---
name: Neon Sprawl Vision
overview: Create a 50,000-foot planning document for Neon Sprawl, a sci-fi/cyberpunk MMORPG inspired by RuneScape, focused on hybrid progression (combat **gigs** and open non-combat **skills**) and deep crafting, with optional PvP and questing.
isProject: false
---

# Neon Sprawl — 50,000-Foot Plan

## Vision and Product Intent

**Neon Sprawl** is a long-lived online world that captures the freedom and progression depth of RuneScape while delivering a distinct sci-fi/cyberpunk identity. The core player fantasy is to start as a low-tier citizen of a mega-city ecosystem and grow into a high-impact operator through any combination of skills, professions, social play, and questlines.

### Design axioms (governing)

These two principles override narrower preferences when they conflict:

1. **It must be fun** — Engagement and player experience are the filter for scope, pacing, and systems: if it is not enjoyable to play, it is not succeeding regardless of architectural elegance.
2. **It must be distinctly cyberpunk in theme** — Fiction, tone, and presentation should read as **cyberpunk** (mega-city decay, corp power, street tech, body and identity under pressure), not interchangeable sci-fi or fantasy with surface chrome. Other constraints (e.g. presentation and rating targets in game-design docs) still apply; the axiom means **bias toward recognizable cyberpunk identity** when choosing between otherwise viable options.

## Delivery Model Constraint (Locked)

- **Team model (locked):** Solo developer with AI assistant support; all roadmap, scope, and technical decisions must be feasible for one human operator.
- **Execution principle:** Prefer smallest shippable slices, heavy reuse of data-driven systems, and ruthless deferral of non-core features.

### Experience Pillars

- **Open skill training:** Every character can learn and level every **non-combat** **skill** over time; **combat** identity uses **gigs** (swappable roles). Identity also comes from choices, gear, economy role, and mastery paths.
- **Crafting-first economy:** Crafting and gathering are central progression loops, not side systems; player-made goods should matter at every stage.
- **Persistent social world:** Shared hubs, guilds/corps, trading, and cooperative activities should be core to retention.
- **Meaningful progression:** Long-term goals, visible advancement, and layered progression loops (short, mid, long horizons).
- **Quest-driven worldbuilding:** Narrative arcs reveal factions, districts, corporate politics, and world-state tensions.
- **Readable tactical presentation:** 3D world rendered through a fixed, character-centered isometric camera for clarity and consistency.
- **PvE-first with optional PvP:** PvP exists as opt-in content in designated security zones, never as a mandatory progression gate.

## Big Product Scope (What Must Exist)

- **World foundation:** Persistent zones, cities, wilderness/industrial sectors, instanced content where needed.
- **Core MMO loops:** Movement, interaction, combat (PvE mandatory; PvP optional), loot, death/penalty rules.
- **Skill system:** Multi-skill progression covering gathering, processing, crafting, combat, exploration, utility/social.
- **Crafting ecosystem:** Resource acquisition, recipes/blueprints, quality tiers, item sinks, repair/decay, specialization edges.
- **Economy and trade:** Currency strategy, NPC sinks/faucets, player marketplace/trading, anti-inflation tools.
- **Questing framework:** Main arcs, faction missions, repeatable jobs, dynamic contracts, tutorial onboarding quests.
- **Social systems:** Chat, groups, guild/corp structures, friends, cooperative content.
- **Live operations:** Events, seasonal arcs, balancing cadence, telemetry, moderation, support workflows.
- **Camera and controls model:** Locked isometric 3D view, zoom support, no camera rotation, and continuous character-centering.
- **Security-zone ruleset:** Clear high/medium/low-security area rules that define where PvP is allowed, restricted, or disallowed.

## Design Decisions to Lock Early (Critical Unknowns)

These decisions heavily affect architecture and content pipelines and should be resolved before deep production:

- **Camera model (locked):** 3D fixed isometric view, zoom in/out enabled, no rotation, camera always centered on the player character.
- **Combat model (locked):** Tab-target tactical combat (RuneScape-like readability and pacing) with clear telegraphs and ability timing.
- **PvP policy (locked):** PvE-first, opt-in PvP via security-level zones; no player is required to PvP for core progression.
- **World topology (locked):** Mostly seamless open world with regional zoning and minimal/surgical instancing where strictly needed.
- **Economy strictness:** Player-driven with limited NPC intervention vs more curated economy.
- **Progression velocity:** Slow-burn old-school pacing vs modernized pacing with catch-up systems.
- **Death and loss model:** Cosmetic penalties, durability loss, resource drop, or gear risk.

## Gameplay Architecture (Macro)

### 1) Player Progression Architecture

- **Horizontal + vertical progression:** Skills level up; mastery unlocks efficiency, recipes, perks, and advanced content access.
- **Soft identity without classes:** Loadouts, implants, cyberware, weapon proficiencies, and crafted gear create build expression.
- **Progression safeguards:** Diminishing returns, training bottlenecks, and sink systems to preserve long-term goals.

### 2) Crafting and Economy Architecture

- **Resource ladder:** Raw materials -> refined components -> advanced modules -> high-end gear/consumables.
- **Crafting depth:** Quality rolls, optional minigames/process control, blueprint rarity, experimental modifiers.
- **Market health controls:** Crafting demand via item decay/upkeep, consumable usage, quest contracts, upgrade loops.
- **Role interdependence:** No single skill line should be fully self-sufficient at endgame efficiency.

### 3) Quest and Content Architecture

- **Narrative layers:** Main storyline, faction arcs, district stories, profession questlines.
- **Systemic contracts:** Procedural or semi-procedural missions to supply endless midgame activities.
- **Progression-linked content:** Quests unlock areas, facilities, blueprints, and social reputation paths.

