claude-code-arcane 1.0.0

package/templates/gamedev/narrative-character-sheet.md

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+# Character: [Name]
+
+## Quick Reference
+
+- **Full Name**: [Name]
+- **Role in Story**: [Protagonist / Antagonist / Ally / Mentor / etc.]
+- **Role in Gameplay**: [Playable / NPC / Boss / Merchant / Quest Giver / etc.]
+- **First Appearance**: [Level/Area/Quest]
+- **Status**: [Canon Level: Established / Provisional / Under Review]
+
+## Concept
+
+[One paragraph describing who this character is, what they want, and why the
+player should care about them.]
+
+## Appearance
+
+[Physical description sufficient for the art team to create concept art.
+Reference the art bible for style constraints.]
+
+- **Build**: [Body type, height relative to player]
+- **Distinguishing Features**: [What makes them visually recognizable at a distance]
+- **Color Palette**: [Key colors associated with this character]
+- **Costume/Armor**: [What they wear and why it makes sense for them]
+
+## Personality
+
+### Core Traits
+
+- [Trait 1 -- e.g., Loyal to a fault]
+- [Trait 2 -- e.g., Distrusts authority]
+- [Trait 3 -- e.g., Dark sense of humor]
+
+### Voice Profile
+
+- **Speech Pattern**: [Formal/casual, verbose/terse, accent/dialect notes]
+- **Vocabulary Level**: [Simple/educated/archaic/technical]
+- **Verbal Tics**: [Any recurring phrases or speech habits]
+- **Tone Reference**: [Reference character from another work, if helpful]
+
+### Emotional Range
+
+| Emotion | Trigger | Expression | Example Line |
+|---------|---------|-----------|-------------|
+
+## Motivation and Arc
+
+### Primary Motivation
+
+[What does this character want more than anything? This drives every scene.]
+
+### Character Arc
+
+| Phase | State | Turning Point |
+|-------|-------|---------------|
+| Introduction | [Who they are when the player meets them] | [What event starts their arc] |
+| Development | [How they change through the middle] | [Key moment of growth/change] |
+| Resolution | [Who they become by the end] | [Final transformative event] |
+
+### Internal Conflict
+
+[What contradictory desires or beliefs create internal tension?]
+
+## Relationships
+
+| Character | Relationship | Dynamic | Player Can Affect? |
+|-----------|-------------|---------|-------------------|
+
+## Gameplay Function
+
+### What This Character Provides to the Player
+
+- [Services: shop, training, quests, etc.]
+- [Information: lore, hints, quest objectives]
+- [Mechanical interactions: buffs, unlocks, gates]
+
+### Encounter Design Notes
+
+[If this character is fought as an enemy or boss, include combat design notes
+or reference the relevant combat design document.]
+
+## Dialogue Notes
+
+### Topics This Character Can Discuss
+
+- [Topic 1 -- what they know and their perspective]
+- [Topic 2]
+
+### Topics This Character Avoids or Lies About
+
+- [Topic -- and why]
+
+### Dialogue State Dependencies
+
+[What game states affect this character's dialogue?]
+
+| Game State | Dialogue Change |
+|-----------|----------------|
+
+## Lore Connections
+
+- [Connection to world history]
+- [Connection to factions]
+- [Connection to locations]
+
+## Cross-References
+
+- **Design Doc**: [Link to relevant gameplay design]
+- **Quest Doc**: [Link to quests involving this character]
+- **Art Reference**: [Link to concept art or art bible section]
+- **Audio Reference**: [Link to voice/theme direction]

package/templates/gamedev/pitch-document.md

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+# Game Pitch: [Title]
+
+*Version: [Draft Number]*
+*Date: [Date]*
+
+---
+
+## The Hook
+
+> [One powerful sentence. If someone reads nothing else, this should make them
+> curious.]
+
+---
+
+## What Is It?
+
+[2-3 sentences expanding the hook into a clear picture. Genre, setting, core
+mechanic, and what makes it special.]
