Themes and Universes
CTFFactory separates visual presentation from narrative content through two independent systems: Themes and Universes. Themes control how a challenge looks; Universes control the story it tells. You can combine any theme with any universe, or use neither.
Themes
A Theme is a visual aesthetic applied to the challenge interface and the CTFd event page. Themes affect:
- Color palette and typography on the event landing page and challenge cards
- Iconography and background imagery displayed to players
- The visual tone communicated to participants before they read a single word of challenge text
Themes are purely cosmetic and do not influence the technical content of a generated challenge. Changing a theme after generation does not require regeneration.
Choosing a Theme
| Theme Style | Best Used For |
|---|---|
| Corporate / Professional | Internal company training, enterprise assessments |
| Hacker / Terminal | Classic CTF aesthetic, competitive events |
| Sci-Fi / Cyberpunk | Immersive fictional events |
| Dark Academia | University and educational programs |
| Minimal / Clean | Accessibility-focused or white-label deployments |
[!TIP] For white-label deployments, choose the Minimal theme and upload your organization's logo and accent color under Workspace Settings → Branding. Custom domain support is available on enterprise plans.
Universes
A Universe is a narrative lore layer — a fictional world complete with characters, organizations, factions, and a backstory. Universes are active when Scenarization is set to Immersive. When a Universe is selected, the AI weaves its lore into the challenge's description, character names, and fictional context.
How Universes Affect Generation
When a Universe is active during generation, the AI:
- Sets the scene within the Universe's world. Instead of a generic "company" suffering a breach, the player encounters a named fictional organization from the Universe's canon.
- Names characters and assets using Universe-consistent terminology, faction names, and in-universe locations.
- Frames the objective as a mission or task that makes narrative sense within the Universe's plot.
The technical content — the vulnerability class, the flag, the exploitation path — remains determined by the category and difficulty settings. The Universe only shapes the narrative wrapper, not the technical substance.
Universe vs. Light Narrative
| Scenarization | Effect |
|---|---|
| Neutral | No fictional framing. Challenge descriptions are direct and technical. |
| Light Narrative | A brief, generic fictional scenario (a startup, a bank, a government agency) is added without deep lore. The AI invents a one-off context. |
| Immersive | The selected Universe's canon is applied. Characters, organizations, and plot threads from the Universe appear. Requires a Universe to be selected. |
[!NOTE] If Immersive scenarization is selected but no Universe is chosen, CTFFactory falls back to Light Narrative behavior and generates a one-off fictional context.
Combining Themes and Universes
Themes and Universes are fully independent settings. Some recommended combinations:
| Event Type | Suggested Theme | Suggested Universe |
|---|---|---|
| Competitive ranked CTF | Hacker / Terminal | None (Neutral scenarization) |
| Security awareness training | Corporate / Professional | Light Narrative (no Universe needed) |
| Narrative hacking event | Sci-Fi / Cyberpunk | A sci-fi or dystopian Universe |
| University course assessment | Dark Academia | Educational Universe |
Effect on Challenge Content
The table below summarizes what each system changes in a generated challenge:
| Attribute | Affected by Theme | Affected by Universe |
|---|---|---|
| Flag value | No | No |
| Exploitation path | No | No |
| Challenge description text | No | Yes (with Immersive) |
| Character and organization names | No | Yes (with Immersive) |
| CTFd event page visuals | Yes | No |
| Challenge card appearance | Yes | No |
| Writeup content | No | Marginally (scene-setting prose) |
[!WARNING] Immersive scenarization with a rich Universe lore can increase challenge description length significantly. Review generated descriptions to ensure they remain accessible to your target audience and do not obscure the technical task.
Managing Themes and Universes
Themes and Universes are configured at the workspace level under Settings → Themes & Universes. Workspace admins can set default selections that apply to all new events and challenges, while individual organizers can override the defaults per event or per challenge.