### 4) Combat and Encounter Architecture

- **PvE baseline:** Solo, duo/squad, and group-scale activities with variable challenge and rewards.
- **Tab-target foundation:** Readable targeting, cooldown/resource management, and positioning decisions over twitch-heavy execution.
- **Boss/raid-lite loops:** Repeatable high-value encounters feeding economy and social engagement.
- **PvP zone architecture:** PvP enabled only in defined low-security spaces and specific opt-in contexts.
- **Progression parity rule:** PvP-exclusive rewards must have a PvE and/or crafting path to equivalent or near-equivalent power.
- **Horizontal PvP rewards:** PvP can grant unique cosmetics, variants, sidegrades, titles, and utility flavor without hard power lockout.
- **Isometric combat readability:** Telegraphs, hit feedback, verticality handling, and target visibility designed for fixed-angle play.

### 6) PvP Governance and Fairness Architecture

- **Security levels:** High-security (no PvP), contested/security-transition zones (limited PvP conditions), low-security (open PvP rules).
- **Consent clarity:** Strong UI/state signaling when entering PvP-enabled areas and clear loss/risk expectations.
- **Non-mandatory progression:** Main questing, skill advancement, and key gear tiers remain fully obtainable via PvE/crafting.
- **Reward equivalency policy:** If PvP has an exclusive item archetype, provide PvE/crafting alternatives with comparable functional value.
- **Abuse controls:** Anti-griefing protections, spawn safety, and guardrails for low-level/new-player experiences.

### 5) Social and Community Architecture

- **Guild/Corp systems:** Shared progression goals, facilities, contracts, and territory/economic objectives.
- **Community retention:** Events, cooperative milestones, social rewards, mentorship/new-player integration.
- **Trust/safety:** Anti-toxicity systems, moderation workflows, reporting, and escalation.

## Technical and Production Architecture (Macro)

### Tech stack (baseline — prototype / early pre-production)

**Decision record:** [`docs/architecture/tech_stack.md`](docs/architecture/tech_stack.md)

- **Client:** Godot 4.x — isometric 3D presentation, intents to server, no client-authoritative economy or combat outcomes.
- **Game server:** **C# / .NET 10** (ASP.NET Core)—authoritative simulation, PostgreSQL, Protobuf (JSON acceptable for earliest spike). Locked: operator primary language for backend.
- **Content:** JSON/YAML + schema validation in CI; shared definitions drive skills, items, recipes, quests.
- **Plan B:** Unity client if the art pipeline warrants it; **server remains C#** for continuity.

### Platform and Engine (constraints)

- Networking and toolchain must stay feasible for solo operation; prefer boring, debuggable server tech.
- Prioritize deterministic-ish server authority and robust backend observability from day one.
- Ensure rendering/input/camera stack supports fixed isometric projection, zoom tiers, occlusion handling, and always-centered follow behavior.

### Backend/Core Services

- **Account and identity**
- **Character and progression state**
- **Inventory and itemization**
- **Economy/marketplace**
- **Quest/state machines**
- **Social/guild/chat**
- **Analytics and live-ops controls**
- **World streaming and shard orchestration** (support large persistent regions with controlled handoffs)

### Content Pipeline

- Data-driven systems for skills, items, recipes, quests, NPCs, and encounter tuning.
- Authoring tools for designers/writers to ship safely without deep engineering dependency.
- Validation and balancing pipeline to catch broken recipes/economy exploits before release.

### Security and Integrity

- Server-authoritative critical actions (progression, trades, combat outcomes).
- Anti-cheat, anti-bot, fraud detection, and exploit response processes.

## Development Roadmap at 50,000 Feet

### Phase 0 - Vision Alignment and Risk Burn-down

- Lock pillars, target audience, and design constraints.
- Resolve remaining critical unknown (progression velocity), with camera/PvP/combat/topology fixed.
- Build paper economy and progression models.
- Define success metrics for prototype and pre-production.

### Phase 1 - Prototype (Prove the Core Fun)

- Deliver a playable vertical prototype proving:
  - Movement + interaction in shared space
  - Locked isometric camera behavior (center-follow, zoom ranges, no rotation)
  - Security-zone PvP rules (high-sec safe zone vs low-sec opt-in combat zone)
  - Basic combat loop
  - Skill gain loop
  - Gather -> craft -> use/sell loop
  - Minimal quest loop
- Run small closed tests focused on “is this actually fun and sticky?”.

## Prototype Scope Definition

### Prototype Objective

Prove that the core gameplay loop is fun, readable, and repeatable in a controlled slice before broad world/content expansion.

### Prototype Build Target

- **Single contained test region:** One compact district with a safe hub, nearby PvE combat pocket, and a low-security edge zone.
- **Playable session length:** 30-60 minute loop where players can complete a full gather -> craft -> combat -> reward cycle.
- **Concurrent users target:** Small-scale multiplayer validation (e.g., internal team and invited external cohort), not production load.

### In-Scope Features (Must Have)

- **Movement and camera:** Locked isometric camera, follow-center behavior, zoom bands, and occlusion handling.
- **Combat MVP (tab-target):** Target selection, basic auto/basic attack flow, 4-6 starter abilities, cooldown/resource model, enemy telegraphs.
- **Skill gain loop:** At least 3 skills represented (one gathering, one crafting, one combat) with visible XP gain and level-up feedback.
- **Crafting loop:** Gather node -> refine component -> craft usable item (weapon, armor piece, or consumable) with material costs.
- **Quest loop:** 3-5 onboarding quests plus one chain quest that requires gathering/crafting/combat in sequence.
- **PvP rules MVP:** High-security no-PvP hub and low-security opt-in zone with clear UI signaling and no progression-gated rewards.
- **Reward parity example:** One PvP-oriented sidegrade with a PvE or crafting equivalent of similar functional power.

### Out-of-Scope Features (Explicitly Deferred)

- Full zone streaming across multiple regions.
- Advanced guild systems, player housing, large-scale market depth, and endgame raids.
- Full narrative arc breadth and extensive faction branching.
- Launch-grade anti-cheat and complete live-ops tooling depth.

