Core Loop
Prepare (Underground)Plan loadout, manage supplies, choose a route, accept a faction contract (or don’t).
Run (Surface)Scavenge, fight, and adapt to hazards. The world pushes back as time passes.
ExtractGet out with what you found—risk escalating pursuit and environmental danger.
ConsequencesReputation shifts, shortages hit the burrow, routes change, new threats appear.
Faction Reputation
Players can gain reputation with both major surface factions—but loyalty always costs something. Access is power, and power is leverage.
- Rewards: gear access, routes, shelters, intel, special contracts
- Costs: surveillance, quotas, betrayal triggers, “proof” missions
- Player story: you become valuable—and then you become owned (unless you break away)
Hazards & Weather
Storm WindowsWeather events that change visibility, sound, and enemy patterns—rare rewards appear.
ContaminationAir pockets and corrosive zones force routing and resource decisions.
Anomaly ActivityArchitect-dense regions bend navigation rules and unlock story artifacts.
EscalationThe longer you stay, the more the world notices you.
Building & Crafting (planned)
Building supports survival, not sandbox clutter: deployable shelters, defenses, and utilities tied to runs and extraction.
- Deployables: temporary cover, signal decoys, heaters/filters, storage caches
- Burrow upgrades: crafting benches, power routing, med support, expanded storage
- Progression: skills unlock build options and efficiency
Design Targets
Readable firefights
Tension, not grind
Mystery-first
High polish
Performance aware