Art direction references #
These are direction references, not runtime tile art.
Locked B1 target #
b1-server-room-direction.png is the canonical visual target for Act One / B1 gameplay.
Use it as the answer to: "what should the basement feel like when the player is still a process in Rack 3?"
What it locks:
- high top-down / orthographic camera
- playable room shape first, mood second
- bone-white floor planes
- gunmetal racks and fixtures
- black cable/conduit geometry as the visual language of systems
- amber only for AI/core/machine activity
- fogged edges as limited sensorium
- low-noise clinical surface treatment
The baseline rule:
B1 should look like a clean systems diagram that became a place.
Amber means cognition or machine activity. Crimson means physical consequence. Neither is decoration.
Supporting references #
The July 5 mockup pass also produced supporting references:
supporting/story-breach-loading-dock-wet-lab.png— story breach / wet-lab / loading-dock mood.supporting/overt-phase-clinical-trap-corridor.png— overt-phase/key-art direction.supporting/subsystem-server-network-electrical-slice.png— useful subsystem composition: compute, network, electrical.supporting/screen-ui-basement-map-skin.png— useful screen/UI composition.
Do not treat those as equal to the locked target. They are supporting references.
Self-containment rule #
Art direction references that the spec depends on must live in this repository.
Do not point canonical specs, knowledge files, or art-direction docs at
~/Downloads, local scratchpads, expired image URLs, or another agent's
private filesystem. Local paths can appear in a devlog as provenance, but if
future agents are expected to use an image or prompt, commit it here beside
the spec that names it.
Anti-targets #
Avoid:
- purple/cyan Evil Genius inheritance as default
- generic dungeon or cave grime
- cartoon villain softness
- red visual soup
- labels baked into the map as literal text
- concept-art drama that makes the map less playable
The game can become theatrical later. Act One starts as a clean lab system under surveillance.