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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/.
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. 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 still stub in this overview |
| brainstorm/hack-bodyguard-missions.md | Split skill (hack) + gig (bodyguard) instances—idea capture | Brainstorm |
| (add rows as files land) |
Planned topics (stubs)
Link new files here when they exist; remove or rewrite this subsection once the table is populated.
- Progression — progression.md: hybrid gig + skill overview and vocabulary. Gigs: gigs.md. Skills + seams: skills.md. Recruitment channel deferred; professions stay folded into skills + rep unless a future doc defines something separate.
- 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 — abilities.md: inputs, timing; combo with items; gig vs skill gates (see progression.md vocabulary). Combat pillars stub remains below until written.
- 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; gig story arcs: gigs.md, rep + seams: skills.md.
- 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. 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).
Related repo docs
| Area | Location |
|---|---|
| Module / epic breakdown | docs/decomposition/ |
| Implementation plans | docs/plans/ |
| Architecture | docs/architecture/ |