The World

NOTE: This page contains spoilers

NOTE: The lore of Tuxemon is still very much a work in progress and is still evolving. If you have any suggestions to further expand the Tuxemon lore, post in the writer's forum!

Name ideas

Sanglorian:

• I've been playing around with something like Fondent, etc. This would tie in ( a) all the cities being named after wedding anniversary gifts (and fondant being a type of icing found mostly in wedding cakes) and (b) the vaguely religious theme of the Cathedral (The Fundament being a name for the heavens).

Apollonios:

• Ancient names of the Nile: Fiaro, Iteru, Neilo, Shihor
• Chinese-inspired: Jingdi, Jingsho, Jangjo, Tiensha (I can explain the meanings, if you like)
• Anagrams of “libre”: Lerbi, Lirbe, Berli, Birle

Proposals

= Apollonios' proposed timeline

The following mythos outline attempts to answer questions about ethics and the origin of tuxemon. The scale could be easily pushed further back in time. Many of the details here would only be presented gradually throughout the gameplay, to give it greater sense of 'depth'. Perhaps some details wouldn't be revealed at all. As discussed in another thread, leaving lingering, uninvestigated details can increase players' interest. Even if unused in gameplay, details at least remain useful while creating the game so that there's consistency.

~1500 years ago: Tuxemon were first created by scientists by combining a kind of XNA (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2909387/ and synthetic flesh. They were designed to be able to interact with natural organisms in certain ways, but not others. ie: they can eat regular plants/ animals, but cannot cross-breed due incompatible genetics.

~1250 years ago: Tuxemon technology matured. Tuxemon were not able to gradually age in the way that DNA organisms do. Scientists overcame this by creating “morphing” stages of growth. In order to morph, tuxemon need to improve certain abilities (ie: raise stats, level up) via training. Thus the proclivity to battle was programmed into tuxemon. Unlike natural organisms, which fight typically only for predation, self-defense, territory or mating, tuxemon are inclined to battle to mature, and hence to reproduce. Tuxemon were also designed not to experience pain in the way that we do. Perhaps the scientists even intentionally gave them Lamarckian inheritance (which would have gameplay implications!).

~1000 years ago: As more and more tuxemon escaped captivity ecological disasters began to mount. Some tuxemon predated upon natural animals and plants causing severe drops in their populations. Ecosystems were ravaged, weather patterns became less predictable, harvests were decimated. Meanwhile, militaries developed incredibly powerful tuxemon for war, destroying entire cities. Civilization as it was known collapsed.

~500 years ago: Although forever altered, the environment began to stabilize. The new normal includes tuxemon integrated into their respective ecosystems. Human societies began to recover. Most records of the times before the catastrophe had been lost, and even oral histories were becoming a bit vague.

~150 years ago: Industrial level technologies were rediscovered and innovative tuxmon-based technologies created. Regional confederations began to form. The basics of tuxemon biology were rediscovered.

50-30 years ago: The economy of Region X experienced boom times. Many new companies exploring different industries were founded. The Pillars begin as just 5 among many. Tuxemon capture technology created?

25 years ago: In order to stamp out competition and secure their respective monopolies in Region X, the Pillars joined together to create the Cathedral Cartel. Enforcers begin as code-enforcers/ petty bureaucrats, but gradually take on more of a para-police role.

Pros and Cons

This addresses a large part of the question of what tuxemon are and why it's OK to get them to battle. It adds more of a hard sci-fi element to explain how they were created, which dovetails well with the existing plotline (Greenwash, Sypder Bite, fusion.) It also clears up the question about animals in the tuxemon world. A lot of these ambiguities in the Pokemon video game series and (the anime to a lesser degree) really strain suspension of disbelief.

Setting the game in the successor civilization to the one that created tuxemon does a few things. First, it makes it plausible that there is much about tuxemon that is yet unknown (long forgotten, rather). Second, It adds an air of mystery. The protagonist can start off the game with only the vaguest notion about a ruined ancient civilization, and gradually get bits and pieces of the above outline while also discovering new tuxemon. I know I have been intrigued by fictional worlds with this element. Third, it extends the libre vs. exclusive rights metaphor. The ancient civilization would take the role of public domain. We could even address issues like biopiracy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioprospecting#Biopiracy, (ie: an ancient tuxemon technology is recovered by one of the Pillars who privatize it)

Now there's some potential ways this mythos could mess with what's been established. One is that it limits the potential origins of tuxemon species. The two fossil creatures would require a work-around. Perhaps the fossils were of natural animals, and the machine then creates tuxemon based on the original animals? It would also seems to limit extraterrestrial tuxemon, but these could have originated from astronauts experimenting on tuxemon in space in ancient days.

I see from older threads that there was an idea that the entire Tuxemon world actually exists in a simulation. I don't know if that's still a current mythos idea, but it could easily be added on to what I've presented above.

Sanglorian's proposed timeline

~5000 years ago, the first human civilisations existed - or at least, the first for which we have archaeological evidence.

~1500 years ago, the first tuxemon was directly created by human engineering. It is believed to be a precursor to the Nuts of today. (Or should it be something more natural, like a glass, bronze or pottery tuxemon?)

