- ID: YYBW-001
- Status: Decided
- Date: 2026-04-13
- Scope: YY Branching World / YY's World evolution
- Depends on: None
- Supersedes / clarifies: Clarifies the initial 'Spore-style permutation' framing
- Museum lineage: PM-001, PM-016, PM-017, SK-001
Context
The conversation opened from a creature/world-builder framing inspired by games like Spore. That framing suggested a large permutation space of creature creation. The idea quickly proved too shallow: the compelling part was not morphology but following one being through alternate developments over time. The product needed to move from static combinatorics to temporal, causal, inspectable change.
Decision
The product is defined as a branching life observatory centered on YY, not as a creature creator. The key unit is not "how many combinations exist," but "how the same being evolves differently under controlled changes and shared events over time."
Why
This preserves the real spark of the concept:
- causality over cosmetics
- identity drift over body parts
- inspectable lineage over one-time creation
- replayable comparison over static permutation counts
Alternatives considered
- Pure creature builder — rejected because it centers finite combinatorial novelty rather than meaningful longitudinal causality.
- Traditional game/simulation — rejected because active play obscures the more interesting observer/analyst role.
- Always-on open world — rejected for early stage due to compute cost and dilution of the core comparison mechanic.
Reversals / scars preserved
- The initial "average world builder permutations" line of thought was preserved as a useful false start.
- The Spore analogy remains valid only as an entry bridge; it is not the product center.
- The first strong shift was from morphology to narrative causality.
Consequences
- The surface must communicate branching outcomes, not customization menus.
- Storage and compute should optimize for branch histories, diffs, and snapshots rather than asset complexity.
- The explanatory language should emphasize "same being, different path."
Invariants preserved
Compression via a simple thesis; Explainability via explicit rejection of the wrong center of gravity; Scars via preservation of the Spore false start; Discipline by narrowing the concept.
Freshness boundary
Stable unless the product deliberately returns to customization as a primary mechanic.