{
  "title": "Counterweight House: selected prototype gameplay contract",
  "date": "2026-10-11",
  "status": "PROTOTYPE ONLY. Selected local rules for text and low-fidelity design evaluation; not owner-approved world canon, an approved chapter, final balance or permission to generate art. No implementation is included.",
  "source": "World_Workshop_20261011_v2.json and Reviews/Game_Developer_Text_Gate_20261011.json",
  "foundation": {
    "when": "After Chapter 1's deliberate late Ink reveal and after the accepted Chapter 2 magical entrance. Preserve that entrance rather than replacing or re-explaining it.",
    "knowledge": "Both leads know Meok is Ink. Ordinary surface people do not know an inhabited lower world exists. The party learns local information through this visit; neither knows the whole history.",
    "reliable_starting_actions": "Meok's movement, dodge, one attached extending arm, grasp/retraction and enlarged-hand impact. Sumbi receives one local introduction to shared fairy sight. No heal, buff, magic weakness mark, fold, swing, detached body part or new style is required.",
    "excluded": "No water damage, fluid simulation, ultimate cure, permanent Ink-death rule, divine retry lore, god's curse mechanism, inherited gift or selected fate ending. The world's local disturbed-relay rule separates dormant maintenance from temporary willing stabilisation; this mechanical latch does not establish keeper service or permanent necessity."
  },
  "selected_B1_to_B6": {
    "B1_objective": "Open the Counterweight House return balcony and bring all three stranded repair-crew members to the entrance refuge. The white-lamp balcony is visible at the start; a local requester names the crew and route problem. A command record supplies a later investigation lead, not an additional rescue prerequisite.",
    "B2_meok_contract": "One aimed attached reach can grasp an authored handle or an enemy's currently exposed joint. A separate committed weighted strike exploits a stagger. Movement and dodge position the player; retraction recovers the reach. No arbitrary scenery manipulation or implicit player-pull is supported.",
    "B3_sumbi_contract": "One requestable, cancellable local fairy viewpoint at R3. The camera and player attention move away from Meok while Sumbi concentrates; neither support nor player-controlled combat continues concurrently. Physical interruption cancels the link.",
    "B4_outcomes": "A Bloomback is driven off after an opening is exploited. The boss is separated behind a mechanical barrier after its relay is interrupted. Both remain alive for this prototype; neither result claims purification. Retreat and checkpoint retry are explicit.",
    "B5_puzzle_states": "Pulling the R3 handle raises and mechanically latches the crossing platform. It stays up after Meok retracts. A reset is reachable from either landing; it never strands the party. The later approach selector chooses one route and remains locked until relay interruption.",
    "B6_choice_and_reward": "Escort first: repairer opens protected arena cover and offers an immediate precision lesson after success. Relay first: preserve an intact record plate but operate cover manually during the fight. Both rescue all crew. The missed evidence or lesson can be earned through an explicit later task."
  },
  "starting_state_and_return": {
    "party": "Meok and Sumbi stand together in the Lantern Exchange threshold-side refuge R1 beside the already-crossed accepted entrance. Meok is the sole directly playable character. The short dry approach to Counterweight House R2 is visible.",
    "safe_return_anchor": "The same entrance threshold is visibly usable from R1 throughout this test. Returning through it safely ends or pauses the visit. Re-entering restores the latest saved local state. This is a selected rule for this one test, not every portal's universal rule.",
    "refuge": "R1 contains a safe bench, a local requester and a white lamp. It is a gameplay checkpoint, not a new magical healing or resurrection device.",
    "crew": "Three people need a route home. The repairer waits in a safe niche in R4. Two crew members wait on the separated R6 balcony, safe from the boss but blocked from R1 by the closed return walkway. No civilian is silently taking damage while the player explores.",
    "visible_goal": "From R1 the player sees the white-lamp R6 balcony and its shut return walkway. The requester says that the trapped crew must use that route to reach refuge.",
    "initial_global_flags": {
      "approach_choice": "unset",
      "bloomback": "blocking_R2",
      "crossing_platform": "lowered",
      "selector": "uncommitted",
      "repairer": "safe_R4_niche",
      "balcony_crew": "two_waiting_R6",
      "arena_alcove": "shut",
      "relay": "active",
      "record_plate": "intact_at_direct_route_terminal",
      "boss": "active_R5",
      "return_walkway": "shut",
      "mission": "in_progress"
    },
    "success": "Relay interrupted, boss separated, R6 return walkway opened, all three crew members physically arrived at R1, and the party can return to the entrance. Display these results rather than completing the mission on the boss hit alone."
