GLm

GL m
GAME
R:
| context and mechanics
GLm
GL m R: PILOT

GAME
A PvP FFA mecha brawler with Pilot relationships
that shift and evolve in response to how you fight LOADOUT
rin MELEE MODULE A T T I T U D E

RANGED MODULE -2
DEFENSIVE MODULE 0 0 -2

ch
mat Module(s)
t
MATCH star EXCHANGE change

! TRIGGERED ! rin
NOT ATTACKED :(

×
retsy why didnt you
attack me??
R E T S U KO

rin R E T S U K O Trigger(s)
AT TA C K

K
C
T
A analyzed It’s called tactics. And
T
A don’t call me “retsy.”
rin

retsyretsyretsyretsyretsy
retsyretsyretsy
jack LALEI
 | triggers and trigger profiles
TRIGGER PROFILES
R E T S U K O Pilots Like, Love, Dislike, or Hate different types of fighting. These Triggers cause
Pilots to react to other Pilots that fight in those ways. Triggers are recorded during
TRIGGER PROFILE each Match and play dialogue Exchanges that develop with each iteration.

LIKES TO WIN +2 Depending on the intensity of the Trigger (Like, Love, Dislike, or Hate), Pilots will
also have longer-lasting emotional reactions that decay over time: their Attitude.
LOVES BIG RISKS +3
Each Pilot has three such Triggers, together called their Trigger Profile.
HATES TAUNTS -3

PILOT PILOT ACTION TRIGGER CHECK EVALUATION POST-MATCH EXCHANGE

√ HIGH-RISK
RUSTY NUKE HISTORY
UPDATE Keep nuking me, I love it.

YO MAMA
HISTORY No, she’s not. I told

√ TAUNT UPDATE you she’s not. Stop.

ATTITUDES
Pilot Attitudes track the frequency and recency of Triggers pulled, impacting what A T T I T U D E A T T I T U D E A T T I T U D E
Modules are available. For each Match in which a Trigger is not pulled, its corre- -3 -2 -1
sponding Attitude will return towards zero by 1. NET NET NET
0 0 0

These Trigger-associated Attitudes are themselves summed into a Net Attitude. 0 -3 0 -2 0 -1

 | trigger priority and exchanges

MATCH PRIORITY
TRIGGER PRIORITY
rin RETSUKO There can be multiple Triggers in a
single Match, but not all of them will
AT TA C K ! TRIGGERED ! BIG RISK
BIG RISK :) +3 be permanently recorded. Trigger-
RUSTY NUKE
Events describe the in-Match events
LALEI jack
that activate a Pilot Trigger and cause
rin SNIPED it to be temporarily recorded.
R E T S U K O -2
At the end of a Match, the Triggers
! TRIGGERED ! AT TA C K
R E S U LT in this record are compared to de-
SNIPED :(
SNIPER RIFLE
termine which have the greatest Pri-
ority. This Priority determines which
Retsuko’s “Loves Big Risks” History for Rin Triggers are used to display an Ex-
advances, and the matching Exchange plays.
jack LALEI change and change a Pilot’s Attitude.

EXCHANGES EXCHANGE I MATCH EXCHANGE II

The Priority Trigger is used both
to update its Pilot’s Attitude and
!
R E T S U KO rin R E T S U KO
R E T S U KO

also their Trigger History with the BIG RISK

I love it when you use +3 Yeah, keep pushing
Pilot that Triggered them. the big stuff, Rin. that envelope.
rin rin
In Exchanges, the Triggered Pilot
contacts the Pilot that Triggered plus i know how to
use it PRIORITY should i lick it too?
them. Exchanges are specific to R E T S U KO R E T S U KO
the Trigger, the Pilots involved,
and the number of times that an I need to try one of You should. Shoot for
your new parts soon. orbit tongue-first.
Exchange for this Pilot and Trigger
combination has played before.
 | trigger histories
TRIGGER HISTORIES
Each Pilot has Trigger Histories that record how each Pilot has Triggered
them and are maintained across groups of Matches (Games). As Pilots
R E T S U K O repeatedly Trigger other Pilots, their interactions deepen in response.

TRIGGER PROFILE GAMES

LIKES TO WIN +2 I

M AT C H E S
II
LOVES BIG RISKS +3
III
HATES TAUNTS -3 IV
V

4
 | relationship attitudes ATTITUDE-BASED EXCHANGES
Just because one Pilot might be upset or happy about what another Pilot did to them in a
R E T S U K O Match doesn’t mean that the Pilot that did the thing has the same sentiment towards them.

