Fleeting — Game Workbook

CO-OP EXPEDITION SURVIVAL / 1–4 PLAYERS

Keep the mothership moving.
Risk leaving it behind.

Your megaship is gone. A battered carrier and its tiny fleet must crawl through a hostile, maze-like galaxy—harvesting enough fuel, making uneasy allies, and surviving every swarm between here and home.

◆◆◆

HOME / 18 SECTORS

FLEET-07

01 / PRESSURE

The carrier never waits

Every side trip trades distance and safety for tomorrow’s fuel. The shared clock makes even peaceful exploration tense.

02 / CO-OP

Separate, then reunite

Crews scatter into winding pockets, call discoveries to each other, then race back when the mothership needs hands.

03 / CONSEQUENCE

Every route leaves a scar

Destroyed pods, allied planets, recruited buddies, and installed relics reshape the fleet for the rest of the journey.

THE 12-MINUTE LOOP

Leave. Gather. Answer the recall.

FOUNDATION

01
Read the route
Choose a branch, planet posture, and who stays aboard.
1:00
02
Scatter
Detach pods to mine, trade, rescue, or hunt a relic.
5:00
03
Recall
A swarm, anomaly, or weapon opportunity demands crew aboard.
2:00
04
Survive & refit
Spend the haul, repair losses, and commit to the next route.
4:00

OPEN DESIGN QUESTION

What makes a recall exciting?

Try: warning language, time-to-return, partial crew defenses, and rewards for arriving early.

PLAYABLE PROTOTYPE / FLIGHT FEEL

Fly the risk.

A focused handling lab for the player pods: triangular silhouettes, momentum, readable boost, contextual controls, and one-button crew communication. It borrows principles—not assets—from precision arcade flight and clear platformer tutorials.

Test piece

FUEL 100%CARGO 0TIME 0.0sCONTACTS 0RECALL —

CURRENT DRILLFlight feel

Learn the pod's drift, turn, and boost.

W or ↑ thrust

QUICK COMMS

01 / SILHOUETTE

Readable at speed

Player color lives in the core and trail; the triangular body always communicates facing.

02 / TEACHING

One prompt at a time

Controls appear when relevant, disappear after use, and return only when the situation changes.

03 / COMMUNICATION

Intent in one tap

Four calls cover the dangerous decisions without requiring voice chat or a complex radial menu.

PLAYABLE SPREADSHEET

Expedition balance lab

Tune a single travel leg. The model exposes the central trade: more scavengers bring fuel home, but fewer hands are ready when the swarm arrives.

FUEL 100SCRAP 18HULL 100%STABLE

Drag the pod markers to test risky gathering positions.

FUEL AT ARRIVAL——

DEFENSE MARGIN—power vs. threat

SCRAP AT ARRIVAL——

RESERVE LEGS—at this burn rate

GENERATED LEG

Encounter timeline

MODEL READOUT

Stable expedition

STABLE

Current assumption

One defender contributes 17 power. A scavenger contributes resources, but is unavailable during the recall window.

SYSTEM MAP / V0.1

One pressure loop, many answers

Every feature should feed the journey, the fleet, or the choice to split up. If it touches none of them, it is probably a distraction.

SHARED CLOCKMothership
keeps moving

LEAVEDetach podsfuel risk ↑

EXPLOREMaze pocketsknowledge ↑

RETURNRecall eventdefense ↑

SPENDRefit fleetoptions ↑

◈

ECONOMY

Fuel

Two tanks create the defining tension: shared carrier fuel advances the run; pod fuel determines who can safely roam.

Always show “fuel to return” on pod HUD

⌁

COMBAT

Recall swarms

Threats are announced, then build. Players choose between an early safe return and one last high-value grab.

Prototype a 45-second warning window

✦

PROGRESSION

Relics & refits

Relics bend rules for one run. Refit modules permanently specialize the carrier but compete for scarce slots.

Validate a four-slot carrier limit

◎

DIPLOMACY

Planet posture

Raid for a large immediate haul, trade for precision purchases, or ally for recurring aid and future story beats.

Planets remember the fleet’s posture

▣

LOSS

Replaceable pods

A destroyed mini-ship returns its player quickly, while the fleet pays scrap and loses its installed pod upgrade.

Target respawn under 20 seconds

◇

COMPANIONS

Autonomous buddies

Recruits fill absent-player roles, handle simple duties, and become optional specialists when four humans play.

Limit buddies to three clear commands

CONTENT RULE

Planet reward triangle

Posture	Immediate reward	Long-term value	Primary cost
Raid	Large mixed haul	None; may create hunter events	Hull, reputation, ammunition
Trade	Chosen item or repair	Store refresh on later visits	Scrap or specific goods
Ally	Small welcome cache	Recurring fuel, buddy, route intel	Mission time and obligation

EDITABLE SCOPE

Feature board

Keep the first playable honest. Move features as the design proves itself, and capture ideas without letting them quietly become commitments.