  },
  "player_action_contract": {
    "combat_verbs": [
      "Reach-and-grasp",
      "Weighted-hand strike"
    ],
    "utility_actions": [
      "Move",
      "Dodge",
      "Aim",
      "Retract/release",
      "Interact",
      "Request support",
      "Cancel support"
    ],
    "input_binding": "These are semantic action names; final keyboard or controller bindings are not selected here. The prototype must expose all actions and their current availability consistently.",
    "one_arm_rule": "Only one arm is extended at a time in this test. Every extension visibly connects to the same Meok body. Grasp and weighted strike use that arm sequentially. This scope limit does not rewrite his capabilities in Chapter 1.",
    "reach": "Aim identifies an in-range authored target. Press reach to extend. A valid exposed joint or handle attaches; solid shell produces a visible failed contact. Out-of-range aiming has a distinct unavailable cue. All other scenery is collision, not a secretly usable grapple point.",
    "handle_effect": "The valid R3 handle pulls its mechanism, not Meok. It automatically releases once its latch engages. There are no swinging or player-pull anchors in this slice.",
    "enemy_grasp": "Connecting to an exposed joint staggers the enemy and automatically releases the grasp. Meok retracts before the weighted strike becomes available. The stagger lasts long enough to complete this deliberately taught sequence at the baseline tuning.",
    "retract": "Release or cancel an ordinary grasp to retract. A miss, shell contact or completed mechanism pull also retracts. No second reach or weighted strike begins until the arm has returned. Ordinary movement remains available during an unpinned extension; dodge cancels and retracts it instead of preserving a free tether.",
    "weighted_strike": "From a planted stance, commit the enlarged hand toward an in-range target using the same attached arm. Wind-up, contact and recovery are visible. The strike staggers or damages the selected objective only in its required opening; hard shell gives clear ineffective impact feedback. It does not infer a universal living-Ink kill rule.",
    "pin_state": {
      "trigger": "The boss pins a premature extended reach during its signalled forearm sweep. Normal reach, strike and dodge are temporarily unavailable; the retract action changes to a visible brace/release cue.",
      "release_action": "Hold retract to brace. When the enemy forearm visibly lifts, release retract during that indicated window. Success frees and retracts the arm, restoring movement immediately.",
      "failed_release": "Failure causes one damage event, followed by automatic arm release and normal control. The boss cannot retain the arm indefinitely or chain a second pin before the player has regained control.",
      "teaching": "The first pin presents the release cue with enough time to read it. Tune the window and damage after testing. If this interaction is frustrating, simplify the prototype rather than justifying it with new lore."
    },
    "tunable_values": "Reach distance, strike reach, wind-up, recovery, stagger duration, dodge distance and damage are provisional balance values. Tune them against the contract; do not alter valid target types or victory meaning accidentally while tuning."
