rimlike/memory.md

memory — rimlike

Durable memory for this project. Read at session start, update before session end. Date format: YYYY-MM-DD.

A 2D, tile-based cute-farming-RPG-meets-colony-sim — Rimworld DNA, Going Medieval × Stardew lodestars — shaped for mobile and handheld. Promoted from ~/claude/ideas/rimlike on 2026-05-10 after a single deep brainstorm session. Realistic MVP timeline: 3–6 months solo.

How to read this project

memory.md is the index of decisions and open questions. The deep specs live alongside in docs/:

File	Contents
docs/design.md	Game design — core loop, simplifications, skills, statuses, mood, weather, stockpiles, production, combat, death/burial, storyteller corpus
docs/architecture.md	Tech — pawn AI / job system, time/tick model, Godot 4 engine layout, TileMap split, all subsystems (mood, lighting, rooms, hauling, production, combat, storyteller)
docs/ui.md	Touch UX — work-priority matrix, stockpile/container screens, mood/lighting/rooms cues, combat banners, storyteller event UI, screens still to design
docs/art.md	Owned assets (ElvGames bundle primary, Ventilatore secondary), license, autotile gotcha, audit list, candidates kept for record

When working on a feature, read memory.md first, then the relevant docs/ file(s).

Decisions & rationale

Distilled from the brainstorm. Each lock has a "why" — change with deliberate intent.

Pillars

Decision	Choice	Why
View	Top-down, grid-aligned tilemap	Closest to Rimworld feel; matches owned tilesets.
Primary platforms	iOS + Android touch, then Steam Deck / ROG Ally gamepad. Desktop falls out for free.	Mobile is the hard constraint; Deck inherits.
Ambition	itch.io + TestFlight release. Real artifact, small audience.	Drives engine choice; no app-store polish-tax.
Engine	Godot 4 (GDScript)	2D-first, free, exports everywhere we need, fast iteration.
Tile size / style	16×16 pixel art, cute-farming-RPG primary (ElvGames bundle), Ventilatore as medieval accent	ElvGames "Ultimate Farming RPG" Humble bundle owned (~2.8 GB, 70+ packs). Tone: Stardew × Going Medieval × Rimworld.
Setting	Medieval fantasy with cute palette	Owned-art alignment + clearer scope (no electricity / hydroponics / energy weapons) + underexplored on mobile.
Run shape	Open-ended sandbox, autosave, persistent world	Player picks up where they left off.
Session length	5–15 min target	Drives every UI and pacing choice.
Default speed	Fast (5×), with auto-pause on event	1 in-game day ≈ 5 min real time. Solves the "watch a pawn walk for 60s" problem; 1× exists for combat / fine work.
Goal scaffolding	Light storyteller prompts	Soft, dismissible nudges give each short session shape without forcing scenarios.
Combat	Realtime with auto-pause on threat	Rimworld-feel; touch-friendly.
Health	Single HP per pawn + status effects (Bleeding/Sick/Tired/Hungry/Wet/Cold/Downed/...)	~80% of the drama for ~5% of Rimworld's health-system code.
Scale	3–6 pawns, 30×30 to 60×60 tile maps	Readable on a phone; cheap to simulate.
Priority levels	5 (Critical / High / Normal / When idle / Off)	Matches Rimworld + Going Medieval contract.
Failure state	Ghost colony — no game over; storyteller drops wanderer in 3–5 days	Mobile-friendly; preserves player investment.

Architecture (tech)

• Sim tick 20 Hz, render 60 Hz, decoupled. Pawn positions lerp between sim ticks. (docs/architecture.md Time / tick model)
• Pawn AI: 5-layer pipeline (Decision → WorkProvider → Job + JobRunner → Status interrupts → Player overrides). Slimmer than Rimworld's ThinkTree. ~800–1500 LOC GDScript for full MVP.
• TileMap layers: 0 Terrain · 1 Floor · 2 Wall · 3 Designation · 4 Roof · 5 Fog. Furniture / Pawn / Item / EffectFX as scene-instanced entities (not TileMap).
• Pathfinding: AStarGrid2D (built-in), updated on wall/door/furniture changes.
• No background simulation — app backgrounded = sim paused. Avoids "lost colony to a raid while at work."
• Save format: between sim ticks only; JobRunner mid-toil state round-trips from day one.