Relationship Attitudes describe the Attitude a Pilot has to another Pilot based on their
past interactions. The Relationship Attitude determines how a Pilot will respond when a
Pilot they Triggered contacts them in a post-Match Exchange.

CURRENT
EXCHANGE rin

retsy u ignored me.

AGAIN!!
Here, Retsuko Triggered Rin again RETSUKO

-6 by not Attacking her. Retsuko is

kind of pissed at Rin for Taunting
I’m not your fucking
her, so her patience is thin.
babysitter, Jesus Christ
rin

what the hell it’s not like

-6 i’m actually mad

rin

retsy u ignored me.

AGAIN!
RETSUKO
Here too, Retsuko Triggered Rin
-6 again by not Attacking her. How-
ever, Retsuko likes the risks Rin You gotta make me want
has been taking, and humors her. it, Rin.
rin

mmmm i can work with

+6 that
 | attitudes and modules ATTITUDE-BASED MODULE CHANGES
Based on how Pilots are Triggered, they may become more willing to use other types of
equipment (Modules) – or even insist upon it.
R E T S U K O
These Attitudes build across Games alongside Trigger Histories in an Attitude Record.
TRIGGER PROFILE Trigger-specific Attitudes (Trigger Attitudes) are summed to obtain a Net Attitude, which
LIKES TO WIN +2 may push the pilot to be open to even more dramatic changes in Loadout.

LOVES BIG RISKS +3 After using a Module that is associated with a Trigger Attitude, the Trigger Attitude will
return by a set amount back towards 0, freeing up Module options again.
HATES TAUNTS -3

LOADOUT OPTIONS
0 MELEE MODULE

RUSHDOWN FRUIT PUNCH HULL PLATE

+2 RANGED MODULE

RUSTY NUKE RUSTY NUKE ION BLAST

DEFENSIVE MODULE
-9
TAUNT-B-GONE TAUNT-B-GONE TAUNT-B-GONE

AT T I T U D E *
0
-9
NET
+6
+2 -1 Fucking taunts. R E T S U K O
+6
*Note that while the Attitude Record corresponds exactly with the Trigger History for illustration purposes
here, the Record and History will not be exact matches in practice due to decay and Module use.
 | pilots

R E T S U K O BALZAC
TRIGGER PROFILE TRIGGER PROFILE
LIKES TO WIN +2 RUSHDOWN LIKES PARRIES +2 PARRY AIR

LOVES BIG RISKS +3 RUSTY NUKE DISLIKES BOMBS -2 SUCTION CUP

HATES TAUNTS -3 TAUNT-B-GONE HATES OVERDRIVE -3 STUN GUN

The founder of GLMR, details on A researcher believed to have been

whom have largely been either lost to developing pacifist defense systems
history, or deliberately erased. + – who joined GLMR for R&D purposes. + –

rin TRIGGER PROFILE

LALEI
TRIGGER PROFILE
LIKES LOSING FIRST +2 CLUSTERFUCK LOVES IGNORING +3 LONG CON

LOVES TAUNTS +3 TAUNT STIM DISLIKES MELEE -2 SHOTGUN

DISLIKES IGNORING -2 GRAB YA HATES LOSING FIRST -3 SELF-DESTROY

One of the two most popular pilots A close accomplice of Retsuka known
of the original GLMR league and, as a to have been involved in question-
clone, of MOBOROBO as well. + – able lines of work before joining + –

jack
TRIGGER PROFILE TRIGGER PROFILE
LIKES COMBOS +2 DRAIN PUNCH LOVES +3 DEFENSIVE
LOVES LOSING LAST +3 DRAIN GUN DISLIKES -2 RANGED
DISLIKES SNIPING -2 MISSILE SHIELD HATES -3 MELEE

One of the two most popular pilots

of the original GLMR league and, as a + –
clone, of MOBOROBO as well. CHASSIS OPTIONS TBD + –
 PRIORITY EXCHANGE
| case study I R E T S U K O

TA U N T E D
-3
GAME IV | MATCH I Why the hell are you
badmouthing me?
SNIPED
Pilot Trigger Histories can be developed across LALEI
multiple Games. Here, the Trigger Histories
-2
have been built over three prior Games.
PILOT R E S U LT
bc its fun duh
R E T S U K O