  },
  "sumbi_shared_sight_interface": {
    "introduction": "At R3, the fairy flies beyond the blocked landing to inspect the mechanism, then returns toward Sumbi as if inviting her attention. For a brief unexpected glimpse, she sees the handle from its angle; the view breaks when she looks back at Meok. He asks what she saw. Sumbi chooses to try again and asks the fairy, 'Can you show me?' It willingly leads her attention back to the same local vantage. Show departure, her concentration, the changed view and a deliberate return. The player then learns the request/cancel interaction. This is one first shared-sight discovery, not prior mastery, a teacher's instant diagnosis or a universal fairy rule.",
    "request": "When both characters stand at the marked safe observation landing, request support. Sumbi agrees to this local use, closes her eyes and remains at the landing. The player transitions to a fixed fairy vantage overlooking the shaft and can pan the view. No unrestricted free-flight system is required.",
    "information": "The viewpoint shows how the handle connects to the platform and identifies a reachable latch target. It does not automatically operate the mechanism, supply a full map or reveal every enemy's truth. An observant player may still solve the mechanism from Meok's normal view.",
    "attention_cost": "While viewing, the player cannot move, dodge, strike or reach as Meok. His body remains in its actual location; it gains no invulnerability. Sumbi cannot watch her immediate surroundings while concentrating. This first safe use teaches the tradeoff without requiring a resource meter or combat support AI.",
    "cancel": "Cancel immediately returns the camera and input to Meok at his unchanged position. The fairy returns through the established visual cue. No teleport or location reset occurs.",
    "interruption": "Damage to either child or an externally broken link cancels the view automatically and restores Meok control. In this slice R3 is initially safe; the interruption rule prevents the feature being interpreted as invulnerability. No unseen timer drains a new magic resource.",
    "limits": "Only R3's local vantage is supported. No heal, buff, magic weakness mark, enemy control, mind reading or spirit tax is implemented. Later use must receive a separately approved interaction contract.",
    "fictional_viewpoint": "Only Sumbi shares the fairy's vision in the fiction; the player temporarily experiences her viewpoint. After returning she tells Meok what she noticed. Meok does not automatically inherit her sight or knowledge."
  },
  "rooms": [
    {
      "id": "R1",
      "name": "Lantern Exchange threshold-side refuge",
      "initial_state": "Party present; entrance return anchor usable; requester and safe bench present; distant R6 balcony and shut return walkway visible. No enemies.",
      "player_action": "Understand the three-person rescue objective, practise harmless aim/retraction on a fixed practice handle, talk or leave through the entrance.",
      "persistence": "The objective and latest checkpoint are retained. Delivered crew stay here. The bench does not silently regenerate a faction or story state.",
      "retreat": "Always safe; leaving through the anchor pauses the visit with current committed state saved.",
      "outgoing_routes": [
        "Short dry approach to Counterweight House R2",
        "Accepted threshold to the surface",
        "R6 return walkway only after relay interruption"
      ],
      "completion_change": "All three crew gather here visibly. Depending on approach choice, the repairer offers the first lesson or the party carries the intact record for analysis."
    },
    {
      "id": "R2",
      "name": "Stone garden gallery",
      "initial_state": "A Bloomback blocks the only forward path. The retreat landing remains clear; its tell, shell and rear opening can be seen from safety.",
      "player_action": "Read the petal tell, dodge the volley, grasp the exposed joint and retract, then land a weighted strike during stagger. A failed grasp hits shell and recovers visibly.",
      "persistence": "Successful drive-off clears the gallery and is saved at its exit checkpoint. Before success, leaving and returning resets this small encounter. No corruption cure or corpse is created.",
      "retreat": "Walk or dodge back to R1. The creature does not chase into refuge.",
      "outgoing_routes": [
        "Back to R1",
        "R3 after Bloomback drive-off"
      ],
      "completion_change": "The creature withdraws into an inaccessible crevice; a mismatched clamp remains observable as a clue. The cleared gallery provides the repairer's later safe escort route."
