Update Game Design Doc
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### Core Concept
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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.
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A roguelike adventure game where players manage a caravan on an epic 40-60 day journey to Vale, the last safe haven. Players must balance village preparation, caravan expeditions, and stopping cosmic horrors in an escalating fight for survival as the world slowly succumbs to eldritch forces.
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### Genre & Inspirations
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- **Primary Genre:** Roguelike/Action-Adventure
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- **Primary Genre:** Roguelike/Action-Adventure with Epic Journey Structure
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- **Inspirations:** Stardew Valley (village life), Monster Hunter (preparation), Oregon Trail (caravan travel), Dark Souls (combat), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (expedition structure)
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## Core Game Loop
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### Phase 1: Village Preparation
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**Duration:** Player-controlled, but time pressure increases nightly
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**Duration:** Player-controlled, but cosmic pressure increases over time
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**Activities:**
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- Explore home village and surrounding biome
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- Explore current settlement and surrounding biome
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- Complete fetch quests and resource gathering
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- Craft and upgrade equipment
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- Craft and upgrade equipment for the journey to Vale
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- Accept requisitions from local guild
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- Manage caravan supplies and crew
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- Manage caravan supplies and crew for long-term survival
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**Mechanics:**
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- Real-time day/night cycle
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- Relationship building with NPCs
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- Crafting system for gear and caravan upgrades
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- Resource management (food, materials, gold)
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- Real-time day/night cycle with cosmic threat progression
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- Relationship building with NPCs across multiple settlements
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- Crafting system focused on journey sustainability
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- Resource management with emphasis on long-term planning
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### Phase 2: Expedition
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**Duration:** Variable based on requisition and player choices
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**Duration:** Variable based on requisition type and cosmic interference
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**Core Systems:**
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- **Caravan Management:** Real-time movement across procedurally generated wilderness
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- **Combat:** Action-based encounters with monsters and threats
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- **Survival:** Resource consumption, weather, terrain hazards
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- **Problem Solving:** Environmental puzzles (broken bridges, quicksand, etc.)
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- **Caravan Management:** Real-time movement across procedurally generated wilderness toward Vale
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- **Combat:** Action-based encounters with monsters and cosmic manifestations
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- **Survival:** Resource consumption, weather, terrain hazards over extended journey
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- **Problem Solving:** Environmental puzzles and cosmic anomalies
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**Requisition Types:**
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- **Delivery:** Transport goods between settlements
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- **Hunting:** Eliminate specific monsters or threats
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- **Scouting:** Explore uncharted wilderness areas
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- **Urgent:** Combat cosmic horror manifestations
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- **Delivery:** Transport goods between settlements (builds reputation, resources)
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- **Hunting:** Eliminate threats blocking progress toward Vale
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- **Scouting:** Map safe routes and locate resources for the journey
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- **Urgent:** Combat cosmic horrors threatening remaining settlements
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- **Vale-Bound:** Direct progress missions toward the ultimate destination
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### Phase 3: Decision Point
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**Options:**
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1. **Return Home:** Teleport back to village, process rewards, full Phase 1 reset
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2. **Continue:** Accept new requisition from current location
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- **In Cities:** Full selection of appropriate requisitions
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- **In Wilderness:** Limited to scouting missions
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- **In Frozen Zones:** Only urgent requisitions available
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1. **Return to Settlement:** Process rewards, resupply for continued journey
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2. **Continue Journey:** Accept new requisition from current location
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- **In Cities:** Full selection, potential Vale-bound opportunities
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- **In Wilderness:** Limited to scouting and survival missions
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- **In Frozen Zones:** Only urgent cosmic threat missions
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- **Near Vale:** Specialized high-difficulty preparation missions
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---
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## Cosmic Horror System
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## The Journey to Vale
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### The Eclipse Timeline
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- **Night 1:** New star appears in sky
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- **Night 2:** Star begins to eclipse
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- **Night 3:** Full eclipse achieved, first frozen circle appears
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- **Nights 4-6:** Circle expands across map, consuming settlements
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### Ultimate Objective
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Players must reach Vale, a distant mountain sanctuary and the world's last true safe haven. This journey requires 40-60 in-game days of careful planning, resource management, and incremental progress through an increasingly hostile world.
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### Frozen Zone Effects
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- **Towns:** NPCs become unresponsive, shops inaccessible
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- **Monsters:** Increased strength and aggression
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- **Environment:** Visual corruption, audio distortion
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- **Progression:** Circle grows steadily, making areas permanently inaccessible
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### Cosmic Escalation Timeline
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### Victory Condition
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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.