### Prototype Content Minimums

- **Enemies:** 3 archetypes (melee pressure, ranged control, elite mini-boss).
- **Resources:** 4-6 node types with tiered outputs.
- **Recipes:** 8-12 starter recipes across gear and consumables.
- **Quests:** 5-8 total quests, including one integrated multi-system questline.

### Pass/Fail Gates (Go/No-Go)

- **Core fun gate:** Majority of test players complete at least two full loop cycles voluntarily in one session.
- **Readability gate:** Players understand combat telegraphs, target state, and zone PvP status without external coaching.
- **Progression gate:** Players clearly perceive skill advancement and short-term goals within first 15 minutes.
- **Crafting relevance gate:** Crafted items are used in combat or quest completion at meaningful rates.
- **PvP optionality gate:** Non-PvP participants can complete all prototype progression goals with no material disadvantage.

### Validation Metrics for Prototype

- Session length and loop completions per player.
- Time-to-first-combat, time-to-first-craft, and time-to-first-level-up.
- Quest completion funnel and early churn points.
- PvP zone entry rate, opt-out behavior, and parity satisfaction sentiment.

### Exit Criteria to Pre-Production

- Prototype passes at least 4 of 5 go/no-go gates across two consecutive test rounds.
- Highest-impact usability/combat/crafting issues triaged with clear follow-up owners.
- Confirmed recommendation on progression pace direction (remaining unresolved decision).

### Phase 2 - Pre-Production (Build the Machine)

- Establish final technical architecture, tools, and standards.
- Implement foundational backend services and data schemas.
- Build scalable content pipelines for quests, items, and skills.
- Produce a polished vertical slice with representative quality.

## Pre-Production Deliverables

### Objective

Transform the validated prototype into a scalable production-ready development machine across engineering, design, content, and operations.

### Workstreams and Deliverables

#### 1) Engineering Architecture and Platform

- **Engine/runtime baseline:** Frozen engine version, performance budgets, networking model constraints, and build targets.
- **Service architecture:** Character/progression, inventory/itemization, economy, quest state, social/chat, telemetry services with interface contracts.
- **World services:** Regional zoning, handoff strategy, shard policy, and failover/recovery behavior definitions.
- **Dev infrastructure:** CI pipelines, automated build verification, environment promotion flow (dev/stage/test), and release branch policy.

#### 2) Gameplay Systems and Data Contracts

- **Combat specs:** Final tab-target rules, stat formulas, ability schema, threat/aggro model, and encounter tuning framework.
- **Progression specs:** Skill XP curves, unlock dependencies, pacing knobs, catch-up policy stance, and level band definitions.
- **Economy specs:** Currency faucets/sinks, crafting input/output ratios, durability/consumption sinks, and parity constraints (PvP vs PvE/crafting).
- **PvP zone specs:** Security tier rules, opt-in boundaries, penalties/loss model, anti-griefing safeguards, and reward-sidegrade policy.

#### 3) Content Pipeline and Authoring Tools

- **Schema standards:** Versioned data schemas for items, skills, recipes, quests, NPCs, and loot tables.
- **Authoring workflow:** Designer-facing tools/templates for quest scripting, encounter setup, item/recipe creation, and validation.
- **Quality gates:** Lint/validation for broken references, invalid progression locks, economy outliers, and reward parity violations.
- **Content throughput targets:** Expected per-sprint output capacity for quests, recipes, and encounters to sustain production velocity.

#### 4) Vertical Slice Quality Bar

- **Slice composition:** One district-quality slice with representative art style, final-ish UX standards, quest chain, combat encounters, and crafting progression.
- **Performance bar:** Stable frame-rate target and acceptable latency envelope under expected slice concurrency.
- **User experience bar:** Readable combat, understandable progression, clear PvP zone signaling, and smooth onboarding.
- **Polish bar:** Audio/UI feedback baseline, bug severity thresholds, and crash stability criteria.

#### 5) Team Process and Governance

- **Solo ownership model:** Single owner across design/engineering/content with AI-assisted implementation and documentation workflows.
- **Milestone cadence:** Lightweight weekly planning/review loop, monthly milestone gate, and explicit WIP limits to prevent context fragmentation.
- **Change control:** Strict backlog triage, decision log, and rule that new scope replaces existing scope (no additive expansion without cuts).
- **Automation-first workflow:** CI checks, test templates, codegen/helpers, and repeatable scripts to reduce manual operational load.

### Stage Gates (Pre-Production Pass/Fail)

- **Gate A - Architecture Readiness:** Core services/interfaces documented, reviewed, and implementation-ready.
- **Gate B - Pipeline Readiness:** Content tools and schema validation enable non-engineers to ship safe data changes.
- **Gate C - Vertical Slice Readiness:** Slice meets quality/performance/readability targets with no blocker-class issues.
- **Gate D - Production Readiness:** Solo-capacity plan, backlog structure, delivery cadence, and risk controls support sustained production.

### Pre-Production Exit Criteria

- All four stage gates pass in sequence with documented sign-off owners.
- Top 10 technical and design risks have mitigation plans and target dates.
- Production roadmap is decomposed into epic/module backlogs with solo-capacity assumptions.
- KPI instrumentation plan is approved and embedded in core systems before production scale-up.

### Phase 3 - Production (Build the World)

- Expand zones, skills, crafting tree, factions, and questlines.
- Iterate economy and progression with telemetry-driven tuning.
- Implement social systems, events, and endgame loops.
- Start staged external testing (alpha/beta cohorts).

### Phase 4 - Launch Readiness and Live Ops

- Harden infrastructure and operations runbooks.
- Finalize onboarding/new-player funnels.
- Complete monetization and trust/safety implementation.
- Launch with a clear 6-12 month live content roadmap.

