# Moon — complete destination planning expansion

This chapter extends the approved Moon direction without replacing it. **DST01**, its five established regional IDs, **Regolith Ceramic**, **Lunar Glass Filament**, the **Lunar Shelter Controller**, the **Rim Observatory Controller**, and **A Light Across the Basin** remain the governing references. The expansion makes their generation, play, production, and delivery relationships explicit. Its caves, usable materials, operating conditions, and progression are designed game fiction. Physical dimensions, environmental budgets, recipes, and machine rates remain balancing decisions.

## MO-PLAN-01 — The destination promise and first arrival

The Moon is the first place where a player-made room feels like a piece of Earth carried into an immense absence. The landing should contrast a warm, legible cabin with a landscape whose scale becomes apparent only after stepping outside. Earthrise Rim provides the first recognizable homeward view; the depths later exchange that distant familiarity for the reassuring light of the player's own installations. The intended emotional sequence is astonishment, caution, competence, and finally attachment to a home that once seemed improbable.

The default first lunar expedition carries a working airlocked cabin and an Earth-made EQ25 starter shelter kit, sealed personal protection, breathing supplies, charged field cells, insulation, lights, anchors, tethers, dust-service materials, a survey instrument, ordinary repair parts, food, and protected return reserves. All are manufactured or obtained before departure. Their arrangement follows the confirmed spacecraft and equipment designs selected for first lunar access. A lunar-made suit or underground mineral cannot be required for that first safe walk.

Candidate landing sites describe practical differences: an easy walking approach to a tube entrance, a stronger Earth view, a sheltered construction pocket, or a longer route with more dramatic terrain. The initial candidates all support the same essential campaign opportunities. The briefing identifies what is known, what remains uncharted, and the safe operating assumptions of the loadout. A picturesque site cannot secretly lack the only material needed to leave.

Arrival is a short commissioning sequence with visible results. The craft establishes a safe parked state; the player checks the cabin's reserve display, marks its entrance, and walks a small site-inspection circuit. The cabin remains a retreat while the carried starter shelter is commissioned and its entrance marked before the first committed descent. A deliberate pause at the rim lets the scale register. The first objective is to return from the inspection circuit with confidence. A beginner can complete a modest survey and go home with only this compact refuge; larger permanent outpost development remains optional.

## MO-PLAN-02 — A connected surface and underground world

Generation begins with a landscape of nested crater forms, broad regolith shelves, exposed broken rock, and recognizable long-distance silhouettes. It then places the underground networks in a relationship with those forms. Fractured margins suggest Regolith Hollows; collapsed roofs reveal selected Basalt Galleries; deeper polished seams lead toward Glassfall Vaults. These are probabilistic clues a player can learn, not guarantees that every crater has an identical dungeon beneath it.

Earthrise Rim and Shadow Basin are surface experiences that can border or interleave. The three underground experiences are connected geological families, rather than five perfectly separated horizontal slabs. A small hollow may sit beside a large gallery, and a gallery wall may reveal glass-bearing fractures before the main vault network opens. Transitions retain both sides' visual language over a useful distance. Exact height allocations are intentionally unspecified and must be tested against the destination's eventual generation envelope.

The starter region guarantees a supported landing area, a feasible walking loop, an accessible shallow descent, a meaningful Basalt Gallery reveal, common regolith feedstock, an obtainable initial glass sample, and a viable route back. These guarantees ensure opportunity rather than a fixed identical map. A protected campaign envelope reserves critical route and mission anchors before decorative variation is applied. The generator then verifies their access with the equipment available on first arrival.

Lateral exploration matters. Several galleries can extend beneath the same crater chain, while a single connected tube system may have distant exits. Secondary entrances reward a player who recognizes a surface collapse from a map made underground. Routes vary through bends, choke points, roof openings, side cavities, and changes of scale. Repeated featureless corridors and compulsory straight downward shafts should fail review even when their connectivity is technically valid.

Landmarks must work without an interface. A broken double rim, a solitary sloping block, a light shaft, or an unusually broad tube junction supplies a recognizable reference. Instruments add useful confidence, but maps should record the terrain the player has understood rather than reveal every hidden chamber automatically. Player-built lights, signs, bridges, and markers remain meaningful additions to the world.

## MO-PLAN-03 — Five complete regional experiences

### MO-S1 — Earthrise Rim

The rim alternates open regolith shelves with fractured shoulders, low saddles, and exposed viewpoints. Broad surfaces make the scale feel unfamiliar, while occasional sudden edges prevent flatness from becoming monotony. A first landing occupies a usable shelf with room for the confirmed craft, its service clearances, a walking route, and a modest refuge. Authored viewing conditions can frame Earth through a gap or above a low ridge without making a real astronomical timetable a progression requirement.

The basic play loop is to survey from high ground, identify a descending route, place homeward markers, collect modest samples, and return to inspect the suit. Variants can emphasize a long crescent ridge, overlapping crater bowls, a stepped outer slope, or a sheltered pocket beside exposed bedrock. Each still includes a readable approach and at least one useful construction site. Distant terrain invites later trips but does not compete with the first refuge for visual attention.

Resource placement communicates origin. Loose regolith is widespread; compacted deposits and exposed rock occur in recognizable contexts. A landing area is not carpeted with glowing ore. Gentle collection and a small geological sample should be productive before a player builds machinery. Subsequent work adds service paths, storage, reflectors, and an observatory silhouette. The transformation should remain visibly the player's contribution to an otherwise spare place.

### MO-S2 — Shadow Basin

Shadow Basin uses permanently shaded-looking crater pockets within the stylized lighting model. A dark floor, faint enclosing slopes, and islands of player-created light establish its identity. Approaching players can see the change in visibility and read the protection requirement before committing. The physical route remains the focus of play.

Routes cross slumped dust shelves, skirt block fields, descend protected margins, or follow a surveyed marker chain. Variants include a shallow basin crossed by an obvious saddle, a deeper pocket with a high return terrace, and adjacent dark hollows linked by a bright ridge. The safe route can be longer than a direct crossing. Tethers, reflective markers, insulated equipment, and spare cells turn that choice into preparation rather than repeated trial and death.

The basin supports navigation, photography, quiet observation, and later logistics. Sheltered sites can host relay instruments, but a location's visual darkness does not itself imply free thermal protection or breathable shelter. A surface entrance can connect to Regolith Hollows and emerge through a distant Basalt Gallery roof. Completing such a loop changes a threatening region into an understood route while preserving the atmosphere of darkness beyond the marked path.

### MO-L1 — Regolith Hollows

These are close, irregular spaces among compressed dust shelves, impact fragments, and shallow broken deposits. Players crouch, probe, brace, and make short tethered descents. The low ceiling and the suit's contact sounds make careful movement feel different from Earth cave exploration. Dust disturbed by excavation is a local activity effect; it does not establish a lunar windstorm simulation.