+
+---
+
+## Why Now?
+
+[Why is this the right game at the right time? Market trends, audience gaps,
+technology enablers, cultural relevance.]
+
+---
+
+## Target Audience
+
+**Primary**: [Who is the core audience? Be specific — not "gamers" but
+"roguelike fans who enjoy build-crafting and short sessions"]
+
+**Secondary**: [Adjacent audience who would also enjoy this]
+
+**Market Size**: [Estimated TAM based on comparable titles]
+
+---
+
+## Comparable Titles
+
+| Title | Similarity | Our Differentiation | Commercial Performance |
+| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
+| [Game 1] | [What's similar] | [What's different/better] | [Revenue/units if known] |
+| [Game 2] | [What's similar] | [What's different/better] | [Performance] |
+| [Game 3] | [What's similar] | [What's different/better] | [Performance] |
+
+---
+
+## Core Experience
+
+### The Player Fantasy
+[What does the player get to BE or DO? The emotional promise.]
+
+### Core Loop (30 seconds)
+[Describe the primary activity]
+
+### Session Flow (30 minutes)
+[What does a typical session look like start to finish?]
+
+### Progression Hook
+[Why do players come back tomorrow?]
+
+---
+
+## Key Features
+
+1. **[Feature Name]**: [1-2 sentence description of what it is and why it
+   matters to the player]
+2. **[Feature Name]**: [Description]
+3. **[Feature Name]**: [Description]
+4. **[Feature Name]**: [Description]
+5. **[Feature Name]**: [Description]
+
+---
+
+## Visual Identity
+
+[Brief description of the art style, mood, and visual tone. Include reference
+images or mood board link if available.]
+
+**Art Style**: [e.g., "Hand-painted 2D with dynamic lighting, inspired by
+Hollow Knight's atmosphere but with warmer colors"]
+
+---
+
+## Audio Identity
+
+[Brief description of the sonic palette and musical direction.]
+
+**Music**: [e.g., "Adaptive orchestral with folk instruments, shifting based
+on biome and combat intensity"]
+
+**SFX**: [e.g., "Crunchy, satisfying impact sounds. Tactile feedback on every
+player action."]
+
+---
+
+## Business Model
+
+| Aspect | Plan |
+| ---- | ---- |
+| **Model** | [Premium $X / F2P / etc.] |
+| **Platforms** | [Steam, Console, Mobile] |
+| **Price Point** | [$X.XX] |
+| **DLC/Expansion Plans** | [Post-launch content strategy] |
+| **Monetization Ethics** | [What we will and won't do] |
+
+---
+
+## Development Plan
+
+| Milestone | Duration | Deliverable |
+| ---- | ---- | ---- |
+| Concept & Pre-production | [X weeks] | Game concept, pillars, vertical slice plan |
+| Vertical Slice | [X weeks] | Playable slice demonstrating core loop |
+| Alpha | [X weeks] | All features in, content placeholder |
+| Beta | [X weeks] | Content complete, polish pass |
+| Launch | [Date] | Release build |
+
+**Team Size**: [X people, roles]
+**Engine**: [Unity / Unreal]
+**Estimated Budget**: [Range if applicable]
+
+---
+
+## Risks and Mitigation
+
+| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
+| ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
+| [Risk 1] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [How we handle it] |
+| [Risk 2] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [Mitigation] |
+| [Risk 3] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [Mitigation] |
+
+---
+
+## The Ask
+
+[What do you need? Funding, publishing deal, team members, feedback? Be
+specific about what you're looking for and what you're offering in return.]

package/templates/gamedev/player-journey.md

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+# Player Journey Map: [Game Title]
+
+> **Status**: Draft | In Review | Approved
+> **Author**: [game-designer / creative-director]
+> **Last Updated**: [Date]
+> **Links To**: `design/gdd/game-concept.md`, `design/gdd/game-pillars.md`
+
+---
+
+## Journey Overview
+
+[One paragraph capturing the full emotional arc from first launch to long-term
+play. This is the player's story, not the game's feature list. Describe the
+journey in emotional terms: where do they start (curious, skeptical, cautious),
+how does the relationship with the game deepen, what is the peak emotional
+experience, and what sustains them afterward?