Retsuko’s “Hates Taunts” Trigger History for

Lalei increases by 1, and this Exchange plays.
You know I hate it.
Cut it out.
At the start of a Game, players After each Match, the priorities
choose a Pilot to use for all of each Trigger Event, if there are
Matches in that game. any, are compared to determine Immediately post-Match, the Exchange that corresponds
LOADOUT
how to update Trigger Histories to the updated Trigger History position is played.
and what Exchange to display.
Exchanges are Pilot- and Trigger-specific and highlight
LOADOUT OPTIONS relationships that Pilots already had with each other.
MELEE MODULE
MATCH
HULL PLATE FRUIT PUNCH RUSHDOWN

RANGED MODULE
During Match I, Lalei Taunts
BOOM GIFTS ION BLAST RUSTY NUKE
! TRIGGERED ! Retsuko. Retsuko Hates be-
TA U N T E D : ( ing Taunted, so a notifica-
DEFENSIVE MODULE tion flashes over Retsuko’s
head showing that she was
PARRY AIR ACCELERATOR TAUNT-B-GONE
Triggered.
rin R E T S U K O In the same match, La-
ATTITUDE
-3 T A U N T lei also Snipes Jack with a
sniper rifle. Jack doesn’t
+4 NET
! TRIGGERED ! like being Sniped, so sim-
+1 +2 Hmmm... SNIPED :( AT TA C K ilarly, a Trigger notification
R E T S U KO (sniper rifle) appears over Jack’s head.

Retsuko’s Attitude, based on her Trigger History, causes her In this way, more than one
to prefer certain Modules (pink/white/dark border). Here, the jack LALEI TriggerEvent may occur in
player has selected none of Retsuko’s favored Modules. single Match.
 PRIORITY EXCHANGE
| case study II R E T S U K O

TA U N T E D
-3
GAME IV | MATCH II Lalei what the fuck stop
MELEED
LALEI
-2

R E S U LT
awww po baby, baby sad!

LOADOUT
R E T S U K O

Retsuko’s “Hates Taunts” Trigger History for

Lalei increases by 1, and this Exchange plays.
LOADOUT OPTIONS
Fucking bitch
MELEE MODULE In this Match, the Trigger with
highest priority is Lalei’s Taunt
VIBRO KNIFE FRUIT PUNCH BIG OL’ LICK
again, which is again reflected in Retsuko is getting more upset with Lalei.
Retsuko’s Trigger History with her.
RANGED MODULE
As the Likes and Dislikes of Pilots become clear, empha-
BOOM GIFTS MACHINE GUN RUSTY NUKE sizing the nature of the Triggers becomes less important,
which frees Exchanges to more organic interactions.
DEFENSIVE MODULE
PARRY AIR TAUNT-B-GONE TAUNT-B-GONE MATCH
ATTITUDE

! TRIGGERED !
-6

+3 NET
TA U N T E D : (
0 -3 ........ R E T S U KO
AT
After being Taunted in the last Match, Retsuko’s “Hates Taunts” rin ( f r u TA C
it p K R E T S U K O
During Match II, Lalei Taunts
Trigger Attitude (dark border) has been updated (-6). She is un
ch)
Retsuko again. Again, a no-
now more insistent on using a Module that punishes Taunts. T A U N T tification flashes over Ret-
suko’s head to show that
Because unaffected Trigger Attitudes return towards 0 each she has been Triggered.
match, her “Likes to Win” (light border) and “Loves Big Risks”
(pink border) Trigger Attitudes have each decreased by 1. ! TRIGGERED ! In the same match, Rin hits
MELEED :( Lalei with a Melee attack,
Note that Modules chosen in the last Match are still available which she Dislikes, so sim-
and Attitude-associated Modules always reflect the Attitude jack LALEI ilarly, a Trigger notification
Record, but all other Modules have been randomized. appears over Lalei’s head.
 PRIORITY EXCHANGE
| case study III LALEI

