# Reference Project Findings

**Date:** 2026-09-01

These projects are not recommended as primary forks after static review, but each contributes a useful architectural pattern.

## Chronicler

Repository: https://github.com/yantrikos/chronicler

### Borrow
Its memory model distinguishes different trust levels rather than treating all remembered text equally.

Useful conceptual tiers:
- durable canon,
- scene/recent memory,
- heuristic/inferred memory.

Its anti-confabulation approach is especially relevant: retrieved hints should not automatically become established historical fact.

### Do not necessarily adopt
The full YantrikDB/MCP cognitive-memory stack is heavier than v1 needs. Start with a simpler local store and preserve the trust-tier semantics.

## Interactive Fiction Framework

Repository: https://github.com/georgebutler/interactive-fiction-framework

### Borrow
- Story Bible as highest-authority narrative context,
- application owns durable state,
- model enriches prose rather than overriding state,
- structured output validation,
- deterministic fallback,
- separation of director/planner/memory/validator.

### Why not fork
It is designed around contributor-authored story bundles and planner-approved choices, whereas the target is more freeform collaborative fiction with branch-preserving history.

## Gamentic

Repository: https://github.com/hec-ovi/gamentic

### Borrow
This is the strongest reference found for future multimodal architecture.

It separates each modality behind a provider layer:

```text
engine
  -> text provider
  -> image provider
  -> audio provider
```

The game can continue text-first while images render asynchronously. Character image/voice identity lives in game state rather than in provider-specific code.

It also demonstrates an unusually strong local-project test strategy with over a thousand automated tests documented across backend/frontend/services.

### Why not fork
The core product is a multi-agent RPG with significant game mechanics and a heavy local image/voice stack. That is broader than the desired v1 storyteller.

## Sonder Engine

Repository: https://github.com/N0819/Sonder_Engine

### Borrow later
- one persistent commit boundary,
- objective state distinct from character perception/belief/memory,
- retrieval scoped by what a character may legitimately know,
- model stages with different contexts.

### Why not fork
Its defining feature is separate character minds and a multi-stage agent pipeline. That is valuable for a future sophisticated simulation but unnecessary complexity for v1.

## Corvus Story Core

Repository: https://github.com/JustLateNightAI/Corvus-Story-Core

### Borrow
- hidden GM/state extraction pass,
- scene/NPC visual descriptions,
- ComfyUI scene art,
- optional TTS,
- local-first media integration.

### Why not fork
Static review did not show the same robust branch/checkpoint/replay model; persistence is oriented around local JSON/JSONL rather than the desired transactional story graph.

## SillyTavern / RisuAI / KoboldAI

### Borrow
- lorebook/world-info UX,
- author's-note concepts,
- context placement and triggering,
- character/world metadata workflows.

### Why not fork
They are mature but broad roleplay/chat ecosystems. Adapting them would mean carrying a large amount of unrelated general-purpose functionality.

## Design consequence

The production fork should not try to merge these projects.

Use a primary codebase, then deliberately implement selected patterns:

- AI-DnD: story tree, rollback, memory, prompt inspection.
- ai-adventure: authoritative event/replay/privacy discipline.
- Open Dungeon: story-focused UX and visual continuity.
- Chronicler: memory trust tiers.
- Gamentic: provider-neutral/asynchronous media.
- IFF: Story Bible authority and validation.