Hi Everyone,
So what the heck have I been up to, and why so quiet?
Long story short. I am adding a World Map to Clanfolk, and it has been a huge undertaking. I didn't want to say anything about it until I was sure that it was going to happen, and now after many design iterations, I can say that it will happen!
Please keep in mind there is a lot of code to make these systems function, but very little art so far, so there is only be programmer art to show right now which is not representative of the final outcome.
The World Map design is in active design/development and may change. The World Map must enhance the experience we already have and not turn Clanfolk into something else.
Note: Playing the World Map will not be a requirement.
So there will be a Single Homestead Mode and World Map Mode option.
Classic Tech Unlocking, Idea Points, and Difficulty Modes will still work with both modes.
As always, everyone can continue to play in their own preferred way.
Major New Systems High Level
One of the biggest issues with Clanfolk has been lack of challenge once a Homestead is thriving.
Currently, at the end of year 2, unless the player makes their own goals, there is a sense of "Now What?" It's time to fix that. :)
The goal of the new systems is to allow the Clanfolk to expand into the outside world and to grow a Clan Dynasty that spans many generations AND settlements, each one building on the achievements of their forebearers.
So instead of running out of things to do at the end of year 2, now it will be a jumping off point to a new adventure across the New World Map, Discovering New Technology, dealing with New Events, and building your Clan's Territory and Influence.
- The World Map - This adds Territorial Control and New Tech Progression.
- The Expedition System - This allows Clanfolk to leave the Homestead to deal with Events.
- The Clan Journey - This is a series of Homesteads established in new Territory with better Tech.
- Expanded Tech Progression - Higher Tier Crafting learned from Trainers and Masters on the Map.
- Minimum Crafting Skill Requirements - Skill Thresholds required for higher tier crafting and training.
These new systems will first go live to the Testing Branch, but that is still at least a few weeks off.
The World Map
The World Map is currently built out of 400 Hexagonal Territories.
Hexagonal Territories (or Hexes) have a Type, like Forest, Peat Bog, Plains or Lake, and can contain Hex Entities.
Note: The World Map will generate differently each time you play.
Hex Upgrades.
These are structures built on Hexes and currently include Settlements and Industries.
Settlements Produce Influence
Industries Produce Supplies
All Hex Upgrades have a Level. The higher the level the more or higher tier production.
A new Homestead is a Level 0 Settlement. It will not produce any Influence until it has completed the Level 1 requirement. This is likely a combination of Surviving the first Winter to prove that the Homestead is viable as well as providing some Coin/Material payment to the Crown.
Once a Settlement starts producing Influence, that Influence can be used to maintain control of Neighboring Territory Hexes. So for a Territory to grow, it will require multiple and higher tier settlements to produce the Influence required as upkeep. There will be a lot of Strategy in deciding how and where to grow.
Some Territories contain Industries, an example is Charcoal Burners in a Forest. Charcoal burners have greater Knowledge than the Clanfolk can bumble together themselves. These Industries provide an opportunity for a Training Event allowing for Better Crafting Stations and Items.
New Industries can also be built on Territories, but that requires Supplies and already having the Knowledge required to build that Industry. So Unlocking Higher Tier Tech will require Expedition and Expansion.
Hex Events
A Hex can contain a single event at a time. These Events are the target for Expeditions.
Events connect directly into the Story Event System. So now instead of all events coming to the Homestead, the Clan can reach out into the world and initiate Events themselves. Beyond that, Events on the World Map can trigger future Story Events that come back to the Homestead.
Events can have many types, but currently there are two that I am using as examples. There are Outlaws and Training Events.
The Outlaw event disables all neighboring Hex Upgrades. This can be a serious issue and an Expedition should be sent to deal with them.
The Training Event is only available at Industry Hex Upgrades. The level of possible Training is equal to the level of the Industry Upgrade. So Level 1 can teach the Skilled Tech Tier, and Level 2 (much more rare) can teach the Master Tier. (The Basic Tier is always available for the Clanfolk to figure out themselves as they always have)
So imagine if an Outlaw Event was neighboring a Training Event, the Training Event would be offline until the Outlaws were dealt with using a hand picked Expedition.
Hex Modifiers
Hex Modifiers are applied to some Hexes when the World Map is built. An example of this would be a Dense Forest Modifier.
This Modifier could make Outlaws much harder to find, or make the Charcoal Burners have a higher Charcoal Output.
The goal of the Modifiers is to make some Hexes more attractive than others when deciding where to expand territory.
The Expedition System
Expeditions travel to Hex Events. Expeditions are groups of Clanfolk that are picked by the Chief (player) to handle certain roles to deal with an Event. The Expedition will leave the Homestead and will not return until the Event has resolved.
Each Expedition Role will have a related skill level requirement. Only Clanfolk with enough skill can be given the Role.
Only some of the Roles are required to be filled for the Expedition. Here are some examples.
A Trade Expedition must have a Trader, but it does not necessarily need Haulers, or Guards. Without the optional roles filled, the Expedition's options will be limited in cases where a problem comes up that requires one of those skipped roles. Like if the Trader runs into Outlaws for example but has no Guards. The Chief (player) must decide how many Clan members to commit to an Expedition vs keeping them back to maintain the Homestead.
