261 lines
9.6 KiB
Markdown
261 lines
9.6 KiB
Markdown
**BLUF:** Below is a structured “Soul Doc” for your 1v1 real-time capture-the-flag game. It captures the aspiration, player promise, fantasy, pillars, core loops, the specific system beats you described (fog of war, jail/escort, pre-phase setup, motion lights, classes), plus the two unresolved design tensions: anti-turtling and fun flag recapture. I’ve kept it in “what” space (ideation). Any build/platform details are quarantined to an appendix.
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---
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# Soul Doc: *Neighborhood Quarterback* (working title)
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## 1) One-sentence identity
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A fast, real-time 1v1 capture-the-flag game where you play the older kid quarterbacking a neighborhood crew, winning by **commanding** and **anticipating** under **fog of war**.
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## 2) Player promise
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You are the big kid who sees the whole field. You out-think and out-maneuver a rival captain by reading their setup, shaping the chaos, and calling the play that wins.
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## 3) Fantasy and emotional target
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* **Fantasy:** “I’m the captain who controls the tempo and makes the smart call.”
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* **Emotions to hit:**
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* Cleverness from being the older kid (pattern recognition, traps, misdirection)
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* Tension of “kids out of bed” at night (risk, stealth, sudden exposure)
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* Glee when a plan collapses into improv and you still pull it off
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## 4) The hook
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“StarCraft-style squad command at Rocket League pace, but it’s capture the flag in a suburban neighborhood at night, with a jail mechanic and motion lights.”
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## 5) Design pillars (non-negotiables)
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1. **Anticipation beats reaction**
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* Great players win by setting conditions, not by micromanaging panic.
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2. **Information is the real resource**
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* Fog of war plus scouting creates mind games, not just execution checks.
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3. **Misdirection is always viable**
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* Diversions, sacrifices, and feints are legitimate paths to advantage.
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4. **Every match tells a story in 5 minutes**
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* Quick pre-phase, real-time game phase, immediate “what just happened” highlights.
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## 6) Core verbs
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* **Command:** assign routes, patrols, and intentions to five distinct kids.
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* **Anticipate:** infer opponent roles, predict rotations, exploit timing windows.
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## 7) Core loops
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### Loop for great players (the aspiration)
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**Plan → Perturb → Observe → Identify → Seize**
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* Plan: form a hypothesis about their defense/flag/jail placement and likely rotations.
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* Perturb: poke or stage a feint to force information-revealing reactions.
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* Observe: read movement, patrol patterns, light triggers, missing units.
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* Identify: locate the weakness (gap, slow responder, overcommit, exposed jail path).
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* Seize: commit to the play that wins (flag run, mass capture, or decisive diversion).
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### Loop for average players (still fun)
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**Poke → React → Scramble**
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* Poke creates action and chaos; scramble produces highlight moments.
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* The game should reward graduating from scramble into intentional perturbation.
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## 8) Match structure
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**Two phases, one match**
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1. **Pre-phase (fast):**
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* Choose team composition (roles/classes).
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* Place your **flag** and **jail**.
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* Optionally place limited defensive “reveals” (motion light concept).
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2. **Game phase (real-time):**
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* Command five units to capture opponent flag while defending your own.
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* Capture/jail mechanics create temporary numerical advantage and narrative momentum.
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## 9) The play space
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* **Setting:** a neighborhood block at night.
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* **Topology:** streets and backyards, not a grid; shortcuts through some yards.
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* **Sides:** two territories separated by a **neutral zone**.
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* **Readability:** clearly legible lanes, chokepoints, and “exposure zones” (lit, open streets) vs “shadow zones” (backyard paths, cover).
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## 10) Unit identity and roles
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You control **5 kids**, each with a clear job and counterplay.
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### Class archetypes (working)
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* **Sneak:** excels at infiltration and flag running; fragile if caught.
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* **Patrol:** excels at holding space and denying routes; strongest at defense and capture control.
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* **Speed:** excels at rapid response, chasing, and quick pivots; enables aggressive tempo.
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**Team composition decision:** You’re drafting a plan, not just picking stats.
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## 11) Information and fog of war
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Fog of war is the constraint that creates the mind game.
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* You should never have perfect certainty.
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* The player is rewarded for:
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* inferring unseen rotations from partial signals
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* forcing reveals through perturbations
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* managing risk when committing to a run
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### Motion light concept (as an information tool)
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A limited, placeable “reveal trigger” that:
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* turns movement into a signal
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* invites mind games (“trigger it on purpose” vs “avoid it entirely”)
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* creates moments of panic and opportunity when it fires
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## 12) Capture and jail: the match’s momentum engine
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Captures are how you tilt the field before going for the flag.
