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Valenar - Start Location Contract

This document defines the opening-location contract for Valenar's first-play pocket. It sits under the broader authorities in gd-world-generation-contract.md, gd-location-generation-contract.md, and gd-feature-generation-contract.md.

Role​

The starting pocket must support the first three acts without pretending that Act 0 is already a settlement game.

  • Act 0 needs survival pressure, partial knowledge, and a discoverable Nexus/Wardheart chain.
  • Act 0 begins in a constrained arrival pocket inside the failing anchor's pull radius. The anchor chain is nearby and discoverable; it is not the default spawn tile.
  • Act 1 needs enough safety and nearby value to support the first protected people around the Core.
  • Act 2 needs enough outward viability to justify founding the first Outpost-tier Settlement.

Guaranteed Structure​

The starting Location must be a normal generated Location with constrained story-bearing content, not a separate tutorial map.

It must guarantee:

  • one viable starting land Location
  • one constrained nearby-arrival pocket on traversable land within the failing anchor's pull radius
  • survivable early access to water, fuel, and shelter clues
  • at least one nearby lead that teaches scouting or survey value
  • a dormant or damaged Nexus/Wardheart chain tied to the starting site (See lore exposure: lh-game1-world-hooks.md — Damaged Nexus row, Starting Nexus row)
  • enough nearby contrast that scouting adjacent Locations changes player choice
  • early pressure signs such as ash, tracks, taint, or unsafe rest conditions

What The Start Must Not Assume​

  • No Settlement exists at game start.
  • The Core is not already established.
  • The first Outpost-tier Settlement is not already founded.
  • The player does not begin with complete survey knowledge.
  • The start pocket is not safe forever just because shield protection exists.
  • The MC does not begin exactly on the anchor by default.

Knowledge Curve​

The generator must support partial knowledge.

  • The player begins with readable survival clues, not full site truth.
  • The ruin or stonework chain should first read as a lead, not as a fully named Nexus/Wardheart system.
  • The arrival pocket should feel causally near to the anchor without exposing the anchor as solved truth on frame one.
  • Nearby Locations should expose different opportunity and danger profiles so scouting is rewarded immediately.

Validation Requirements​

A valid start pocket must satisfy all of the following:

  • the starting Location is traversable land
  • the arrival pocket is a valid near-anchor landing area inside the pull radius rather than the anchor itself
  • early survival resources are reachable without impossible travel
  • the anchor chain can be discovered through grounded play
  • the opening pocket contains both protection and danger signals
  • the generator does not require fabricated map facts or hand-authored site lists outside the published contracts