Between missions: map, hub or turf war

Decision board · not a build · stop for Jonas's pick · 2026-09-29

Jonas is "somewhat considering setting up a between-missions hub, and maybe a level-select world map, or maybe a turf map. Not sure at all." This board lays out three options by scope against the jam deadline (Sunday 4 October, 23:59; five days from today), each with a live mockup in Section Alert over the game's own dawn city plates. Names and hooks are from Stencil (codex-writer) and the game's naming codex. Stencil's fresh proposals are marked as such, and all copy is placeholder.

Proposals, not canon. The Stage 2 name (CTR-2070-T3/F72 · PV-NET CORE), the Level Register terms (HOLDINGS, IN ARREARS, IN DISPUTE, FORECLOSED) and the floor assignments are Stencil's fresh proposals. The picked items: THE HARBOUR, VERTICAL CLEARANCE, the Floors 71–75 and Tower 5 hooks, the Cyber Monday bid, DE-LISTED and NON-BILLABLE.

STurf map level select

This replaces DEPLOY's direct jump. VERTICAL CLEARANCE · OPEN CONTRACTS shows Tower 3's crown and Tower 5 over the city as thin-line nodes. Pick a contract, read its card (code, class, client, hook, your best EVAL and intel), confirm, and SOLARIS's MAGI briefing plays. Locked contracts tease Babel forward.

← → ↑ ↓ or click: pick a node · Enter / A: confirm (the MAGI briefing cut-in) · the demo cycles by itself.

Adds to replayContracts as a list you return to: the best EVAL and intel per contract, and Stage 2 unlocking after F70. A clear, visible "more is coming".

Adds to worldbuildingBabel's geography at a glance: 275 m Tower 3 with F70 at about 255 m, the crown floors, Tower 5's Sea Wall, the Cyber Monday bid as a threat. Cheap and reads well.

HoursReadout 6–8 (map screen, node data, flow into briefing and results). Stencil 1 (card copy). Cornerman 1 (flow). About 9 in total.

Deadline riskLow. It's a 2D screen in the existing menu kit, with no new scene or streaming. Stage 2 only needs a node that's either locked or pointing at its scene.

TeamReadout (build), Stencil (copy), Cornerman (flow), Downbeat (Standby under it; the track exists).

MThe Harbour hub

High Water's HQ (THE HARBOUR, where operators "berth") as one small walkable room between missions, under Standby ("hub, overlooking the city"). Stations are named for the divisions:

the VERTICAL CLEARANCE contract terminal, which opens the S map;
the CONTRACT OPTICS dossier, the Hostile Register with the intel you've collected;
the TIDAL ASSETS locker and ID plate (TIDEMARK, Tier 3 Asset, HW-07 · SN 4F-2210);
the WELLNESS & RETENTION decompression corner;
the window over Babel with 水位上升中.

SOLARIS speaks as Wired asides.

← → walks · A / Enter opens the station in front of you · B / Esc closes it · the demo walks by itself.

Adds to replayA place to come back to: dossier entries filling up, grade progression on the ID plate, contracts at the terminal. It's the best frame for later content (shop, repairs) and gives the codec a home.

Adds to worldbuildingThe most: High Water as a company you work for, with divisions on the walls, tier billboards in the city, decompression as HR. It lands the satire.

Hours

Drywall 8–12: room, lighting, window plates.
Readout 6–8: station screens, which include S.
Armature 1–2: idle and terminal poses.
Cornerman 2: flow and camera.
Foley 1: room tone.

About 20–25 in total.

Deadline riskMedium to high. It's a new scene with camera, collisions and Web performance, and it competes with Stage 2 for the level lane. It's safe only if Stage 2 is locked by Thursday.

TeamDrywall, Readout, Armature, Cornerman, Foley, Downbeat (Standby exists), Stencil (division signage).

LLevel register: a turf-war map

This is a light meta layer over Tower 3's crown in the Ledger register, titled LEVEL REGISTER. "Level" is the approved jargon for a floor and doubles as the water level. Each floor is split into blocks:

Stair cores held by the STAIRWELL KINGS; lift shafts held by the SHAFT BOYS.
F70: the TOLL CREW and the KARAOKE COMMITTEE.
F71: THE BOOK.
F72: the WIRE AUNTIES (Stage 2's core).
F73–74: TOWER THREE.
F75: Saki ♛.
Off the column: Hatch's Market on Tower 5.

Clearing a contract forecloses blocks. High Water's HOLDINGS rise as a cyan waterline, tying the map to the WATERLINE meter, and crews push back into disputed blocks between contracts.

Adds to replayThe highest in theory: a campaign state, contested blocks and crews that respond. But it needs contracts to feed it, and the jam has two (F70 and Stage 2).

Adds to worldbuildingHigh: gangs as a living ecosystem, High Water as a creditor foreclosing floors, the Ledger joke carried through the whole campaign.

Hours

Readout 10–14: the map and meta state.
Jonas and design 4–6: rules for pushback, what control changes in the levels.
Stencil 2.
Level and enemy lanes 6+ to make a floor's owner matter in play.

25+ in total.

Deadline riskHigh. It's a systems design question as much as UI, and it's content-starved with two stages. As a static "state of the tower" screen it shrinks to about S's size, but then it's decoration.

TeamReadout, Jonas (rules), Stencil, Drywall and Hitlag (floor ownership in play), Cornerman.

Compare

	Replay	Worldbuilding	Hours	Risk by Sunday	New scene?
S · Turf map	Medium	Medium-high	~9	Low	No (a menu screen)
M · The Harbour	Medium-high	Highest	~20–25	Medium-high	Yes (a small room)
L · Level register	High, content-limited	High	25+	High	No, but needs systems

Readout's read: build S for the jam and design it as the Harbour's contract terminal, so M can wrap it later without rework: the same screen opens from DEPLOY now and from a terminal in the room later. The node colours can already carry L's legend (HOLDINGS / IN ARREARS on each contract) as flavour without any meta state. That gives most of the worldbuilding for about a third of the hours.