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+# Cosmic Caravan
+## Game Design Document
+
+### Core Concept
+A roguelike adventure game where players manage a caravan through an apocalyptic world, balancing cozy village preparation with urgent expeditions as cosmic horror threatens to consume everything.
+
+### Genre & Inspirations
+- **Primary Genre:** Roguelike/Action-Adventure
+- **Inspirations:** Stardew Valley (village life), Monster Hunter (preparation), Oregon Trail (caravan travel), Dark Souls (combat), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (expedition structure)
+
+---
+
+## Core Game Loop
+
+### Phase 1: Village Preparation
+**Duration:** Player-controlled, but time pressure increases nightly
+
+**Activities:**
+- Explore home village and surrounding biome
+- Complete fetch quests and resource gathering
+- Craft and upgrade equipment
+- Accept requisitions from local guild
+- Manage caravan supplies and crew
+
+**Mechanics:**
+- Real-time day/night cycle
+- Relationship building with NPCs
+- Crafting system for gear and caravan upgrades
+- Resource management (food, materials, gold)
+
+### Phase 2: Expedition
+**Duration:** Variable based on requisition and player choices
+
+**Core Systems:**
+- **Caravan Management:** Real-time movement across procedurally generated wilderness
+- **Combat:** Action-based encounters with monsters and threats
+- **Survival:** Resource consumption, weather, terrain hazards
+- **Problem Solving:** Environmental puzzles (broken bridges, quicksand, etc.)
+
+**Requisition Types:**
+- **Delivery:** Transport goods between settlements
+- **Hunting:** Eliminate specific monsters or threats
+- **Scouting:** Explore uncharted wilderness areas
+- **Urgent:** Combat cosmic horror manifestations
+
+### Phase 3: Decision Point
+**Options:**
+1. **Return Home:** Teleport back to village, process rewards, full Phase 1 reset
+2. **Continue:** Accept new requisition from current location
+   - **In Cities:** Full selection of appropriate requisitions
+   - **In Wilderness:** Limited to scouting missions
+   - **In Frozen Zones:** Only urgent requisitions available
+
+---
+
+## Cosmic Horror System
+
+### The Eclipse Timeline
+- **Night 1:** New star appears in sky
+- **Night 2:** Star begins to eclipse
+- **Night 3:** Full eclipse achieved, first frozen circle appears
+- **Nights 4-6:** Circle expands across map, consuming settlements
+
+### Frozen Zone Effects
+- **Towns:** NPCs become unresponsive, shops inaccessible
+- **Monsters:** Increased strength and aggression
+- **Environment:** Visual corruption, audio distortion
+- **Progression:** Circle grows steadily, making areas permanently inaccessible
+
+### Victory Condition
+Players must complete urgent requisitions to fight through frozen zones and destroy the Eldritch horror at the circle's center before the map is fully consumed.
+
+---
+
+## Core Mechanics
+
+### Caravan System
+- **Mobile Base:** Rolling headquarters with upgradeable components
+- **Crew Management:** Hire specialists with unique abilities
+- **Supply Logistics:** Food, medicine, ammunition, repair materials
+- **Customization:** Armor plating, weapons, comfort upgrades
+
+### Progression
+- **Character Skills:** Combat abilities, crafting expertise, social connections
+- **Caravan Upgrades:** Enhanced durability, speed, cargo capacity
+- **Knowledge Accumulation:** Map data, monster weaknesses, optimal routes
+- **Reputation:** Standing with various guilds and settlements
+
+### Requisition System
+- **Difficulty Scaling:** Rewards and challenges increase with distance from home
+- **Location Dependency:** Available missions determined by current settlement type
+- **Time Pressure:** Eclipse progression affects mission availability and urgency
+- **Chain Opportunities:** Strategic route planning for multi-requisition runs
+
+---
+
+## Technical Considerations
+
+### Procedural Generation
+- **Wilderness Maps:** Terrain, resources, encounters, weather patterns
+- **Settlement Variation:** Different guild offerings, NPC personalities, local specialties
+- **Threat Distribution:** Monster spawns, environmental hazards, cosmic manifestations
+
+### Progression Persistence
+- **Between Runs:** Character knowledge, some equipment, unlocked settlements
+- **Within Runs:** Caravan upgrades, relationship progress, map exploration
+- **Cosmic Resets:** Eclipse completion triggers world state changes
+
+### Difficulty Scaling
+- **Natural Progression:** Distance from home increases baseline challenge
+- **Time Pressure:** Eclipse advancement creates urgency without artificial timers
+- **Player Choice:** Risk/reward balance through requisition selection and route planning
+
+---
+
+## Art Direction
+
+### Visual Themes
+- **Village Life:** Warm, cozy, pastoral aesthetic
+- **Wilderness:** Varied biomes with realistic but fantastical elements
+- **Cosmic Horror:** Progressive visual corruption, impossible geometries, color distortion
+- **Eclipse Progression:** Sky changes provide constant visual reminder of approaching doom
+
+### Audio Design
+- **Ambient:** Natural sounds in wilderness, village life audio in settlements
+- **Combat:** Impactful weapon strikes, monster audio cues
+- **Cosmic Influence:** Distorted audio in frozen zones, building tension through sound design
+- **Music:** Dynamic scoring that responds to location type and eclipse progression
+
+---
+
+## Success Metrics
+
+### Player Engagement
+- **Session Length:** 6-night cycles create focused, completable experiences
+- **Replayability:** Multiple paths through procedural world, various strategies
+- **Skill Development:** Players improve at resource management, route planning, combat
+
+### Emotional Arc
+- **Preparation Satisfaction:** Village phase provides calm planning and anticipation
+- **Expedition Tension:** Travel phase delivers challenge and discovery
+- **Cosmic Dread:** Eclipse progression creates escalating pressure without frustration
+- **Victory Relief:** Successfully stopping cosmic horror provides meaningful catharsis