Design Pillars & Locked Decisions

The few non-negotiables every system must serve. Keep this short; promote only decisions that are truly locked.

Pillars

Action-ARPG combat — twin-stick, controller-first (LoL / Diablo 4 / PoE2 feel); skill expression over stat-checks.
Co-op base power fantasy — 2–4 friends build and grow a shared home base (V Rising feel).
Automation as progression — production runs itself so play time compounds; the loop rewards setup, not grind.
Server-authoritative & deterministic — input-only clients, client prediction; the simulation is the source of truth.

Tech stack: Unity DOTS (Entities) + Netcode for Entities — server-authoritative, input-only clients, client prediction. Established 2026-05-29_Project_Setup.
Control (locked 2026-05-30): WASD movement, controller-first, directional / twin-stick aim with soft auto-target in-arc. 2026-05-30_M1_Player_Slice
Multiplayer (locked): small co-op 2–4, client-hosted listen-server (BinaryWorlds + in-proc IPC; not the experimental SingleWorld host mode), PvE.
World (locked): persistent buildable home base + instanced/procedural expeditions.
Automation (locked): progression accelerator — self-running production chains; data model designed to grow toward full logistics.

Identity — the fiction that skins these pillars: The Awakening Engine (Aether-colony sci-fi), evolved 2026-06-03 (DR-015_The_Awakening_Engine_Fiction_Adoption) from the original frontier-colony skin (DR-009_GameFeel_Identity_FirstBlood, 2026-06-02). Skin-only — no mechanical rework; Aether is the one substance unifying magic + tech (cyan = ordered / orange = wild Blight), with an amnesiac-Sleeper / Echo (the guiding voice) / THEM spine.
Decision records: 07_Sessions/_Decisions/