Feels like Hob, about reconstruction, with a surface world and sub-surface world (inverted!).
Mechanical energy harvesting, heat, giant spinning things. Visually striking. Very few cowlings.
anthropomorphizing interface options. Non-human PCs will be difficult to relate to.
Zarth see through proximity and touch, can only perceive what they can perceive completely. Body components for sensing. Limited in mass volume perception, multiple “eyes” for sensing different scales. Nested complexity perception. Also limits rendering complexity!
Fay exist in flux. Work to stand still. Fluids. Pipes, flames, maintaining and fighting off fey?
Differing needs and concerns. Cooperation and understanding between Fay and Zarth is required for proliferation of the world-tree.
Deeper exploration of differing concerns. Zarth can only harvest one type of energy at a time? Different types of zarth for different kinds of materials?
Spacious, Adapting
First part, before the flip, was on the edge of understanding, felt like a good place to end the pitch.
Struggle, spaciousness, potential, overcoming, the tension between danger and safety, being on the edge of the unknown.
Feels impossibly good, need to show game footage.
Echoes and mirrors everywhere, Self-similar gameplay at different levels.
The modeling feels possible. The interaction feels impossibly difficult to interact with.
Just make a good version of one layer, simply, and find out if it’s fun.
Remake Dwarf Fort, but with more foresight.
Neural net training game? Let the game be producing simple goals and training behavior? Building networks of networks, setting goals and allowing the system to learn to work toward it.
About exploration and wonder on the edge of chaos.
Contrast between the unstoppable force and the immovable object.
Zarth ability tree mimics the world-tree? Core are energy storage and transfer. Branches and roots are specific interface aspects (heat, movement, impact).
Zarth are individual crystals with the ability to store and transform energy in a variety of forms. They swim in stone, and look “up” toward the adamant. The roots are their tent. Excuse to have a race of sprocket-dwarves, as a mechanical body host to multiple zarth would be very useful for locomotion. The Outer Fire is useful for them, but also harms them (weakening influence).
Fay are fluid-bourne creatures. Exclusively NPCs? The branches are their tent. Excuse to have a race of nature-spirits and lots of nonsense fluid motion everywhere. The Adamant is useful for them, but also harms them (weakening influence).
Lindora live (if they are in this scenario) on the boundary between the two worlds.