    },
    {
      "id": "R3",
      "name": "Observation landing and balancing shaft",
      "initial_state": "Lowered platform separates two safe stone landings. The shared pull handle is reachable from either landing; platform latch, return resets and connecting stonework are visibly linked.",
      "player_action": "Request or cancel fairy sight to inspect the mechanism. Aim and pull the valid handle: platform rises, latch engages, lamp changes, arm releases and retracts. Cross on foot.",
      "persistence": "The platform remains raised after release and through the approach checkpoint. Either landing has a reachable reset; reset lowers the platform only while it is empty and returns the mechanism to its initial state. It cannot drop under a character or isolate an occupied landing.",
      "retreat": "Return across the raised platform to R2. From either landing the handle/reset arrangement can restore the crossing without a new power.",
      "outgoing_routes": [
        "Back to R2",
        "R4 across the latched platform"
      ],
      "completion_change": "The player knows one readable handle/latch rule and one useful shared-sight interface. No hydraulic or permanent-keeper explanation is required.",
      "narrative_introduction": "At R3, the fairy flies beyond the blocked landing to inspect the mechanism, then returns toward Sumbi as if inviting her attention. For a brief unexpected glimpse, she sees the handle from its angle; the view breaks when she looks back at Meok. He asks what she saw. Sumbi chooses to try again and asks the fairy, 'Can you show me?' It willingly leads her attention back to the same local vantage. Show departure, her concentration, the changed view and a deliberate return. The player then learns the request/cancel interaction. This is one first shared-sight discovery, not prior mastery, a teacher's instant diagnosis or a universal fairy rule. Only Sumbi shares the fairy's vision in the fiction; the player temporarily experiences her viewpoint. After returning she tells Meok what she noticed. Meok does not automatically inherit her sight or knowledge."
    },
    {
      "id": "R4",
      "name": "Approach fork, safe niche and service gallery",
      "initial_state": "Repairer waits in a safe isolated niche, separated from the approach by the retracted service span. A labelled counterweight selector can support either that longer service gallery or the direct relay walkway, not both while the active relay locks its detent. The installed record plate and stressed connection are visible across the fork. The repairer previews prepared alcove cover and warns that relay interruption will arc through any plate still installed. The plate stores information; its removal cannot disable the separate command component.",
      "player_action": "Preview both benefits and the terminal risk, then choose and cross a branch threshold to commit. Before crossing, freely reconsider. Escort-first extends the service span, reaches the isolated niche and escorts the repairer through a safe outer gallery to the manual alcove panel; she opens cover and returns to R1 along cleared R3/R2. Relay-first crosses to the terminal and removes the information plate before the fight; the repairer stays safe in the isolated niche.",
      "persistence": "Branch entry saves approach_choice and the checkpoint. Escort-first records repairer at refuge and alcove open; the plate remains installed intact but inaccessible until interruption. Relay-first records intact plate collected and alcove shut. Interruption later arcs through a still-installed plate and cracks it; a removed plate is unharmed. Selector locks until interruption, including on retreat. Evidence damage never happens merely because the player chose to help.",
      "retreat": "Both chosen branches retain a safe route back through R3 to R1. The player cannot recollect the other pre-fight opportunity by retreating and reselecting; the visible detent explains why.",
      "outgoing_routes": [
        "Back to R3",
        "Chosen branch to R5",
        "After interruption: both branches and repairer escape path to R5/R6 unlock"
      ],
      "completion_change": "Short-route repairer is not abandoned or secretly injured. She waits safely until relay interruption opens the niche-to-R5/R6 escape path, then proceeds along the cleared balcony walkway to R1. Escort-first simply gets her safe earlier and earns immediate help."
    },
    {
      "id": "R5",
      "name": "Balcony arena",
      "initial_state": "Hollowjaw blocks the shut R6 gate. It uses the selected slam, sweep and recovery cycle. Escort-first begins with protected alcove open; relay-first begins with it shut and a visible reachable manual latch.",
      "player_action": "Position and dodge the slam/sweep, grasp the clasp only during recovery, retract and commit the weighted strike during stagger. Relay-first can use a safe recovery interval to pull the alcove latch instead of attacking. Premature reach risks the defined pin state.",
      "persistence": "Alcove latch remains open once pulled during this attempt. At the prototype baseline, two successful clasp-grasp/weighted-strike cycles interrupt the relay. That count is balance, not a new universal magic law. Failure restores the saved approach checkpoint and the route's starting alcove/evidence/crew state.",
      "retreat": "The approach door remains open to R4. Boss does not pursue beyond the arena. Leaving before interruption resets boss progress; alcove reverts to the route's saved state on the next attempt.",
      "outgoing_routes": [
        "Back to R4",
        "R6 after relay interruption and boss separation"
      ],
      "completion_change": "Relay interruption visibly pauses the command. Boss staggers behind a closing stone barrier and remains alive. The R6 gate and R4 detent release. Show the terminal arc through and crack any still-installed plate; an already removed plate is unharmed. Escort-first can now collect damaged record material, while relay-first retains the intact plate. No purification, final personhood verdict or permanent death is asserted."