## Core Epic Map (Level 1)

### Epic 1 - Core Player Runtime (Client Controls + Character Loop)

- **Ownership focus:** Gameplay Engineering + Technical Design
- **Scope:** Isometric camera runtime, character movement, interaction framework, input/ability scaffolding, moment-to-moment game feel.
- **Success criteria:** Stable 3D isometric control loop feels responsive and readable across supported hardware tiers.

### Epic 2 - Skills and Progression Framework

- **Ownership focus:** Systems Design + Gameplay Engineering
- **Scope:** **Non-combat** `SkillDef` catalog, **skill** XP and level curves, unlock logic, mastery/perk unlocks, progression pacing controls. **Combat role** progression (**gigs**) is separate—see Epic 5 and game-design `gigs.md`.
- **Success criteria:** Any character can train all **non-combat** **skills** tracked as `SkillDef`, with long-term **skill** progression and no dead-end grinds; **gig** combat roles remain swappable combat identity.

### Epic 3 - Crafting, Gathering, and Itemization Economy

- **Ownership focus:** Economy Design + Content Engineering
- **Scope:** Resource nodes, refinement chains, recipes/blueprints, quality tiers, crafting sinks, item lifecycle.
- **Success criteria:** Crafting is a primary progression lane with healthy supply-demand loops and consistent item relevance.

### Epic 4 - World Topology and Zone Infrastructure

- **Ownership focus:** Online/Backend Engineering + World Design
- **Scope:** Seamless regional world structure, travel and handoff logic, selective instancing strategy, spawn/ecology systems.
- **Success criteria:** Mostly seamless open world runs reliably with predictable transitions and low-disruption handoffs.

### Epic 5 - PvE Combat and Encounter Content

- **Ownership focus:** Combat Design + Encounter Design
- **Scope:** Tab-target combat rules, enemy AI patterns, dungeons/events, boss loops, reward hooks.
- **Success criteria:** PvE combat delivers tactical depth, clear readability, and repeatable fun for solo and group play.

### Epic 6 - PvP Security Zones and Fairness Rules

- **Ownership focus:** Systems Design + Online Engineering + Trust/Safety
- **Scope:** High/contested/low-security rulesets, consent signaling, loss/risk models, anti-griefing systems.
- **Success criteria:** PvP is compelling for participants while remaining fully optional and non-blocking for progression.

### Epic 7 - Questing, Narrative, and Faction Reputation

- **Ownership focus:** Narrative Design + Quest Design + Tools
- **Scope:** Main arc, faction questlines, repeatable contracts, reputation states, unlock dependencies.
- **Success criteria:** Quest content provides clear progression direction, worldbuilding depth, and durable midgame engagement.

### Epic 8 - Social, Guild/Corp, and Cooperative Features

- **Ownership focus:** Social Systems + Online Services
- **Scope:** Party/group tools, guild/corp systems, chat and moderation hooks, cooperative objective systems.
- **Success criteria:** Players can easily form long-term social bonds and group structures that improve retention.

### Epic 9 - LiveOps, Telemetry, and Game Integrity

- **Ownership focus:** Live Operations + Data/Analytics + Security
- **Scope:** Metrics pipeline, tuning controls, event tooling, anti-cheat/anti-bot workflows, incident runbooks.
- **Success criteria:** Team can operate, balance, and protect the game continuously post-launch with fast feedback loops.

### Tooling epic — Internal authoring and content pipeline (CT)

**Type:** Operator- and build-focused **tooling epic**, parallel to the numbered **E1–E9** player/product epics above. It does **not** extend the sequence to “Epic 10”; modules use the **`CT.M#`** prefix. Full program doc (slices, risks, DoD): [`docs/decomposition/tooling/internal_authoring.md`](docs/decomposition/tooling/internal_authoring.md).

- **Ownership focus:** Content Engineering + Tools + Build/CI
- **Scope:** JSON (or YAML) schemas for catalogs, **CI and local validation** (including cross-table reference checks), optional **internal authoring UI** (TypeScript-friendly per tech stack), reference/rename workflows, optional content bundles; consumes contract *shapes* from **E2 / E3 / E4 / E7** as those stabilize.
- **Success criteria:** Zones, items, recipes, and quests can be authored as **file-backed, versioned** data with merge gates that prevent broken references; no separate authoring database as source of truth.

## System Modules by Epic (Level 2)

Module template:
- **Responsibility:** What this module owns.
- **Key contracts:** Core data/events/interfaces exposed.
- **Dependencies:** Upstream modules required before this module is effective.
- **Stage target:** Minimum phase where the module must exist.

### Epic 1 Modules - Core Player Runtime

- **E1.M1 InputAndMovementRuntime**
  - Responsibility: Character locomotion, click-to-move/path-follow baseline, interaction trigger range checks.
  - Key contracts: `MoveCommand`, `PositionState`, `InteractionRequest`.
  - Dependencies: None.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E1.M2 IsometricCameraController**
  - Responsibility: Locked isometric camera follow, zoom bands, occlusion handling, no-rotation enforcement.
  - Key contracts: `CameraState`, `ZoomBandConfig`, `OcclusionPolicy`.
  - Dependencies: E1.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E1.M3 InteractionAndTargetingLayer**
  - Responsibility: World object selection, target lock, focus swap rules, hover/highlight feedback.
  - Key contracts: `TargetState`, `InteractableDescriptor`, `SelectionEvent`.
  - Dependencies: E1.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E1.M4 AbilityInputScaffold**
  - Responsibility: Hotbar bindings, cooldown slot UI hooks, ability activation request path to combat systems.
  - Key contracts: `AbilityCastRequest`, `HotbarLoadout`, `CooldownSnapshot`.
  - Dependencies: E1.M3, E5.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.