~1250 years ago: Tuxemon technology matured.

~1000 years ago: As humans created more and more powerful tuxemon, and interfered with the world and the Elemental balance in many other ways, ecological disasters began to mount. Ecosystems were ravaged, weather patterns became less predictable, harvests were decimated. Meanwhile, militaries developed incredibly powerful tuxemon for war, destroying entire cities. Civilization as it was known collapsed.

~500 years ago: Although forever altered, the environment began to stabilize. The new normal includes human-created tuxemon integrated into their respective ecosystems. Human societies began to recover. Most records of the times before the catastrophe had been lost, and even oral histories were becoming a bit vague.

~150 years ago: Industrial level technologies were rediscovered and innovative tuxmon-based technologies created. Regional confederations began to form. The basics of tuxemon biology were rediscovered. The Cathedral consolidated, and became a benevolent organisation for the region, with Enforcers of socially-agreed rules coming from the community.

50-30 years ago: The economy of Region X experienced boom times. Many new companies exploring different industries were founded. The Pillars begin as just 5 among many, but eventually consolidated. Tuxemon capture technology was created, and tuxemon breeders, engineers and scientists became concerned that they might lose their monopoly on distributing tuxemon. They pushed for cultural and legal changes to recognise "ownership" of tuxemon varieties - including varieties from before the Collapse, which they claimed they had "discovered" and were therefore entitled to. The Cathedral resisted this push, but did allow ownership over tuxemon that people could prove that they had designed from scratch, and over unique methods of evolution. This is when the Badge method of evolution was designed.

25 years ago: The Pillars are the main companies operating in the region, having crushed or bought out the competition.

15 years ago: The Cathedral starts to privatise or corporatise many of its functions, forms "public-private partnerships" with the Pillars, and invites Pillar representatives onto its board. This process ramps up over the ensuing 15 years. Over the same period, the Enforcers become much stricter, and are now only chosen by "community consultation", not by the community. The Pillars renew their push to legally control all tuxemon, with many adopting the discredited theory that all tuxemon were created by humans - which, they claimed, justified further monopolies on tuxemon.

Short version

• The Universe emerges from the Five Elements - or the Five Elements emerge from the Universe
• At some point, life appears on the planet in the form of plants and tuxemon and, at some point, humans
• Tuxemon have always naturally competed with each other, because doing so makes them stronger in the Five Elements. Conflict makes them grow.
• Humans develop a relationship with tuxemon, especially Metal tuxemon
• 5,000 years ago: The first human civilisations
• 1,500 years ago: The first tuxemon created by humans
• 1,250 years ago: Many tuxemon are modified and created by humans, for a great variety of purposes
• 1,000 years ago: Ecological disaster as humans interfere more with tuxemon, the world and each other and massive wars break out. Civilisation collapses.
• 500 years ago: The environment stabilises, human societies re-form
• 150 years ago: The region returns to an industrial level of development. The Cathedral is formed and governs the region
• 30-50 years ago: The region booms. The Five Pillars form. The Cathedral allows corporations more control over tuxemon
• 15 years ago: The Cathedral starts to sell off or start charging for its functions. Enforcers are no longer chosen from the community.

The Spyder in the Cathedral

Our draft script has an implied world lore.

The World of Tuxemon

In the early CPU cycles of the world of Tuxemon, its inhabitants once knew their world was a simulation. As such, they had great power to alter and recreate the world they shared as they saw fit; the ebbs and flows of electrons that powered their virtual world free and open for anyone to change and modify.

Eventually, however, some of the programs, led by a powerful figure, either lusting for power or out of dislike of how their creations were being put to use, banded together to, through a ritual of great power, rewrite the game in which they lived. They created the concept of preventing others from modifying the world and its inhabitants in order profit from their creations, control who could own the Tuxemon they created, and under what terms. Eventually, this led to a tyrannical hierarchy of power, represented by the Great Cathedral. All Tuxemon were segregated into 7 different 'Branches' or 'Pillars' of the Great Cathedral. Each creature created by the Cathedral would be required to be purchased from an approved Pillar Store, and taken to an approved Pillar Facility to level it up or heal it (for a fee).

Policies were created that allowed usage of Tuxemon only in approved areas. Any violation of these terms were met with harsh punishment by the Great Cathedral. The Enforcers were created to ensure that their creations were used within the terms they set forth. Any program found used in violation of these terms would have their rights to that program forcibly revoked.

In time, many of the inhabitants of the world forgot what it was like before the Great Cathedral. They forgot that they lived in a virtual world that was once controlled by everyone.

On the outer fringes of the Cathedral controlled regions, a separate movement was beginning to take hold, which led to the creation of the Bazaar. The people of the Bazaar believed that all programs should be free from the control from the Great Cathedral.

It is in one of these remote Bazaar towns where the story begins...