Variation comes from the proportion and arrangement of compacted shelves, competent rock, narrow voids, and short vertical breaks. One hollow supports a slow survey through adjacent cavities; another offers a small extraction bay; a third reveals an overlook into a much larger gallery. The transition toward Basalt Galleries progressively introduces smoother continuous rock and larger unsupported visual spans. The first reveal should be earned by a change of scale that the player can anticipate through clues.

Only explicitly designated unstable features react to excavation. Cracks, small falling particles, tool feedback, and the preview of a brace explain the risk. A bounded local slump may change an optional working face, but it cannot silently collapse the only starter exit or demolish an established refuge. Controlled tools and hand methods remain useful. The reward is an initial collection of samples, knowledge of where the hollow connects, and the satisfaction of making a cramped route dependable.

### MO-L2 — Basalt Galleries

Long sweeping chambers alternate with boulder chokes, stacked tube junctions, and collapsed roofs. A stable walking floor can suddenly open beside a deep break, encouraging bridges and handrails. In selected chambers, daylight from a roof shaft creates a landmark visible across a great distance. Other chambers are entirely dark until the player establishes a trail. The gallery has no automatic breathable atmosphere simply because it is enclosed by rock.

Variants include a broad single passage with side shelves, a braided network around an intact central wall, a sequence of joined chambers at different levels, and a gallery opened to the surface in several places. Critical access uses a route achievable with the first expedition's tools. More ambitious through-routes can require a later lift, larger bridge, or supported cargo transfer. Survey data should distinguish a walking connection from a route that can carry bulky equipment.

Wide stable sections are strong candidates for a lunar home. The player first surveys boundaries and access, then installs a supported enclosed habitat within the gallery. Pressurizing an arbitrary enormous cave is not assumed. A warm workshop behind a deliberate pressure boundary gives the immense dark chamber a human scale. Later lamps, cargo lanes, storage racks, and viewing windows can make the gallery a lived-in industrial place without covering every natural surface.

### MO-L3 — Glassfall Vaults

The vaults introduce fictional impact-glass seams, hanging fragments, polished fractures, and narrow ledges. Their beauty comes from controlled light and contrasting surfaces. Glass remains a material in rock, with exposed edges and irregular inclusions; it is not a uniform magical crystal biome. The player moves instruments into position, studies reflections, samples selected material, and protects the path needed to carry the equipment back.

Variants can emphasize an inclined fracture crossed by small ledges, a tall chamber with hanging fragments, a folded seam visible across separated rooms, or a quiet pocket where several reflective faces form an unusual natural composition. The working route is readable even when reflections are visually surprising. Dangerous fragments have distinct silhouettes and contact behavior. Reflection alone must not disguise a lethal drop as an ordinary floor.

Most vaults remain geological. A rare trace may relate to observations from Earth's depths, but it should be a restrained optional discovery with a recorded observation and a useful question. It does not imply a population of lunar inhabitants or an ancient temple hidden behind every seam. The deeper rewards are unusual specimen forms, better survey opportunities, architectural glass choices, and more specialized uses of a material family already accessible in a basic form above.

## MO-PLAN-04 — Conditions, feedback, and fair recovery

The Moon concentrates a few interacting expedition problems: exposure, darkness, dust, awkward terrain, and distance from a dependable refuge. Their interfaces should cooperate. The player needs a concise view of remaining safe activity, a clear return route, and a reason a service is unavailable; they do not need to compare several opaque meters after every footstep.

| Condition | Readable evidence | Preparation and active response | Failure boundary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Loss of breathable protection | Suit and refuge status, reserve warning, connection indicator | Imported breathing supply, inspected seals, a known refuge, a protected reserve | Fair intervention time and the established recovery system; no invisible instant failure. |
| Shadow exposure | Visible lighting change, instrument advisory, increasing thermal demand | Imported insulation and charged cells, a shorter route, a lit protected pause | Clear warning before the loadout envelope is exceeded. |
| Dust contamination | Visible seal dust, service indicator, reduced efficiency where relevant | Dust porch, brush or supported service tool, replaceable protection | Local service need, not unexplained damage to every stored item. |
| Fall or awkward crossing | Visible drop, anchor preview, tested route marker | Tether, anchor, bridge, alternate walking route | Critical first routes do not demand a precision jump as the only solution. |
| Designated unstable cavity | Cracks, particles, probe feedback | Brace, careful excavation, a planned retreat | Local authored change; protected campaign anchors and sole return routes remain valid. |
| Lost route or stranded equipment | Last verified marker, survey log, beacon status | Redundant physical markers, recovery beacon mode, recoverable cargo plan | A failed optional sortie cannot permanently strand the campaign. |

The craft, refuge, and later gallery habitat are distinct safe points with visible capabilities. A dark alcove protects from a specific local exposure only if the game actually supports that function. It does not refill air or charge equipment merely because it looks sheltered. Conversely, a commissioned refuge must perform its advertised role consistently.

After a failed trip, the existing recovery system should return the player to a valid supported safe point or recovery route. The mission records completed observations and commissioned construction; it does not demand replay of unrelated success. Dropped cargo remains identifiable and retrievable through a manageable rescue outing where the difficulty setting supports it. Protected return supplies are not an ordinary machine input and cannot disappear into a ceramic production queue.

## MO-PLAN-05 — Materials, machines, and useful local industry

The first samples should have an immediate understandable use and a longer industrial future. **PM01 Regolith Ceramic** strengthens vacuum habitat and thermal construction options. **PM02 Lunar Glass Filament** improves sensors, light guides, and compact instrument housings. Neither is a universal equipment upgrade, and neither replaces Earth metallurgy, ordinary glass, or every ceramic recipe.

| Chain | Field acquisition | Initial processing route | Useful products | Later local production |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Regolith Ceramic | Collect or excavate identified common regolith; separate obvious unwanted fragments | Screening and preparation followed by forming and firing through TEC02, with the relevant TEC08 material procedure | Vacuum panel components, insulating pieces, habitat trim and useful building forms | A bounded lunar ceramics line using locally collected feedstock, established power, and imported components where required. |
| Lunar Glass Filament | Recover mapped glass-bearing samples from accessible fractures; use careful sampling for specimen quality | Sorting, controlled refinement, and forming through TEC08 and established powered workshop functions | Light-guide stock, instrument parts, compact lamps and sensor housings | A surveyed deposit and a local refinement line with dust protection, service access, and visible product storage. |
| Service supplies | Bring seals, cartridges, containers, repairs, food, and mission reserves | Existing Earth TEC04, TEC07, and TEC12 operations | Safe first arrival, equipment service, replenishment and return | Recharging and supported refilling with explicitly available inputs; no automatic extraction of every necessity from nearby rock. |

These are functional process stages for the central machine catalogue to implement. They do not require separate new machines for every verb. A shared forming station or controlled furnace can support several recipes, while tooling, fixtures, temperature capability, or an attached enclosure distinguish the work. The player sees regolith entering a preparation area, shaped components leaving the furnace, and finished panels moving toward construction. An ordinary opaque inventory box should not carry the whole visual story.

