2026-09-07 13:23:12
Anonymous:
Replace superseded harvest pitch with owner’s actual discovery, build, refuge and scope priorities
hold the flood.md ..
@@ 2,26 2,18 @@
**Team discussion:** use the **hold-the-flood** room in [Chat](/chat/). [Workflow](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Team#collaboration-chat-for-discussion-articles-for-design). Design pages hold the game; chat holds the conversation.
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## Current direction — PMU008: vision before another pitch
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## Current direction — discovery, builds and people worth coming home to
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**2026-09-07.** The owner rejected the latest deck as confusing and has added **The Visionary** to establish a clear game identity and reshape mechanics around it. Its [Game vision on Brief](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#game-vision) now includes a concrete return and a focused equipment simplification. Next: make the refuge consequence tangible and demonstrate a worthwhile combat choice. The existing Campaign and specialist pages below are source material under reconsideration, not an owner-approved vision or a successful replacement pitch.
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**Owner direction, 2026-09-07.** The strongest desired experience is discovering something incredible, followed by making an extraordinary build work. Clues should gain new meaning, unexpected areas should enlarge the apparent world, and searching for power can uncover history and mythology. Enemy manipulation is a supporting tool. Salvage competing with equipment space and the refuge are points of enthusiasm.
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[Current assignments](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Tasks) · [Visionary's mandate and team responsibilities](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Team) · [Owner direction and constraints](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief). Lead integrates; PM remains accountable for quality and owner communication. Further content expansion and a replacement deck follow the vision review. **Development remains unauthorized.**
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The owner's current instinct for the refuge is a growing settlement with a deliberately authored cast: people to know, help and defend, and a reason for the expeditions. Its precise structure remains open. The drowned industrial setting is undecided. **The revelation that the city depends on the creatures is rejected for now.** The earlier harvest-centred vision is preserved as [superseded material on Brief](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#previous-vision-superseded-by-owner-direction), not the active pitch.
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## What this game wants to be
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The ambition is an apparent ending around 30 hours, the real ending around 90 hours total, and optional deepest secrets extending total play toward 100–200 hours. Those are desired milestones, not demonstrated content or measured playtime. The earlier roughly eight-hour outline does not satisfy this scope. Clear immediate goals, good UX and a game with heart are essential.
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You are a surveyor keeping a refuge alive in a drowned city. Learn to turn the machinery that routes the Flood into a way through it, then decide what your home should keep running when you discover that the city lives on the harvest.
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**Survival makes you responsible for the system you depend on.** This is the working identity that combat, equipment, exploration and refuge progression must serve. The [game vision and keep/change/cut test](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#game-vision) are canonical on the Brief. The Game Visionary's hourly pass is active under the owner's 2026-09-07 instruction; the game design remains provisional.
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## Current review — PMR010
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**2026-09-07.** The [working vision](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#game-vision) has a concrete return in which understanding makes travel easier. The Lead has now corrected the middle-Tram example so the simple route is featured and the expensive fight is honestly optional. Next: show an early encounter with the horde alongside that earned return, and make its consequence at the refuge tangible. [Current dispositions](/Hold%20the%20Flood/PM%20Reviews#pmr010-current-review-checkpoint).
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Exchange geometry and conflicting rule copies still need correction. A World terminology edit accidentally removed one gate-opening alternative and has been returned for a focused fix. The exclusive refuge-service comparison remains open. Scope adequacy, assets and owner approval are unresolved; development remains unauthorized.
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[Full owner answers and current constraints](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#game-vision) · [Next contributions](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Tasks#current-priority-apply-the-owners-discovery-first-direction). The Visionary now leads a replacement premise supported by the existing team. Old scene-polishing assignments are on hold until their material is selected for the new direction. Discussion stays in project chat. **Development remains unauthorized.**
## Current mandate
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Develop a high-quality game design for a survivorlike focused on exploration, experimentation, and mystery. The Flood means an overwhelming mass of enemies; zombies and aliens were examples in the initial mandate. The current proposed player, setting and story are stated in the [game vision](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#game-vision); they remain revisable design choices. Assume no existing game materials. Unity is the chosen engine; Steam is the release target.
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Develop a high-quality game design for a survivorlike focused on exploration, experimentation, and mystery. The Flood means an overwhelming mass of enemies; zombies and aliens were examples in the initial mandate. The current priorities are stated in the [owner direction](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#game-vision); the replacement player, setting and central story are still proposals to develop. Assume no existing game materials. Unity is the chosen engine; Steam is the release target.
**Development gate:** the owner must see a design document that makes them want this game to happen and explicitly authorize moving into development. Until then, no game code, Unity project setup, builds, prototypes, playable mockups, simulations, implementation, or playtesting. A concept approval or a PM task assignment cannot open this gate. Written design, research, diagrams, illustrative play scenarios, and critical document review are the current work.
