# Uptown Zero

> Pixel art life sim MMO — arrive in the city with nothing, get a job, rent an apartment, manage finances, and build whatever life you choose. Grind to a penthouse uptown, run a business in midtown, or live quietly in a cabin. No tutorial, no wrong answers. **Coming soon** (pre-production, June 2026).

Marketing site for uptownzero.com by 10k Game Studio / Heuze Productions. Tagline: *Arrive with nothing. Build everything. Or don't.* The game is a persistent shared-world life sim with player-driven economy, spatial social play, and no win state — progress is accumulation and expression, not completion.

**Development status (June 2026):** Pre-production. Laravel marketing site is live on Laravel Cloud. Defold game project, itch.io page, and Discord server are not started. LimeZu tile packs are owned. Current bottleneck: no playable Defold loop. v1 targets **browser-first web export** via Defold; MMO layer is v2.

## Core pages

- [Home](https://uptownzero.com/): Hero pitch — three districts (Downtown, Midtown, Uptown), real financial stakes, and a shared-city multiplayer vision
- [Contact / Discord](https://uptownzero.com/contact): Join the community — Discord is the only way to reach the team; no contact form or email queue
- [Privacy Policy](https://uptownzero.com/privacy): No contact form; optional Google Search Console / Ahrefs analytics when configured; Discord for policy questions
- [Terms of Service](https://uptownzero.com/terms): Informational site; content may change without notice while the project is in development
- [Credits](https://uptownzero.com/credits): Laravel stack, planned Defold/LimeZu assets, Heuze Productions network, and third-party attributions
- [Sitemap](https://uptownzero.com/sitemap.xml): XML index of all public pages on this site
- [LLM index (lean)](https://uptownzero.com/llms.txt): Skimmable summary of core pages only

## Game — concept and pillars

- **Zero to Hero (or not):** Everyone starts at Downtown zero; the endpoint is player-defined
- **Emergent economy:** Player-driven prices, jobs, and supply/demand — NPC-simulated in v1
- **Spatial social:** The city is the social space; bump into people, not friend lists
- **No win state:** No credits screen; progress is lifestyle and accumulation
- **Readable world:** Pixel art keeps district, wealth tier, and mood legible at a glance

## Game — city districts

- **Downtown (The Grid):** Starting zone — shared rooms, hostel bunks, micro-studios; entry jobs (courier, dishwasher, street vendor, busker); businesses: food cart, repair shop, pawn stall
- **Midtown (The Hustle):** Apartments, lofts, real jobs (office worker, barista, personal trainer); businesses: café, gym, boutique, co-working space, bar; investment system unlocks here
- **Uptown (The Peak):** Penthouse condos, fine dining, exclusive clubs; jobs: executive, investor, club owner; reputation-gated access; v2+ content

## Game — core systems (planned)

- **Money & economy:** Wallet (cash on hand), bank account, investments, debt with consequences; macro economy reacts to player activity
- **Jobs:** District-tier requirements, energy cost, skill levels, lightweight shift minigames, random events
- **Housing:** Primary progression anchor — rent or own; affects district affiliation, storage, sleep quality, social status
- **Social & reputation:** Street Cred (Downtown), Clout (Midtown), Status (Uptown) — gates interactions and discounts
- **Businesses:** License → location → hire staff → manage inventory/quality; tick-based when owner is offline
- **Time:** 24-hour in-game cycle compressed to ~60 real minutes (adjustable in v2); day/night affects businesses, NPC density, crime, events

## Game — version roadmap

- **Demo MVP (in development):** One complete "day in Downtown" — walk 1–2 street blocks + hostel interior, 1 job shift minigame, wallet + energy HUD, sleep advances day, day-7 hard cap with conversion screen → uptownzero.com; free itch.io Windows download; local JSON save
- **v1.0 — Downtown (ship goal):** Full Downtown district, 5 jobs with shift minigames, 3 housing tiers, NPC-simulated economy, leaderboard, itch.io page, Discord link in-game; paid purchase on uptownzero.com (~$9.99)
- **v1.5 — Midtown expansion:** Midtown district, player-owned businesses (café, boutique), investment/stocks, reputation (Street Cred + Clout), City Pass cosmetics
- **v2.0 — Full city + MMO:** Uptown district, multiplayer shards (50–200 players), player-to-player economy, business hiring, web/mobile port

## Game — monetization (planned)

- **Base game:** Free demo on itch.io; paid full Downtown release on uptownzero.com
- **DLC / premium:** Cosmetic packs, district expansions, business type unlocks, seasonal event passes — **no pay-to-win**
- **City Pass (v1.5+):** Subscription for cosmetic/content drops

## Game — art and engine (planned)

- [Defold](https://defold.com/): Game engine
- [LimeZu](https://limezu.itch.io/): Pixel art tilesets — Modern Exteriors, Modern Interiors, Modern UI, Modern Office, Modern Farm (all owned)
- **10k Game Studio](https://10kgame.studio/): Developer — one developer, one universe
- Character sprites: TBD — evaluate LimeZu bases vs custom supplement
- UI: LimeZu Modern UI pack as base skin, themed by district palette

## Website — technology

- **Framework:** Laravel 13, PHP 8.3+
- **Views:** Blade templates with embedded CSS (no Vite build required for deploy)
- **Hosting:** [Laravel Cloud](https://cloud.laravel.com)
- **Database:** None — file session/cache, sync queue, static Blade content
- **Analytics:** Optional Ahrefs / Google Search Console via env vars
- **Contact:** Discord only via `DISCORD_INVITE_URL` config

## Community

- [Join Discord](https://discord.gg/qPDQNXSKgq): Updates, feedback, and support — the only community and contact channel (external; server not yet launched per dev schedule)

## Heuze Productions network

Uptown Zero is part of the [Heuze Productions](https://heuzeproductions.com/) network — sibling sites exploring Japanese culture, games, and craft:

- [Book Fairy Tales](https://bookfairytales.com): AI-powered educational stories for kids
- [CSSKitsune](https://csskitsune.com): Japanese-aesthetic design tokens and AI-ready UI prompts
- [E2Japan](https://e2japan.com): Japan landmarks, shrines, and hidden locations
- [Japan Collectors Guide](https://japancollectorsguide.com): Collecting guides for Japanese games and media
- [Japanese Mythical Creatures](https://japanesemythicalcreatures.com): Yokai, kami, and folklore
- [Japanese Wood Joints](https://japanesewoodjoints.com): Traditional joinery techniques
- [Kohibou](https://kohibou.com): Japanese coffee culture and kissaten guides
- [ShrinePuzzle](https://shrinepuzzle.com): Japanese board games and traditional games
- [Spaceship Adventures](https://spaceshipadventures.com): Japanese-aesthetic space RPG
- [The 725 Club](https://the725club.com): SNES and Super Famicom collection tracker

## Optional

- [Laravel](https://laravel.com): PHP framework powering this marketing site (external)
- [Bunny Fonts](https://fonts.bunny.net): Syne and Instrument Sans typefaces used on this site (external)
- [itch.io](https://itch.io): Planned distribution platform for the free demo and paid release (external; page not yet created)