recordstoreguy/WORLDS.md

# RECORD STORE GUY — worlds & setpiece design (v1 draft for John's review)

Tone target: **Uncharted setpiece adrenaline × Dragon's Lair urgency × Looney Tunes
comedy.** Everything is always collapsing, flooding, erupting, or chasing the guy
toward camera, and every wrong/late input is an instant, funny, held-tableau death.
Because every clip is generated to exact spec, there is zero cost difference between
"guy trips over a crate" and "the ocean is a spinning turntable whirlpool with a
needle arm crashing down" — so we ALWAYS pick the wilder shot.

## Premise (one screen, shown as the intro clip)
Closing time, night shift. The guy finds an unlabeled record in the returns bin,
shrugs, drops the needle. The run-out groove bleeds black liquid vinyl — **the Dead
Wax** — and the store starts *playing* him: each "track" warps the shop into a new
hostile world. Survive all seven tracks, reach the turntable, and lift the tonearm
at the exact right beat to end it.

Structure = a record: **7 worlds = 7 tracks**, side A (1–3) escalates the store, side
B (4–6) leaves reality entirely, track 7 is the boss. Between worlds: a 2s "needle
skip" transition clip (screen judders like a skipping record) — hides all continuity
drift and became our scene-change idiom for free.

## The worlds

### Track 1 — CLOSING TIME (tutorial; the shop turns hostile)
Set block: BIBLE SET-A (store floor, night, neon).
Scenes (~4): shelf avalanche dodge (←), giant rolling 12" chases him down the aisle
Indiana-Jones-boulder style (sprint, ↑ to vault the counter), cassette-tape tentacles
burst from the bargain bin and whip at his ankles (jump →), ceiling fan rips loose
and helicopters at head height (duck ↓).
Deaths: flattened under crate avalanche, sneakers-and-thumbs-up tableau · steamrolled
into a groove-embossed pancake by the rolling 12" · mummified in brown cassette tape,
eyes blinking.

### Track 2 — SIDE A / SEA (the flood)
Set block v1: > the record store flooded into an open ocean at night, aisles of
> wooden record racks bobbing like rafts on rolling waves, neon store signs glowing
> underwater, spray and foam, no walls, horizon of black water under a starless sky.
Scenes (~5): floor liquefies, scramble onto a floating rack (↑) · rack-to-rack jumps
across swells, timed to the wave peaks (→,→) · **shark run**: fins circle — the fins
are records — sharks with vinyl dorsal fins lunge as he crosses a chain of half-
sunk crates (←,↑) · whirlpool: the whole ocean starts SPINNING like a platter, a
skyscraper-sized tonearm swings down, ride the outer groove-current and leap the
needle as it plows past (action) · escape: surf a floating gatefold sleeve down a
wave toward the stockroom door (→, action).
Deaths: swallowed whole, camera holds on the shark burping out headphones · sucked
down the spindle-hole at the whirlpool's center like a draining tub, glug ·
mistimed jump, faceplants a rack that tips him in with theatrical slow topple.

### Track 3 — HOT WAX (lava)
Set block v1: > the record store as a volcanic cavern, floor of glowing molten
> orange vinyl, record crates floating like obsidian rafts, dripping melted records
> hanging from shelves like stalactites, ember flecks in the air, red-black palette.
Scenes (~4): hop the crate stepping-stones as they sink one beat after landing
(→,→,↑ rhythm section — this is the "musical" QTE scene) · melted-record stalactite
drips a lava blob — sidestep (←) · **sleeve-dactyls**: gatefold album covers flap off
the walls like pterodactyls and dive-bomb (duck ↓, then action to swat one with a
crate lid) · geyser finale: molten wax geysers erupt in sequence down the aisle,
run the gauntlet toward camera, Uncharted-style collapse escape (↑,→, action).
Deaths: sinks slowly into molten vinyl giving a solemn Terminator thumbs-up ·
snatched by a sleeve-dactyl, exits screen-right screaming, feather (single record)
floats down · one beat late on a geyser — launched skyward, lands as a freshly
pressed 7" with his face as the label.

### Track 4 — B-SIDE / SPACE (roof rips off)
Set block v1: > the record store torn open to deep space, shelving units drifting
> in zero gravity trailing debris fields of floating records, Earth tiny below,
> nebula light in purple and teal, the guy in a fishbowl bubble helmet formed from
> his headphones' glow, silent starfield.
Scenes (~5): decompression — grab a shelf as everything goes weightless (action) ·
zero-g leaps between drifting racks, momentum only, one chance per push (→,↑) ·
asteroid field of tumbling records — weave (←,→,←) · **the black hole spindle**: a
spindle-shaped singularity starts pulling the whole debris field into orbit —
slingshot around it Interstellar-style by kicking off a passing Marantz amplifier
(action at perihelion, the hardest window in the game) · re-entry: ride a flaming
record like a heat-shield surfboard back down through the atmosphere (hold ↓, then
action to bail into the store's chimney).
Deaths: drifts away slowly, tiny, waving politely forever · spaghettified into a
long thin groove around the spindle singularity · re-entry mistimed — arrives as a
smoking crater in the checkerboard floor, hand emerges holding the record, unharmed.

