Project Schwarzwald

Documentation Rules

Template
Reference
Status
Canon

1. Content

…

1.1 Status of the Documents

The narrative bible:

  • Status: Working narrative reference, v1.0
  • Language: English

This is a working story reference, not a final screenplay or complete game design document.

The campaign foundations, titled PROJECT SCHWARZWALD — Gameplay & Campaign Design Document:

  • Document Type: Narrative Campaign & Gameplay Outline
  • Scope: Complete Game — Opening to Ending
  • Status: Living Document / Work in Progress
  • Language: English

The documents of Chapter Two and Chapter Three, each a Gameplay & Campaign Design Document of the game Project Schwarzwald:

  • Status: Narrative and Gameplay Outline — Living Document

1.2 The Reference Package

In the game repository's Markdown, before the migration recorded in the change log, the documents were arranged as follows.

  • GAME_NARRATIVE_BIBLE.md: story canon, gameplay narrative, thematic motifs, factual/fiction boundaries, and intentionally unresolved elements.
  • The playable campaign is in ../campaign/: 00_foundations.md for the general rules (perspective, narration, presentation, quest rules, chapter structure) and one file per chapter. The bible holds the canon; the campaign holds the playable sequence; Shoganai/environments/ holds the places.

The playable campaign is in Shoganai/docs/campaign/, one file per chapter after 00_foundations.md; the places are in Shoganai/environments/. This bible holds the canon those documents follow.

The campaign folder held the playable campaign of Project Schwarzwald, one document per chapter. The story canon is in ../narrative/ and the places are in ../../environments/.

See: Canon › Change Log

1.3 Canon Markers

Use for agents: Read the bible before designing missions, dialogue, level flow, lore documents, or narrative-driven systems. Respect CREATOR-RESERVED, TBD, and not canon yet markers. Do not invent the ontological secret. Clarify any contradiction with the creator before committing it to new assets or story text.

See: Canon › Canon And Ideas
See: Canon › Creator-Reserved Topics
See: Canon › Open Questions

1.4 Chapter Structure

Each chapter is its own document in this folder and is organised as its content needs. The file naming and the reference structure a chapter starts from are in this folder's README.md.

In this project the Campaign Chapter template now carries the chapter structure: Overview, Opening, Main Quest, Side Quests, Key Narrative Sequences, World-State Changes, Chapter Ending and Open Questions. A section with nothing to say holds three dots in place of the source's To be defined.

1.4.1 Files and Naming

  • 00_foundations.md: the general rules every chapter relies on (first-person view, Edmund's retrospective narration, the presentation systems, the quest rules, document maintenance).
  • NN_<title>.md: one document per chapter, numbered in play order. NN is the chapter number with two digits; <title> is the chapter title in lowercase words joined by underscores (01_dimension.md, 02_now_i_am_finally_a_man.md). Until a chapter has a title it is named after its number (for example 05_chapter_five.md).
  • final_chapter.md: the final chapter and the endings.

Further chapters to come: See: Canon › Open Questions.

1.4.2 Chapter Document Structure

Every chapter is its own document. Chapters can differ: each one is organised as its content needs, and a large chapter may expand into more sections, describe the systems it introduces and add design notes, as Chapter Two (02_now_i_am_finally_a_man.md) does. The skeleton below, the seven sections of Chapter One, is the reference a new chapter starts from; a section with nothing yet says To be defined.

<!-- the file's Cairn block -->

# PROJECT SCHWARZWALD — Campaign

## CHAPTER <NUMBER IN WORDS> — <TITLE>

### 1. Chapter Overview
### 2. Opening Sequence
### 3. Main Quest — Mandatory Progression
### 4. Side Quests — Optional & Non-Exhaustive
### 5. Key Narrative Sequences
### 6. Important World-State Changes
### 7. Chapter Ending

When a chapter uses these sections, fill them as Chapter One (01_dimension.md) does:

  • Chapter Overview opens with Location, Playable Character, Starting Age and Timeframe, then Narrative Purpose.
  • Main quests are MQ-NN — Title, each followed by its objectives as bullets.
  • Side quests are SQ-NN — Title, each followed by a short description.
  • Chapter Ending says how the chapter ends and how it hands over to the next one.

1.4.3 Final Chapter Structure

final_chapter.md also closes the game, so its reference structure adds the decisions, the endgame and the endings:

<!-- the file's Cairn block -->

# PROJECT SCHWARZWALD — Campaign

# PART III — CAMPAIGN CONCLUSION

## Final Chapter — <TITLE>

### 1. Chapter Overview
### 2. Opening Sequence
### 3. Main Quest — Mandatory Progression
### 4. Side Quests — Optional & Non-Exhaustive
### 5. Key Narrative Sequences
### 6. Major Decisions & Consequences
### 7. Endgame Progression
### 8. Ending Sequence

# PART IV — ENDINGS & NARRATIVE RESOLUTION

## 1. Ending Structure
## 2. Major Player Decisions
## 3. Persistent Consequences
## 4. Retrospective Narrator Resolution
## 5. Final Narrative Closure

1.4.4 Adding a Chapter

  1. Create NN_<title>.md with the next number.
  2. Start from the reference structure above, fill what is known and leave To be defined. elsewhere; expand it with the sections the chapter needs.
  3. Give it its Cairn block.
  4. List it under Files only if the naming rule above does not already cover it.

1.5 Document Maintenance

This is a living campaign outline, not an exhaustive gameplay specification.

The document should prioritize:

  • The essential sequence of events.
  • Main Quest requirements.
  • Selected Side Quest concepts.
  • Important narrative revelations.
  • Chapter transitions.
  • Major changes to the world.
  • Decisions and consequences that affect subsequent progression.

The absence of an activity, interaction, dialogue, location, or Side Quest from this document does not imply that it is excluded from the final game.