Designing A City
THX 129, A Transhumanist Dystopia: Design and Development
Designing a city that can stand beside City 17, Dunwall, Rapture, or Columbia is difficult, especially with a small team and limited production bandwidth.
THX 129 needs to feel like a living system shaped by ideology, history, infrastructure, surveillance, class hierarchy, and the slow loss of human culture.
This breakdown outlines the fundamentals, the unanswered questions, and the modular thinking needed to make the city believable.
Requirements
The DNA of THX 129
It all begins with an idea. That idea forms the DNA of the game. The city is where that DNA becomes physical.
The core ideas of THX 129
- The Fourth Industrial Revolution
- Victorian steampunk roots
- Usefulness versus uselessness
- Transhumanism and humanity
- Collectivism and authoritarianism
- The loss of culture
- Self censorship and information control
- Late stage capitalism
- Emergencies as control mechanisms
What the player should feel
- A realistic future pushed too far
- Alienation and loss of humanity
- Fear of trading freedom for safety
- Noise overwhelming truth and signal
- A depressed, mysterious, oppressive mood
- Questions about individualism, liberty, and transhumanism
Preliminary Considerations
Before districts, define the foundations
Before placing districts and landmarks, the city needs physical logic. Geography, terrain, climate, and infrastructure decide how power moves through the space.
A. Geography and Terrain
- Is THX 129 coastal, inland, elevated, flooded, or enclosed?
- Are there rivers, canals, cliffs, industrial valleys, or artificial barriers?
- Does terrain shape class separation and transport?
- Which zones are protected, abandoned, hidden, or controlled?
B. Climate
- Cold, wet, polluted, foggy.
- Rain affects lighting, patrol visibility, sound, clothing, and materials.
- Industrial smog explains masks, filters, sealed districts, and public health control.
- Climate should support mood and gameplay readability.
Visual Foundation
Reference and inspiration
The city should feel built from different layers of time. Old world architecture, speculative structures, industrial machinery, and in engine prototypes need to be unified by color, lighting, and mood.
Layout and Structure
City framework
THX 129 should grow vertically and concentrically. Power sits at the core. Infrastructure, industry, and lower status districts layer outward in controlled rings.
Primary systems
District Specific Features
Each district needs identity and function
Districts should differ through architecture, color, cleanliness, security, sound, lighting, public messaging, and movement restrictions.
| Feature | Prole District | Innoculated District | Debitor Zone | Government Core |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Old, dense, nostalgic | Sleek, vertical, alien | Decayed, brutalist | Monumental, imposing |
| Color palette | Blue, rust, warm lamps | Cyan, black, sterile white | Sickly yellow, brown, red | Black, red, gold |
| Cleanliness | Dirty but livable | Very clean | Filthy | Immaculate |
| Security | Visible patrols | Drones and cameras | Guards and barriers | Full authorization grid |
| Messaging | Nostalgia and loyalty | Progress and purity | Debt and obedience | Obedience is safety |
Final Design Details and Iteration
The process
From signage to street furniture, every detail should reinforce the city’s themes. Iteration keeps the world coherent, oppressive, readable, and playable.
What needs work
- District identity needs stronger rules.
- Transport needs clearer visual hierarchy.
- Old world layers need to be visible beneath TGA control.
- Street furniture and signage need a modular kit.
- Player navigation needs more landmarks and silhouettes.
Next steps
- Create a district map with class boundaries.
- Define climate and weather as gameplay atmosphere.
- Build a modular architecture kit.
- Separate Prole, Debitor, Inclined, and Innoculated visual languages.
- Test the first city route in engine.