From ecd6d0b9175e4f039264f68f92b823681d577c7c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:55:00 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 1/7] Factions, Antags, and Lore --- src/SUMMARY.md | 1 + src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 47 ++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 48 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md diff --git a/src/SUMMARY.md b/src/SUMMARY.md index 6fd1023..137e2d9 100644 --- a/src/SUMMARY.md +++ b/src/SUMMARY.md @@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Development - [Design Pillars](development/design-pillars.md) - [Design Documents](development/designs/design-doc-main.md) - [Greencomms Removal](development/designs/design-doc-remove-common.md) + - [Factions, Antags, and Lore](development/designs/design-doc-remove-common.md) Guides ------ diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..14fbebc --- /dev/null +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +Factions, Antags, and Lore +===== +This document details how introducing limited sections of lore around certain elements of the game can improve immersion. This primarily concerns factions and species. + +This concerns only official lore that will be introduced in-game, not people's characters or their own writing. + +## Premise + +The goal of having lore is to make give the station a setting, to make the "world" feel bigger than simply the station you are on, and to provide players with a prompt to work with and expand upon. In the case of antags to make them feel like they are acting on behalf of a faction's interests, rather than just being "John Evil". Additionally, the line between antag and non-antag can be blurred, leading to more dynamic outcomes. + +This document will only briefly touch on certain specifics lore wise, but primarily serve as a guide and for standards. Additionally, it will touch on lore as it pertains to game design, focused primarily on antags, special roles, and theming. + +## Writing Lore + +Lore should focus on providing a background or explanation to certain parts of the game. Things written should be a brief, broad overview, like the first few paragraphs of a wikipedia page. It should not be long, monotonous, or overly detailed. One page maximum. + +Lore should not be restrictive, people should easily be able to integrate their existing stories into any proposed lore. It is a building block for people who want it, not an all-encompassing document on how characters should be written. + +Lore documents should be mostly self contained. They should not concern miscellaneous events which don't concern any specific portion of the game (ie. a random battle between The Syndicate and Nanotrasen) + +## Factions + +There are decidedly 4 major factions: +- Nanotrasen +- The Syndicate and their member organizations +- SolGov (Owners of earth and the Sol System) +- Galatic Liberation Front (Name pending but some sort of revolutionary faction, USSP deemed to memey(decide on something before you merge this)) + +These main factions are not necessarily the *largest factions* in the setting. However, they are the ones most involved in the current situation with Nanotrasen. + +There are also various minor factions that exist within the game, more can be added via PR's to the main repo. + +Any factions, major, or minor should include all the following: +- A clear ideology, principles, or objective +- Distinct theming from any existing faction +- Some form of significant presence in-game +- A guidebook page detailing all the above + +Just because all of the above are qualified does not mean the faction will be accepted automatically, any new faction is subject to review by maintainers. + +A faction may be accepting lacking some of the above, given that there is reason to believe that other qualifying factors will be added later on. + +## Antagonist Integration + +Antags should rarely ever be "guy that is evil", they should be associated with a faction of some form wherever possible. Their objectives, equipment, and otherwise should also be associated with the faction as well. By tying antags to be closer associated to a specific faction, it gives better prompting to how the antag should and their motivations beyond just what their objectives entail. + +The line between antag and non-antag should be blurred, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue, this can produced varied and exciting outcomes and slows down many of the potential knee-jerks that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file From 04e10b123a1f10248ec9c40c61130dbe532858d4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:02:15 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 2/7] Apply suggestions from code review Co-authored-by: Nyxilath --- src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 4 ++-- 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md index 14fbebc..c673817 100644 --- a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ Lore documents should be mostly self contained. They should not concern miscella There are decidedly 4 major factions: - Nanotrasen -- The Syndicate and their member organizations -- SolGov (Owners of earth and the Sol System) +- The Syndicate and their constituents +- SolGov - Galatic Liberation Front (Name pending but some sort of revolutionary faction, USSP deemed to memey(decide on something before you merge this)) These main factions are not necessarily the *largest factions* in the setting. However, they are the ones most involved in the current situation with Nanotrasen. From 3dd33370dd1893a7bb71422d97745dfcce101a49 