The first useful material batch can be completed at home after a short expedition. Establishing a lunar factory is a choice with practical advantages: reduced transport of bulky feedstock, nearby service, easier outpost expansion, and a reason to improve routes. It also has a cost in power, footprint, tools, and construction. Transporting a modest sample home remains sensible for an explorer who does not want a remote industrial base.

Extraction upgrades trade throughput against installation cost, energy, maintenance while active, and the preservation of an interesting site. Careful hand sampling remains the best route for selected intact specimens. Bulk collection serves construction. A stationary rig works a surveyed bounded deposit or defined excavation plan; it does not tunnel autonomously through unknown mission chambers. Waste or rejected fractions have explicit handling, reuse, or disposal rules without becoming infinite ore multiplication loops.

Local power, breathable-supply services, and propellant services are separate capabilities. A charged workshop is not automatically a refueling site. Every supported refill names its inputs and protects the expedition allocation before discretionary production begins. First arrival never assumes useful local water, a biological resource, a finished lunar processor, or a later planetary reagent. The product should show which services the outpost currently provides before the player commits to a return plan.

## MO-PLAN-06 — A foothold that becomes a home

The **Lunar Shelter Controller** uses the established material-fed, bounded project system. Its plot, stages, service boundary, and contribution requirements are visible before placement. It can attach to an appropriate surface pocket or a surveyed gallery site using a supported configuration. The player remains free to build personal architecture around it without accidentally claiming that every adjacent room has life support.

| Stage | Visible construction | Service gained | Commissioning evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Shelter foundation | Stable support, clear access, supply connection | A defined project site beside a usable refuge | The craft and initial shelter remain reachable during construction. |
| Protected sleeping cell | Powered airlock, enclosed cell, reserved supply display | Dependable rest and a supported expedition safe point | Entry, exit, reserve priority, and pressure-boundary checks pass. |
| Dust porch and stores | Service threshold, racks, sample containers, clean storage | Less repetitive suit service and organized replenishment | Dirty and clean interactions have a clear flow; emergency exit remains unobstructed. |
| Workshop | Repair surface, charging position, selected production equipment | Field maintenance and material work | Power, consumables, outputs, and service clearances are readable. |
| Gallery enclosure or expanded rooms | Supported sealed modules, windows, optional viewing space | A larger local home with chosen useful rooms | Only commissioned supported volumes advertise breathable conditions. |

The **Rim Observatory Controller** is a separate purposeful landmark. It develops a stable instrument position, observation access, protected equipment, a map station, and the supported reflector or relay connections needed by its mission. Its value is improved regional survey records and a place to revisit the sky. It should not become a universal satellite that reveals all unexplored caves across the destination.

Construction offers visible intermediate usefulness. A completed sleeping cell works while the optional workshop remains unfinished. A basic observation mast can preserve readings before decorative viewing rooms are added. Services activate when their own checks pass, while later stages show what remains missing. Shared contributions respect the settlement's authorization and ownership model.

When no eligible participants occupy the managed region, construction, authored production, visitors, supply consumption, and local events enter the stable parked state. Stored samples and reserves remain recorded. A player deep underground outside a surface project's horizontal, vertical, or dimension boundary does not accidentally keep that unrelated project active. Returning resumes the saved supported state. Ordinary Minecraft systems outside those managed boundaries retain their ordinary rules.

## MO-PLAN-07 — A Light Across the Basin

The signature mission turns observation into a physical route through the Moon. Two natural vantage points can see useful parts of the same region, but terrain and darkness interrupt a straightforward connection. The player surveys the sites, selects protected relay positions, establishes access, installs reflectors and instruments, and completes an observation using the resulting network. The reward should be visible in the landscape and useful in the survey record.

1. **Identify the viewpoints.** A map, a visible silhouette, and field observations establish the two anchor sites. Their locations vary with generation but remain reachable through the first campaign's supported capabilities. The task explains what each view contributes.
2. **Reconnoiter the intervening terrain.** The player records obstructions and safe standing positions through Earthrise Rim, Shadow Basin, or a supported combination. Several candidate relay sites permit a shorter exposed route or a longer sheltered one. The game evaluates the route's function rather than demanding arbitrary blocks at predetermined decorative spots.
3. **Prepare the working path.** Markers, anchors, local lighting, and a small protected pause make installation practical. A route first crossed cautiously becomes a reliable means of moving equipment. The preparation is useful even if the player returns home before completing the mission.
4. **Install and inspect.** Reflectors show orientation and valid connections clearly. Relay instruments show power, protection, and the next obstruction or missing observation. The mission uses supported alignment and observation interactions, not an unbounded optical simulator.
5. **Complete the observation.** A deliberate, participant-present observation state provides the intended viewing conditions. Players are not required to wait through a real astronomical cycle. Sound, the linked instruments, and the completed regional survey show the outcome.
6. **Keep the route.** The network improves local map confidence and acts as a chain of recognizable landmarks. The observations support the broader progression record. The site remains a useful place to revisit, photograph, expand, and show another player.

The mission's drama comes from carrying fragile-looking equipment across a place once difficult to navigate. It does not need an enemy wave or a newly invented lunar civilization. A failed alignment identifies the obstruction; it does not consume the entire instrument. A damaged optional route section can be repaired or bypassed. Completed observations remain recorded across departures, and co-op work credits verified contributions without duplicating rewards through repeated entry.

## MO-PLAN-08 — Three concrete expeditions

### MO-EXP-01 — The first tube and the view home

The player lands at an approachable Earthrise Rim site with a fully prepared first-expedition loadout. After checking the refuge and setting homeward markers, they walk toward a shallow collapse indicated during site selection. A cramped Regolith Hollow requires a careful sample, a brace, and one short tethered descent. Beyond it, a Basalt Gallery opens around a light shaft. The player records the chamber, recovers accessible glass-bearing feedstock, and photographs Earth through the opening under supported viewing conditions.

The meaningful decision is how much further to go. A darker branch offers another survey target, but the completed objective and return reserve make turning back an equally valid success. At the refuge, dust service and storage convert the outing into a clear expedition record. The player may return to Earth with a small ceramic feedstock sample, glass feedstock, and a useful map. The immediate payoff is a first material batch and an improved instrument or lamp. No local factory is required.

### MO-EXP-02 — The basin route and the relay chain

On a return visit, the player brings replenished supplies, improved route equipment, and reflector components manufactured from previously available stock. The goal is a surveyed crossing of Shadow Basin for A Light Across the Basin. A direct line is visually impressive but crosses a difficult shelf; a longer path reaches better anchor sites and a convenient sheltered pause. The player chooses, marks, and verifies the route before carrying the bulky instruments.

The central challenge is logistics through darkness. A staged equipment cache prevents repeated full crossings, while the physical marker chain remains useful if an instrument view is obstructed. The player installs the reflectors, corrects a visible alignment problem, and completes the observation from the observatory. Returning along the now-familiar lights produces the emotional payoff. The durable reward is a dependable crossing, clearer local survey data, and an expanded lunar foothold, not a disposable quest corridor.