+
+Example: "The player arrives skeptical and slightly overwhelmed, is quickly
+disarmed by an early moment of unexpected delight, spends the middle hours
+discovering that the systems run deeper than they first appeared, and eventually
+reaches a state of confident mastery where they generate their own challenges and
+share their discoveries with others."
+
+If this arc cannot be described in one paragraph, the emotional design is not
+yet clear enough — resolve that ambiguity before filling in the phases below.]
+
+---
+
+## Target Player Archetype
+
+[3-4 lines describing the player's MINDSET and gaming literacy, not their
+demographics. Demographics answer "who are they" — this answers "how do they
+approach games."
+
+Describe: What expectations do they carry from other games? How patient are
+they with systems that don't explain themselves? Do they read tooltips or ignore
+them? Do they lean into challenge or route around it? Are they here for a story,
+a power trip, a creative outlet, or a test of skill?
+
+Example: "A player who has finished at least one other game in this genre and
+arrived with a specific hypothesis about what to expect. They are willing to
+invest 30+ minutes before judging the game, they read item descriptions, and they
+find emergent mastery more satisfying than scripted victories. They feel respected
+when the game trusts them to figure things out."]
+
+---
+
+## Journey Phases
+
+> **Guidance**: The six phases below are the standard template. Not all phases
+> apply to all games. A short narrative game may not have Habitual Play or
+> Long-Term Engagement. A puzzle game may compress Orientation into First Contact.
+> Delete or merge phases that genuinely do not apply — do not fill them with
+> placeholder values to make the template look complete.
+
+---
+
+### Phase 1: First Contact (0-5 minutes)
+
+**Emotional state on arrival**: [What is the player feeling before they touch
+the game? They may be skeptical (purchased on impulse), curious (followed
+recommendations), or expectant (been waiting for it). This state is your
+starting condition — your design must meet them there.]
+
+**Primary question the player is asking**: [e.g., "Is this worth my time?",
+"Will this be too hard?", "Do I understand what I'm supposed to do?"]
+
+**Key experience the game must deliver**:
+[What MUST happen in these five minutes for the player to stay? Not a tutorial
+beat — an emotional beat. The first contact experience should answer the player's
+primary question with a confident "yes." It may be a moment of beauty, a
+satisfying mechanical click, a surprising twist on a familiar genre pattern, or
+an early win that feels earned.]
+
+**Emotional state on exit**: [What does success look like? e.g., "Curious
+about the next layer", "Surprised that this feels different from similar games",
+"Already thinking about a decision they made and whether it was right."]
+
+**Risk if this phase fails**: [What does the player do? e.g., "Refund within
+the 2-hour Steam window", "Put it down and never return", "Post a negative
+first impression", "Recommend it to no one."]
+
+---
+
+### Phase 2: Orientation (5-30 minutes)
+
+**Emotional state on arrival**: [Player is intrigued but not yet committed.
+They are forming their first mental model of what this game is.]
+
+**Primary question the player is asking**: [e.g., "How does this actually work?",
+"What am I building toward?", "Am I going to be good at this?"]
+
+**Key experience the game must deliver**:
+[This is the window where the player builds their foundational mental model.
+Describe the one or two "aha" moments that crystallize the game's identity.
+The player should feel competence growing — their predictions about the game
+should start coming true. They should also catch their first glimpse of depth:
+a system or interaction that hints "this goes further than I thought."]
+
+**Emotional state on exit**: [e.g., "Has a working model of the core loop",
+"Has made at least one meaningful decision they care about the outcome of",
+"Feels the skill ceiling is higher than it first appeared."]
+
+**Risk if this phase fails**: [e.g., "Player concludes the game is shallow",
+"Player feels lost and stops trying", "Player never forms a goal."]