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2026 12:45:50 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 3/7] faction name --- src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md index c673817..debe914 100644 --- a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ There are decidedly 4 major factions: - Nanotrasen - The Syndicate and their constituents - SolGov -- Galatic Liberation Front (Name pending but some sort of revolutionary faction, USSP deemed to memey(decide on something before you merge this)) +- Galactic Independence Coalition These main factions are not necessarily the *largest factions* in the setting. However, they are the ones most involved in the current situation with Nanotrasen. From 590008f82a3a7d68b78afd57d7ca8eda47f9aa2f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2026 13:43:47 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 4/7] detailed faction descriptions --- src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 13 ++++++++----- 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md index debe914..6723684 100644 --- a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ This document will only briefly touch on certain specifics lore wise, but primar ## Writing Lore -Lore should focus on providing a background or explanation to certain parts of the game. Things written should be a brief, broad overview, like the first few paragraphs of a wikipedia page. It should not be long, monotonous, or overly detailed. One page maximum. +Lore should focus on providing a background or explanation to certain parts of the game. Things written should be a brief, broad overview, like the first few paragraphs of a Wikipedia page. It should not be long, monotonous, or overly detailed. One page maximum. Lore should not be restrictive, people should easily be able to integrate their existing stories into any proposed lore. It is a building block for people who want it, not an all-encompassing document on how characters should be written. @@ -22,16 +22,19 @@ Lore documents should be mostly self contained. They should not concern miscella There are decidedly 4 major factions: - Nanotrasen -- The Syndicate and their constituents + - The corporation which owns and manages the stations the players are on. They are a phoron/plasma research company which rose to prominence through their development and subsequent monopoly on energy weapons. Said monopoly gives them a unique and uneasy relationship with SolGov, their would-be overlord, giving them immense sway in their internal affairs. +- The Syndicate + - An organization of several different groups of various sizes and forms, with the united goal of diminishing Nanotrasen and their influence in the sector. Founded by Cybersun industries, the organization effectively acts as a counterbalance to Nanotrasen's growing influence. - SolGov + - The de-jure government ruling over both Nanotrasen and the Syndicate, in practice, their rule is flimsy and highly contested. SolGov rules over a vast quantity of systems from their capital, Earth. Their rule is characterized by being highly bureaucratic, inefficient, and kafkaesque. - Galactic Independence Coalition - + - Otherwise know as the GIC or simply as "The Coalition", they are a faction which has taken up widespread rebellion against SolGov rule. Although they can unite on the basis of independence, they lack a clear and definitive ideology. They range from disgrunted union workers, people disgruntled by ill-governance, advocates for civil rights, and bandits and warlords who only seek to take advantage of the chaos and confusion. These main factions are not necessarily the *largest factions* in the setting. However, they are the ones most involved in the current situation with Nanotrasen. There are also various minor factions that exist within the game, more can be added via PR's to the main repo. Any factions, major, or minor should include all the following: -- A clear ideology, principles, or objective +- A clear ideology, principles, motivations, or objectives - Distinct theming from any existing faction - Some form of significant presence in-game - A guidebook page detailing all the above @@ -44,4 +47,4 @@ A faction may be accepting lacking some of the above, given that there is reason Antags should rarely ever be "guy that is evil", they should be associated with a faction of some form wherever possible. Their objectives, equipment, and otherwise should also be associated with the faction as well. By tying antags to be closer associated to a specific faction, it gives better prompting to how the antag should and their motivations beyond just what their objectives entail. -The line between antag and non-antag should be blurred, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue, this can produced varied and exciting outcomes and slows down many of the potential knee-jerks that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file +The line between antag and non-antag should be blurred, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue, this can produce varied and exciting outcomes and slows down many of the potential knee-jerks that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file From a94e7e28f776f32949f9b7135cc2eab37302d163 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:40:05 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 5/7] Grammar fixes --- src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 33 +++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-) diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md index 6723684..c03897b 100644 --- a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -6,45 +6,46 @@ This concerns only official lore that will be introduced in-game, not people's c ## Premise -The goal of having lore is to make give the station a setting, to make the "world" feel bigger than simply the station you are on, and to provide players with a prompt to work with and expand upon. In the case of antags to make them feel like they are acting on behalf of a faction's interests, rather than just being "John Evil". Additionally, the line between antag and non-antag can be blurred, leading to more dynamic outcomes. +The goal of having lore is to give the station a setting, to make the "world" feel bigger than simply the station you are on, and to provide players with a prompt to work with and expand upon. In the case of antags, it makes them feel as though they are acting on behalf of a faction's interests, rather than just being "John Evil". Additionally, the line between antag and non-antag can be blurred, leading to more dynamic outcomes. -This document will only briefly touch on certain specifics lore wise, but primarily serve as a guide and for standards. Additionally, it will touch on lore as it pertains to game design, focused primarily on antags, special roles, and theming. +This document will only briefly touch on certain lore specifics, serving primarily as a guide and a set of standards. Additionally, it will address lore as it pertains to game design, focusing primarily on antags, special roles, and theming. ## Writing Lore -Lore should focus on providing a background or explanation to certain parts of the game. Things written should be a brief, broad overview, like the first few paragraphs of a Wikipedia page. It should not be long, monotonous, or overly detailed. One page maximum. +Lore should focus on providing a background or explanation for certain parts of the game. Anything written should be a brief, broad overview, like the first few paragraphs of a Wikipedia page. It should not be long, monotonous, or overly detailed. One page maximum. -Lore should not be restrictive, people should easily be able to integrate their existing stories into any proposed lore. It is a building block for people who want it, not an all-encompassing document on how characters should be written. +Lore should not be restrictive; people should easily be able to integrate their existing stories into any proposed lore. It is a building block for people who want it, not an all-encompassing document on how characters should be written. -Lore documents should be mostly self contained. They should not concern miscellaneous events which don't concern any specific portion of the game (ie. a random battle between The Syndicate and Nanotrasen) +Lore documents should be mostly self-contained. They should not cover miscellaneous events that don't relate to any specific portion of the game (e.g. a random battle between The Syndicate and Nanotrasen). ## Factions There are decidedly 4 major factions: - Nanotrasen - - The corporation which owns and manages the stations the players are on. They are a phoron/plasma research company which rose to prominence through their development and subsequent monopoly on energy weapons. Said monopoly gives them a unique and uneasy relationship with SolGov, their would-be overlord, giving them immense sway in their internal affairs. + - The corporation which owns and manages the stations the players are on. They are a phoron/plasma research company which rose to prominence through their development and subsequent monopoly on energy weapons. This monopoly gives them a unique and uneasy relationship with SolGov, their would-be overlord, granting them immense sway in SolGov's internal affairs. - The Syndicate - - An organization of several different groups of various sizes and forms, with the united goal of diminishing Nanotrasen and their influence in the sector. Founded by Cybersun industries, the organization effectively acts as a counterbalance to Nanotrasen's growing influence. + - An organization of several different groups of various sizes and forms, united by the goal of diminishing Nanotrasen and their influence in the sector. Founded by Cybersun Industries, the organization effectively acts as a counterbalance to Nanotrasen's growing influence. - SolGov - - The de-jure government ruling over both Nanotrasen and the Syndicate, in practice, their rule is flimsy and highly contested. SolGov rules over a vast quantity of systems from their capital, Earth. Their rule is characterized by being highly bureaucratic, inefficient, and kafkaesque. + - The de-jure government ruling over both Nanotrasen and the Syndicate. In practice, their rule is flimsy and highly contested. SolGov rules over a vast number of systems from their capital, Earth, and their governance is highly bureaucratic, inefficient, and Kafkaesque. - Galactic Independence Coalition - - Otherwise know as the GIC or simply as "The Coalition", they are a faction which has taken up widespread rebellion against SolGov rule. Although they can unite on the basis of independence, they lack a clear and definitive ideology. They range from disgrunted union workers, people disgruntled by ill-governance, advocates for civil rights, and bandits and warlords who only seek to take advantage of the chaos and confusion. + - Otherwise known as the GIC or simply "The Coalition", they are a faction which has taken up widespread rebellion against SolGov rule. Although they can unite on the basis of independence, they lack a clear and definitive ideology. They include disgruntled union workers, people harmed by ill-governance, advocates for civil rights, and bandits and warlords