This is just to say sorry for not updating in the last few days, but it doesn't really matter; all I've really done is tinker with Pyro. It has static maps now, and friendly NPCs that you can talk to, and very rudimentary faction support. It's not proper factions yet; I still need to work on that, but it's getting there. Oh yes, as per Staffan's advice, I've also begun to create the (for now) static setting that the demonstration takes place in. The rationale for having a static setting instead of a generated one is simple... it saves time and creates an invariant to measure the performance of our system against, so that we know that if something is weird, it's because of our system and not the setting generator gone bonkers.

I also tried to slog through Craig Lindley's The Semiotics of Time Structure in Ludic Space As a Foundation for Analysis and Design, and argh, I think it melted my brain after just a few sentences. Nevertheless, it contains a few nuggets that I find useful; for instance, confirmation that I'm on the right track with the conflict structure mentioned earlier. Lindley compares it to the classic three act play structure, and I get the impression that this is pretty standard fare. All the more reason to think it'll work, then.