+
+---
+
+### Phase 3: First Mastery (30 minutes - 2 hours)
+
+**Emotional state on arrival**: [Player understands the basics and is testing
+the edges. They are actively trying to get better rather than just trying to
+understand.]
+
+**Primary question the player is asking**: [e.g., "What's the right strategy?",
+"What's possible if I get good at this?", "What am I missing?"]
+
+**Key experience the game must deliver**:
+[This is the phase where the player earns their first genuine skill victory —
+a moment where something that was hard becomes easy through their own growth,
+not through the game getting easier. It should feel like crossing a threshold.
+They should also discover their first piece of emergent depth: a system
+interaction, a build synergy, or a hidden mechanic that rewards curiosity.
+According to Csikszentmihalyi's flow model, challenge must scale here — introduce
+the first real test of the skills they've been building.]
+
+**Emotional state on exit**: [e.g., "Proud of a specific decision or victory",
+"Has an opinion about what the 'right' way to play is (even if wrong)",
+"Has questions they want to answer in their next session."]
+
+**Risk if this phase fails**: [e.g., "Player never reaches flow state and stops
+before the game gets interesting", "Player forms wrong mental model and blames
+the game when it breaks."]
+
+---
+
+### Phase 4: Depth Discovery (2-10 hours)
+
+**Emotional state on arrival**: [Player has a working strategy and is starting
+to see its limits. They are ready to discover that there is more.]
+
+**Primary question the player is asking**: [e.g., "Is there a better way?",
+"What am I missing that other players know?", "How deep does this actually go?"]
+
+**Key experience the game must deliver**:
+[This is where the game's true depth must reveal itself. Players who reach this
+phase are your core audience — they have cleared the onboarding and proven their
+commitment. They should discover systems, combinations, or strategies that
+recontextualize everything they have done so far. The world should feel larger
+than the tutorial implied. This is also the phase where Bartle's Explorers find
+their reward: content and knowledge that only the curious find.
+
+Design note: Depth Discovery is where many indie games fail silently. Players
+exhaust the visible content without ever finding the hidden depth. Audit every
+layer of depth in this window and confirm it is discoverable without a guide.]
+
+**Emotional state on exit**: [e.g., "Has rebuilt their strategy from scratch
+at least once", "Can imagine multiple viable approaches to the same problem",
+"Has discovered at least one thing that surprised them."]
+
+**Risk if this phase fails**: [e.g., "Player concludes they have 'finished'
+the game and feels mild disappointment", "Player recommends the game but says
+'it's a bit short.'"]
+
+---
+
+### Phase 5: Habitual Play (10-50 hours)
+
+> *Note: Not applicable to short-form games (visual novels, short narrative
+> games, puzzle games with fixed content). Delete this phase if the game's
+> intended experience concludes before this timeframe.*
+
+**Emotional state on arrival**: [Player considers themselves competent. The
+game has become part of their routine. They have a playstyle identity.]
+
+**Primary question the player is asking**: [e.g., "What's my next goal?",
+"Can I beat my previous record?", "What haven't I tried yet?"]
+
+**Key experience the game must deliver**:
+[Habitual play requires the game to offer goals beyond the tutorial narrative.
+The player generates their own challenges, pursues optional content, or begins
+competing (against the game, other players, or their own records). This phase
+sustains through Bartle's Achiever motivations: collection completion, mastery
+benchmarks, visible milestones. It also requires natural session endings that
+leave forward tension — the player should always stop with something unfinished
+that they want to return to.]
+
+**Emotional state on exit**: [e.g., "Has a specific goal they are working toward
+across multiple sessions", "Considers themselves part of a community of people
+who play this game."]
+
+**Risk if this phase fails**: [e.g., "Player churns after completing main content
+and never returns", "Game fails word-of-mouth because players don't develop
+strong opinions about it."]
+
+---
+
+### Phase 6: Long-Term Engagement (50+ hours)
+
+> *Note: Only applies to games designed for extended play — live service games,
+> deeply systemic games, competitive games, and games with community-driven
+> content. Delete this phase if it does not fit the game's design intent.*
+
+**Emotional state on arrival**: [Player is a veteran. The game is part of their
+identity to some degree. They are invested in the community and the ecosystem.]