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### Core concept
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* Units can be **captured** and **escorted** to jail.
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* Escorting creates **tempo tradeoffs**: you gain numerical advantage but spend time and attention.
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* **Abandonment** en route is allowed, which creates:
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* rescue plays
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* bait plays
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* risky overextensions
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### Desired emergent outcomes
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* “I captured your fast kid, now you can’t respond to my flag run.”
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* “I baited your patrol into an escort, then slipped my sneak through the yard gap.”
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* “We fought over an escort path like it was its own objective.”
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## 13) Flag play: make scoring common, make winning earned
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Your stated preference is important: **flags should be captured in most games**.
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* That implies:
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* defense should be strong enough to create tension but not so strong it prevents scores
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* matches should swing, not stalemate
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### The fun part is not “touch flag,” it’s what happens after
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* escapes, chases, sacrifices, rescue missions, last-second interceptions
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* “quarterback moments” where you win via anticipation and timing, not raw APM
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## 14) Anti-turtling: forcing action without feeling artificial
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You want a mechanic that prevents two players from playing too defensively.
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Design intent (what it should feel like):
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* Defensive play is valid, but **pure turtling is strategically losing**.
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* The game gently but inevitably creates windows where someone must move.
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Aspirational outcomes:
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* Early probing is safe-ish and useful.
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* Midgame pressure escalates.
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* Endgame has a clear “someone’s about to break.”
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(Implementation options are intentionally omitted here; see “Open Questions” for what you need it to accomplish.)
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## 15) Recapture: making “the return trip” exciting
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Recapturing a taken flag should be fun, not a reset-to-neutral chore.
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Design intent:
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* The moment the flag is taken, the game should enter a heightened state:
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* clearer incentives
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* sharper information plays
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* dramatic chase and interception opportunities
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Desired outcomes:
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* “Turning the tables” stories: bait a greedy runner, spring a trap, flip momentum.
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* A reason to keep playing aggressively even after conceding a grab.
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## 16) Aesthetic and tone
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* **Visual identity:** “backyard baseball meets satellite-map clarity,” with a tongue-in-cheek vibe.
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* **Tone:** kids out of bed at night; playful rule-breaking, not grim violence.
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* **Silhouette readability:** units and their roles must be immediately legible.
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* **Signature moments:** motion light pops on, silhouettes scatter, a patrol cuts someone off at the curb.
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## 17) Progression fantasy (non-monetized framing)
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* **Accolades and recognition:** you become “the neighborhood legend.”
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* **Cosmetic identity:** personalization and bragging rights (skins later).
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* The progression should reinforce the fantasy of being the captain, not become a grind.
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## 18) What the game is not (scope guardrails)
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* Not a slow, methodical tactics sim.
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* Not a deep narrative campaign.
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* Not a base builder.
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* Not a pure stealth game where contact is failure.
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* Not a micro-heavy RTS where 200 APM is required.
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## 19) Success criteria
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When you watch a good match, you should be able to point to:
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* a deliberate perturbation
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* a clean read
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* a decisive pivot
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* a “quarterback call” that looks obvious in hindsight
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When you watch an average match, you should still see:
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* chaos that resolves into a story
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* at least one flag touch
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* at least one capture that mattered
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## 20) Open questions (ideation-grade, not implementation)
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These are the few decisions that most affect the soul:
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1. **What is the anti-turtling pressure supposed to reward?**
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* scouting, tempo, map control, capture economy, or flag attempts?
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2. **What is the “recapture fantasy”?**
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* dramatic chase, clever interception, coordinated ambush, or jail-break pivot?
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3. **How swingy should matches be?**
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* If flags are often captured, what prevents the game from feeling coin-flippy?
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4. **How many “signals” exist in the information game?**
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* If fog of war is core, what are the deliberate, learnable tells?
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5. **What is the identity of each class in one sentence?**
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* The sharper these are, the more the “quarterback” fantasy lands.
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---
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## Appendix: details you mentioned that are “how/build,” not “soul”
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(Keeping them so they don’t get lost, but they’re not part of the ideation core.)
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* View/camera specifics (2D isometric, zoom-to-unit)
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* Input specifics (select then drag routes, patrol mode variants)
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* Tooling/config emphasis for iteration and testing knobs
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* Engine/platform targeting (Unity, iOS/Android/desktop)
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---
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If you want the next step: I’d compress this into a **one-page internal pitch** (still “what”), plus a **3–5 bullet marketing spine** derived from the same pillars, without drifting into monetization or implementation.
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