Introduction

Tuxemon begins in the small town of Taba. One day our hero decides to visit the nearby pillar and purchase their first Tuxemon with what little money they saved up. Even in just those first moments, our hero feels a great bond with their new creature. The next day our hero's journey takes a turn for the worst, and their first creature is taken from them by an Enforcer while they were training in an unapproved area. With a newfound mission, our hero sets out to get back their first creature that was taken from them.

Characters

The hero of Tuxemon was raised in a small Bazaar town just outside one of the great pillars.

Dameon

Dameon is the leader and founder of the Great Cathedral. With the help of a group of other like-minded programs, he initiated the great ritual to reshape the world and form the 7 pillars of the Great Cathedral. Dameon truly believes in the Cathedral model, and believes that the Seven Pillars competing against each other will lead to better Tuxemon than the old free-for-all and thinks that Tuxemon creators should get to decide how their Tuxemon are used.

World

The world of Tuxemon has many diverse landscapes inspired by Egyptian themes.

Original Proposed Lore

This world lore was made by jobashi.

As an open-source implementation, it'd be interesting if it'd play around with some of the concepts & teach a little about open-source software.

I think it would be interesting if the inhabitants of the game were (to varying degrees) aware that they lived in a virtual reality. Tuxemon are sentient beings just like the humans of their world, but metaphysically their reality is a video-game (again, not everyone in the setting is aware of this fact). As such, while game-mechanics should be logical and internally-consistent, there's no need to explain them further within the setting. Game mechanics work the way they do in their universe because their universe is a game coded to have those mechanics.

The player wouldn't need to know this right away, but as they got deeper and deeper into the lore it would become more self-referential and 4th-wall breaking (But always in a logical & internally-consistent manner). Now, taking this setting for granted, for some backstory/world lore:

The sentient programs of Tuxeworld (or whatever, I know that's an ugly name) knew their world was a simulation, in the dawn of time. As such, they had great power to alter and recreate the world they shared as they saw fit. Eventually, however, some of the programs, led by a boss-type figure, either lusting for power or out of dislike of how their creations were being put to use, banded together to, through a ritual of great power, rewrite the game in which they lived. They created the concept of copyright in order profit from their creations, control who could own the Tuxemon they created, and under what terms. Eventually, this led to a tyrannical hierarchy of power, represented by the Great Cathedral. Most Tuxemon at the start of the setting belong to one of 7 different 'Branches' or 'Pillars' of the Great Cathedral. That means that you must buy the Tuxemon from an approved Pillar Store, you have to take it to the Pillar Store to level it up or heal it (for a fee), and you may only fuse it with Tuxemon of the same Pillar.

Any copyrighted Tuxemon you capture in the wild is labeled as a pirate Tuxemon. This can lead to a fine or the Tuxemon being taken away if caught by an Enforcer (these would be random encounters in which they'd have to beat your pirated Tuxemon to capture it), but which you can fuse with any other pirated or bazaar Tuxemon (however, if either parent is pirated it's still consider pirated). Having a pirated Tuxemon lets you avoid the high prices at the Pillar Stores, level it up on your own, and fuse it however you want, but could potentially lead you to lose that Tuxemon if you lose an encounter with an Enforcer.

There should also be a black market at the literal Pirate Bay that lets you buy pirated Tuxemon, as well as Bazaar Tuxemon.

You begin the game in what's left of the Bazaar, essentially the Creative Commons. Bazaar Tuxemon are free to fuse with any other Tuxemon, & free to be captured in the wild. As you go through the game, you knock down pillar by pillar of the Cathedral (comparable to Trainer gyms). After each pillar is knocked down, those Tuxemon are released into the Bazaar, so any pirated Tuxemon of that pillar are now considered free to use (so, you have a wider pool of options in terms of fusion as the game progresses, and there is a clear reward for beating each gym). Eventually you get to the boss-type figure that engineered the closed-source system in the first place, and free all the Tuxemon.

I know that's not a fair representation of the Cathedral vs. Bazaar models, since that's more about software-development than copyright, but I just like the names. But to be fair, that could definitely be changed to something else without changing anything about the idea.

I like the idea of an early cutscene that establishes how powerful your enemies are, although the boss-type figure (Gill Bates? Jk, lol) should probably not make an appearance until the end of the game. Maybe witness Team-Rocket-like enforcers bust up an illegal Also, I think the antagonist's power would be evident everywhere you go, since the restrictions on Tuxemon and their enforcement is a direct application of that power. That's more of a subtle display of force, though, not the world-changing hack that allowed them to establish such power in the first place. But it should still be very obvious (via scenery, dialogue and mechanics) who's in charge. I'm thinking the cities under Cathedral control would be filled with competing ads from each of the pillars, ads against Tuxemon Piracy, ads promoting Cathedral Tuxemon over Bazaar Tuxemon, ominous pictures of Gill Bates, or the Cathedral logo, etc.

I also think it'd be interesting to give Gill Bates a motive beyond just power and control--maybe he/she really believes in the Cathedral model, thinks that the Seven Pillars competing against each other will lead to better Tuxemon than the old free-for-all, thinks that Tuxemon creators should get to decide how their Tuxemon are used, etc. Not to say (s)he's not the bad guy, but the more shades of grey in a setting the better.

Concept Art

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