diff --git a/docs/game-design/overview.md b/docs/game-design/overview.md index 4d98b29..41c1aad 100644 --- a/docs/game-design/overview.md +++ b/docs/game-design/overview.md @@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ This folder holds **vision-level** design: what we want players to feel, do, and ## Summary -Neon Sprawl’s design work here starts from **concrete visions** of mechanics, items, abilities, skills, professions, zones, and related systems. Documents below are added as we write them; each should stay opinionated and specific enough to argue with, without pretending to be a full GDD. +Neon Sprawl’s design work here starts from **concrete visions** of progression, places, risk, economy, social play, combat, and the items/abilities that express them. Documents below are added as we write them; each should stay opinionated and specific enough to argue with, without pretending to be a full GDD. ## Artifact index @@ -18,10 +18,22 @@ Link new files here when they exist; remove or rewrite this subsection once the - **Skills** — progression feel, caps, synergies, failure modes. - **Professions** — identity, fantasy, how they differ from pure skill bundles. -- **Zones** — tone, danger, travel, faction or economic role. +- **Zones** — tone, danger, faction or economic role of a place. +- **Travel & connections** — how places link (gates, costs, downtime, danger en route); complements zone identity. - **Mechanics** — loops, constraints, what the server vs. client must honor. - **Items** — categories, rarity philosophy, crafting vs. drops. - **Abilities** — inputs, timing, combo with items and skills. +- **Gathering & resources** — nodes, competition, exhaustion, what “open world” contesting feels like. +- **Crafting & recipes** — depth vs. breadth, failure, specialization; pairs with items but is its own loop. +- **Economy** — currency velocity, sinks, trade vs. self-sufficiency, how wealth shows up in play. +- **Factions & reputation** — who remembers you, grudges, access gates, story pressure. +- **Combat pillars** — PvE vs. PvP stance, readability, time-to-kill, what “fair” means here. +- **Death, loss & recovery** — stakes on failure, recovery paths, anti-grief boundaries. +- **Risk & security bands** — safe pockets vs. wild space; where optional PvP and theft sit (aligns with security-tier thinking). +- **Social play** — squad scale, corps, trust, betrayal affordances, async cooperation. +- **Encounters & enemy roles** — archetypes, what a fight teaches, variety without noise. +- **Onboarding** — first session hook, clarity vs. mystery, how much systems the new player sees. +- **Tone & narrative** — how lore shows up (quests, environment, UI), voice of the world. ## Related repo docs