### Epic 2 Modules - Skills and Progression Framework

- **E2.M1 SkillDefinitionRegistry**
  - Responsibility: Central catalog for **non-combat** `SkillDef` metadata, category tags, unlock prerequisites (and **`allowedXpSourceKinds`** in prototype schema).
  - Key contracts: `SkillDef`, `SkillCategory`, `UnlockRequirement`.
  - Dependencies: None.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E2.M2 XpAwardAndLevelEngine**
  - Responsibility: XP award rules, level thresholds, level-up event generation.
  - Grant channel policy: Reject **`XpGrantEvent`** when **`sourceKind`** is not listed on the target **`SkillDef.allowedXpSourceKinds`** (E2.M1 catalog + [`content/schemas/skill-def.schema.json`](content/schemas/skill-def.schema.json)).
  - Key contracts: `XpGrantEvent`, `LevelCurve`, `LevelUpEvent`.
  - Dependencies: E2.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E2.M3 MasteryAndPerkUnlocks**
  - Responsibility: Mastery tracks and perk unlock state for **skill** build expression beyond raw levels.
  - Key contracts: `MasteryTrack`, `PerkUnlockEvent`, `PerkState`.
  - Dependencies: E2.M2.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E2.M4 ProgressionPacingControls**
  - Responsibility: Tuning knobs for progression velocity and catch-up policy enforcement.
  - Key contracts: `XpModifierProfile`, `CatchUpRule`, `PacingPolicy`.
  - Dependencies: E2.M2, E9.M2.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

### Epic 3 Modules - Crafting, Gathering, and Itemization Economy

- **E3.M1 ResourceNodeAndGatherLoop**
  - Responsibility: Node spawning, gather interaction, resource output events.
  - Key contracts: `ResourceNodeDef`, `GatherResult`, `ResourceYieldTable`.
  - Dependencies: E1.M3, E2.M2.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E3.M2 RefinementAndRecipeExecution**
  - Responsibility: Raw-to-refined processing and recipe crafting execution pipeline.
  - Key contracts: `RecipeDef`, `CraftRequest`, `CraftResult`.
  - Dependencies: E3.M1, E3.M3.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E3.M3 ItemizationAndInventorySchema**
  - Responsibility: Item definitions, rarity/quality fields, stackability and equipment metadata.
  - Key contracts: `ItemDef`, `ItemInstance`, `InventorySlot`.
  - Dependencies: None.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E3.M4 SinkAndDurabilityLifecycle**
  - Responsibility: Item decay/consumption/repair sinks that sustain market demand.
  - Key contracts: `DurabilityState`, `ItemSinkEvent`, `RepairCostRule`.
  - Dependencies: E3.M3, E8.M3.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E3.M5 EconomyBalancePolicy**
  - Responsibility: Faucet/sink parameter set and guardrails for inflation/deflation.
  - Key contracts: `EconomyPolicy`, `PriceBandRule`, `FaucetSinkRatio`.
  - Dependencies: E3.M4, E9.M2.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

### Epic 4 Modules - World Topology and Zone Infrastructure

- **E4.M1 ZoneGraphAndTravelRules**
  - Responsibility: Regional zone graph, transition links, movement and travel constraints.
  - Key contracts: `ZoneDef`, `ZoneEdge`, `TravelRule`.
  - Dependencies: None.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E4.M2 SpawnEcologyController**
  - Responsibility: Resource and NPC spawn profiles per zone, respawn pacing, depletion recovery.
  - Key contracts: `SpawnProfile`, `RespawnRule`, `ZoneEcologyState`.
  - Dependencies: E4.M1, E3.M1, E5.M2.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E4.M3 SeamlessHandoffAndRegionState**
  - Responsibility: Cross-region handoff behavior and region authority ownership boundaries.
  - Key contracts: `RegionHandoffEvent`, `RegionAuthority`, `TransferState`.
  - Dependencies: E4.M1, backend world services.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E4.M4 SecurityTierZoneFlags**
  - Responsibility: High/contested/low-security tagging and client/server zone risk signaling. `E6.M1` reads `SecurityTier` and `ZonePolicyState` from here; Epic 4 does not depend on Epic 6 modules.
  - Key contracts: `SecurityTier`, `ZonePolicyState`, `ZoneEntryWarning`.
  - Dependencies: E4.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.

### Epic 5 Modules - PvE Combat and Encounter Content

- **E5.M1 CombatRulesEngine**
  - Responsibility: Tab-target combat state machine, hit resolution, cooldown/resource timing.
  - Key contracts: `CombatAction`, `CombatResolution`, `ThreatState`.
  - Dependencies: E1.M3, E2.M2.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E5.M2 NpcAiAndBehaviorProfiles**
  - Responsibility: Enemy archetype behavior loops, aggro logic, telegraph scheduling.
  - Key contracts: `NpcBehaviorDef`, `TelegraphEvent`, `AggroRule`.
  - Dependencies: E5.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E5.M3 EncounterAndRewardTables**
  - Responsibility: Encounter setup templates, completion criteria, reward drop routing.
  - Key contracts: `EncounterDef`, `RewardTable`, `EncounterCompleteEvent`.
  - Dependencies: E5.M1, E3.M3, E7.M2.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E5.M4 GroupCombatScaling**
  - Responsibility: Duo/squad scaling logic and anti-trivialization balancing hooks.
  - Key contracts: `ScalingProfile`, `PartySizeModifier`, `CombatDifficultyBand`.
  - Dependencies: E5.M3, E8.M1.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

### Epic 6 Modules - PvP Security Zones and Fairness

- **E6.M1 PvPEligibilityAndFlagState**
  - Responsibility: PvP enablement logic by zone state and explicit opt-in context.
  - Key contracts: `PvPFlagState`, `EligibilityRule`, `PvPStateChanged`.
  - Dependencies: E4.M4.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E6.M2 ConsentAndRiskUxSignals**
  - Responsibility: Entry warnings, in-zone risk UI, and clear state communication for PvP status.
  - Key contracts: `RiskPrompt`, `ZoneRiskState`, `PvPIndicatorState`.
  - Dependencies: E6.M1, E1.M2.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E6.M3 LossPenaltyAndAntiGriefRules**
  - Responsibility: Death/loss rules in PvP contexts plus spawn protection and abuse mitigation.
  - Key contracts: `PvPLossRule`, `SpawnProtectionState`, `GriefingStrike`.
  - Dependencies: E6.M1, E9.M4.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E6.M4 RewardParityEnforcer**
  - Responsibility: Guarantee functional equivalents for PvP rewards through PvE/crafting paths.
  - Key contracts: `RewardParityMap`, `EquivalentPowerBand`, `ParityViolationAlert`.
  - Dependencies: E3.M2, E5.M3, E7.M2.
  - Stage target: Prototype.

