Parley Hatch
2abfe4abd1
Working title 'tgame' is provisional. Top-level samples/ and docs/samples/ are gitignored; visual/art pipeline lives outside this repo.
62 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
62 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
# Economy & Progression
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What you do with crafted output, and what makes the game advance over time.
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## Market
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Two destinations for finished goods:
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### NPC Merchants
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- Always-on, instant sell.
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- Base prices, no negotiation.
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- Merchants in your roster boost prices and unlock distant markets (better rates for specific item types).
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### Patron Orders
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- Specific finished items requested by NPC patrons.
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- Often 4–5 component crafts with quality requirements ("Fine or better").
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- Sometimes time-limited.
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- Premium rewards: gold, reputation, unique recipes, relics.
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## Patrons
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Named NPC characters with personalities, factions, and grudges with each other. Filling one patron's order well may anger another faction. Patron tier raises with Guild Rank — you start outfitting villagers and end up arming kings.
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Patron board is the main "directed objectives" surface — players who want a quest will look here.
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## Future bazaar (architecturally stubbed)
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Single-player at launch, but designed so a player-to-player **bazaar** (auction house) and **leaderboards** can be added later without a rewrite. See `06-asset-pipeline.md` and a future `architecture.md` for the multiplayer-ready design choices that matter now (stable IDs, event-sourced state, server-shaped local services, signed saves).
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## Progression spine: Reputation / Guild Rank
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One meta-progression bar. Earned from:
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- Completed patron orders
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- New discoveries (recipes, ingredients, items)
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- Masterwork / Legendary crafts
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- Notable expedition outcomes
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- Achievements
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Each Guild Rank unlocks:
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- Max roster size
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- Hire-pool quality
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- Station tier cap
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- Region access
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- Patron tier
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- Workshop slot count (parallel crafts)
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**No skill bars per minion or per craft type.** Personal mastery is implicit in unlocked recipes, station tiers, and trained engineers — not in numbers that grind up.
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## Dopamine sources (the "always something shiny" rule)
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A non-exhaustive list of moments that should light up:
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- Expedition return → loot drop animation, event log opens
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- Craft completion → quality reveal, sometimes a critical success flourish
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- New recipe discovery → big flourish, item card unveiled
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- New applicant at Guild Hall → portrait reveals
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- Equipment gear-up → visible portrait change
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- Patron order completion → gold + rep payout
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- Guild Rank up → unlocks cascade
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- Masterwork or Legendary roll → particle effects, named entry in the Library
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- Bonded pair surviving a dangerous expedition together → relationship event
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The game's daily rhythm should be a series of these moments, not a series of grinds.
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