Nexus Roadmap
Groundwork
Work on Nexus began in 2015 as an abstract idea. Over ten years - a series of experiments, some failed, some successful. The successful mechanics stuck and evolved from project to project.
Just an idea (2015-2018)
Working on Predynastic Egypt and Egypt: Old Kingdom revealed the limits of the classical approach to game development. Searching for a solution led to the concept of a "Universal Game".
Experiments (2018-2022)
Failed attempts to implement individual ideas of the universal game, but each one brought useful discoveries. The result - Flint Age, the first project on a data-driven approach, where the map and interface are generated from data. Core UI and UX ideas.
Next Run (2022-2025)
Proof of universality: playing as a lord or a mage, in the strategy or RPG genre. Modularity, entity unification: monsters, items, spells. A hexagonal map with objects in each tile. Modifications through Steam Workshop.
Strategy
Nexus is developed in stages through a series of simulations, each advancing the system. Stages are published on the site and on Steam (planned). Players try them out, we listen and adjust course.
With each stage, some work wraps up while other parts keep evolving. For example, the Nexus language and LOD are developed across all stages. Each new simulation is a new challenge for the language and pushes it further.
The order of stages isn't rigid. The roadmap sets a direction, not a detailed plan. Near-term stages are described more concretely, distant ones more abstractly. Plans will be refined as work progresses.
Stage 1. Concept - Done
Developing the project concept. What it looks like, how it's implemented, what the stages are, what the risks are. Details
Stage 2. Tech version - Done
Implementing the Nexus core, eliminating technical risks. Architecture on triples, predicate system, AI as translator. Testing the system on first simulations. Try it
Stage 3. 2D client and networked play - Done
Hex map, UI and UX through triples. Networked play. Testing the AI translator. First working simulation - the Solar System. Details
Stage 4. World generation and scaling
A series of simulations: star system generator, mythical cosmogonies, world generator. Transitioning from a space map to a world map by zooming in. Basic world properties: biomes, continents. Expanding the Nexus language - more predicates, more flexibility.
Stage 5. Porting Clarus Victoria games to Nexus
Studio games become simulations on the hexagonal map. The language of historical strategies - more entities, deeper mechanics. Flora and fauna, technology tiers, event system. Zooming from a star system down to individual buildings.
Stage 6. RPG, agent model
Nexus at the level of individual characters. Stats, skills, traits. Learning, work, groups. Connection to the strategic layer.
Stage X. Advanced features
Time and space scaling. Scenario generation. Visualization modes: from first person to global scale. 3D/voxel engine. Adaptive interfaces and sound.
Nexus 1.0 - when everything described in the articles becomes a working engine.