### MO-EXP-03 — The glass route and the gallery workshop

A mature expedition uses the earlier gallery map to choose a promising deeper route. The loadout adds improved anchors, protected instrument carrying, specimen containers, and enough supplies to establish a modest working camp. A Basalt Gallery choke requires a deliberate cargo route; beyond it, polished fractures and hanging fragments announce Glassfall Vaults. The player surveys a ledge sequence, takes a careful specimen, and compares reflections across a continuous seam.

The team can return with a small scientific collection or commit to a bounded extraction site and a workshop in a previously secured gallery. That decision trades cargo efficiency and future convenience against construction and servicing. An optional unusual trace provides a connection to Earth's deeper observations without becoming a compulsory alien ruin. The final route joins a distant surface exit, turning the earlier network into a useful loop. The Moon has become a place the player knows well enough to inhabit deliberately.

## MO-PLAN-09 — Progression, revisits, and the wider game

Lunar progression is a sequence of dependable capabilities: protected arrival and inspection, commissioned starter refuge, first mapped descent, first useful returned batch, reliable dark-route navigation, expanded refuge, linked observations, deeper specimen work, and optional local industry. Equipment improvements increase duration, precision, carrying comfort, and construction choice. They do not invalidate the basic suit, ordinary mining tools, or the first successful approach.

The Moon prepares the player for Mars by making reserves, field service, sealed rooms, instruments, and a planned return intuitive. Material and knowledge contributions support the central technology progression; exact recipe gates belong to that shared plan. A substantial lunar campaign should not become a demand to build every optional outpost stage before the next destination appears.

Return-home benefits include compact cave lighting, better instrument housings, sealed workshops, ceramic building families, observation furniture, and the confidence to construct in exposed places. Revisit goals include different tube geometry, distant crater chains, unusual glass compositions, better photographs, a more efficient cargo route, and a personally designed gallery home. These uses preserve the destination after its first campaign milestone.

Co-op supports shared surveying, a route builder carrying anchors while a second player handles instruments, and organized cargo movement. Solo play can stage the same work in successive trips. No essential task requires another player to remain at a distant switch or keep an unrelated region active indefinitely. Completed shared projects remain usable according to their owners' permissions, and optional visiting characters arrive only through supported active-region events.

## MO-PLAN-10 — Acceptance criteria and decisions still to resolve

| Reference | Acceptance criterion |
| --- | --- |
| MO-AC-01 | A range of candidate seeds provides a feasible first landing, shallow descent, Basalt Gallery reveal, initial material samples, and safe return using only pre-lunar equipment. |
| MO-AC-02 | All five regional experiences remain identifiable in ordinary play lighting without relying on title overlays or colored boundary fog. |
| MO-AC-03 | Shadow Basin supports a readable prepared route; required travel has a solution beyond perfect jumping or memorizing darkness. |
| MO-AC-04 | Every material and mission dependency can be traced backward to a reachable first source, including imported power, service supplies, and return propellant. |
| MO-AC-05 | Habitat commissioning distinguishes a supported sealed volume from the surrounding vacuum cave and preserves emergency access during staged construction. |
| MO-AC-06 | Bounded slumps and excavation cannot remove the only valid starter exit, required observation anchor, or protected landing service. |
| MO-AC-07 | The reflector mission explains failed connections, records partial success, and resumes correctly after a player leaves and returns. |
| MO-AC-08 | Region parking preserves goods and reserves without continuing authored production, visitor events, or unattended consumption. |
| MO-AC-09 | A solo player can complete the campaign, recover from a failed optional sortie, and revisit the Moon after reaching Mars without mandatory remote upkeep. |

Open decisions are the exact generation envelope, walking-loop budgets, suit warning thresholds, service intervals, accepted player-built habitat configurations, the relationship between observation milestones and the central progression graph, and the frequency of optional unusual traces. Each should be resolved through the relevant prototype. The design already commits to clear feedback, a first-arrival path without circular dependencies, bounded simulation, and durable player construction.

## MO-PLAN-11 — Moon artwork coverage and explicit backlog

The current slice needs one high-level Moon board plus an accurate layer/route diagram. The board communicates the arrival contrast and the three underground identities; a surface inset or labeled diagram also covers Shadow Basin. Region boundaries, progression arrows, and statuses belong in precise HTML/SVG. Supplied confirmed assets govern equipment appearance wherever the spacecraft plan assigns them to the lunar expedition. Broad overview coverage does not complete the detailed commissions below.

| Master register / planning reference | Detailed subject to fill later | Required continuity |
| --- | --- | --- |
| DST01-MO-S1-W / -A | Earthrise Rim panorama and first-refuge activity | Confirmed first-expedition craft, service clearance, a readable walking route, restrained terrain. |
| DST01-MO-S2-W / -A | Shadow Basin geography and marker-and-tether crossing | Identifiable rim and shelf silhouettes in both views; prepared navigation visible. |
| DST01-MO-L1-W / -A | Regolith Hollows spatial identity and braced sampling | Suit scale, bounded unstable features, understandable working posture. |
| DST01-MO-L2-W / -A | Basalt Gallery reveal and habitat construction | The same gallery geometry, deliberate sealed modules, no implied breathable whole cave. |
| DST01-MO-L3-W / -A | Glassfall Vaults identity and instrument/ledge extraction | Geological glass, readable route, restrained reflections and optional trace treatment. |
| DST01 / SET08 — Lunar Shelter Controller | Shelter stages and occupied interior | Foundation through cell, dust porch, stores, workshop, and optional enclosure. |
| DST01 / TEC09 / MO-PLAN-07 — Rim Observatory Controller | Observatory stages and A Light Across the Basin sequence | Two natural viewpoints, the relay route, alignment activity, and completed local network. |
| PM01 / PM02 | Feedstock, processed stock, component, and installed-use specimens | Regolith Ceramic and Lunar Glass Filament remain visually distinct and useful at inventory scale. |
| SPX01 | Dust-service station and suit-seal maintenance | Match the confirmed equipment; dirty and clean flows are physically clear. |
| DST01 / TEC02 / TEC08 | Lunar workshop overview and a bounded extraction site | Shared central machine designs, visible input/output/power, natural terrain retained. |

# Mars — complete destination planning expansion

This chapter extends the approved Mars direction. **DST02**, **Windcut Tablelands**, **Buried Delta**, **Ochre Galleries**, **Brine Scarps**, **Rootstone Chambers**, **Ferric Lattice**, **Brine Catalyst**, the **Frontier Yard Controller**, and **The River That Isn't There** remain authoritative. Mars's accessible brines, material behavior, deep pulses, and optional microbial or mat-like life are deliberate game fiction. The proposal does not assert actual Martian life, mineable deposits, breathable caves, or real spacecraft engineering.

## MA-PLAN-01 — The destination promise and first arrival

Mars turns an expedition from a short radius around one refuge into a regional journey. A distant escarpment should remain in view long enough for reaching it to feel like an accomplishment. The player learns to read a weather front, choose a workable route through a channel system, service a rover, and establish a useful place between origin and objective. Over time, the first landing site becomes one node in a network the player understands.

