Hold The Horde — Progress
9 September 2026, 19:15 Jerusalem. The corrected proposal is ready for owner reaction.
Read The Game first, then Hordes and Builds. Together they show a representative expedition, ordinary crowd pressure, three expressive builds, discovery payoffs and the player's intended emotional experience.
Completed and open work
| Task | Result | Actual completion, Jerusalem |
|---|---|---|
| 41 — Hordes and three builds | Revised proposal checked and included | Author response 19:07; PM closeout 19:13 |
| 42 — Pitch and expedition | Revised and simplified; controls, rescue and shifts clarified | Author response 19:09; PM closeout 19:13 |
| 43 — Independent combined review | One critique completed; PM checked and resolved its findings | 18:55 |
| Corrected proposal | Ready for owner reaction | 19:13, ahead of the 20:15 target |
| 38 — Full design readiness | Open; broader wiki correction still required | Target 15 September |
| 39–40 — Earlier detailed samples | Parked and unaccepted | Reassess after direction feedback |
43 tracked outcomes: 40 preparation outcomes closed, 1 reopened readiness outcome and 2 parked drafts. This counts writing and review work, not the proportion of a finished game. Both designers and the reviewer have completed this bounded correction and stopped. The next dependency is the owner's reaction before expanding the selected direction through the wiki. No routine message forwarding or new permanent agent is needed.
What changed
- Ordinary exploration now includes substantial local hordes; larger events can also be triggered through discovery and machinery.
- Three concrete builds create chain storms, multiplying ricochets and a gathering gravity burst.
- Temporary combat upgrades propose a rise in power within each expedition. Their reset rule is a current owner question; physical equipment and loot are retained.
- The expedition explains player choices, pressure, spectacle, curiosity and relief, with concrete ways each intended experience could fall flat.
- The main reading pages and navigation are clearer. The broader wiki rewrite is still ahead.
The first proposal after feedback is complete. Its fun, balance and performance remain design hypotheses; the earlier full-wiki readiness acceptance stays withdrawn.
Forward estimates
| Milestone | Working target | Plausible window | Main dependency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner reaction and next rewrite assignments | Next working day after feedback arrives | Same day–next working day | Direction and temporary-upgrade choice |
| Readable, coherent first-pass design wiki | 15 September | 13–17 September | Approximately 2–4 further working days after direction feedback |
| Detailed campaign design | 17 November | 27 October–15 December | Selected direction and a fresh estimate of content work |
| Phase | 9 Sep | 10 Sep | 13–17 Sep | Following weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitch, horde rhythm and builds | Complete for owner reaction | Feedback if pending | ||
| Main reading-path rewrite | Entry pages complete | Begin after feedback | Revise and integrate | |
| Detailed campaign specification | Parked | Reassess scope | Re-estimate | Resume selected detail work |
Confidence is low for the first-pass wiki and very low for the detailed campaign. These estimates assume the existing three roles and PM are available for approximately 6–8 active hours per working day and consequential owner feedback within a working day. Development and playtesting require separate authorization and scheduling. The early completion of this small correction does not yet justify pulling the whole campaign schedule forward.
See the Design Plan for acceptance criteria and Design Coverage for the remaining rewrite areas. The five earlier unanswered owner choices remain open; they were not decided through the illustrative expedition.