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#### Early Journey (Days 1-15)
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- **Single Stars:** Isolated cosmic threats appear every 3-6 days
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- **Threat Level:** Manageable with proper preparation
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- **World State:** Most settlements remain functional
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- **Player Focus:** Learning systems, building initial capabilities
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#### Mid Journey (Days 16-35)
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- **Multiple Stars:** 2-3 threats appear simultaneously
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- **Constellation Formation:** Connected cosmic events requiring strategic prioritization
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- **Threat Level:** Players must choose which threats to address
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- **World State:** Some settlements permanently lost, safe zones shrinking
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- **Player Focus:** Efficient route planning, resource optimization
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#### Late Journey (Days 36-60)
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- **Full Constellations:** Massive cosmic manifestations
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- **Cascading Threats:** Failed interventions trigger additional horrors
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- **Threat Level:** Survival-focused, limited ability to prevent all disasters
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- **World State:** Majority of world consumed, few safe havens remain
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- **Player Focus:** Sprint toward Vale, emergency resource management
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### Vale System
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- **Distance Tracking:** Clear progress indicators showing journey advancement
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- **Route Planning:** Multiple paths with different risk/reward profiles
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- **Milestone Settlements:** Key stops that provide major preparation opportunities
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- **Final Approach:** Specialized endgame challenges requiring mastery of all systems
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---
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## Core Mechanics
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### Caravan System
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- **Mobile Base:** Rolling headquarters with upgradeable components
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- **Crew Management:** Hire specialists with unique abilities
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- **Supply Logistics:** Food, medicine, ammunition, repair materials
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- **Customization:** Armor plating, weapons, comfort upgrades
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### Extended Journey Management
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- **Long-term Resource Planning:** Food, medicine, and supplies for 40-60 day expedition
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- **Caravan Durability:** Vehicle maintenance becomes critical over extended travel
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- **Crew Morale:** Managing team psychology during prolonged hardship
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- **Route Efficiency:** Balancing direct progress with necessary detours for supplies/safety
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### Progression
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- **Character Skills:** Combat abilities, crafting expertise, social connections
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- **Caravan Upgrades:** Enhanced durability, speed, cargo capacity
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- **Knowledge Accumulation:** Map data, monster weaknesses, optimal routes
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- **Reputation:** Standing with various guilds and settlements
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### Cosmic Threat Escalation
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- **Threat Frequency:** Cosmic events become more common over time
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- **Complexity Scaling:** Single stars → multiple stars → full constellations
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- **World Persistence:** Destroyed settlements remain lost, safe areas diminish permanently
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- **Strategic Triage:** Players cannot stop every threat, must prioritize based on journey needs
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### Requisition System
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- **Difficulty Scaling:** Rewards and challenges increase with distance from home
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- **Location Dependency:** Available missions determined by current settlement type
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- **Time Pressure:** Eclipse progression affects mission availability and urgency
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- **Chain Opportunities:** Strategic route planning for multi-requisition runs
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### Progressive World State
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- **Settlement Degradation:** Towns become less functional as cosmic influence spreads
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- **Resource Scarcity:** Materials become harder to find as world deteriorates
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- **Knowledge Accumulation:** Information about Vale and optimal routes discovered gradually
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- **Reputation Systems:** Relationships with surviving settlements become increasingly valuable
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---
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## Requisition System Evolution
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### Early Game Focus
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- **Skill Building:** Low-stakes missions teaching core mechanics
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- **Resource Accumulation:** Gathering supplies for the long journey ahead
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- **Relationship Development:** Building networks across multiple settlements
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- **Equipment Foundation:** Basic caravan and gear improvements
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### Mid Game Priorities
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- **Efficiency Optimization:** Higher-value missions with better time/reward ratios
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- **Cosmic Intervention:** Urgent missions to preserve critical settlements and routes
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- **Strategic Positioning:** Missions that advance progress toward Vale
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- **Specialized Preparation:** Acquiring gear and knowledge for specific Vale challenges
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### Late Game Survival
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- **Emergency Resource Acquisition:** Desperate missions for critical supplies
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- **Path Clearing:** Eliminating obstacles blocking direct routes to Vale
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- **Final Preparations:** Last-chance missions for endgame equipment and knowledge
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- **Vale Approach:** Specialized missions preparing for mountain sanctuary challenges
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---
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## Progression Systems
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### Character Development
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- **Journey Skills:** Abilities specifically relevant to long-distance travel
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- **Cosmic Resistance:** Protection against eldritch influences