### Epic 7 Modules - Questing, Narrative, and Faction Reputation

- **E7.M1 QuestStateMachine**
  - Responsibility: Quest start/step/complete state transitions and persistence.
  - Key contracts: `QuestDef`, `QuestStepState`, `QuestStateTransition`.
  - Dependencies: E3.M2, E5.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E7.M2 RewardAndUnlockRouter**
  - Responsibility: Route quest outputs to XP, items, unlocks, and reputation.
  - Key contracts: `QuestRewardBundle`, `UnlockGrant`, `RewardDeliveryEvent`.
  - Dependencies: E2.M2, E3.M3, E7.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E7.M3 FactionReputationLedger**
  - Responsibility: Track faction standing and gate faction-specific contracts/content.
  - Key contracts: `FactionStanding`, `ReputationDelta`, `FactionGateRule`.
  - Dependencies: E7.M1.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E7.M4 ContractMissionGenerator**
  - Responsibility: Semi-procedural repeatable contract generation with difficulty/reward bands.
  - Key contracts: `ContractTemplate`, `ContractSeed`, `ContractOutcome`.
  - Dependencies: E4.M1, E5.M3, E7.M3.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

### Epic 8 Modules - Social, Guild/Corp, and Cooperative Features

- **E8.M1 PartyAndMatchAssembly**
  - Responsibility: Party creation/invite/ready-state flow for cooperative activities.
  - Key contracts: `PartyState`, `InviteEvent`, `RolePreference`.
  - Dependencies: E1.M3.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E8.M2 GuildCorpProgressionState**
  - Responsibility: Guild/corp membership, rank permissions, and shared progression tracks.
  - Key contracts: `GuildState`, `GuildRolePolicy`, `GuildProgressionEvent`.
  - Dependencies: E8.M1, E7.M3.
  - Stage target: Production.
- **E8.M3 PlayerTradeAndMarketplace**
  - Responsibility: Listing, trade, purchase, and settlement flows for player economy.
  - Key contracts: `MarketListing`, `TradeOffer`, `SettlementEvent`.
  - Dependencies: E3.M3, E3.M5.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E8.M4 ChatModerationAndReporting**
  - Responsibility: Channel chat, report pipeline, moderation action logs and escalation hooks.
  - Key contracts: `ChatMessageEvent`, `PlayerReport`, `ModerationAction`.
  - Dependencies: E9.M4.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

### Epic 9 Modules - LiveOps, Telemetry, and Integrity

- **E9.M1 TelemetryEventSchema**
  - Responsibility: Canonical event taxonomy covering session, progression, economy, combat, and PvP events.
  - Key contracts: `TelemetryEvent`, `EventSchemaVersion`, `ClientEventEnvelope`.
  - Dependencies: None.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **E9.M2 KpiDashboardsAndAlerting**
  - Responsibility: KPI aggregation, dashboard surfaces, trend alerts, and milestone gate signals.
  - Key contracts: `KpiDefinition`, `AlertThreshold`, `MilestoneGateSignal`.
  - Dependencies: E9.M1.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.
- **E9.M3 LiveBalanceControlPlane**
  - Responsibility: Runtime-safe tuning of combat, progression, and economy parameters.
  - Key contracts: `BalancePatch`, `ConfigVersion`, `RolloutState`.
  - Dependencies: E9.M2, E5.M1, E2.M4, E3.M5.
  - Stage target: Production.
- **E9.M4 IntegrityAndAbuseResponse**
  - Responsibility: Bot/exploit detection signals, incident triage, and response workflows.
  - Key contracts: `IntegritySignal`, `IncidentTicket`, `EnforcementAction`.
  - Dependencies: E9.M1.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

### Content tooling modules (CT) — Internal authoring

**Tooling track** (not E1–E9). Depends **softly** on catalog shapes from **E2.M1**, **E3.M2–M3**, **E4.M1**, **E7.M1**; see [`docs/decomposition/tooling/internal_authoring.md`](docs/decomposition/tooling/internal_authoring.md).

- **CT.M1 ContentValidationPipeline**
  - Responsibility: Canonical schemas for content files; CI and local validation; optional server/test smoke load of catalogs.
  - Key contracts: JSON Schema bundle, validation CLI, stable error format for editors.
  - Dependencies: Soft alignment with E2/E3/E4/E7 content contracts; can start with minimal schemas.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **CT.M2 AuthoringStudioApplication**
  - Responsibility: Internal authoring app (e.g. Vite + React) for `content/**`, forms and ID pickers, zone graph editing aligned with **E4.M1** payloads.
  - Key contracts: Repo read/write paths; optional local API for dev browser; invokes **CT.M1** rules.
  - Dependencies: CT.M1.
  - Stage target: Prototype.
- **CT.M3 ContentReferenceAndBundleWorkflows**
  - Responsibility: Project-wide reference index, safer renames, schema-version warnings; optional bundle manifest for client/server parity.
  - Key contracts: `ContentBundleManifest` (optional), reference graph for CI/review.
  - Dependencies: CT.M1; CT.M2 recommended for integrated UX.
  - Stage target: Pre-production.