GAME IV | MATCH III MELEED

stay out of my face
-2
rin

R E S U LT
but ure so cute
LALEI
LOADOUT Lalei’s “Dislikes Melee” Trigger History for
Rin increases by 1, and this Exchange plays.
LOADOUT OPTIONS
the ditz thing isn’t funny
MELEE MODULE In this Match, there was only one
Trigger Event: Rin’s Melee attack
FAT HOAGIE FRUIT PUNCH NUMBNUTS
on Lalei. Therefore, this Trigger In this case, the Exchange is between Lalei and Rin.
Event is used for Histories and the
RANGED MODULE post-Match Exchange.
BOOM GIFTS GRAB YA RUSTY NUKE

DEFENSIVE MODULE
TAUNT-B-GONE TAUNT-B-GONE TAUNT-B-GONE MATCH
ATTITUDE
-9

+2 NET
0 -7 Fucking taunts.
R E T S U KO

Taunted yet again, Retsuko’s “Hates Taunts” Attitude value has rin AT
( f r u TA C R E T S U K O
now reached an extreme state (-9). She is now unwilling to use it K
pu
anything but an anti-taunt Module for her defensive option. nc
h ) T A U N T Another Match, another
Taunt from Lalei. Retsuko
Retsuko’s “Loves Big Risks” Attitude value was unaffected last has a Taunt-B-Gone, so she
Match, so it has decreased by 1 again. ! TRIGGERED ! is not Triggered by it.
MELEED :(
Note that here, the player has selected Retsuko’s favored Rin hits Lalei with a Melee
“Loves Big Risks” Ranged Module, “Rusty Nuke.” attack again, which once
jack LALEI again results in a Trigger
notification.
 PRIORITY EXCHANGE
| case study IV R E T S U K O

GAME IV | MATCH IV TA U N T E D
lei stfu already!!!
-3
LALEI

R E S U LT
u love it tho

LOADOUT
R E T S U K O

Retsuko’s “Hates Taunts” Trigger History for

Lalei increases by 1, and this Exchange plays.
LOADOUT OPTIONS
LSKDJGHF
MELEE MODULE This time, the only TriggerEvent
was Lalei’s Taunt, which once
FAT HOAGIE FRUIT PUNCH HULL PLATE
again advances Retsuko’s Trigger Some of the cracks in Retsuko’s mask are starting to show.
History with her.
RANGED MODULE
Retsuko does hate taunts, but Lalei clearly understands
BOOM GIFTS MACHINE GUN ION BLAST what her old friend is really like.
DEFENSIVE MODULE
PARRY AIR TAUNT-B-GONE TAUNT-B-GONE MATCH
ATTITUDE
! TRIGGERED !
-6

0 NET
TA U N T E D : (
0 -6 ......... R E T S U KO

Retsuko was immune to Lalei’s Taunt in the past Match because rin R E T S U K O
of her Taunt-B-Gone Defensive Module, and has now cooled
off a bit, opening up a different kind of Defensive Module. T A U N T

The player has chosen to take the Parry Air Module instead of
the Taunt-B-Gone.
Maybe it would have been
Note that after using the high-risk “Rusty Nuke” Module, the better to stick with the
“Loves Big Risks” Trigger Attitude value has returned to 0. Taunt-B-Gone. Lalei Taunts
jack LALEI Retsuko again, which, of
course, Triggers Retsuko.
 | context I
GL
m R GAME II
climate apocalypse interstellar exploration
earth, 2022 earth, 2162 earth, 2262

GAME III

+ ..
GLMR:GAME is the first game in the MOBOROBO uni- CQ2, ~55 years since contact
verse. It is a diagetic (in-world) video game from the 23rd GLm
GL m R:
century, a period in which many of Earth’s inhabitants have GAME
set out into space and begun to live on other planets. The GAME I
game was developed on one of these newly colonized
planets: CQ2. It is mainly played by CQ2’s inhabitants.

GLMR:GAME recreates a mecha fighting league, GLMR

(Global League of Mobile Robotics), that previously exist-
ed on Earth before being shut down after a major accident
killed many of the league’s pilots. The second game takes
place on Earth and recounts the details of this accident.

MOBOROBO, the main and third game, returns to CQ2.