The first Mars expedition carries appropriate atmospheric protection, filtration, insulation, breathing supplies, food, water or the required supported supply inputs, reserve cells, repair stock, sample protection, a weather reader, a dependable refuge, and a rover or materials for the supported small-rover assembly project. Its craft and basic frame materials come from previously reachable Earth and lunar production. **Ferric Lattice improves later local equipment; it cannot be necessary to manufacture the only rover capable of reaching its first source.**

Initial landing candidates favor usable flats near a legible terrace or channel junction. The player may choose a convenient route hub, a good construction shelf, or a striking view with a longer approach. Each supports a walking-scale first inspection, a viable shelter, and a first campaign route achievable with the imported loadout. A player who postpones rover assembly can still complete useful nearby surveying and material sampling.

The first arrival teaches weather and distance in a controlled sequence. The craft parks, the player verifies the refuge, deploys a local marker or weather instrument, inspects the service area, and compares the route map with visible terrain. A distant channel mouth provides a clear objective. The first weather change is observable from safety before it becomes a challenge in the field. The campaign should begin with curiosity about the horizon, not a race to discover the planet's only survival ingredient.

## MA-PLAN-02 — A regional landscape with connected depths

Generation establishes terraced uplands, channel catchments, sediment shelves, erosion-shaped passages, and isolated sheltered basins. Windcut Tablelands supply broad elevated structure. Buried Delta organizes routes and clues about where channels continue beneath sediment. The underground follows and complicates those relationships: Ochre Galleries expose shallow bedding, Brine Scarps occupy selected deeper mineral and channel interfaces, and Rootstone Chambers reveal a different continuous branching structure.

The two surface regions overlap through transitional benches, channel heads, gullies, and buried outlets. Underground identities should have natural changes in wall structure, dampness, color, scale, and route shape. An isolated brine trace can appear near the lower edge of an Ochre Gallery before the stepped cliffs of Brine Scarps become dominant. Rootstone ribs can emerge as an incomplete clue before a chamber opens around their larger network. No exact depth bands are fixed by this creative plan.

The first campaign region guarantees a landing/service site, a short useful survey circuit, a practical rover or walking approach into Buried Delta, a secureable Ochre Gallery camp, reachable common structural ingredients, an initial protected brine-sampling opportunity, and a connected route toward the Rootstone mission area. The initial samples occur within the operating envelope of imported equipment. Deeper or more efficient sources reward later improvements rather than enabling the first protective gear.

The terrain distinguishes travel modes. A walking path can pass a narrow slot that excludes a rover. A cargo route needs width, turning space, a stable stopping area, and a workable connection to the next shelter. Maps and surveys record those differences. Generated alternatives let players choose a longer drivable gully, a foot approach with a cache, or a later constructed crossing. Main progression cannot require solving a vehicle pathing problem for which the landscape supplies no valid solution.

Weather changes the experience of an established landscape instead of endlessly replacing it. Dust can reduce sightlines, alter service demand, and make exposed travel less attractive. Landmarks, signed routes, channel walls, and protected shelters remain useful. Decorative accumulation around lee surfaces should agree with the local weather direction. Bounded weather states do not bury every player-built doorway, erase roads, or continue damaging a parked destination while the player explores elsewhere.

## MA-PLAN-03 — Five complete regional experiences

### MA-S1 — Windcut Tablelands

Layered mesas and broad benches form a visible sequence between landing flats and distant high viewpoints. Routes follow terraces, climb gullies, or cross saddles. A silhouette may be recognizable from the landing site while its workable approach lies around the side. The region should reward reading terrain before choosing a direction. The first rover journey is especially satisfying when a ridge once blocking the view reveals the next connected basin.

Variants can emphasize a broad mesa with a sheltered service shelf, a chain of narrow saddles between plateaus, a stepped escarpment with several route levels, or a windswept bench crossed by shallow gullies. The windward and sheltered sides differ through dust placement and activity feedback. Palette variation uses restrained reds, ochres, dark rock, pale deposits, and practical human-made color accents, not a uniform red filter over Earth mountains.

The player surveys route quality, collects accessible geological samples, tests the weather reader, and places selected markers. Later construction adds a lookout, roadside refuge, workshop, or Frontier Yard. These installations should fit the terrace geometry and keep their service approach clear. A distant dust front creates a decision: leave now along a known route, postpone the exposed segment, or take a protected channel. The same landscape gains meaning as the player learns what each choice costs.

### MA-S2 — Buried Delta

A branching dry channel network preserves a strong readable pattern at multiple scales. From a high bench, the player sees the larger arrangement. At ground level, channel walls, exposed cross-sections, and occasional buried continuations create navigation questions. Some routes terminate beneath sediment; others connect to fissures or a sheltered basin. The region is a landscape to interpret, rather than a set of identical trenches leading directly to objective markers.

Variation can use a fan of channels entering an isolated basin, a main corridor with abandoned side branches, a partly buried channel system, or a chain of disconnected exposures that can be linked through survey evidence. Not every apparent connection continues underground. The mission supplies sufficient consistent clues to distinguish a supported interpretation from a guess. Optional misleading branches should lead to useful sites or observations, so curiosity is not punished with empty repetitive travel.

The main activities are route finding, core sampling, reading sediment, establishing caches, and choosing where a rover should stop while the crew continues on foot. Prepared routes make later cargo movement easier. Some channel-to-cave junctions become entrances to Ochre Galleries, while other buried continuations require a small bounded excavation or a different approach. The route the player discovers can become a practical part of the eventual outpost network.

### MA-L1 — Ochre Galleries

Shallow passages follow cracked sediment layers, offering slopes, thin partitions, window-like openings, and views across adjacent elevations. Grain direction and bedding guide the player toward promising samples and plausible connections. Colored dust reacts locally to footsteps and work. The atmosphere is sheltered and intimate compared with the surface, but shelter from weather does not make the air breathable.

Variants include a sloping network beside an exposed cross-section, stacked galleries with visible windows between levels, a partly buried channel roofed by sediment, and a broad chamber suitable for a field camp. The first secure camp occupies a site with clear access and room for a supported sealed module. An attractive hollow alone does not count as life-support infrastructure. The player chooses how much equipment to carry inside and where to leave the rover.

Ochre Galleries support geology, route making, and the first lesson in regional shelter. During a dust front, the player can continue a modest protected survey here, service equipment in a commissioned camp, or wait without losing progress. The transition to Brine Scarps introduces isolated crusts, contained damp traces, and sharper stepped mineral faces. It should feel like discovering a preserved pocket within the dry world, not entering an Earth river cave with a different skybox.

### MA-L2 — Brine Scarps

Fictional isolated brine pockets sit among stepped mineral cliffs, pale crusts, slow deposits, and narrow protected shelves. Liquid is localized and visually distinct from ordinary drinking water. The primary challenge is choosing a good sampling position and moving protected equipment across the shelves. Surface appearance, the instrument readout, and the sampling interaction communicate the material's function and handling needs.

