Project-M/Docs/Vault/01_Vision/Pillars.md

tags, status, updated, permalink

tags	status	updated	permalink
vision pillars	draft	2026-05-29	gamevault/01-vision/pillars

Design Pillars & Locked Decisions

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

Pillars

Combat is the primary verb; base + automation braid around it (locked 2026-06-08, DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First). The fusion of all three is the identity — but as ONE braided loop with a single primary verb, never three co-equal, independently-deep modes. Roadmap: Path_to_Fun.

1. Action-ARPG combat — the primary verb — twin-stick, controller-first (Hades / Risk of Rain 2 / Deep Rock Galactic feel); skill expression over stat-checks (dodge, read-and-react, a real ability kit). The moment-to-moment the other pillars serve.
2. Co-op base power fantasy — braids in — 2–4 friends defend and grow a shared home base (V Rising / The Riftbreaker feel); the base is what you fight for and the siege's stakes.
3. Automation as progression — braids in — self-running production that makes what you fight with (charges / munitions / turrets / upgrades) and that sieges threaten; rewards setup, not grind (The Riftbreaker / Core Keeper).
4. Server-authoritative & deterministic — input-only clients, client prediction; the simulation is the source of truth. Co-op is non-negotiable, so every mechanic stays server-authoritative.

Locked decisions

• 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.
• Combat-primary + depth-before-breadth (locked 2026-06-08): combat is the primary braided verb; no new system until one braided loop is genuinely fun, and every milestone ends with a play/fun-gate (not just green tests). DR-028_Combat_Primary_Verb_Depth_First · roadmap Path_to_Fun.

Related

• 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/