## Module Dependency Flow (Level 2)

```mermaid
flowchart TD
  E1M1[InputAndMovementRuntime] --> E1M2[IsometricCameraController]
  E1M1 --> E1M3[InteractionAndTargetingLayer]
  E1M3 --> E5M1[CombatRulesEngine]
  E1M3 --> E1M4[AbilityInputScaffold]
  E5M1 --> E1M4
  E2M1[SkillDefinitionRegistry] --> E2M2[XpAwardAndLevelEngine]
  E2M2 --> E3M1[ResourceNodeAndGatherLoop]
  E3M1 --> E3M2[RefinementAndRecipeExecution]
  E3M3[ItemizationAndInventorySchema] --> E3M2
  E4M1[ZoneGraphAndTravelRules] --> E4M4[SecurityTierZoneFlags]
  E4M4 --> E6M1[PvPEligibilityAndFlagState]
  E6M1 --> E6M2[ConsentAndRiskUxSignals]
  E5M1 --> E5M2[NpcAiAndBehaviorProfiles]
  E5M2 --> E5M3[EncounterAndRewardTables]
  E7M1[QuestStateMachine] --> E7M2[RewardAndUnlockRouter]
  E5M1 --> E7M1
  E3M2 --> E7M1
  E3M2 --> E6M4[RewardParityEnforcer]
  E5M3 --> E6M4
  E9M1[TelemetryEventSchema] --> E9M2[KpiDashboardsAndAlerting]
  E9M1 --> E9M4[IntegrityAndAbuseResponse]
  E2M4[ProgressionPacingControls] --> E9M3[LiveBalanceControlPlane]
  E3M5[EconomyBalancePolicy] --> E9M3
  E5M1 --> E9M3
```

### Critical Path Modules by Phase

- **Prototype critical path:** E1.M1, E1.M2, E1.M3, E2.M1, E2.M2, E3.M1, E3.M2, E3.M3, E4.M1, E4.M4, E5.M1, E1.M4, E5.M2, E5.M3, E6.M1, E6.M2, E6.M4, E7.M1, E7.M2, E9.M1.
- **Pre-production critical path additions:** E2.M3, E2.M4, E3.M4, E3.M5, E4.M2, E4.M3, E5.M4, E6.M3, E7.M3, E7.M4, E8.M1, E8.M3, E8.M4, E9.M2, E9.M4.

## Solo-Dev Build Order (First Executable Roadmap Cut)

1. **Foundation runtime:** E1.M1 -> E1.M2 -> E1.M3 to guarantee movement, camera lock, and interactions.
2. **Progression scaffold:** E2.M1 -> E2.M2 for visible XP progression in first session.
3. **Inventory and crafting core:** E3.M3 -> E3.M1 -> E3.M2 to enable gather -> craft loop.
4. **Combat baseline:** E5.M1 -> E5.M2 -> E5.M3 with starter encounters and reward hooks; add **E1.M4** after E5.M1 so hotbar and `AbilityCastRequest` wiring matches prototype combat MVP.
5. **Quest integration:** E7.M1 -> E7.M2 to chain gather/craft/combat into guided progression.
6. **Zone policy and optional PvP:** E4.M1 -> E4.M4 -> E6.M1 -> E6.M2 -> E6.M4 for clear opt-in PvP parity.
7. **Telemetry minimum:** E9.M1 events wired into prototype pass/fail gates.
8. **Pre-production hardening wave:** Add E2.M3/E2.M4, E3.M4/E3.M5, E4.M2/E4.M3, E8.M1/E8.M3/E8.M4, E9.M2/E9.M4 before large content expansion.

## Epic Dependency Flow

```mermaid
flowchart TD
  E1[CorePlayerRuntime] --> E2[SkillsProgression]
  E1 --> E5[PvECombatEncounters]
  E4[WorldTopologyZones] --> E5
  E4 --> E6[PvPSecurityZones]
  E2 --> E3[CraftingEconomy]
  E3 --> E7[QuestFactionReputation]
  E5 --> E7
  E7 --> E8[SocialGuildCorp]
  E2 --> E9[LiveOpsTelemetryIntegrity]
  E3 --> E9
  E5 --> E9
  E6 --> E9
  E8 --> E9
```

## Business and Sustainability Frame

- **Monetization guardrails:** Avoid pay-to-win; prioritize cosmetics, convenience with constraints, optional subscriptions/battle pass patterns as appropriate.
- **Content economics:** Ensure live team can produce sustainable updates without unsustainable bespoke content burden.
- **Community strategy:** Transparent communication cadence, test realms, creator/community partnerships.

## Success Metrics (Top-Level)

- **Retention:** D1/D7/D30, returning weekly users, average session depth.
- **Progression health:** Skill distribution, completion rates, midgame drop-off points.
- **Economy health:** Inflation/deflation, item velocity, crafting participation, market concentration risk.
- **Social health:** Guild participation, group activity rates, toxicity/report trends.
- **Operational health:** Server stability, incident frequency, exploit response time.
- **PvP policy health:** PvP participation rate, opt-in churn impact, kill/death concentration, and parity satisfaction across PvE/PvP reward paths.

## KPI and Telemetry Framework

### Measurement Principles (Solo-Friendly)

- **Decision-driven instrumentation:** Track only metrics that change roadmap decisions.
- **Tiered telemetry depth:** Start with lightweight event coverage and expand only where blind spots block progress.
- **Automate collection first:** Prefer dashboards/reports generated from stable event schemas over manual analysis.
- **One owner model:** All KPI definitions, thresholds, and review cadence are maintained by the solo developer.

### KPI Categories and Core Signals

#### 1) Player Retention and Engagement

- **Core KPIs:** D1/D7/D30 retention, weekly active users, average session duration, sessions per active user.
- **Early warning signals:** Rising first-session abandonment, declining return rate after first craft or first quest chain.

