Terms of Stone

A prologue about a polite troll, one bridge, and one contract.

Narrative & TextNarrative & TextPlayer MechanicsPlayer MechanicsAI & NPCsAI & NPCsDialogue, Quests & InvestigationDialogue, Quests & InvestigationCutscenesCutscenesAudio & Facial AnimationAudio & Facial AnimationLevel Art & ScenesLevel Art & ScenesRelease WrapRelease WrapInked out — a story turn

Foundations

The valley, the troll, and the systems beneath them

Complete21 of 21

Narrative & Text

  • Tone doctrine, IP strategy, and naming

  • Story bible: protagonist, dragon, raven, and the Act 2 chain

  • Scene-by-scene structure of the prologue

Player Mechanics

  • Troll locomotion, weight, stamina, blocking, combos, ragdoll

  • Grabbing and throwing enemies and objects

  • Breakable crates and barrels

AI & NPCs

  • NPC architecture: base enemy, event bus, components

  • Bandit daily routines

  • NPC builds: bandits, wolves, farmer, leader, daughter

  • Cross-skeleton animation and animation blueprint hierarchy

Dialogue, Quests & Investigation

  • Dialogue system integration

  • Quest system: story manager, quest data, tracker UI

  • Interaction prompt

Audio & Facial Animation

  • First sounds, music tests, troll voice test

Level Art & Scenes

  • Mesh terrain, terrain material, and painting the map

  • Procedural grass across the map

  • Roads with runtime virtual texture blending

  • Water

  • Wheat fields with interactive vegetation

  • Bandit camp — level art

  • The farm — level art, 80%

Full Passage

The prologue plays start to finish

Underway3 of 29

Narrative & Text

  • The people of the valley: names and characters

  • Revising the paperwork register: voice, journal, and the institution behind the contract

  • The Administrator, the contract, and the valley's economy

  • Re-approving the tone doctrine examples

  • Tone under player pressure

    • death
    • failure
    • misbehaviour
Player Mechanics

  • Inked out — a story turn

  • Boulder throwing

    • first pass
AI & NPCs

  • Goblins

    • mesh
    • animation
    • pest AI
    • grab and drop reactions

  • The alpha wolf as a character

  • Wolf pack

    • group behaviour and reinforcements

  • The trapped wolf

    • scene
    • interaction
    • animation

  • Dragon boss

    • flight
    • attacks
    • damage — first pass
Dialogue, Quests & Investigation

  • Raven dialogue graph

    • draft

  • Farmer and daughter dialogue graphs

    • draft

  • Bandit leader dialogue graph

    • draft

  • Alpha wolf dialogue graph

    • draft

  • Ambient interaction lines

    • placeholders

  • Investigation mode

    • clue highlighting
    • deductions
    • progress

  • Quest data assets for every scene

  • World flags and choice memory

  • End-to-end playthrough of all four routes

Cutscenes

  • Cutscene system

    • sequencer pipeline
    • entry and exit
    • skipping

  • Cutscene placeholders across the full playthrough

Level Art & Scenes

  • Wolf den

    • traversable blockout

  • The caravan wreck site

  • The troll's cave

    • interior blockout

  • The bridge in four states

  • Boss arena at the bridge

  • Time-of-day and weather presets

Weight and Teeth

Combat feel, effects, and the valley finished

Ahead0 of 26

Player Mechanics

  • New combat verbs

    • design

  • New combat verbs

    • animation

  • New combat verbs

    • implementation and tuning

  • Impact feel

    • hitstop
    • camera shake
    • hit VFX
    • audio hooks

  • Inked out — a story turn

  • Boulder throwing

    • arc
    • weight
    • tuning

  • Camera polish

    • combat
    • tight spaces
    • cutscene handoffs
AI & NPCs

  • Combat AI depth

    • flanking
    • attack queue
    • retreat
    • blocking
    • groups

  • Bandit versus leader

    • movesets
    • timings
    • attack telegraphs

  • Dragon boss

    • phases
    • telegraphs
    • polish

  • Non-combat NPC reactions to the troll

Cutscenes

  • Opening cutscene at the cave

  • Storm night cutscene

  • Bandit camp cutscene

  • Parting with the pack

  • Inked out — a story turn

  • Inked out — a story turn

  • Inked out — a story turn

  • Act 3 aftermath cutscene

  • Final cutscene and credits

Level Art & Scenes

  • The farm

    • final 20%, chickens and goat

  • Wolf den

    • level art

  • Trees across the map

  • Rocks, branches, bushes, small detail

  • The troll's cave

    • workshop interior

  • Lighting design per scene

The Contractor Speaks

Full voice-over, music, and sound

Ahead0 of 22

Narrative & Text

  • Act 0 script

  • Act 1 script

    • the investigation

  • Act 2 script

    • the shared path

  • Act 2 script

    • the branches

  • Act 3 script

  • Quest text

    • titles
    • descriptions and objectives

  • Editorial pass

    • one voice across every line

  • Assembling the full story bible

Dialogue, Quests & Investigation

  • Raven dialogue graph

    • final lines

  • Farmer and daughter dialogue graphs

    • final lines

  • Bandit leader dialogue graph

    • final lines

  • Alpha wolf dialogue graph

    • final lines

  • Ambient interaction lines

    • final
Audio & Facial Animation

  • Voice-over pipeline

    • casting
    • naming convention
    • import

  • Generating and proofing every line

  • Line timings and subtitle sync

  • Facial animation for the human cast

  • Jaw-bone lip sync for the animals

  • Combat and physics sound design

  • Ambience and nature sound

  • The dragon and its wrong fire

  • Music

    • main theme
    • combat
    • finale

Handover

Menus, saves, and the Steam build

Ahead0 of 12

Narrative & Text

  • Russian subtitle translation

Dialogue, Quests & Investigation

  • Final regression pass across all four routes

Level Art & Scenes

  • Performance pass and optimisation

Release Wrap

  • Main menu

  • Settings

    • graphics
    • audio
    • controls
    • language

  • Save system

  • Final UI pass

    • HUD
    • journal
    • dialogue
    • prompts

  • Localisation

    • EN and RU string system

  • Build packaging and testing on other hardware

  • Steam page, capsules, screenshots, and store build

  • Playtest with five or more people, then fix

  • Commercial funnel

    • positioning
    • wishlists
    • what comes next