Features Required In Support of Incremental Authorship

frisia.toml

# Features Required In Support of Incremental Authorship
#

# This is a TOML file. It contains structured data.
# See https://toml.io/en/

# Most authors cannot commit full time to writing.
# Nevertheless, due to the very powerful free tools for text editing and source control,
# it is possible over time to build up a meaningful corpus of well-written art.

# In fact, the length of incubation, if well socialized, can actually serve to build a network of
# supporters and contributors which would otherwise be very hard to assemble.

# This file is a resource in support of that.
# It defines eight categories for the features you might hope for in an incrementally-written work.
# Each of those categories has four articulations which you may take or leave when planning your project.

# You can use this taxonomy as a score card to help you select
# a framework for your writing project. Or as a way of defining
# the scope of your project once you've made that choice.
# Maybe it can be a means of deconstructing a work you admire
# so you can implement something similar yourself.

# What is a writing framework? Anything from a single piece of paper to a fully-featured game engine.
# You have to pick one in order to proceed.

# In scoring a framework against a functional category, the
# guidance here is not to try to evaluate the maturity of the implementation.
# Rather, to capture the priority established in respect of such functionality.

# Until you discover otherwise, the default under each category is:
#
# priority = "unknown"

# The main focus should be on finding examples of how to implement a particular functionality.
# Eg, when you find one, you paste in a section like this:

# [[Facility.Trophy.examples]]
# release = "sphinx-basic-ng 1.0.0b1"
# label = "Sphinx theme integration with Ethical Ads"
# url = "https://sphinx-basic-ng.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage/components/ethical-ads/"

[meta.history]
origin = 2023-02-27
update = 2023-06-27

[meta.scoring]
implemented     = +2
agnostic        = +1
unknown         =  0
challenged      = -1
incompatible    = -2

[meta.definitions]
NPC = "Non Player Character"

[Economy]
# Mechanisms to invite ambition and quantify advancement.

[Economy.Credits]
# Is there a system of money or credit?

# Indicative scoring
priority = "agnostic"

[[Economy.Credits.examples]]
# First indicative example
release = ""
label = ""
url = ""

[[Economy.Credits.examples]]
# Second indicative example
release = ""
label = ""
url = ""

[Economy.Crafting]
# Can you make things and sell them?

[Economy.Trading]
# Can NPCs participate in the credit system?

[Economy.Influence]
# Does trading of wealth impact story outcomes?

[Sensory]
# Playful interactions with the story world.

[Sensory.Events]
# Can things happen even when there's no human input?

[Sensory.Propagation]
# Do actions travel beyond their point of origin?

[Sensory.Rhythm]
# Does the world have a day/night cycle? Do objects throb?

[Sensory.Occlusion]
# Can world objects block sensory signals?

[Reactions]
# The world looks back at us.

[Reactions.Awareness]
# Can NPCs detect the presence or recent actions of the reader?

[Reactions.Affinity]
# Should an NPC align with or oppose the reader, can this posture be modified?

[Reactions.Discovery]
# Can NPCs interact with the world; eg: patrolling, etc?

[Reactions.Performance]
# Can NPCs be controlled to perform cut scenes or other dynamically generated behaviour?

[Mobility]
# History is written every time we move.

[Mobility.Navigation]
# Is there a compass?. Do places have names? Can the reader define waypoints?

[Mobility.Terrain]
# Can travel be modified by the local environment? Swamps? Conveyor belts?

[Mobility.Scouting]
# Are NPCs or other world objects capable of finding routes through the world?

[Mobility.Vehicles]
# Can NPCs or other world objects modify the location of the reader?

[Risk]
# Contention. Triumph. Disaster.

[Risk.Environment]
# Can the immediate locality challenge the reader? Might they be drowning, or burned by lava?

[Risk.Health]
# Is there a numerical tally of damage? And consequently the prospect of death?

[Risk.Combat]
# Do NPCs pose a threat to the reader?

[Risk.Social]
# Do any actions of the reader carry the penalty of NPC reaction en masse?

[Obligations]
# Cost of ownership. The perils of success.

[Obligations.Ownership]
# Do world objects require to be defended in order to claim them?

[Obligations.Practice]
# Do reader attributes require to be trained? Do they diminish without use?

[Obligations.Encumbrance]
# Are there capacities to be obtained in order to persist ownership?

[Obligations.Enmity]
# Is ownership respected by NPCs, or is it a potential source of conflict?

[Persona]
# This is how we recognise ourselves.

[Persona.Character]
# Does the reader acquire abilities or attributes?

[Persona.Insignia]
# Can the reader choose an affiliation? Tattoos?.

[Persona.Alignment]
# Do attributes bestow abilities? Do they dictate certain story roles?

[Persona.Fortune]
# Does chance have a part to play? is luck a character attribute?

[Facility]
# Mechanisms to enrich or propagate the reader experience.

[Facility.Tutorial]
# Is there a way of experiencing the story world without all the Risks and Obligations?

[Facility.Transcript]
# Is it possible to retain a record of any reading of the work?

[Facility.Session]
# Is it possible to preserve world state? Can it be retained for use later?

[Facility.Trophy]
# Are there external artifacts to the story? Can they be initiated from within the story world?
# Feelies? Advertising affiliates? Merchandise?