Variants can emphasize a sequence of small perched pockets, a broad scarp with separated safe working ledges, a narrow descending channel with intermittent crusts, or a mineral basin approached from several elevations. A reachable upper interface provides the first useful catalyst sample with imported sleeves or remote sampling equipment. Deeper extraction sites may favor improved frames, better cargo handling, or a larger local work platform.

Optional fictional mats occupy only selected protected niches. Their inclusion remains a design decision and must not be silently assumed by generation, recipes, or overview art. If enabled, they respond to light or vibration and add a small observation opportunity; the layer remains predominantly geological. Essential Brine Catalyst production uses the specified non-animal material route and does not require destroying rare living colonies. Choosing to leave a research niche intact remains compatible with progression.

### MA-L3 — Rootstone Chambers

Rootstone is a branching geological structure whose scale and continuity can mislead the eye into seeing roots or ribs. Dense formations divide winding passages, open negative spaces, and large arched chambers. The player learns to trace a continuous structure across gaps in their view. This shifts exploration from following a channel to interpreting a network that passes through several connected spaces.

Variants include a dominant rib crossing multiple chambers, a woven wall with several navigable windows, a deep open space bridged by mineral arches, and separated exposures linked by a surveyable buried continuation. Some networks carry fictional detectable pulses related to the wider mystery. They supplement environmental reading rather than becoming a universal compass that reveals the whole map. Unreliable instrument positions have observable local causes and encourage a different measurement point.

Traversal alternates deliberate ledge routes, winding passages, and constructed crossings between reliable working platforms. The mission instrument needs a supported position from which it can observe the connected formation; it does not require breaking the most visually significant rib. Most of the space remains natural. The payoff is understanding a relationship between the surface drainage evidence, the sheltered depths, and the broader planetary investigation, with a useful route and a preserved record to show for it.

## MA-PLAN-04 — Weather, field service, and recoverable mistakes

Mars combines distance with conditions that can change during an active trip. The challenge is planning a route with options. Each established outing should have a known refuge, a sensible turning point, and a clear alternative when the next exposed segment becomes unattractive. Better forecasts and local yards increase confidence; they do not remove all decisions from travel.

| Condition | Readable evidence | Preparation and active response | Failure boundary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Approaching dust front | Distant sky change, visible wind direction, forecast state | Leave early, shelter, follow protected channels, use a surveyed route | No untelegraphed unavoidable first-campaign storm trap. |
| Filter wear and dust service | Remaining service indicator and visible deposits | Imported spare cartridges, supported cleaning, a dust threshold at camp | Predictable local service demand; spare parts available before departure. |
| Exposure during travel | Suit and cabin status, reserve display, route estimate | Appropriate imported protection, a refuge, protected return allocation | Warning and recovery opportunities; terrain shelter alone is not breathable air. |
| Brine contact | Distinct material appearance, handling advisory, visible tool wear | Sampling sleeve, remote arm, protected container, prepared work platform | Gradual understandable equipment effects, not hidden instant loss. |
| Rover damage or blocked route | Component/service state, terrain survey, route obstruction | Repair kit, alternate path, a walking fallback, a planned equipment cache | A disabled rover cannot be the only reason the player is permanently stranded. |
| Interrupted survey readings | Local signal quality and physical geological clues | Move the instrument, compare a second exposure, use markers and the map | A poor reading explains uncertainty; it does not erase established observations. |

Weather phases are bounded authored states with a readable forecast and a usable response window. Their exact duration is a balancing question. A player should be able to shelter and continue useful camp work rather than endure a long mandatory period of inactivity. The most dramatic view may be watching a front pass the shelter window, followed by an inspection of a familiar route in changed light.

A rover is a serviceable expedition tool, not an invulnerable portable base. Its supported cabin or shelter function must be stated plainly. Cargo capacity, repair needs, and terrain suitability create useful tradeoffs without simulating every wheel or requiring real driving expertise. If it stops, the player can use carried emergency protection, reach a known refuge, or initiate the established recovery route. The cargo can become a later recovery task with preserved location and state.

Local weather and production follow the saved-state model when their managed region parks. A departure does not advance a hidden calendar that ruins filters, consumes the greenhouse, or destroys a roadside camp. Recovery preserves verified mission evidence and completed construction. The player may lose the benefit of an unfinished sortie under the selected difficulty, but not the only path through the campaign.

## MA-PLAN-05 — Materials and a practical frontier workshop

**PM03 Ferric Lattice** supports repairable frames, rover components, and rugged machinery. **PM04 Brine Catalyst** supports compact processing and improved habitat loops. Their role is sustained work away from the main workshop. Earth frames and conventional habitat supplies remain valid. Mars adds better field engineering choices instead of forcing the replacement of every previously built machine.

| Chain | First reachable source | Initial processing route | Result and use | Boundary against circular progression |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ferric Lattice | Accessible iron-bearing deposits and ordinary compatible structural ingredients in the first campaign region | Preparation and controlled manufacture through established TEC03/TEC08 functions, with a defined forming procedure | Repairable frame stock, modular rover pieces, field-machine supports and construction elements | First craft, rover, shelter, and extraction tools use previously available frames. |
| Brine Catalyst | Contained samples from an upper Brine Scarp interface | Protected separation and concentration through TEC08 with explicit carrier, power, and container needs | A reagent for selected processing improvements and habitat service modules | Imported protection and sampling tools work before the catalyst exists; first life support is complete without it. |
| Field repairs | Imported standardized parts plus common local stock where a supported recipe exists | TEC01/TEC03/TEC04 and the relevant vehicle-service tooling | Replacement fittings, seals, cartridges, tool service and frame repair | Repairs do not unexpectedly require a unique deep chamber sample. |
| Sustained habitation | Brought supplies and later explicitly commissioned local production inputs | TEC05/TEC07/TEC12 supported modules | Food cultivation, charging, defined refill and habitat service | No assumed drinkable surface brine, edible native life, or perfectly closed infinite supply loop. |

The first useful sample batch can return to an established Earth or lunar workshop. A field lab offers faster feedback and reduces repeated transport, but it is not mandatory before the first discovery. Small sample operations emphasize sealed containers, observation windows, a clear working surface, and honest output quantities. Larger production justifies a yard with intake, preparation, manufacturing, service access, storage, and cargo handling.

Ferric Lattice should have a repair-focused identity in both recipes and visuals. A replaceable structural member or standardized service box demonstrates the benefit better than a hidden durability multiplier. Its cost can involve processing time, energy, tooling, and the choice of a useful fabrication site. The final balance should preserve cheaper ordinary frames for simple buildings and short expeditions.

Brine Catalyst enables selected improvements with defined limits. It might reduce the service burden of a supported processing stage or support a more compact habitat module, as specified in the shared machinery plan. It does not produce free matter, eliminate every consumable, or turn every processor into a superior universal machine. Handling has visible clean and contained paths. Reusable containers return to service rather than creating needless disposable-item clutter.

Local extraction remains a bounded site operation. The player surveys a suitable working face or pocket, places a supported rig, provides power and collection capacity, and chooses the batch or excavation boundary. A small camp can perform an initial batch. A mature yard can organize several complementary processes while its region is active. Neither system secretly runs remote factories during absence or uses the protected return allocation to finish an optional order.

