jc-pixel-map-v1

JC Pixel Map v1 — Public-First Cold Start

Goal: Ship a pixel-art map of downtown Jersey City populated entirely with public locations (library, parks, waterfront, landmarks, public art) plus Dungeon Books. No partner businesses on the map at launch. Businesses bid in after seeing engagement.

This resolves the load-bearing gap in outsiderpg-platform-vision Phase 2 — the “no off-the-shelf pack does modern urban top-down well” problem becomes lower-stakes when the locations are public infrastructure that doesn’t need accurate facades.

Strategic Reasoning

The original Phase 2 plan implicitly waited on partner businesses agreeing to be on the map. That’s a chicken-and-egg blocker — you can’t pitch shops on a thing that doesn’t exist, and you can’t build the thing without venues.

Public-first inverts the supply side. Public locations don’t have opinions about being included. They can’t say no. You have day-one supply with zero negotiations.

Public-first inverts the sales motion. Instead of cold outreach to businesses about a hypothetical, members engage publicly and businesses ask to join. Inbound vs outbound. Inbound gives pricing leverage and pre-validates demand.

Public-first legitimizes the artifact. A map with one private business feels like marketing. A map with 12 public landmarks plus Dungeon Books feels like a guide to the city that happens to include the guild hall. The framing shifts from “loyalty program with map gimmick” to “JC as game world that includes our shop.”

Public-first lowers the art bar. The map can stylize JC as fantasy village without anyone complaining their storefront is unrecognizable. Library = “the Library” (any tower works). Park = “the Grove.” Public murals become “shrines.” This unblocks the off-the-shelf pack question — Mini Medieval covers fantasy infrastructure cleanly.

Scope

The first map is the walkable core of downtown JC — roughly an 8–12 block area, ~600×800px canvas. Not citywide. Not a Stardew-scale project. Hand-composed from Mini Medieval tiles.

Locations on day one

Public anchors that need no permission:

• Mary Norton Library (Five Corners or Heights branch — pick one based on map frame)
• Hamilton Park / Van Vorst Park / Liberty State Park access (whichever falls in frame)
• Jersey City waterfront / Exchange Place vicinity (if in frame)
• Public murals in the canvas area (JC has many — easy quest fodder)
• City Hall
• A couple of churches as visual landmarks
• Light rail / PATH station access points
• Dungeon Books (the only “private” location at launch — it’s ours)

Aim for 8–12 location pins on the v1 map. Enough to feel populated; few enough to draw quests for each.

Out of scope for v1

• Other businesses (none until inbound interest after launch)
• Real geography precision (fantasy-stylized, not GIS-accurate)
• Multi-neighborhood (Heights, Bergen-Lafayette, Greenville come later)
• Player-vs-player movement on the map (members “are at” a location based on check-ins, not WASD)
• Animated weather, day/night, ambient NPCs

Verification

All quest verification methods are already in the dungeon-club-game-design-document Section 8. No new infrastructure:

• Photo proof to Discord — staff manual approval (works for any location)
• Browser geolocation — soft check, not anti-cheat-grade but adequate
• QR codes planted at locations — laminated card taped to a shelf at the library, posted on a community bulletin board, etc.
• Web NFC tags — same physical primitive Guild already uses, planted at public locations
• Square purchase — only for Dungeon Books on the v1 map; other locations can’t use this until they partner

Mix-and-match per location. Library: photo proof. Waterfront: geolocation. Mural: photo. Dungeon Books: existing NFC + Square.

Quest Density

Each public location supports 1–3 quest types out of the gate:

• Library: “Get a library card.” “Borrow a book.” “Attend a library event.”
• Park: “Read a book in the park.” “Photo of the view from [vista].”
• Mural: “Find the [name] mural and photograph it.”
• Waterfront: “Walk the waterfront and photograph the skyline.”
• City Hall: “Vote in the next election” (longer-cycle, big XP).

8 locations × 2 quests average = 16 active quests, easily authored by one person. Plenty for the first 50–200 members.

Sequencing

This plan does not start today. It comes after pixel-layer-v1 (member sprite on dashboard) ships and accumulates signal.

1. Pixel-layer-v1 ships sprite on dashboard. Watch member reaction in Discord.
2. If signal is positive: build interior scene (Phase 1 from outsiderpg-platform-vision) — Dungeon Books interior with sprites on check-in.
3. JC pixel map v1 (this doc) — replaces the original Phase 2 with public-first scope.
4. Watch which businesses ask to join after they see members engaging.
5. Phase 2.5 — onboard inbound businesses. Pricing TBD based on demand intensity.

Pixel-layer-v1 → Phase 1 → JC map v1 → inbound business onboarding.

Load-Bearing Decisions

• Map frame. Which 8–12 blocks of downtown JC define the canvas? Anchored on Dungeon Books, but should include enough public density to populate without business pins. Pick before any art work.
• Stylization rule. Fantasy-village rendering of real geography vs Pokemon-Gold-style modern town. Locked: fantasy village (cheaper, on-brand, leverages Mini Medieval, lowers facade-fidelity expectations).
• Quest verification per location type. Document the matrix: which methods work for which location categories. Affects authoring speed.
• Public-launch readiness. Trademark on OutsideRPG must be filed before any public-facing use of the name (per outsiderpg-platform-vision). The map can launch under dungeon.club branding without OutsideRPG mention.

Why This Is the Demo Artifact

This is the build that earns 15 minutes from someone like Thariq or Hisham. Not a deck. Not a description. A URL where they can:

1. See downtown JC rendered as a game map
2. Click a location pin (library) and see active quests
3. See real members who completed quests at real locations
4. Understand in 60 seconds that this is OMM-with-revenue-underneath, working at one-shop scale

The business model story (shops paying to be on the map) becomes plausible because the engagement story is already true.

Anti-Pattern: Pixel UI Frame Work

The kiosk pixel UI redesign attempt on feat/kiosk-pixel-redesign (May 2026) was a red herring — flair without substance. Decorating shadcn cards with pixel borders doesn’t move the OutsideRPG vision forward. The pixel layer that matters is the map, not the chrome. Branch parked.

Lesson: pixel work that doesn’t render the world or the player is decoration. Spend pixel budget on world and characters, not UI furniture.