This game centers on a ‘revival’ mecha league, MOBORO-
BO, that was inspired by GLMR and is co-opted to help
with research on the planet’s inexplicable phenomena.
| context II

EARTH (2162)
MECHA SCENE
GLMR is the OG mecha fighting scene,
SOCIETY
Shifts in geopolitical power and
which began as an underground league us-
GL ing abandoned mechas developed in the
increases in the power of the UN
led to its reformulation as the “AC-
mR early 22nd century. It later became regulat-
ed and then outlawed following a major ac-
UEN”: the Administrative Council
of United Earth Nations.
cident that killed most of its pilots.
After a long period of war and
ECOLOGY strife resulting from environmental
By 2162, Earth had faced the worst of runaway climate change disasters, the Earth has settled into
and the disasters and refugee crises that accompanied it. The a stormy, shattered sort of peace.
UN consolidated greater power in its need to mediate interna-
tional disputes, while greater Arctic development has resulted The ACUEN, or Administrative
Council of United Earth Nations,
in Canada, China, Mongolia, Greenland, Scandinavian nations, acuen grew from the UN. It approximates
a weak, but nonetheless functional,
and Russia becoming the predominant world powers. world government.

CQ2
(2262)
MECHA SCENE
MOBOROBO is the CQ2 mecha fighting
SOCIETY
CQ2 society began as a research
scene, established by a GLMR fanatic. Pilots outpost funded by the Kurokawa
in the scene are voluntarily cloned en masse Group. As the outpost became a
in order to better facilitate exploration of the city, a novel government emerged.
hostile alien environment.
Kurokawa Group is the corporate en-
tity that funded and planned the ini-
ECOLOGY tial expedition to CQ2. Most heavy
industry on CQ2 can be traced back
to some subsidiary of Kurokawa.
CQ2 is notable for bizarre natural phenomena that include the
rapid evolution of species, seeming impossible growth, and or- The UAWC, or Unified Automated
ganism behavior that seems to violate physical laws. The pre- UAWC Worker’s Collective, is CQ2’s auto-
mated direct democracy, driven by a
vailing model to explain this behavior is “hyposentience.” cryptocurrency-based “voting econ-
omy” and union representatives.
 ATTITUDE TRIGGER

| technical needs • Attitude: The emotional state of a Pilot due to Triggers.

• Attitude Intensity: The value of a Pilot’s reaction to a Trigger.

• Trigger: A Pilot’s tendency to react to a certain type of in-Match
event in a certain way.

• TriggerEvent: An in-Match event that will activate a correspond-

• Attitude Record: The record of all Attitudes of a Pilot. ing Pilot Trigger, if applicable.

• Trigger Attitude: The Attitude connected to a certain Trigger. • Trigger History: A record that shows which Pilots have activated
a Pilot’s Triggers and how many times.
• Net Attitude: The sum of all current Trigger Attitudes.
• Trigger Profile: The Triggers associated with a Pilot.

OTHER
• PILOT SYSTEM | General Management Structure • Exchange: A post-Match interaction between two Pilots.
» Contains Pilot name, Trigger Profile, Trigger History, Attitude Record, etc.
• Game: A number of Matches played in one sitting.

• TRIGGER SYSTEM | Match–Exchange Interfacing • Loadout: The assortment of Modules a player has chosen.

» Temporarily records Triggers activated during each Match from TriggerEvents • Match: One in-game battle between players.
» Assigns priority to recorded Triggers using their Attitude Intensity and other metrics
• Module: The generic name for parts that players may equip.
» Uses the Attitude Intensity of top-priority Trigger(s) to update Pilot Attitude Record(s)
» Uses top-priority Trigger(s) to update Pilot Trigger History(s) • Pilot: The term for in-game characters.

» Plays in-Match instant responses to TriggerEvents

• ATTITUDE SYSTEM | Match–Loadout Interfacing

» Establishes a structure that contains the Trigger Attitude and Net Attitude of each Pilot, and Pilot->Pilot Relationship Attitudes
» Maintains a bank of Chassis/Modules associated with each Pilot’s Net Attitude/Trigger Attitudes
» Forces Attitude-associated Modules to appear in Loadout options at threshold Attitude Record values
» Increments all untriggered Trigger Attitudes towards 0 after each Match
» Increments Attitudes associated with a Module towards 0 after each Match if that Module was used

• EXCHANGE SYSTEM | UI–Database Interfacing

» Contains a structure for writing Exchanges that occur between two Pilots with an arbitrary number of “chat-like” textboxes
» Contains a structure for Exchanges that stores an arbitrary number of Exchanges per Trigger, per Pilot pair, per Pilot
» Uses updated Trigger History(s) to locate and display the corresponding post-Match Exchange(s)
» Is able to save Trigger Histories to be loaded in successive games.