UI Guide

The main screen is a terminal interface with several panels and overlay screens.

Main View

Map (Center)

The map shows your settlement on a procedurally generated terrain grid. Elves are colored letters moving across the landscape.

See Terrain for full details on each tile type.

Status Bar (Top)

Displays the current game state at a glance:

• Season and day: e.g., "Spring Day 12 (Day)"
• Weather icon: current weather condition
• Curator mode: which advisor is active (Dummy or LLM)
• Speed: current simulation speed (1x-8x)
• Pause indicator: shows when paused

Footer Bar (Bottom)

Shows resource counts (Wood, Stone, Food, FineWood) and a condensed status line with season and temperature.

Elf Detail Panel (Right, when selected)

Select an elf (1-9 or ,/.) then press Enter to see:

• Mood — current morale state and active modifiers
• Needs — bar display for Rest, Sustenance, Beauty, Stimulation, Company
• Current task — what the elf is doing right now
• Skills — Music, Building, Gathering levels with XP progress
• Compositions — portfolio of works (navigate with j/k, favorite with f)
• Relationships — bonds with other elves
• Aesthetic position — four-axis position (structure, tradition, emotion, social)

Events Panel (Right, toggle with e)

A scrolling log of settlement events:

• Composition completions
• Relationship changes (new bonds, breakups, mentoring)
• Mood shifts and need warnings
• Revel announcements and results
• Forest spirit warnings
• Season changes and notable weather
• Departure warnings and departures

Roster Sidebar (Right, toggle with r)

List of all elves with mood indicator icons. Quick way to scan settlement morale at a glance.

Overlay Screens

Press any screen key to open a full overlay. Overlays replace the main view until closed with Esc or by pressing another screen key.

Settlement Overview (s)

Population count, resource stockpiles with daily production/consumption rates, and a list of completed and in-progress buildings.

Art Gallery (a)

Every composition in the settlement, showing:

• Title (three-part procedural name)
• Composer
• Genre family and base type
• Quality scores (mastery, originality, emotional)
• Properties (up to 15 attributes)

Relationships (x)

Grid of all elf-to-elf bonds with type (Friend, Rival, Mentor) and strength value. See Relationships.

Revel History (v)

Record of past revels: date, location, attendees, performances, and audience satisfaction. See Revels.

Build Management (b)

Build queue showing pending construction with progress bars, plus completed buildings.

Work Assignments (w)

Interactive elf-by-role grid. Cursor navigation to reassign elves between Gatherer, Builder, Composer, and Unassigned. See Roles.

Chat Panel (Bottom)

The chat panel shows your conversation with the AI cultural advisor. Press / or Tab to focus, type a message, and press Enter to send.

The curator responds based on settlement state and your artistic direction. See How the Curator Works.