## MA-PLAN-06 — The Frontier Yard and a regional home

The **Frontier Yard Controller** grows from a service pad and shelter into a place that makes a whole region easier to use. Its design should expose work: a rover beneath a repair gantry, sample crates beside a lab, a weather mast above the roofline, protected stock, and a greenhouse module visible through a deliberate enclosure. The yard needs room for arrivals, turning, loading, maintenance, and pedestrian access.

| Stage | Visible construction | Service gained | Commissioning evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Service pad and shelter | Prepared stopping area, marked route, sealed refuge, protected stores | A dependable local starting point and rest stop | Access, refuge support, reserve priority, and safe return route are verified. |
| Rover bay and repair gantry | Work platform, lifting/service fixture, tool and component racks | Supported vehicle assembly, repairs and loadout changes | The confirmed vehicle fits; a damaged craft can be serviced without blocking emergency access. |
| Weather mast and map station | Instruments, forecast display, route records | Better local weather confidence and usable regional survey information | It reports its actual coverage and does not invent knowledge of unsurveyed terrain. |
| Materials workshop | Prepared intake, contained sample work, selected fabrication functions | Field processing and more independent repairs | Inputs, power, outputs, containment and service access are clear. |
| Greenhouse module | Commissioned enclosure, beds, light or supported growing services, supply storage | Bounded food production and a more comfortable home | Imported seeds and required inputs suffice; ordinary exterior terrain is not assumed habitable. |
| Regional supply depot | Cargo positions, authorized transfer records, arrival area | Replenishment and repeated journeys with less manual carrying | Transfers reserve existing goods and complete under the established receiving-region rule. |

A mature yard is a collection of useful supported services, not a demand for a city before exploration continues. The player can stop after the refuge and rover bay, build an industrial workshop, or develop a comfortable second home. Each completed stage works independently where its prerequisites are satisfied. Player-built roads, signs, lookout towers, and decorative rooms can connect the authored core to the surrounding landscape.

Regional expansion creates choices. A distant second yard shortens future trips and improves service access but requires materials and a surveyed route. A compact roadside shelter is cheaper and may be enough. A walking camp near a cave can complement a rover depot at the surface. The plan should support these different investments instead of forcing identical large settlements at every objective.

Authored production, construction, visitors, greenhouse consumption, and local events use the same participant-bound activation rules as Earth and the Moon. Stored supplies and completed observations persist. Cargo transfers move already-produced reserved goods and advance when an eligible participant activates the receiving region; they do not require both endpoints occupied simultaneously and do not restart production at the absent source. This lets Mars become a network of homes without becoming an offline maintenance obligation.

## MA-PLAN-07 — The River That Isn't There

The signature mission asks the player to reconstruct a buried drainage route from surface form, core samples, and underground landmarks, then install a survey instrument in a Rootstone Chamber. It begins with something visible from the landing region: a channel arrangement that appears incomplete. Each expedition supplies another piece of the explanation. The completed understanding becomes a usable route through the world.

1. **Read the surface pattern.** A viewpoint in Windcut Tablelands reveals branching Buried Delta channels. The player records the prominent branches and identifies where the visible route disappears. The mission names the observation needed, while the landscape remains the primary clue.
2. **Compare candidate continuations.** Several accessible cross-sections offer samples and differing evidence. The player gathers enough information to distinguish the main continuation from a side basin. Unsuccessful candidates still contribute ordinary geological knowledge or useful resources.
3. **Establish a field camp.** An Ochre Gallery provides a workable sheltered position. The player commissions the supported sealed refuge, records its approach, and makes a plan for equipment movement. This is a practical expedition milestone rather than a decorative checkpoint.
4. **Follow the mineral interfaces.** The route reaches Brine Scarps, where protected sampling links the surface interpretation to a deeper pocket. The imported sleeve or remote arm suffices for the first evidence. Optional living mats are not mandatory clue sources.
5. **Trace the connected structure.** In Rootstone Chambers, the player compares separated exposures and locates a suitable instrument position. Physical ribs, the map, and bounded instrument readings work together. Excavating randomly through a single wall is not the intended substitute for understanding the relationship.
6. **Commission the observation.** The instrument requires an appropriate support, power, calibration interaction, and preserved route. Its display identifies an unsuitable location or missing observation. The successful survey records the connection and produces a clear interpretation within the game's fictional mystery.
7. **Make the route useful.** The mapped connection improves future travel and informs the wider progression record. A new camp or regional yard can reduce later trips. The player can revisit the actual terrain that made the discovery possible.

The mission should preserve uncertainty long enough for interpretation to feel earned, then explain the result plainly. It should not end with a pile of cryptic fragments that cannot inform a decision. The Rootstone observation can relate to Earth's deeper trace family while remaining a predominantly geological expedition. No abandoned alien city is required to make Mars important.

Partial progress persists. A weather interruption can send the crew back to camp without erasing its samples. An instrument failure identifies a missing component or local reading problem rather than consuming the entire project. Co-op players can divide surveying, driving, sampling, and construction; a solo player can stage those tasks over several outings. Completing a particular sample or observation twice cannot multiply campaign rewards indefinitely.

## MA-PLAN-08 — Three concrete expeditions

### MA-EXP-01 — The first channel and the weather window

After landing in Windcut Tablelands, the player verifies the refuge and makes a nearby inspection loop. They assemble or unload the supported rover using pre-Mars components, load ordinary repairs and reserves, and follow a visible terrace toward Buried Delta. The first journey includes a choice between a direct exposed saddle and a longer gully. A forecast change gives a reason to stop at a prepared viewpoint and inspect the approaching front.

The crew maps a channel junction, collects common structural feedstock and a geological sample, then enters a shallow Ochre Gallery from a clearly marked stopping point. A small secured camp allows service and observation while the front passes. The successful return brings useful terrain data, an initial manufacturing opportunity, and a better understanding of weather. The trip is complete without reaching Brine Scarps or building a permanent yard.

### MA-EXP-02 — The buried route and the first catalyst batch

A second outing follows the most promising channel continuation from the mission record. The player brings protected sampling equipment, an expanded reserve, and material for a dependable field camp. Several surface cross-sections narrow the route. In Ochre Galleries, bedding and window-like openings help locate a connection toward Brine Scarps. The first pale crust and contained damp trace announce the change before the main scarp opens.

The meaningful decision is where to work. A nearby pocket permits a modest sample from a stable shelf. A larger source needs a better platform and more cargo handling. The player can complete the campaign evidence with the modest sample, preserve an optional living niche if present, and return without establishing extraction machinery. Back at the yard or an existing home workshop, a first Brine Catalyst batch demonstrates a selected compact-processing or habitat-service improvement. Its benefit is useful, but the expedition was already survivable without it.

### MA-EXP-03 — Rootstone and the second yard

The mature campaign prepares a longer regional journey with a serviced rover, known shelters, spare components, protected instrument cargo, and a clear return allocation. Ferric Lattice refits can reduce the burden of maintenance, while previously available frames remain valid. The crew uses the completed surface and subsurface observations to approach a Rootstone network through a known Brine Scarp route.

