A lot more documentation and some experimentation

doc/MVP-Roadmap.md

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+# Minimum Viable Product, and a road map
+
+Right, I'm bogged down thinking about the immensity of what I want to build, so I'm achieving nothing. So the first thing I need to state is what the Minimum Viable Product is, and the second is to outline a rough road map which takes us forwards a few steps from the MVP.
+
+The core idea here is to have a game world in which you can just say anything you like to game characters, and they can say sensible things back.
+
+But actually, I know that speech to text can be reasonably effectively done; and I believe with a slightly lower degree of confidence that text to convincing speech can also be done.
+
+I also know that the movement of a character around a convincing three dimensional representation of a world can be done, but that a great deal of effort is needed to build that world.
+
+The minimum viable product does not need to demonstrate features which people have reasonable confidence can be done. What I need to demonstrate is the things which people haven't seen done, or haven't seen done well.
+
+## Prototype one: the minimum viable product
+
+The minimum viable product can have just a text adventure style interface:
+
+> You are in the market square. It is mid morning. To the north is the guild hall; to the east there are market stalls; to the south is the residence; to the west is the bridge gate.
+
+> There is a merchant here; there is a guardsman here.
+
+To which the user can type (for example)
+
+> Say to the guardsman, "Can you direct me to Master Dalwhiel's house?"
+
+Within that interface, you should be able to interact with characters who:
+
+1. have different levels of knowledge of the world, partly driven by their age, trade and personal history;
+2. move about and exchange gossip, even when the player is not present to see/hear this;
+3. have different attitudes towards the player and other characters, which will be modified by what they learn in gossip;
+4. have their own hierarchies of needs, which they make plans to satisfy;
+5. have homes and trades;
+6. will respond to speech addressed to them by the player depending on their attitude to the player, how busy they are and their knowledge of the world; and
+7. as a stretch goal, will have different dialects in which they will express their responses to the player.
+
+There should be one or two multiple decision point quests in this world which can be resolved by talking to characters.
+
+## Prototype two: adding organic quests
+
+Extends prototype one only by adding [organic quests](Organic_Quests).
+
+## Prototype three: voice interaction
+
+Extends prototype two by adding speech to text, so that the player can directly talk (via a microphone) to characters, and text to speech, so that the system can voice the characters' responses.
+
+Different characters should have different voices.
+
+## Prototype four: performative speech
+
+This one is hard because I'm not absolutely sure how I can do it, but I need characters' voices to convey emotion; the player needs to know from their voice whether they are angry, or frightened, or impatient, or bored.
+
+## Prototype five traversible world
+
+Now, a small section of a three dimensional open world, with at this stage simple block buildings that the player cannot enter, within which the characters act out their lives.
+
+Stretch goal, [JALI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFIxiz0jwRE)-like lip sync.