    },
    {
      "id": "R6",
      "name": "White-lamp return balcony",
      "initial_state": "Two crew members wait behind the arena gate, separated from the boss. The return walkway to R1 is shut until relay interruption. The balcony is visible from the starting refuge.",
      "player_action": "After the gate opens, operate the simple walkway release and accompany the crew toward R1. On relay-first, the repairer joins from the unlocked R4 escape path. Inspect the view and confirm the route is usable.",
      "persistence": "Return walkway stays open. All delivered crew remain at R1; the final completion checkpoint stores the chosen approach, evidence and lesson access. No crew delivery is inferred merely because the boss was interrupted.",
      "retreat": "After opening, the walkway provides a short safe route to R1. Return to cleared R5/R4 is also available; no extra enemy spawn closes the newly earned route.",
      "outgoing_routes": [
        "New safe walkway to R1",
        "Cleared arena to R5",
        "Repairer escape connection from R4, available after interruption"
      ],
      "completion_change": "Crew physically reaches refuge, the visible starting goal changes to an open connection, and the next question concerns the repeated command mark. The surface public learns nothing automatically."
    }
  ],
  "encounter_states_and_outcomes": {
    "bloomback": "Warning petals -> pollen volley -> exposed rear joint -> warning again. Valid grasp during exposure creates stagger and retracts the arm; weighted strike during stagger drives it off. Shell contact does not create a hidden opening. Retreat resets an unfinished encounter; drive-off persists at R2 exit checkpoint.",
    "hollowjaw": "Visible shoulder lift -> ground slam -> signalled forearm sweep -> chest-clasp recovery -> repeat. Valid grasp during clasp recovery creates stagger; retraction completes before the weighted strike window ends. Early reach during sweep enters pin. Two successful baseline cycles interrupt the relay, then authored separation opens the rescue route.",
    "command_interruption": "The imposed rhythm stops briefly, enabling physical separation and route release. Neither a pause nor a withdrawn enemy proves the corrupted individual restored. The relay's control remains a local demonstrated mechanism; universal corruption history is open.",
    "kill": "Not an implemented objective or outcome in this slice. No reward or story flag assumes the player killed an Ink person.",
    "retreat": "Allowed before encounter completion. Preserve committed story approach, reset unfinished encounter progress and restore it from the selected attempt start when re-entering.",
    "failure": "Combat incapacitation or a fall returns to the latest checkpoint snapshot. Restored characters and local state are a gameplay retry convention, not canon resurrection. Never save a surprise civilian death or an indefinite pinned state.",
    "reset_order": "Restore committed choice, crew and evidence flags first; restore route and alcove state from that checkpoint; reset active enemy cycle and Meok's arm to fully retracted; put both leads on the safe landing; return input to Meok. No shared-sight camera survives a reset."
  },
  "persistent_choice": {
    "id": "approach_choice",
    "values": [
      "escort_first",
      "relay_first"
    ],
    "commit_point": "Cross the selected R4 branch threshold after an explicit preview. The detent locks the alternative until relay interruption, and the approach checkpoint records the decision.",
    "escort_first": {
      "immediate_cost": "Take the longer service route. The plate remains installed and inaccessible until interruption; the previewed terminal arc then cracks it. The physical connection, not the kindness of the choice, causes this evidence loss.",
      "arena_change": "Repairer opens protected alcove before the fight. She then reaches refuge along the already cleared route.",
      "exit_people": "All three crew are rescued. Repairer is already at refuge and offers a controlled-retraction lesson immediately.",
      "evidence": "Observed repeated mark and damaged record material still support the next investigation. Complete information requires a later archive or maker task."