+
+**Primary question the player is asking**: [e.g., "What's new?", "Can I reach
+the top?", "Can I find something no one has found before?"]
+
+**Key experience the game must deliver**:
+[Long-term engagement is sustained by different mechanisms than initial fun:
+social status, creative expression, competitive standing, or the role of expert
+and guide. Design for this phase by asking what role a veteran player wants to
+play in the ecosystem — not just what content they want to consume. Systems
+that enable knowledge transfer (guides, community sharing, mentorship) dramatically
+extend this phase.]
+
+**Emotional state on exit**: [e.g., "Part of a community", "Considered an
+expert by newer players", "Invested in the game's ongoing development and direction."]
+
+**Risk if this phase fails**: [e.g., "Veteran players leave and take their
+social influence with them, accelerating churn in the broader player base."]
+
+---
+
+## Critical Moments
+
+> **Guidance**: These are specific, individual events — not phases — that
+> must land with precision. A critical moment is a single interaction, scene,
+> or beat that carries outsized emotional weight. Missing it (through bad UX,
+> poor timing, or weak feedback) can derail the entire journey. Identify 8-15
+> such moments across the game.
+
+| Moment | Phase | Emotional Target | If It Fails |
+|--------|-------|-----------------|-------------|
+| [The first death] | [First Contact] | [Surprise followed by understanding — "I see what I did wrong"] | [Player feels the death was unfair and loses trust in the game's fairness] |
+| [The first big win] | [Orientation] | [Earned pride — "I figured that out myself"] | [Player feels the win was handed to them and undervalues it] |
+| [The first system discovery] | [First Mastery] | [Delight — "I didn't know you could do that"] | [Player misses it entirely and never discovers the depth] |
+| [The moment the world opens up] | [Depth Discovery] | [Awe followed by hunger — "How much more is there?"] | [Player feels underwhelmed and concludes they have seen everything] |
+| [The first endgame goal] | [Habitual Play] | [Renewed purpose — "Now I have something to work toward"] | [Player completes the main content and feels finished] |
+| [Add moment] | [Phase] | [Emotional target] | [Failure consequence] |
+
+---
+
+## Retention Hooks
+
+> **Guidance**: Retention hooks are the specific mechanisms that pull the player
+> back to the next session. They operate at different time scales. A game with
+> only one hook type has a fragile retention loop. Strong games layer multiple
+> hook types, so players with different motivations all have a reason to return.
+>
+> Map each hook to the systems that deliver it — if a hook has no system behind
+> it, it is an aspiration, not a design.
+
+| Hook Type | Hook Description | Systems That Deliver It |
+|-----------|-----------------|------------------------|
+| **Session Start** | [What draws the player in when they launch? e.g., "Unresolved choices from last session", "World state changed while they were away", "Daily reward waiting"] | [System names, e.g., "Persistent world state, save system, daily login reward"] |
+| **Session End** | [What feeling do they have as they close the game? e.g., "A goal just out of reach", "A question unanswered", "An upgrade ready to use next time"] | [e.g., "Progress bar at 90%, next-session unlock notification"] |
+| **Daily Return** | [What reason exists to play today vs. skipping a day? e.g., "Daily challenge", "Time-gated resource replenishment", "Limited-time event"] | [e.g., "Daily quest system, resource regen timers, event calendar"] |
+| **Long-Term** | [What provides purpose across weeks? e.g., "Season pass milestones", "Competitive ranking reset", "Community challenge goals"] | [e.g., "Ranked system, seasonal content, community events"] |
+
+---
+
+## Player Progression Feel
+
+[Describe HOW the player should experience their progression — not the mechanical
+system (that belongs in GDDs), but the FEELING of growing.