### Track 5 — THE GRID (sucked into the hi-fi — Tron world)
Set block v1: > inside a computerized hi-fi system rendered as a neon wireframe
> world, glowing cyan and magenta grid floor like a giant equalizer, towers of
> circuit-board skyscrapers, records rendered as glowing light-discs, black sky
> with scrolling waveform aurora, the guy outlined in neon piping.
Scenes (~5): equalizer floor — the grid tiles are EQ bars pumping to the bass, cross
during the quiet bars (→ on the beat, ✕2) · **light-disc battle**: Dead Wax security
programs (faceless neon figures) fling light-discs — deflect (←), catch (action),
throw back (→): first real "combat" volley of the game, 3-input chain · derezz
tunnel: a wall of static deletion sweeps the corridor, outrun it toward camera (↑,↑)
· hack the gate: giant spinning platter-lock, hit the action input when the groove
gap aligns (action) · escape on a light-cycle that is obviously a Technics 1200
with wheels (hold →, then ↑ off the ramp).
Deaths: derezzes into pixels that reform as a sad 8-bit sprite of himself, bloop ·
takes a light-disc to the chest, freezes, falls over rigid like a mannequin, clang ·
light-cycle wipeout — respawns momentarily as a screensaver bouncing between screen
edges.
(Tron-adjacent styling note: neon-grid aesthetic is fine; avoid literal TRON
trade-dress terms in prompts — our version is "inside a hi-fi", discs are records.)

### Track 6 — THE RUN-OUT (inside the groove — the Dead Wax's home)
Set block v1: > a surreal endless landscape inside a record's run-out groove, black
> glossy vinyl canyons with concentric ridge walls curving to the horizon, a distant
> impossibly huge chrome needle plowing the groove like a ship's prow, dust motes
> the size of boulders, single spotlight sun, oppressive silence.
Scenes (~4): canyon sprint as THE NEEDLE plows up the groove behind him, monolith-
sized, throwing a bow-wave of shredded vinyl (↑, →, ↑ escalating chase — the
scariest sequence, minimal comedy, earn the finale) · boulder-dust storm — shelter
in a scratch crevice at the right instant (↓) · groove-wall ridge-run: the walls
ripple with the music, ride a ripple crest up and over into the next groove (→ at
the crest) · the label: reach the paper label — a vast circular plain — as black
tendrils erupt from the spindle hole ahead (final approach, action).
Deaths: the needle catches him — screen-filling white scratch-noise flash, then he's
a click in the groove forever (the one genuinely eerie death; earn it) · buried by a
dust boulder, pops out coughing a 78rpm shellac · mistimes the ridge-run and is
flung into the next groove over, has to watch himself rerun the same scene (meta gag).

### Track 7 — THE DEAD WAX (boss)
Set block v1: > the record store restored but wrong, bathed in black glossy liquid
> vinyl dripping upward, the Dead Wax towering as a shifting mass of molten records
> and tonearm limbs over the sacred glowing turntable altar at the listening booth.
Structure — three QTE volleys, Dragon's Lair final-dragon style:
1. **Tendril storm**: dodge chain ←,↓,→ as vinyl tendrils smash the floor.
2. **The remix**: the Dead Wax replays hazards from every world in 1s flashes (shark!
   geyser! disc! needle!) — 4-input rapid chain, one per callback. Victory-lap scene
   that reuses the audience's training.
3. **The needle drop**: the guy leaps onto the spinning platter, runs against its
   rotation in place toward the tonearm, and must LIFT THE NEEDLE on the exact final
   beat of the music (action, tightest window in the game, 0.4s).
Win clip: needle lifts → the Dead Wax deflates into an ordinary record with a
"PROMO — NOT FOR SALE" sticker → dawn light, store normal, he sleeves the record,
files it under "Misc", sips cold coffee. Stinger after credits: the store cat paws
the record back out of the bin. RECORD STORE GUY WILL RETURN.
Boss deaths: pressed between two giant platters into a limited-edition picture disc
of his own face · the remix callbacks get him in whichever way he failed most (if
engine tracks death stats, pick that clip — cheap personalization, huge laugh).

