Design Docs
This folder holds the initial game design, distilled from a long brainstorming conversation (October 30–31, 2026). The full transcript is in transcripts/original-conversation.md. A later conversation about architecture and the tech stack is in transcripts/architecture-conversation.md.
The game is still untitled. The working pitch is a factory-building game where you control how much conflict you get by how hard you run your industry.
How to read these docs
Section titled “How to read these docs”Every decision is tagged with a status:
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Decided | The designer said so or explicitly agreed. Treat as current design. |
| Tentative | Proposed and not rejected, or a placeholder number awaiting playtesting. |
| Open | Discussed but unresolved. See open-questions.md. |
| Superseded | An earlier idea replaced by a later decision. Kept for context in decision-log.md. |
Later statements in the conversation override earlier ones. Suggestions made by the assistant during brainstorming are only marked Decided when the designer accepted them.
| File | What’s in it |
|---|---|
| vision.md | Pitch, pillars, design thesis, inspirations, what this game is not |
| player-and-platform.md | No avatar, building-owned units, no micro, mobile-first, co-op persistent worlds |
| narrative.md | Setting, the three advisors, story beats, dialogue rules, the ending |
| naming.md | Glossary of every name chosen so far, plus naming style rules |
| concept-index.md | Where each concept is covered: its canonical section and every other doc that mentions it |
| world.md | Map generation, deposits, fog of war, vision, day/night |
| noise-and-aliens.md | Noise, seismic signature, alien AI, targeting, hives, bosses |
| resources-and-economy.md | Resource categories, Evolite, construction/operating/research costs |
| base-network-and-inventory.md | Foundations, networks, splits, shared inventory simulation, stacks, building states |
| logistics.md | Depots, outposts, trucks, routes, construction crews, logistics progression |
| units-and-missions.md | Every unit, slot capacity, respawn, mission types |
| buildings.md | Building roster by tier with costs and roles |
| combat-and-defense.md | Walls, turrets, robots, recovery after attacks |
| technology-and-progression.md | Tiers, discovery-driven unlocks, ship restoration branch, automation as progression |
| opening-and-first-hour.md | Minute-by-minute intent for the opening and first two hours |
| prototype-scope.md | What the first playable prototype covers (Tiers 0–1) |
| first-test.md | The first build, up to the first Depot, and its technical choices |
| balance-and-simulations.md | Current numbers, pacing targets, and the opening simulations |
| tier0-proposals.md | Proposed values for every Tier 0 number not yet set, with reasoning and checks |
| runtime-and-sync.md | Ticks and frames, commands, player interaction, latency, and how state is synced |
| simulation-architecture.md | How the simulation’s code is organized: ECS rules, the schedule, events, build order |
| ecs-core.md | The sim’s own ECS core: systems, queries, resources, commands, messages, the schedule and the access check, mapped to Bevy’s |
| tech-research.md | Research behind the tech stack: options, Bevy, performance numbers |
| open-questions.md | Everything still unresolved |
| decision-log.md | Chronological decisions, including reversals and rejected ideas |
To find everything about one concept (Evolite, Harvesters, noise…), start from concept-index.md. Topics cut across files, so no single doc has the whole picture.
Start here
Section titled “Start here”If you are about to build the prototype, read in this order: vision.md → prototype-scope.md → opening-and-first-hour.md → base-network-and-inventory.md → units-and-missions.md → balance-and-simulations.md, then the technical docs: player-and-platform.md → runtime-and-sync.md → simulation-architecture.md → ecs-core.md → first-test.md.