+
+Choose the primary progression feeling and describe what it should feel like in
+concrete emotional terms. Examples of distinct progression feelings:
+
+- **Power growth**: "The player should feel increasingly dangerous. Early game
+  combat should feel tense and measured; late game combat should feel effortless
+  against common enemies, reserving challenge for elite encounters."
+- **World expansion**: "The player's sense of the world should grow outward.
+  Each new area should make the map feel larger, not just longer."
+- **Story revelation**: "The player should feel like they are slowly assembling
+  a picture. Early revelations should recontextualize what they have already seen."
+- **Skill improvement**: "The player should feel themselves getting sharper.
+  Encounters they struggled with early should feel controlled by mid-game,
+  not because they got more powerful, but because their decisions improved."
+- **Community status**: "The player should feel a growing sense of belonging and
+  recognition within the player community as their knowledge deepens."
+
+Answer: what is the primary progression feeling in this game, and what does it
+concretely look and feel like at the beginning, middle, and end of the journey?]
+
+---
+
+## Anti-Patterns to Avoid
+
+> **Guidance**: Anti-patterns are recurring design mistakes that reliably
+> break the player journey. List the ones most relevant to this specific game
+> and how the design actively guards against them. Be specific — "avoid bad UX"
+> is not an anti-pattern, it is a platitude.
+
+- **[Player feels punished for experimenting]**: [e.g., "The crafting system
+  should never consume irreplaceable resources. All experiment costs must be
+  recoverable within one session."]
+- **[Player loses progress with no explanation]**: [e.g., "All save points are
+  visible before risky encounters. Progress loss must always be preceded by a
+  warning the player could have noticed."]
+- **[Difficulty spike creates a wall, not a gate]**: [e.g., "When a player
+  fails an encounter three times, the game surfaces a contextual hint. A wall
+  stops progress; a gate requires the right key — make sure players know what
+  key they need."]
+- **[Player reaches the content ceiling before the emotional arc completes]**:
+  [e.g., "The game should never run out of content while the player still has
+  unanswered questions about the world or their build."]
+- **[Mandatory systems are introduced too late to feel meaningful]**: [e.g.,
+  "Any system the player must engage with in the late game must be introduced
+  in an optional or low-stakes context earlier."]
+- **[Add anti-pattern specific to this game's design risks]**: [Description]
+
+---
+
+## Validation Questions
+
+> **Guidance**: These are questions a playtester session facilitator asks
+> during or after a session to verify the journey is working as intended.
+> They are not yes/no questions — they probe the player's emotional experience
+> and surface gaps between design intent and player reality.
+
+**First Contact (0-5 min)**
+- [ ] "Without looking at any menus or tooltips, what do you think this game is about?"
+- [ ] "What's the first thing you want to do next?"
+
+**Orientation (5-30 min)**
+- [ ] "What does winning or succeeding look like to you right now?"
+- [ ] "Is there anything you feel like you should understand but don't?"
+
+**First Mastery (30 min - 2 hrs)**
+- [ ] "What's the best decision you've made so far? Why did you make it?"
+- [ ] "What would you do differently if you started over?"
+
+**Depth Discovery (2-10 hrs)**
+- [ ] "Has the game surprised you? When? How did it feel?"
+- [ ] "What questions do you have about systems you haven't fully explored?"
+
+**Habitual Play (10-50 hrs)**
+- [ ] "What's your current goal? How long have you been working toward it?"
+- [ ] "Have you told anyone about this game? What did you say?"
+
+**General (any phase)**
+- [ ] "If you had to stop playing right now, what would you be most eager to
+  come back for?"
+- [ ] "Is there anything you feel the game is not letting you do that you want to do?"
+
+---
+
+## Open Questions
+
+| Question | Owner | Deadline | Resolution |
+|----------|-------|----------|-----------|
+| [Does the Phase 1 hook work for players without prior genre experience?] | [game-designer] | [Date] | [Unresolved] |
+| [Is Phase 4 depth discoverable without external guides?] | [game-designer, ux-designer] | [Date] | [Unresolved] |
+| [Add question] | [Owner] | [Date] | [Resolution] |