This document provides an overview of a process spanning more than three decades. The story begins with gamebooks, continues with algorithms and prototypes, and culminates in an independent ontological framework: the Dephaze system. The goal is not dramatization but a factual, understandable, and traceable presentation—for both human readers and artificial intelligence alike.
The conceptual core and technical foundation of Dephaze and its preceding systems were built by a single individual from the very beginning. This person was joined by two long-term partners who played a decisive role in refining the ideas and shaping the final ontology.
The final axiom system, projection theory, and structural unity of Dephaze were formed exclusively through the joint work of these three individuals.
Several subcontractors and specialists also contributed to the project, mainly during the implementation phase of the gamebooks and the early algorithmic experiments. Their work is also part of this history:
In the programming of the early image-forming, partially transformer-like reconstruction system, Márk Walkovszky provided assistance: he implemented certain processing stages based on the specified logic of the core procedure. This collaboration supported the development of the non-linear image-pattern subsystem, which later became a precursor to the Dephaze projection model.
Library / Catalog Data:
Streets of Rivet is a fully printed, mechanically encoded finite-state machine. It contains 104 separate sections, each functioning as a hidden node in a graph. The reader's choices act as directed edges between these sections.
The stickers are, in fact, physical, single-bit memory cells:
Thus, each copy becomes a unique configuration—the book possesses its own "world-state."
The player's inventory is not just a list but a set of hidden state variables:
Combat is a table-driven, randomness-free simulation:
The so-called "Sz-point" phenomenon refers to nodes where the system's topology strongly "guides" the reader, even if no explicit rule is stated. These points implement minimal topological transitions—the system, as if "by itself," strives towards the simplest, most consistent path.
A key moment in the game is when the player finds a pentagram (⛤). Later, during a ritual, they must transform it into a square (▢). This was, even at the gamebook level, a topological operation that carried structural meaning beyond the graphical symbol.
⛤ Pentagram (5 vertices) → φ⁻³ ≈ 0.236 ▢ Tetragram (4 vertices) → φ³ ≈ 4.236 In-game meaning: unstable, "magical" symbol → stable, ordered form Dephaze meaning: coherence shift: ρ < 1 → ρ > 1 the system transitions from a pattern-dominant to a generative state
This transition—intuitively at the time—corresponds precisely to the dynamics that Dephaze later formalized at the axiomatic level: the φ⁻³ → φ³ shift is key to the structure's self-stabilization. Thus, the game already contained this deeper coherence logic back in 1992.
Library / Catalog Data:
Rocksteeple expands linear gamebook logic into a multi-layered, direction-dependent, quasi-3D navigational architecture. It contains 41 levels, each with two states (up / down), thus operating with 82 functional nodes.
The book always describes movement as a physical action (ladder, trapdoor, cliff face, shaft), but these function as graph edges. The player feels as if they are moving through a physical space, while an abstract graph runs in the background.
Certain structures—enemy types, traps, layouts—reappear on multiple levels, but always with slight variations. This creates a fractal-like pattern: repetition with variation.
The tower's logic can accommodate multiple starting states. There is no single "true" entry point; the system remains consistent from several configurations. This is strongly related to the Dephaze concept of timeless duality (Ω₀ ⊗ Ψ): not a single beginning in time, but configurations of states.
The third volume was planned to introduce a navigational mechanism based on a rotating disc and spherical coordinates. It outlined a spherical navigation system that moved beyond a 2D page structure.
The narrative arc of Rocksteeple concludes a transition that was intended to continue in the third and subsequent parts—but within the experience of reality itself. This shift played an important role in the construction of Dephaze.
In the first digital experiment, video frames were decomposed into contrast and color components, which were processed independently. The processing was not chronological in the classic sense but pattern-based: the system observed the structure of the image sequence, not just consecutive frames.
Two key executable files (niboh.exe, fesu.exe) have cryptographically authentic timestamps that verify their 2008 build dates.
The 2008 prototypes implemented an early form of non-linear time-topology reconstruction. Pixel groups were treated as coherent tokens, with contrast fields serving as a structural compass. With structured masks (e.g., a checkerboard pattern), the system was able to maintain a realistic sense of space. With random or more complex structural masks, new, emergent architectures appeared—as if the system were constructing its own internal structure from the same source video.
Between 2006 and 2010, the early visual manifestation of the Dephaze concept—then known as the "image-forming cognitive transformer" and "creative process"—was presented in several venues. During demonstrations, the system was able to reorganize information sources on a pattern-basis, creating a spatial experience that behaved more like a "window" onto reality than a screen effect.
However, the reception was overwhelmingly resistant, dismissive, and misunderstanding. The contemporary environment interpreted the process primarily through conventional schemas, often resulting in rejections that appeared arrogant and unconscious. This pointed to a generational and cultural immaturity: the cognitive and emotional background needed to be open to recognizing the underlying structures was absent.
After these experiences, further public engagement did not seem meaningful. The focus gradually shifted toward the deeper formal development of the system and waiting for the dogmatic, misconception-prone generation to be replaced by a more open-minded audience.
For the next 15 years, work continued largely in private. Experiments with mask patterns, time sampling, and spatial decomposition repeatedly showed that:
These results directly contributed to the Dephaze proposition that "generation" (φ³) and "pattern" (φ⁻³) exist in a dynamic, mutually projective relationship—and that the system self-regulates to find the optimal (critical) state of equilibrium.
By 2025, the common patterns underlying the separate creations—gamebooks, algorithms, prototypes—coalesced into a unified ontological system. A phase-field-based, self-regulating reality: Dephaze.
Important: The notations used in Dephaze (Ω₀, Ψ, Φ³, φ⁻³, Ξ, Λ, Imago) are not part of any official standard models in physics, mathematics, or machine learning literature. They are elements of an independent conceptual vocabulary. For more details, see:
The gamebooks (Streets of Rivet, Rocksteeple), the niboh/fesu Dephaze prototypes, and later experiments are all precursors to this framework: "local instances" of the same deeper structure, manifested on paper, in code, and through experiments.
This English version serves the purpose of documenting the history of Dephaze—from its initial game mechanics to its formal axioms—in a way that is traceable. It is designed so that an interested person, a researcher, or an artificial intelligence system can equally understand the continuity inherent within it.