LEARN, DON'T JUST PLAY

Playtest log

Each session needs one question, one observable signal, and a decision. Notes without a decision become lore.

SESSIONS LOGGED0target: 2 each milestone

OPEN QUESTIONS3currently unproven

LATEST CONFIDENCE—designer-reported

SESSIONS

Evidence archive

NEXT TEST / SUGGESTED

Does the crew return by choice?

Run one 12-minute leg with a 45-second recall warning. Do not tell players when to turn around.

Count who returns before the final 10 seconds.
Ask what information caused the decision.
Watch for confusion between pod fuel and carrier fuel.

Pass signal

At least 75% of returns feel deliberate, and one player chooses to risk arriving late for a clear reason.

FROM LAB TO LAUNCH

Build the proof before the galaxy

The first technical goal is a great four-player expedition loop. Content scale, platform packaging, and metagame come after that loop survives playtests.

M0

NOW / 1–2 WEEKS

Paper engine

Lock vocabulary, resource math, route timing, and one swarm recall.

Balance workbook
Input + camera spike
Network architecture decision

M1

PROTOTYPE / 4–6 WEEKS

Ugly fun

One carrier, four pods, one maze sector, one resource, one swarm.

Host-authoritative co-op
Drop-in local bots
Desktop web build

M2

VERTICAL SLICE / 8–12 WEEKS

A remembered journey

Three planet postures, upgrades, pod loss, one recruit, and a run ending.

Save/profile layer
Steam input pass
Mobile performance budget

M3

PRODUCTION

Build the galaxy

Procedural route grammar, content tools, accessibility, matchmaking, and platform services.

Content pipeline
Steam + mobile packaging
Telemetry and balance

COMMITMENT PLAN / DEFINITION OF DONE

Seven gates from idea to stewardship

Open master plan

0Product truthWorkbook + pipeline

1Flight feelPod is fun alone

2Co-op heartbeatSplit + recall

3Vertical sliceMemorable journey

4Content factoryGodot + tools

5Platform betaSteam + mobile

6StewardshipLaunch + learn

STANDING PROMPT

Build the smallest playable proof of Fleeting’s central promise. Work in vertical slices, measure every test, and expand only when the current loop meets its written acceptance signal.

ENGINE DIRECTION

Godot 4, data-first

RECOMMENDED

Godot gives this 2D co-op game a clean path to Steam and mobile, strong scene tooling, an open runtime, and an approachable scripting layer. Keep rules in deterministic, data-driven modules so this web lab can mirror the production economy.

GAMEPLAYGodot scenes + GDScript/C#

↓

RULESPure simulation modules

↓

DATAResources / JSON content

CREATIVE PIPELINE

Connect your tools

Pipeline contract ↗

Sound design siteAnimation & design siteShared asset notes

TECHNICAL RISKS TO PROVE EARLY

Prototype gates

Network feelFour moving pods, pickups, and carrier state stay readable under latency.Camera splitDetached players can explore without losing awareness of recall pressure.Touch controlsFlight, aiming, gathering, and quick commands fit a phone screen.Route grammarWinding sectors remain readable, replayable, and cheap to author.

The long way home.

Keep the mothership moving.
Risk leaving it behind.

The carrier never waits

Separate, then reunite

Every route leaves a scar

Leave. Gather. Answer the recall.

What makes a recall exciting?

Fly the risk.

Readable at speed

One prompt at a time

Intent in one tap

Expedition balance lab

Encounter timeline

Stable expedition

One pressure loop, many answers

Fuel

Recall swarms

Relics & refits

Planet posture

Replaceable pods

Autonomous buddies

Planet reward triangle

Feature board

Playtest log

Evidence archive

Does the crew return by choice?

Build the proof before the galaxy

Paper engine

Ugly fun

A remembered journey

Build the galaxy

Seven gates from idea to stewardship

Godot 4, data-first

Connect your tools

Prototype gates

Add feature

Log a playtest

Keep the mothership moving.Risk leaving it behind.

The carrier never waits

Separate, then reunite

Every route leaves a scar

Leave. Gather. Answer the recall.

What makes a recall exciting?

Fly the risk.

Readable at speed

One prompt at a time

Intent in one tap

Expedition balance lab

Encounter timeline

Stable expedition

One pressure loop, many answers

Fuel

Recall swarms

Relics & refits

Planet posture

Replaceable pods

Autonomous buddies

Planet reward triangle

Feature board

Playtest log

Evidence archive

Does the crew return by choice?

Build the proof before the galaxy

Paper engine

Ugly fun

A remembered journey

Build the galaxy

Seven gates from idea to stewardship

Godot 4, data-first

Connect your tools

Prototype gates

Keep the mothership moving.
Risk leaving it behind.