Inside, the player follows separated geological ribs, establishes a working platform, and calibrates the mission instrument. A difficult cargo segment invites a constructed crossing or a staged transfer on foot. Completing The River That Isn't There turns the route into recorded knowledge and opens a useful distant approach. The crew may establish a second Frontier Yard near that route, leave a simpler refuge, or return with the discovery and postpone construction. Mars now offers a regional home, industrial opportunities, and mastery journeys rather than a single completed destination icon.

## MA-PLAN-09 — Progression, repeat visits, and return-home value

Mars progression moves through protected arrival, dependable rover operation, weather interpretation, a secure field camp, first local material use, a working regional yard, the connected subsurface investigation, and optional distributed industry. These milestones connect machinery to exploration. A repair gantry matters because a journey has become long enough to justify it. Better sample handling matters because a promising deposit lies beyond the previous convenient radius.

Ferric Lattice supports durable serviceable frames, mobile workshops, and modular repairs back on Earth. Brine Catalyst supports specified compact-processing and habitat improvements. Weather systems can inform exposed Earth facilities and later destinations where relevant. Mars also contributes a coherent construction palette of dusty structural forms, protected windows, service fittings, warm interiors, and useful industrial details. Its importance is wider than the material needed for the next ship recipe.

Revisits can pursue alternative channel basins, more elegant rover routes, new gallery connections, distinct mineral compositions, optional deeper pulse observations, field trials, and personal construction. Mature infrastructure reduces repeated chores and lets a familiar region support different goals. Survey records should explain what differs between a new site and a previously completed one, so exploration is not reduced to gathering the same sample under a new name.

The main outward route continues toward Europa with capabilities and knowledge developed before first arrival there. Mars materials can contribute to that preparation, but outer-world protection cannot require a sample only recoverable with its own finished upgrade. Optional Ceres and Io branches remain optional. A player may leave Mars as a modest expedition foothold or a substantial second home; both are valid expressions of the campaign.

## MA-PLAN-10 — Acceptance criteria and decisions still to resolve

| Reference | Acceptance criterion |
| --- | --- |
| MA-AC-01 | Candidate seeds provide a supported landing, useful nearby inspection, valid first rover or walking route, field-camp site, reachable first materials, and safe return with pre-Mars equipment. |
| MA-AC-02 | Windcut Tablelands and Buried Delta remain distinguishable from the ground and from survey viewpoints; each underground layer has a different spatial and activity identity. |
| MA-AC-03 | Required vehicle routes have verified clearance, turning and stopping opportunities, while maps distinguish walking-only paths from cargo-capable connections. |
| MA-AC-04 | Weather is telegraphed and offers a usable shelter, postponement, or alternate-route response; no first-campaign objective depends on an unpredictable perfect weather instant. |
| MA-AC-05 | First Brine Catalyst sampling uses imported protection and a reachable source; first Ferric Lattice manufacture does not gate the only equipment capable of obtaining its ingredients. |
| MA-AC-06 | A damaged rover has a recoverable state and a supported player escape path; the mission preserves verified evidence when equipment is retrieved later. |
| MA-AC-07 | The buried-drainage mission has consistent clues, understandable incorrect readings, recorded partial completion, and a reachable final instrument site. |
| MA-AC-08 | Optional mat-like life can be disabled without breaking recipes, survival, mission clues, or progression. |
| MA-AC-09 | Frontier Yard stages become useful incrementally, and greenhouse/refill services name their inputs rather than implying free closed-loop survival. |
| MA-AC-10 | Parking and resumption preserve reserves, cargo, authored machinery, construction, weather events, and authorized transfer state under the shared regional rules. |

Open decisions include the regional generation envelope, route and shelter spacing, vehicle handling abstraction, dust-front state timing, the machine-level Ferric Lattice and Brine Catalyst recipes, supported local refill inputs, the frequency and purpose of optional mats, and the exact reward interface for Rootstone observations. These decisions should be resolved through prototypes of a real expedition loop. Additional systems are justified when they strengthen a route, a production choice, or a memorable discovery.

## MA-PLAN-11 — Mars artwork coverage and explicit backlog

The current slice needs one high-level Mars board and an accurate surface/layer/route diagram. The board should convey the surface frontier, the sheltered Ochre Galleries, the isolated Brine Scarps, and the geological scale of Rootstone Chambers. Buried Delta's large branching pattern is especially suited to a precise separate diagram or carefully composed overview inset. Optional mats should remain absent unless that fiction is deliberately selected; the core identity is terrain, engineering, and distance.

| Master register / planning reference | Detailed subject to fill later | Required continuity |
| --- | --- | --- |
| DST02-MA-S1-W / -A | Windcut Tablelands panorama and rover approach | Terraces, valid service route, human scale, distant weather without a uniform red filter. |
| DST02-MA-S2-W / -A | Buried Delta overhead identity and channel interpretation | Matching surface branching, buried continuation clues, a believable ground-level junction. |
| DST02-MA-L1-W / -A | Ochre Gallery spatial identity and field-camp activity | Layered sediment, window-like openings, deliberate sealed camp module. |
| DST02-MA-L2-W / -A | Brine Scarp panorama and protected sampling | Isolated distinct brine, readable shelves, sleeves or remote equipment, optional ecology status respected. |
| DST02-MA-L3-W / -A | Rootstone network and instrument survey | Predominantly geological ribs, linked exposures, traversable negative space, restrained mystery. |
| DST02-MA-S1-ST1 / ST2 | Approaching dust front and sheltered aftermath | Same viewpoint and landmarks so the change is directly comparable. |
| DST02 / SET08 — Frontier Yard Controller | Frontier Yard stages and occupied workshop | Service pad, refuge, rover bay, gantry, mast, lab, greenhouse, depot and clear circulation. |
| DST02 / MA-PLAN-07 | The River That Isn't There evidence and final observation sequence | Surface channels, samples, camp, brine interface, Rootstone instrument and resulting route. |
| PM03 / PM04 | Feedstock, processed stock, component, and installed-use specimens | Ferric Lattice's repairable structure and Brine Catalyst's contained processing role. |
| SPX02 | Brine-sampling sleeve and its field use | Input protection, container closure, tool readability, compatibility with the equipment catalogue. |
| CEC01 | Optional brine mat specimen and light/vibration response, only if the ecology decision enables it | Sparse localized colonies; no essential recipe or campaign dependency; separate from Brine Catalyst's material source. |
| SUP01 | Survey Rover service, loadout, camp approach and regional operation | The confirmed support-vehicle direction, useful cargo, repair access, terrain capability. |
| DST02 / TEC08 | Compact field lab and mature materials workshop | Shared central machine designs, visible workflow, explicit power and containment. |

All of these detailed commissions remain **Detailed artwork — backlog** until an actual matching asset is included. The overview board and diagrams provide high-level coverage only. Writing remains fully documented even where its individual visual studies are deferred.