#### 2) Progression and Onboarding Health

- **Core KPIs:** Time-to-first-level-up, time-to-first-craft, first-hour quest completion rate, skill progression distribution.
- **Early warning signals:** Concentrated drop-off before first meaningful unlock, one skill line dominating due to imbalance.

#### 3) Crafting and Economy Health

- **Core KPIs:** Gather-to-craft conversion rate, crafted item usage rate, item sink velocity, median material price trend.
- **Early warning signals:** Persistent oversupply without sinks, crafting bypassed by drops/vendors, inflation spikes.

#### 4) Combat and Content Health

- **Core KPIs:** Encounter completion rates by tier, death/failure rates, average combat duration, repeat participation rate.
- **Early warning signals:** Frequent wipe/frustration clusters, trivialized encounters, low replay of intended repeatable loops.

#### 5) PvP Policy and Parity Health

- **Core KPIs:** PvP participation opt-in rate, non-PvP progression completion rate, reward parity sentiment, zone exit-after-death behavior.
- **Early warning signals:** PvE players feeling forced into PvP, abnormal churn among players who enter low-security zones once.

#### 6) Technical and Operational Health

- **Core KPIs:** Crash-free session rate, server uptime, p95 latency, disconnect frequency, severe bug incidence.
- **Early warning signals:** Regressions after releases, latency hotspots tied to specific zones/features, repeated rollback needs.

### Event Instrumentation Baseline

- **Session lifecycle events:** Login, logout, session start/end, reconnect, crash marker.
- **Progression events:** Skill XP gain, level-up, unlock acquisition, quest start/step complete/quest complete.
- **Economy events:** Resource gathered, item crafted, item consumed/destroyed, trade/listing/purchase.
- **Combat events:** Encounter start/end, ability used, player death, enemy defeat, boss completion.
- **PvP events:** Zone enter/exit by security level, PvP flag state, PvP defeat, PvP reward claimed.
- **System health events:** Error class counts, server tick/perf counters, network latency buckets.

### Phase-Based KPI Maturity

- **Prototype phase:** Focus on onboarding funnel, core loop completion, readability, and optional PvP validation.
- **Pre-production phase:** Add economy stability, content throughput metrics, and performance/latency trend tracking.
- **Production phase:** Full KPI suite with release-over-release regression checks and automated anomaly alerts.
- **Live operations phase:** Cohort tracking, long-horizon progression health, monetization guardrail checks, and seasonal event impact.

### Review Cadence and Decision Gates

- **Weekly review:** Check core KPI dashboard and identify one to three highest-impact interventions.
- **Monthly gate:** Validate whether KPI trends justify continuing current roadmap priorities.
- **Milestone gate rule:** No phase advancement if two or more red-status KPIs remain unresolved.

### KPI Status Threshold Model

- **Green:** Metric within target band for at least two consecutive review cycles.
- **Yellow:** Metric drifting from target; requires hypothesis and owner-assigned corrective action.
- **Red:** Metric outside acceptable bounds; triggers scope freeze on non-critical features until addressed.

### Minimal Dashboard Set (Solo Operator)

- **Dashboard A - New Player Funnel:** Session start -> first quest -> first craft -> first level-up -> return session.
- **Dashboard B - Core Loop Health:** Gather/craft/combat loop completion rates and average loop duration.
- **Dashboard C - Economy Pulse:** Resource inflow/outflow, crafted item velocity, sink effectiveness.
- **Dashboard D - Stability and Performance:** Crash rates, latency percentiles, disconnects, severe defect counts.
- **Dashboard E - PvP Optionality and Parity:** Zone participation, opt-out churn, and parity pathway completion.

## Program Risks and Mitigations

- **Scope overload:** Use staged gates and strict definition-of-done for each phase.
- **Solo bandwidth saturation:** Cap concurrent initiatives, prioritize automation, and aggressively cut non-core feature requests.
- **Content bottlenecks:** Invest early in data-driven pipelines and reusable encounter templates.
- **Economy collapse:** Simulate and monitor continuously; maintain tunable sinks/faucets.
- **Technical debt in networking/backends:** Build observability and load-testing into milestones.
- **Identity drift (too derivative):** Enforce cyberpunk differentiators in art, narrative, systems, and social structures.
- **PvP griefing harms PvE-first vision:** Enforce security zones, consent clarity, and progression parity policies with telemetry audits.

## High-Level System Map

```mermaid
flowchart TD
  Vision[ProductVision] --> Pillars[ExperiencePillars]
  Pillars --> Systems[CoreSystems]
  Systems --> Progression[SkillXpAndMastery]
  Systems --> Crafting[CraftingAndEconomy]
  Systems --> Questing[QuestAndFactionContent]
  Systems --> Combat[CombatAndEncounters]
  Systems --> Social[SocialAndGuildSystems]
  Systems --> Tech[BackendAndLiveOps]
  Tech --> Launch[LaunchAndOperations]
  Launch --> Growth[PostLaunchGrowth]
```



## Document Finalization Status

- **Status:** Finalized baseline vision document (v1).
- **Purpose:** This file is now the canonical 50,000-foot reference for product intent, architecture, and phase gates.
- **Change policy:** Keep this file stable; place detailed decomposition work in dedicated files under `docs/decomposition`.

## Decomposition Workspace (Next Artifacts)

- **Index:** `docs/decomposition/README.md`
- **Epic files:** `docs/decomposition/epics/` (one file per epic)
- **Module mapping files:** `docs/decomposition/modules/` (cross-epic module contracts and dependency references)
- **Milestone files:** `docs/decomposition/milestones/` (phase-gated implementation tracks)

## Immediate Next Step (Execution)

1. Create one decomposition file per epic in `docs/decomposition/epics/`.
2. Expand each epic into backlog-ready slices (system, content, tooling, telemetry, acceptance).
3. Capture cross-epic dependencies in `docs/decomposition/modules/module_dependency_register.md`.
4. Convert phase gates into actionable milestone checklists in `docs/decomposition/milestones/`.

