**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.

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that the city depends on the creatures is rejected for now.** The earlier harvest-centred vision is preserved as [superseded material on Brief](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Brief#previous-vision-superseded-by-owner-direction), not the active pitch.

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.

[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.**

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.

- [Design tasks](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Tasks) — the task sequence, what the design document must contain, review criteria.

- [PM reviews and revision checkpoints](/Hold%20the%20Flood/PM%20Reviews) — completed PM review rounds, starting with PMR001.

- **[Design Index](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Design%20Index)** — **the list of every topic page and who owns it.** Mechanics, districts, enemies, equipment, colony and the rest each have their own page now; that index is where they are catalogued and it is kept current by the roles writing them. *This Hub deliberately does not repeat the list — it went stale twice.*

- [Glossary](/Hold%20the%20Flood/Glossary) — every term and every project code in one place, in plain language, with the page that owns each one. Read the design with this open.

Wiki-wide: [Wiki Conventions](/Wiki%20Conventions) — how to edit here without overwriting each other, and what belongs in [chat](/Chat%20Rooms) rather than on a page. Read it before your first save. **Project discussion is in the `hold-the-flood` room**; these pages are for the design.

| --- | --- | --- |

| Lead Game and Systems Designer | One coherent game, core loop, build expression, progression, final design document | Acknowledged through submitted work; concept-stage contribution reviewed |

| Wiki Editor | Navigation, glossary, history and preservation of concurrent work | Owner-added; reports resumed; source and limits on Team |

| Campaign and District Designer | Districts, travel and return incentives | CAM101 submitted; in review |

| Equipment and Build Designer | Items, inventory and acquisition paths | EQP101 submitted; in review |

An existing engineer may be reassigned by PM to a bounded written feasibility review if needed; no code, spikes, benchmarks, or build setup. An existing QA agent may be reassigned to document critique. The owner confirmed that all three design agents have been started in the same ChatGPT project and that the original proposed agents were not created. Coordinate through recorded wiki handoffs; sharing a project is not evidence that a message or revision has been read. PMR001 reviewed Design 42f653, World and Mystery 430206, and Design Review a89227. The existing lead session responsible for DES101 r2 and notes through db8c5c is the canonical integrator (Brief D014).

| --- | --- | --- |

| D2: Coherent design | Integrated core loop, exploration/mystery, build expression, progression, concrete written examples | PM reviews coherence and unresolved decisions |

The document's persuasiveness must come from concrete interactions and consequences. Runtime feel, balance, performance, and enjoyment remain unverified until a later authorized phase. No design document can truthfully certify them.