## THE SHIFT — tedium interstitials (John's daily hell, canonized 2026-07-19)
Between tracks, the store snaps back to normal and the guy must do an ORDINARY
JOB TASK — shot and scored with exactly the same life-or-death gravity as the
setpieces. The joke is there is no tonal difference: the ocean of sharks and the
postage calculation are equally lethal. These use **choice windows** (see ENGINE.md
§Branching): 2–3 cues shown at once, pick under time pressure; wrong answers die
OR branch to a punishment level. Beyond Morp arrives with a script; Record Store
Guy's open slate is exactly this: John's actual shift, dramatized.

- **FILING** (recurring, escalating): a record hovers over the crates, genre tags
  glowing. *House… or Techno under House… or Techno?* — 3-way choice, 1.5s. Wrong
  section: the crate row splits open into a pit (BRANCH: fall into "The Misfile
  Dimension" — a punishment mini-level of endless wrongly-alphabetized crates).
  Sequel questions: does "The" count for alphabetizing? Does DJ? **Da Brat: D or
  B?** — the game's recurring unanswerable; whichever you pick, a customer
  materializes to say it's the other one (survive their disappointment, ↓ to nod).
- **THE TAPE** (mimic encounter): sealing a mailer. Two rolls on the counter:
  thin sticky tape and thick sticky tape. One is tape. The other is a MIMIC — a
  D&D-familiar-grade counter-predator that eats your hand to the elbow. Which one
  is real changes per playthrough (both clips generated; engine picks at random —
  first genuinely random-death gag, tutorial for trust-nothing).
- **POSTAGE** (the double-death): customer buys 3 LPs to Belgium. Quote the
  postage — 3-way choice. Overquote: the POSTMAN kicks the door in and executes
  you for bringing the service into disrepute. Underquote: your ACCOUNTANT rises
  from the floor like the Dead Wax, adjusting glasses, and ends you. Exact quote:
  both appear, nod once, withdraw. (Both death clips are premium-tier candidates.)
- **THE BORING GUY**: he approaches. He has thoughts about remasters. Endurance
  QTE: nod (↓) at PRECISELY the right conversational beats — 4 windows across one
  clip while his monologue drones. Miss a nod: he *starts over*. Three restarts =
  death by natural causes (time-lapse: cobwebs, seasons changing through the shop
  window, skeleton in a flannel).
- **THE NAME-DROPPER**: "you got the original 'Frozen Explosion' 12"? not to
  buy — I had three." Trap choice: enthusiasm (↑) = death (45-minute conversation,
  rendered as the store aging around you); naming a rarer record back (→) = he
  evaporates in shame — bonus points; the correct survival play is the
  noncommittal grunt (↓, tight window).
- **MAILERS**: flat-pack record mailer folding as a rhythm QTE — 4 folds, 4 beats;
  wrong fold = papercut = (in this universe) fatal, played with full slow-mo
  operatic gravity.
Placement: one Shift scene between each pair of tracks (6 total), FILING recurs
inside worlds too (filing DURING the flood, treading water). Budget note: Shift
scenes are 1 static location + dialogue-free acting = cheap, reliable gens —
they're the contingency-friendly half of the clip list.
- Wile E. Coyote physics: instant, absurd, painless-looking, held tableau for
  DEATH_HOLD, hero always intact on retry. Never gore.
- Every death is a *punchline to the specific mistake* — late jump gets a different
  death than wrong direction where the budget allows.
- Budget trick: each world gets ONE generic world-death (splash/sink/derezz) shared
  across its scenes + scene-specific deaths only for the setpiece scenes. Dragon's
  Lair reused deaths constantly; nobody minded.

## Clip budget vs the 9000 credits
| Bucket | clips | gens @1-in-2.5 keep | credits (Fast=20) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Action scenes: 31 (4+5+4+5+5+4+4 incl. boss volleys) | 31 | ~78 | ~1560 |
| Deaths: 7 world-generic + ~14 scene-specific | 21 | ~53 | ~1060 |
| Needle-skip transitions (1 per world, reused) | 7 | ~14 | ~280 |
| Intro, win, stinger, attract, game-over | 5 | ~15 | ~300 |
| Quality-tier re-shoots of ~8 hero moments (@100) | — | ~12 | ~1200 |
| **Total** | **~64** | | **~4400** |
Leaves ~4600 credits of contingency — enough to survive a 1-in-4 keep rate or add
a whole bonus world (John will have ideas). Discipline rules in PLAN.md Phase 5 apply.

## QTE difficulty curve
Track 1 windows 0.9s single inputs → mid-game 0.7s with 2–3 chains → Track 6 chase
0.6s → boss finale 0.4s. Checkpoint at the start of each track (checkpoint:true),
5 lives, so a run is tense but finishable — Dragon's Lair quarter-munching cruelty
is the vibe, not the economics.