Game design

• 5 skills (Manual Labor / Crafting / Cooking / Medicine / Combat), 0–10 each, level by use, multiplicative speed/quality bonus. Skills modify duration and quality, never permission.
• 9 work categories (Construction / Mining / Hauling / Cleaning / Crafting / Cooking / Plant / Doctor / Combat). 5-level priority matrix per pawn.
• Storage: floor zones AND independent crate furniture (4 stacks each), unified by StorageDestination interface. 16 filter chips (Wd/St/Ir/Cu/Ag/Au/Cl/Veg/Mt/Gr/Ck/Md/Tl/Wp/Ar/Co), 5 priorities with Rimworld flow semantics. One stack per tile, one type per tile.
• Production: 2-step where medieval-sense (Iron→Ingot→Weapon, Grain→Flour→Bread); 1-step otherwise. 5 workbenches (Carpenter, Smelter, Smithy, Cooking hearth, Millstone), ~22 recipes. Full Rimworld bill semantics (one-shot count / forever / until-N + ingredient-quality filter + skill threshold).
• Quality system (Shoddy/Normal/Excellent/Masterwork/Legendary) on every crafted item; multiplicative stat bonus. Quality from crafter skill + RNG only (inputs are just resources).
• Mood: ~13 thoughts (data-driven registry, mix persistent + event-driven). Soft breaks at sustained mood < 25 for 30 in-game min — Sulking or Wandering, recover at mood ≥ 35.
• Lighting (real shader at night), auto-detected rooms (named by furniture, scored for beauty + dirtiness), dirtiness + Cleaning (8th work category), beauty score with Quality multiplier.
• Roofing: indoor = Layer-4 Roof flag, sim-data only (no rendering, just an indoor tint on floors). Auto-roof when walls enclose ≤8 cells (BFS); No-Roof designation for courtyards. Plants don't grow indoors.
• Weather: 4 types (Clear / Rain / Storm / Cold snap), daily roll, season-weighted. Wet status accumulates outside in rain, decays indoors. 4 seasons × 12 days = 48-day year.
• Combat: 3 weapons (sword/axe/bow), 3 armor slots (helm/cuirass/boots). Walls + trees provide cover. Two-roll resolution (hit, then damage with armor reduction). Downed-then-rescue death model; doctors auto-prioritize. Combat=Off "defends if cornered, won't volunteer." Friendly fire ON.
• Death / corpses: Both burial AND cremation. Graveyard = special stockpile (Corpses-only); pawns dig graves, place permanent grave markers (tap → deceased pawn-detail). Cremation pyre = furniture with single recipe (1 corpse + 5 wood). Corpses decay 0–50 fresh / 50–100 rotting (no butcher) / 100 rotted.
• Storyteller: 25 prompts written in docs/design.md. Daily 6am roll, weighted pool, per-category cooldowns, tension model alternates quiet/threat per Tynan Sylvester pacing. Ambient banner for low-stakes, modal auto-pause for choice events.

Touch UX

• Bottom-sheet menus instead of right-side panels. Long-press = inspect/context. Tap world = select. Speed/pause buttons fixed top.
• Work-priority matrix: 9 columns × N pawns, sticky pawn-name column, horizontal scroll on phone. Tap-to-cycle priority, long-press for 5-chip picker, swipe column for bulk-set. Per-pawn and per-job views layered on top.
• Stockpile/container UI: 4×4 chip grid for the 16 filter categories; same UI for floor zones and crates.
• Storyteller events: ambient banners for nudges/seasonal/lore; modal auto-pause for wanderer/threat/disease/milestone. Events log + "while you were away" digest at resume.
• Indoor tint marks "this is inside" without needing roof rendering — matches Stardew/Rimworld convention.

Art strategy

• ElvGames "Ultimate Farming RPG" Humble bundle is the primary art (/mnt/d/godot/assets/humble set new/, ~2.8 GB, 70+ packs, all 16×16, ElvGames license: commercial OK with credit).
• Ventilatore Fantasy Tileset Complete Bundle stays as medieval accent for biome variety / decorative props / animated water.
• Mana Seed series considered but dropped from buy plan (the bundle covers what we'd planned).
• Authoring still required: designation overlays (~2 hrs custom), possibly autotile bits on bundle wall sheets, possibly wolf sprite, possibly grave marker.

Open questions / TODOs

Audit / unblock-the-prototype action items

These are concrete checks to run before serious construction begins. Total ~75 min.

• Aesthetic harmony test — open one tile from ElvGames Forest 4 Seasons + one from Ventilatore + view side-by-side. Decide whether they mesh (use both) or clash (drop Ventilatore from active use). ~15 min.
• ElvGames autotile audit — count corner / T-junction / cap pieces in Houses Tileset 2 Seasons/FG_Houses.png and Fortress Tileset 2 Seasons/FG_Fortress.png. ≥16 wall variants per material → autotile is solvable; <8 → fall back to Mana Seed Iconic Homestead ($19.99) or custom-author. ~15–30 min.
• Wolf sprite source — bundle's Animal Sprites pack lacks wolves. Browse EvoMonster Packs 01–15 or Turn-Based RPG Monster packs for a suitable predator. Or plan custom (~few hours pixel art). ~15 min.
• Grave marker source — Retro Graveyard 16×16 (Tier 3) probably has it; verify. ~10 min.
• License compilation — maintain credits string for every pack used (ElvGames + Ventilatore + any others). Display in game's credits screen. Confirm specific terms per pack before any commercial release.

