Game Elements (The Spyder in the Cathedral)
Loose Egyptian theme
The designs of outfits, buildings and the landscape are loosely based on Ancient Egypt.
Most notably, the game (roughly) travels down a great river. Boats can be used to access previously visited cities.
The Cathedral
The monolithic company, or set of companies, that runs everything. It's not evil, and its employees are rightly proud of what they accomplish, but it is misguided and authoritarian.
The Protagonist frequently runs into petty bureaucracy, anti-customer secrecy or the commercialisation of services.
Cathedral Stores
These combine:
- Shops
- Healing (for a price)
- Locked Tuxemon services, like leveling up and applying TMs/HMs
Pillars
Each of the five pillars is a different business, responsible for a different set of tuxemon, which it sells (in locked form).
Names
The five businesses that make up the Cathedral:
- Omnichannel: Media, publishing and broadcasting (Metal)
- Nimrod Armaments: Policing, security, armaments and military (Fire)
- Greenwash: Genetic engineering, chemistry, etc. (Wood)
- Shaft: Mining, extraction, etc. (Earth)
- Scoop: Fast food, junk food, factory farms, etc. (Water)
The challenge
The Pillars' staff and managers offer prize money as a way of advertising the strength of the tuxemon that that particular Pillar sells.
They won't give that deal to people with unlocked tuxemon, but instead they agree to a bet: if you win, they unlock their Pillar-speciality tuxemon for everyone! (They're that confident of victory).
Each Pillar has roughly one three-stage, one two-stage and one oddball speciality tuxemon.
Team Bazaar
A loose organisation of hackers, pirates and lovers of liberty who collaborate on shared projects and try to establish a commons. They meet wherever they can, including:
- Campsites
- Libraries and museums
- University campuses
- Cafes
- Pirate radio stations on boats
- People's houses
- Abandoned mansions
- Marketplaces
They offer friendly duels, and free healing to those contributing to the Tuxepedia project.
Tuxepedia
A project by Team Bazaar to create a shared, free, open repository of knowledge on tuxemon.
Fusion
An experimental technology developed by the Cathedral, allowing you to combine two tuxemon in the same body. Spyder wants the tech for themselves, but they claim to be acting out of public concern.
Not available at the start of the game.
Spyder
A secret faction within the Cathedral that wants to "monetise the world". They secretly set up and now command the Enforcers.
Not known about at the beginning of the game.
Spyder Bite/The Virus
A virus that infects tuxemon. The virus can be cured if the tuxemon's DNA is available, but Locked tuxemon have inaccessible DNA.
Spyder sets upa quarantined hospital to "cure" the virus - but actually they plan to seize any unlocked tuxemon and use them as part of their power grab.
Locked tuxemon
Tuxemon bred, raised or distributed through the Cathedral's channels are "locked", which means their DNA is restricted using DNA Rights Management (DRM). For example, levelling can only occur at a Cathedral Store.
It's not illegal to own unlocked tuxemon, but the Cathedral does make it difficult to use them.
Also, now the Cathedral is designing its own tuxemon, which will only be available in licensed form.
Rivals
Your rivals are bratty, privileged kids who only see the benefits of the Cathedral. They're convinced of their rightness.
However, as they explore more - and as your unlocked tuxemon beat their locked ones - they mellow. They start using the Tuxepedia and complaining about the Cathedral. Then their tuxemon contract Spyder Bite, and they come to you for help.
In the final battle against the Spyder executives, your rivals fight alongside you.
Phone
Your phone doubles as the game's menu, so as you add apps your options expand.
Some apps only work where there's WiFi - i.e., cities and some towns, and on occasion other locations. The BANK APP and the TUXEMON STORAGE APP are two key apps that use WiFi.
Trainers
Unless otherwise specified, a TRAINER's tuxemon knows whichever are the four most recent moves it gained access to.
Where a Pillar has a speciality TM, all eligible tuxemon in the Pillar know the move from that TM.
A trainer gives money equal to: $7.5 * the level of their highest tuxemon + $5 * the level of their second highest tuxemon + $2.50 * the levels of all their other tuxemon put together.
Named trainers, like your RIVALS, PILLAR LEADERS, etc., give that amount * 10.