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- **Settlement Relations:** Reputation with remaining safe havens
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- **Vale Knowledge:** Understanding of final destination and its challenges
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### Caravan Evolution
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- **Long-Distance Modifications:** Upgrades for extended travel capability
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- **Cosmic Shielding:** Protection against supernatural threats
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- **Resource Efficiency:** Better fuel consumption, storage, and sustainability
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- **Crew Capacity:** Ability to transport specialists and refugees
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### World Knowledge
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- **Route Mapping:** Optimal paths toward Vale through changing landscape
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- **Threat Patterns:** Understanding cosmic manifestation behavior
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- **Resource Locations:** Knowledge of supply caches and safe stops
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- **Vale Secrets:** Information about the sanctuary and its significance
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---
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## Technical Considerations
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### Procedural Generation
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- **Wilderness Maps:** Terrain, resources, encounters, weather patterns
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- **Settlement Variation:** Different guild offerings, NPC personalities, local specialties
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- **Threat Distribution:** Monster spawns, environmental hazards, cosmic manifestations
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### Journey Persistence
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- **Progress Tracking:** Clear indication of advancement toward Vale across multiple sessions
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- **World State Continuity:** Cosmic damage persists between play sessions
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- **Route Flexibility:** Multiple valid paths allowing for player choice and replayability
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- **Checkpoint Systems:** Meaningful milestone settlements providing progress validation
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### Progression Persistence
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- **Between Runs:** Character knowledge, some equipment, unlocked settlements
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- **Within Runs:** Caravan upgrades, relationship progress, map exploration
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- **Cosmic Resets:** Eclipse completion triggers world state changes
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### Difficulty Scaling
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- **Natural Progression:** Distance from home increases baseline challenge
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- **Time Pressure:** Eclipse advancement creates urgency without artificial timers
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- **Player Choice:** Risk/reward balance through requisition selection and route planning
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---
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## Art Direction
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### Visual Themes
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- **Village Life:** Warm, cozy, pastoral aesthetic
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- **Wilderness:** Varied biomes with realistic but fantastical elements
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- **Cosmic Horror:** Progressive visual corruption, impossible geometries, color distortion
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- **Eclipse Progression:** Sky changes provide constant visual reminder of approaching doom
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### Audio Design
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- **Ambient:** Natural sounds in wilderness, village life audio in settlements
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- **Combat:** Impactful weapon strikes, monster audio cues
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- **Cosmic Influence:** Distorted audio in frozen zones, building tension through sound design
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- **Music:** Dynamic scoring that responds to location type and eclipse progression
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### Escalation Management
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- **Difficulty Curve:** Steady increase in cosmic threat frequency and complexity
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- **Resource Balance:** Scarcity increases without becoming impossible
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- **Player Agency:** Meaningful choices remain available even under extreme pressure
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- **Failure Recovery:** Setbacks delay but don't completely derail progress toward Vale
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---
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## Success Metrics
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### Player Engagement
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- **Session Length:** 6-night cycles create focused, completable experiences
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- **Replayability:** Multiple paths through procedural world, various strategies
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- **Skill Development:** Players improve at resource management, route planning, combat
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### Journey Engagement
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- **Epic Scale:** 40-60 day journey creates genuine sense of odyssey
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- **Meaningful Progress:** Each day brings measurable advancement toward ultimate goal
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- **Escalating Tension:** Cosmic threats create mounting pressure without frustration
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- **Strategic Depth:** Long-term planning required for successful Vale approach
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### Emotional Arc
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- **Preparation Satisfaction:** Village phase provides calm planning and anticipation
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- **Expedition Tension:** Travel phase delivers challenge and discovery
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- **Cosmic Dread:** Eclipse progression creates escalating pressure without frustration
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- **Victory Relief:** Successfully stopping cosmic horror provides meaningful catharsis
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- **Hope and Determination:** Vale provides constant motivation and direction
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- **Mounting Dread:** World deterioration creates urgency without despair
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- **Resource Anxiety:** Scarcity creates tension around every decision
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- **Epic Catharsis:** Reaching Vale provides massive emotional payoff after extended struggle
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### Replayability
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- **Route Variation:** Multiple paths to Vale create different journey experiences
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- **Threat Randomization:** Cosmic manifestations appear in different patterns each run
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- **Strategic Optimization:** Players discover more efficient approaches to Vale over time
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- **Knowledge Persistence:** Some learnings carry between runs, others reset for fresh challenge
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