    },
    "relay_first": {
      "immediate_cost": "Repairer must wait safely until interruption releases her escape path. Protected alcove starts shut; player spends an arena opening operating its manual latch instead of attacking.",
      "arena_change": "Intact removable record plate collected; no automatic cover. Collecting the plate does not remove the relay's command component.",
      "exit_people": "After interruption, repairer walks via cleared R5/R6 to refuge; the two balcony crew also arrive. No crew member dies, disappears or stays trapped after mission success.",
      "evidence": "Intact plate gives the next investigator a clearer lead. The repairer is grateful but the early cooperative work that earns the lesson has not happened."
    },
    "recoverability": "After success both physical approaches reopen, but the missed reward is not silently granted. Escort-first can later help an archivist or maker reconstruct the damaged record. Relay-first can return a repair tool and assist a short safe repair task to earn the lesson. These are explicit later tasks, not part of the initial completion trigger.",
    "progression_reward": "The lesson practises a cleaner retraction/release of Meok's existing reach and creates teacher access. It does not unlock four styles, change his species or prove the humanity remedy. A real added capability requires a separately chosen contract.",
    "preview": "At R4 the party sees the removable record plate seated in a live relay terminal. The repairer points out its stressed connection and warns that interrupting the relay will arc through any plate still installed. Choosing the direct branch lets Meok remove the information plate before the fight; the service branch leaves it inaccessible until the relay is interrupted. When interruption occurs at R5, show that terminal arc and crack an uncollected plate. A plate already removed is unharmed. Removing the plate never disables the separate command component. State this risk and the prepared-cover benefit before the branch threshold commits the choice. There is no surprise moral punishment or unexplained time limit."
  },
  "developer_rereview": {
    "verdict": "PASS FOR A BOUNDED PROTOTYPE TEXT CONTRACT",
    "scope": "B1-B6 are resolved by the selected local states above. A developer can create a paper map or later low-fidelity mechanics test without deciding the world ending, corruption cure, universal Ink biology or fate model. This is not approval of all World Workshop v2 prose, final game design or new art.",
    "required_world_text_alignment": [
      "The workshop references this selected bounded sketch and excludes competing first-slice abilities.",
      "The entrance return is local to this test; R1 belongs to Lantern Exchange and R2-R6 to Counterweight House.",
      "Writer W1/W2 repairs provide motivated shared-sight discovery and a previewed physical cause for plate damage; request writer rereview before further illustration."
    ],
    "remaining_testing_risks": [
      "Pin brace/release may feel like an intrusive timing prompt; simplify if it detracts from expressive stretch combat.",
      "Grasp/retract/weighted-strike chaining must feel deliberate and readable rather than slow or redundant.",
      "Fairy sight must reveal useful spatial information without making the player feel forced into a second camera for an obvious handle.",
      "The approach selector could feel artificially binary. Its physical limitation, preview and changed arena must be convincing; otherwise redesign the tradeoff before final story/art.",
      "NPC escort should use short authored safe paths, not an unplanned full companion navigation/combat system.",
      "One small enemy and one boss may exceed the intended 20-30 minute pacing if retries or mechanism teaching drag.",
      "Players must distinguish command interruption from cure and understand that the missing reward remains recoverable without invalidating the original choice."
    ],
    "art_permission": "No art generated or authorised by this file. Both writer and developer text gates, plus the applicable logic fixes, must be resolved before the parent task proceeds to art."
  },
  "location_alignment": "R1 is the threshold-side refuge at Lantern Exchange, beside the already-crossed accepted entrance. A short dry approach leads to Counterweight House at R2. R2-R6 are the route-house slice. The visible R6 balcony is an authored sightline along that approach, not another portal. The R6-to-R1 walkway is a local lower-world connection."
}