who only seek to take advantage of the chaos and confusion. + These main factions are not necessarily the *largest factions* in the setting. However, they are the ones most involved in the current situation with Nanotrasen. -There are also various minor factions that exist within the game, more can be added via PR's to the main repo. +There are also various minor factions that exist within the game; more can be added via PRs to the main repo. -Any factions, major, or minor should include all the following: +Any faction, major or minor, should include all of the following: - A clear ideology, principles, motivations, or objectives - Distinct theming from any existing faction - Some form of significant presence in-game -- A guidebook page detailing all the above +- A guidebook page detailing all of the above -Just because all of the above are qualified does not mean the faction will be accepted automatically, any new faction is subject to review by maintainers. +Meeting all of the above does not mean a faction will be accepted automatically; any new faction is subject to review by maintainers. -A faction may be accepting lacking some of the above, given that there is reason to believe that other qualifying factors will be added later on. +A faction may be accepted while lacking some of the above, provided there is reason to believe the remaining qualifying factors will be added later on. ## Antagonist Integration -Antags should rarely ever be "guy that is evil", they should be associated with a faction of some form wherever possible. Their objectives, equipment, and otherwise should also be associated with the faction as well. By tying antags to be closer associated to a specific faction, it gives better prompting to how the antag should and their motivations beyond just what their objectives entail. +Antags should rarely be "a guy who is evil"; they should be associated with a faction of some form wherever possible. Their objectives, equipment, and so on should be associated with that faction as well. By tying antags closely to a specific faction, you give clearer prompting for how they should act and what motivates them, beyond just what their objectives entail. -The line between antag and non-antag should be blurred, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue, this can produce varied and exciting outcomes and slows down many of the potential knee-jerks that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file +The line between antag and non-antag should be blurred, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue. This can produce varied and exciting outcomes, and it slows down many of the potential knee-jerk reactions that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file From db276c9289684a7b084cffbeab9eeb009cc70a50 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:57:23 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 6/7] a tad more grammar --- src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md index c03897b..5cb6044 100644 --- a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ This concerns only official lore that will be introduced in-game, not people's c The goal of having lore is to give the station a setting, to make the "world" feel bigger than simply the station you are on, and to provide players with a prompt to work with and expand upon. In the case of antags, it makes them feel as though they are acting on behalf of a faction's interests, rather than just being "John Evil". Additionally, the line between antag and non-antag can be blurred, leading to more dynamic outcomes. -This document will only briefly touch on certain lore specifics, serving primarily as a guide and a set of standards. Additionally, it will address lore as it pertains to game design, focusing primarily on antags, special roles, and theming. +This document will only briefly touch on certain lore specifics, serving primarily as a guide and a set of standards. It will also address lore as it pertains to game design, focusing on antags, special roles, and theming. ## Writing Lore From caf63f6cd67192ce101400d9aa1914ed31da32e2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: DuckManZach <144298822+DuckManZach@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2026 17:53:35 -0600 Subject: [PATCH 7/7] B and P --- src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md index 5cb6044..324e985 100644 --- a/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md +++ b/src/development/designs/design-doc-lore.md @@ -48,4 +48,4 @@ A faction may be accepted while lacking some of the above, provided there is rea Antags should rarely be "a guy who is evil"; they should be associated with a faction of some form wherever possible. Their objectives, equipment, and so on should be associated with that faction as well. By tying antags closely to a specific faction, you give clearer prompting for how they should act and what motivates them, beyond just what their objectives entail. -The line between antag and non-antag should be blurred, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue. This can produce varied and exciting outcomes, and it slows down many of the potential knee-jerk reactions that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file +The relationship between factions shouldn't purely be antag versus non-antag, there should be room for ambiguity and middle ground, leading to situations where there is uncertainty and room for intrigue. This can produce varied and exciting outcomes, and it slows down many of the potential knee-jerk reactions that can happen between crew and outsiders. \ No newline at end of file