Design topics still open

• Onboarding / first 60 seconds: mobile-specific. Don't copy Rimworld's tutorial.
• Touch UI for non-priority screens: world view, build drawer, alerts, day-summary, pawn detail. See docs/ui.md "Screens still to design."
• Background time / "while you were away" mechanic — locked to no background simulation in MVP; revisit if it feels bad in playtest.
• Audio direction — who/where for SFX + ambient track? Bundle has 11 music + 8 SFX packs covering most needs.
• Steam Deck input parity — gamepad-driven cursor, or full menu navigation by D-pad? Probably both.
• Localization stance — English-only for MVP, but architect strings for i18n (already locked in CLAUDE.md).
• Pawn name/backstory generation — hand-curated list vs simple generator.
• Naming the game — "rimlike" is a working title.
• Monetization stance — free? PWYW? Premium?
• Tech / research progression — medieval tech tree shape.
• Map / world generation — fixed seed for slice; procgen later.

Tunable in prototype (not real "open Qs", just numbers to playtest)

• Sleep mood gradient values (+5/+0/−2/−5/−8)
• Wet status thresholds (25 / 60) and accumulation rates
• Season weather weights (Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter distributions)
• Hit-chance bonuses (skill ×5%, range ×5%, cover 40/20%)
• Bleed-out timer (6 in-game hours)
• Various mood thought magnitudes and decay times

Vertical slice (MVP target)

Same scope as locked in ~/claude/ideas/rimlike/plan.md. Realistic timeline 3–6 months solo for an MVP this rich.

• 1 biome (temperate forest, ElvGames Forest Tileset 4 Seasons; Ventilatore foliage accents).
• 1 map, ~40×40 tiles, fixed seed for now.
• 3 starting pawns ("settlers" / "villagers"), each with name + portrait + one-sentence backstory.
• Verbs: chop wood, mine stone & ore, build walls/floors/furniture/crates, plant/harvest crops (3–4 types), cook meals (recipes), haul, repair, clean.
• Needs: hunger, sleep, mood (~13 distinct thoughts, soft breaks at sustained mood < 25).
• Status effects: Hungry, Tired, Bleeding, Sick, Downed, Wet (Damp/Soaked), Cold.
• Storage: floor zones AND containers, 16 filter chips, 5 priorities.
• Quality system on all crafted items.
• Lighting — torches + hearths emit light; visual darkness at night.
• Rooms — auto-detected, named by contents, beauty + dirtiness scored.
• Cleaning as 8th work category.
• Day/night cycle, ~5 min per day at default speed. Seasons (Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter, 12 days each).
• Weather: Clear / Rain / Storm / Cold snap.
• One disaster type: wolves at night (bandit raids deferred).
• One storyteller: random quiet/threat alternation, 25 prompt corpus.
• Save/load, autosave on suspend, single slot.
• Touch UI end-to-end (no desktop-only gestures).
• Sound: minimal — UI clicks, ambient day/night loop, alert sting.

Session log

2026-05-10

• Promoted from ~/claude/ideas/rimlike/ (single multi-hour brainstorm session).
• Scaffolded projects/rimlike/ from _templates/project/. Customized CLAUDE.md. Distilled plan.md into this memory.md. Moved companion files (design / architecture / ui / art) into docs/. git init, first commit "Initial scaffold". Created Forgejo repo rimlike (private), set HTTPS remote, pushed main. Archived idea folder to ~/claude/archive/ideas/rimlike/.

External references

• Forgejo repo: https://git.rdx4.com/megaproxy/rimlike (private)
• Owned art bundle (primary): ElvGames "Ultimate Farming RPG" Humble bundle, local at /mnt/d/godot/assets/humble set new/. License: ElvGames terms (https://elv-games.itch.io/terms). Commercial OK with credit; no NFT/crypto/resale.
• Owned art bundle (secondary): Ventilatore Fantasy Tileset Complete Bundle — https://itch.io/s/117124/the-fantasy-tileset-complete-bundle
• Mana Seed catalog (fallback if bundle gaps surface): https://seliel-the-shaper.itch.io/
• Iconic Homestead (autotile-ready wall fallback, $19.99): https://seliel-the-shaper.itch.io/iconic-homestead
• Lodestars: Rimworld (Tynan Sylvester / Ludeon Studios), Going Medieval (Foxy Voxel), Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe).
• Original brainstorm history: archived to ~/claude/archive/ideas/rimlike/ after promotion. The session log there captures every decision's rationale.
• Brainstorming-mode preference: see ~/.claude/projects/-home-megaproxy-claude-ideas/memory/brainstorm-ask-dont-decide.md (not directly applicable to projects but captures interaction style).