill roles. One NPC can hold roles in multiple social sites. NPC identity is independent of template instantiation. NPCs are owned by exactly one template with reference links (carrying relationship metadata) to others.
• Rationale: Life in the Settled Reach happens in clusters of connected spaces. The functional cluster is the natural unit of social observation, which is the natural unit of gameplay. Single-ownership with reference links prevents lifecycle conflicts while enabling cross-template contamination.
• Raised by: Gestalt (social site), Miri (functional cluster), Tyre (ownership model), Paula (reference metadata)
• Dissent: None

D-028: Dialogue architecture — tagged line pools with four relational layers

• Date: 2026-02-10
• Decision: Dialogue uses tagged line pools with systemic selection, not branching trees. Four relational layers, all planned from authoring day one, built in sequence: (1) Access tiers — insider/outsider/authority/peer filter on every line, (2) Relationship history — interaction log modifying greeting and topic selection, (3) Trust-gated gossip — three disclosure tiers per role (surface/real/secret), (4) Unprompted disclosure — NPCs volunteer information weighted by trust and mood. Trait modifiers (not per-trait scripts) reshape delivery — base lines + trait transformation guide per template. Template content packs as writing deliverable: role voice kits, situation scripts, monologue hooks, environmental text, trait transformation guide. ~165-210 authored lines per Tier 2 template, generation-expanded 4x. Social dialogue budgeted 40% more than investigation. Line previewer CLI required as authoring tool and regression test harness.
• Rationale: All four layers are load-bearing — each enriches the previous ones. Tagged pools avoid combinatorial explosion while trait modifiers produce character variety. The generation pass (write 10, generate 40) scales authored content. Every memorable line needs a human hand; the generation pass fills the background.
• Raised by: Mellanie (authoring model), Paula (relational layers), Gestalt (axis-to-pipeline mapping), Tyre (previewer feasibility)
• Dissent: None on model. Minor ordering difference: Mellanie front-loads access tiers (structural), Paula front-loads relationship history (narrative). Both sequences work.

D-029: Population entanglement ratio — 30/50/20

• Date: 2026-02-10
• Decision: NPC population split: ~30% truly flat (routine + greeting, social wallpaper), ~50% mundane triangles (neighbor disputes, workplace rivalries, relationship tensions — no conspiracy connection), ~20% entangled with intrigue content. The entanglement rate varies per seed to prevent metagaming calibration. Module attachment to known NPCs uses a ~60-70/30-40 ratio (known vs stranger), also varying per seed. The unentangled majority is both thematically essential ("is this enough?" needs honest counterweight) and mechanically essential (investigation signal requires noise floor).
• Cross-reference: Simulation tier budgets in D-026.
• Rationale: If every NPC is suspicious, investigation collapses. The mundane triangles ARE the life-sim game — hours of play that never touch conspiracy. Variable entanglement rate defeats metagaming across playthroughs. Quiet life must feel genuinely good, not empty.
• Raised by: Gore (thematic), Paula (30/50/20 split), Nigel (anti-metagaming), Team Leader (majority unentangled)
• Dissent: None

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5 decisions. Last updated: 2026-02-11