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Game design overview
This folder holds vision-level design: what we want players to feel, do, and discover before we lock schemas, APIs, or content pipelines. Use it for brainstorming and alignment; when something is ready to drive implementation, it should gain a path in docs/decomposition/ or docs/plans/.
Governing axioms (same as the master plan): (1) it must be fun — player experience is the ultimate filter for design choices. (2) it must be distinctly cyberpunk in theme — setting, tone, and flavor should read as cyberpunk, not generic sci-fi. Full wording: Vision and Product Intent — Design axioms in neon_sprawl_vision.plan.md.
Summary
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.
Hybrid progression: progression.md (vocabulary + why gigs + skills). Gig detail: gigs.md. Skills + seams: skills.md. Abilities (combat vs non-combat actions): abilities.md. Items (loot, craft, equip): items.md. Gathering (nodes, skill XP, ecology): gathering.md. Crafting (recipes, pipeline, benches): crafting.md. Economy (faucets, sinks, trade, policy): economy.md. Death / loss / recovery: death-loss-recovery.md. Risk & security bands: risk-security-bands.md. Zones (place identity, tone, hooks): zones.md. Loose ideas: brainstorm/.
Presentation and target rating (vision)
Intent: The world and systems can carry very grim ideas (e.g. noir crime, body horror as fiction, exploitation as something the story condemns or resists). On-screen presentation stays restrained—implication, silhouette, report text, off-camera beats—not graphic adult-only depiction. Overall product goal is roughly a teen-oriented band (think ESRB Teen–class framing); exact labels, cuts, and territory rules are out of scope for per-skill design docs.
TODO
- Lock target band with stakeholders and (when relevant) compliance counsel—not a commitment to a specific board outcome until submission.
- Write content guidelines: grim concept vs acceptable depiction (UI, cinematics, props, loot naming) before heavy production on sensitive beats.
- Track regional ratings and storefront policy (PEGI, CERO, platform rules, etc.) when we approach release—do not block skill or quest design on that in early vision work.
Artifact index
| Document | Focus | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| progression.md | Shared gig + skill vision, vocabulary, links | Start here for progression |
| skills.md | Non-combat skills; seams; v0 skill roster by category | With gigs.md; roster encodes Hardshell / Softshell / Edgesmith / Rigging equip vs combat-deploy rules (Seams) |
| gigs.md | 9-gig roster (v1 cyberpunk names); hub, sub-gig, party | Recruitment deferred; PvP open indefinite; niche LFG if tool ships |
| abilities.md | Combat gig kits vs skill interactions vs item channels; Seams hooks | With gigs.md, skills.md; Combat pillars (vision stub) |
| items.md | Buckets (gear, chrome, consumables, mats); craft vs drops; rarity/readability | Seams in skills.md; Epic 3 module map in items.md |
| gathering.md | Resource nodes, Gather skills, contesting, pipeline to refine/craft | E3.M1 + E4.M2; with skills.md, items.md |
| crafting.md | Recipes, Process/Make pipeline, bench vs gig combat use | E3.M2; with gathering.md, items.md, skills.md Seams |
| economy.md | Faucets/sinks, trade, E3.M5 policy, mission vs loot faucets | With items.md, crafting.md; E8.M3 trade, E6.M4 parity |
| death-loss-recovery.md | Death stakes, durability/drops, recovery, PvP loss (E6.M3) | With items.md, economy.md, risk-security-bands.md |
| risk-security-bands.md | Security tiers, PvP eligibility, consent UX (E4.M4, E6.M1–M2) | With death-loss-recovery.md, gathering.md, zones.md |
| zones.md | District identity, tone, economy/faction hooks, E4.M1 graph | With risk-security-bands.md, gathering.md; travel stub in planned topics |
| brainstorm/hack-bodyguard-missions.md | Split skill (hack) + gig (bodyguard) instances—idea capture | Brainstorm |
Planned topics (stubs)
Shipped vision docs are listed in the Artifact index above—update that table when a new first-class file lands.
The bullets below are roadmap / not-yet-first-class-file topics (or pointers into existing docs for cross-cutting angles):
- Travel & connections — how places link (gates, costs, downtime, danger en route); complements zones.md and E4.M1.
- Mechanics — loops, constraints, what the server vs. client must honor (no dedicated vision file yet).
- Factions & reputation — who remembers you, grudges, access gates; ties gigs.md, skills.md, future faction doc.
- Combat pillars — Vision stub below; items in combat in items.md.
- Social play — squad scale, corps, trust, betrayal affordances, async cooperation.
- Encounters & enemy roles — archetypes, what a fight teaches, variety without noise. Skill + gig split runs: brainstorm/hack-bodyguard-missions.md.
- 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. Presentation / ~teen rating target: Presentation and target rating (vision).
Combat pillars (vision stub)
Combat is still missing a single pillar doc. Until then, use this table for where vision lives:
| Pillar | Where to read |
|---|---|
| Gig kits, inputs, skill vs item actions | abilities.md |
| Combat gear, loadouts, hub swap, consumables | items.md (with skills.md Seams) |
| Roster, roles, party, sub-gig | gigs.md |
| PvE readability, TTK, encounter fairness | Stub—future dedicated combat doc; implementation direction in Epic 5 — PvE combat |
| Death, durability, recovery | death-loss-recovery.md (with Epic 6 for PvP loss) |
| Risk tiers, PvP eligibility, warnings | risk-security-bands.md (Epic 4 Slice 2) |
Items in fights: items.md Combat gear is gig-tagged for equip/deploy; consumables baseline is not gig-gated; chrome persists across gig swap. Aligns with abilities.md Item-linked actions. Stakes on defeat: death-loss-recovery.md.
Related repo docs
| Area | Location |
|---|---|
| Module / epic breakdown | docs/decomposition/ |
| Implementation plans | docs/plans/ — README (NEO vs NEON filenames) |
| Architecture | docs/architecture/ |