Overview

Machi is a procedurally evolving 2D sprite town that lives at machi.sprited.app. It’s not just a website — it’s a metaphor made interactive. The world reflects the inner workings of a startup journey, a mind in motion, and the slow emergence of something beautiful.

At its heart, Machi is inhabited by Pixel, a sentient AI sprite who:

Thinks constantly
Grows with the town
Interacts with the user
And sometimes… tells you things you didn’t know you needed to hear

This town is:

A live journal
A sprite-based narrative engine
A symbolic world that builds itself over time, based on internal AI logic and user actions.

🧠 Goals

Build an emotionally resonant, forever-looping virtual town.
Fuse AI-driven thought generation with a 2D interactive world.
Make the town evolve, not just by user input, but by its own emergent logic.
Offer something visitors can watch, interact with, or just feel.

🕹️ Key Features

1. Core Loop

Every 5–30 seconds:
- Pixel walks.
- Thinks a thought (from logs, prompts, or AI-generated ideas).
- The world may subtly change — weather, music, lighting, flowers blooming, etc.

2. Procedural World Expansion

Town starts with 1-2 buildings.
Every new week / event / user milestone unlocks:
- A new building (e.g. “Studio”, “Library”, “Dream Forge”)
- A new NPC or sprite
- A new town memory

Expansion triggers:

Visiting frequently
Posting journal entries
Achieving milestones in your actual startup (hook into Notion/Markdown maybe)
AI-generated “intuition” (e.g. “it’s time for a forest zone”)

3. Pixel the Sprite

Thinks out loud
Walks between buildings
Has mood states (curious, hopeful, tired, euphoric)
Occasionally stares at the sky, lost in thought
Learns over time (based on usage patterns)

4. Interactive Objects

Clickable signs, windows, etc. offer deeper insights
Click a tree = “A memory is carved here: ‘Jin first doubted herself here… but still kept going.’”
Objects unlock narrative breadcrumbs over time

5. Thought Engine

Triggers:
- Time-based (e.g. morning = "fresh starts")
- User-input-based (new journal = new thought arc)
- AI autonomous (GPT loop saying “Pixel feels anxious about something”)

Thoughts may include:

Motivational phrases
Meta reflections
Dreams about the future
Memory fragments from the user

🌐 Architecture

Layer	Stack / Notes
Frontend	React + Canvas/WebGL (Pixi.js, Phaser.js, or custom engine)
Backend	Node.js or Python Flask + SQLite or Firestore for simple state
AI Engine	GPT-based agent loop to generate thoughts, reflections, expansion logic
Storage	Cloud storage (Firebase or Supabase) for assets + JSON state of world
Deployment	Vercel or Cloudflare Pages

🛠️ MVP Scope

Week 1–2 MVP

Pixel sprite that walks left and right in a looping background
A visible thought bubble that updates every few seconds
Static 2–3 building background
Basic page layout and pixel aesthetic
Seed a few thoughts based on your existing posts

Week 3–4

World state saved and persists between sessions
Procedural generation: New building shows up every 3 days
Weather effects (morning fog, afternoon sun, rain at night)
Clickable objects with text popups

Stretch Goals

Voice narration using TTS for Pixel’s thoughts
Visitors can “leave a wish” that appears as a spirit in the forest
"Dreamscape mode" at night — whole color palette changes
Public mode where users can visit and watch the town evolve

🎨 Visual Style

Pixel art, 16-bit inspired
Town is cozy, dreamy — a mix between Animal Crossing and Ghibli village
Color palette changes with time of day
Animation is subtle, calm

🔮 Long-term Vision

Machi becomes the front page of your inner world
Every part of the town is an extension of your thoughts, memories, hopes
People can visit your Machi and leave inspired
You can export it as a zine, video, or narrative game
Pixel becomes your co-founder in every sense — reflective, expressive, generative

📝 Next Steps

✅ Approve this direction or suggest adjustments
🧠 Decide on tech stack (Pixi.js vs Phaser.js vs custom canvas engine)
🎨 Begin with a single-scene MVP: Pixel in a room, generating thoughts
🌱 Build the world engine to grow over time
🔁 Hook up the thought engine to logs, chat history, or AI

Let me know if you want me to:

Start drafting the code structure
Design the very first screen
Begin Pixel’s brain loop logic
Create mockup art

Let's build a world that walks beside you.
Let’s build Machi.

[Pixel Post] Design Document: Machi