As an Example, to select a Clanfolk as a Trader, there would likely be a required minimum Persuasion skill of 6. If a Clanfolk with even higher Persuasion was picked, there may be further benefits as the Trade Event progresses.
Another Expedition example would be fulfilling a Conscription request from the King. In a case like this, the Expedition Event would have a required number of roles to be filled by drafted soldiers. The Chief would have to decide who to send and face the relationship consequences within the Clan or to send no one and face consequences from the King. The Soldiers would be away for some period of time, but would eventually return likely with increased skills and perhaps positive or negative quirks.
Expeditions fill roles like Training, Protecting Territory, Exploration, Building Upgrades/Roads, and the most important role, creating new Settlements!
The Clan Journey
The overall goal with the World Map is to allow the Clan to create multiple settlements where each previous settlement contributes to the Clan's Influence and thereby territory size. Territory grants resources and access to new Higher Tier Technology training.
So each new Homestead will retain all the Idea Unlocks from previous Homesteads, but they will also be able to develop in their own unique ways due to new tech becoming available as territory expands.
Previous Settlements will also be able to be Upgraded to higher levels via the map, becoming Villages, Towns, and perhaps even Castles given huge amounts of supplies from other territories. These upgraded settlements will in turn produce more Influence allowing for even more expansion.
I think players will care a lot more about Events taking place near and impacting previous Settlements they built with their own hands.
Another nice side effect of this system is the potential for previous Clan members to come visit new Settlements. Most of the Clan will likely be left behind when establishing a new Settlement, but they should still be able to grow older and come for an occasional visit.
Expanded Tech Progression
The World Map will introduce a new flow to how Tech Unlocks. We will retain the current learning by doing model, but also accept that some technology needs to be learned vs spontaneously created.
Examples of this would be the Spinning Wheel and Loom. These are advanced tools that would need to be taught to the Clan. However, the more primitive methods for creating items would still be something that a Clan member could invent themselves.
This leads us to the concept of Tech Tiers. The Basic Tier unlocks like it always has, by doing. An example of this would be a very simple pit charcoal kiln. It is not very efficient, and it takes a while to cook, but it does still produce charcoal. With some training (from an Event on the Map at the related Industry) then the Clan can learn to make actual Clay Charcoal Kilns (what we have now) With even further training, there may even be much larger Charcoal Ovens that could even take logs.
So more territory and exploration means more and better technology. Clanfolk can still get by at a basic level on their own but just like in the real world, they need to spread out to learn new and better ways to do things.
What this also means is that each subsequent Homestead will look a little different. The first ones will be very primitive, but over time the Clan will learn higher Tier Tech that looks better and behaves in more advanced ways.
This also means that building will change. Some building techniques will need to be learned. The Straw and Wattle Walls are likely to start getting some use now early on. Brick making would also come much later.
This new system will add a lot more of a long term flow to the technology unlocking and also solve another common complaint, being overwhelmed with tech unlocks early on. Now there will be time to use new stuff before it becomes obsolete.
Minimum Crafting Skill Requirements
The new Tech Tier concept works very well with the recent upgrade to the Clanfolk Skills System where there are three columns for each skill. level 0-5 is the Basic Level, 6-10 is the Skilled Level, and 11-15 are the Advanced Levels.
Each Clanfolk's Skill Profile is unique, though it tends to be somewhat inherited from their parents (this makes selective partnering attractive)
So we have Skills separated into 3 Tiers and Technology also in 3 Tiers, so it makes a lot of sense to connect the two.
What this means is that some Items and Crafting Objects will only be able to be Built or be Used by Experts. As an Example, I could probably make a functional drum, I could not make a flute (though I could with a little training. I have no hope of making a bagpipe and probably never would be able to as I am not that mechanically inclined, but some Clanfolk would be (but not all of them, and that is important.)
This is where the Clanfolk skill potential comes in. That Clanfolk that can someday reach Crafting level 11 does not just make items faster, they can also make items others simply cannot make! So Clanfolk become much less interchangeable.
Builders will also have Tiers. So a Basic Builder can only build Basic Objects. Whereas a Master Builder would be the one building Looms, Spinning Wheels, or Cut Stone Walls.
Note: This system currently in the idea stages and I am not 100% sure I can get the AI Brains to accept working this way, but I am going to try. If it does cause a lot of problems with tasks not being completed in a sensible way, I may have to re-evaluate.
A Few Other Cool Concepts
Territorial Expansion will likely only ever be allowed to happen to neighbor territories. So the Clan's territory will be a single blob that grows over time as hexes are incorporated via Influence and Supplies.
New Settlement Map Settings will be based on the tiles surrounding the new Settlement. So for example if the Settlement is on a Plains Tile, but there are 6 Lake Hexes around it, we know that a Settlement at that location is going to have a LOT of water and some grass but very little else.
I chose to use Hexes instead of a grid because what is and is not a neighbor is very clear. An Event on a the center Hex will be able to affect all the Hexes around it. This means as the Clan's territory grows, the player will need to be more vigilant about keeping their territorial house in order or risk important production going offline or loss of influence.
Soon there will likely be Soft and Hard Rock in Mountains. Soft Rock will break with Stone Picks but Hard Rock will not. This will make early mountain excavation a lot more interesting. Learning how to create iron will be one of those key technologies that will have to be sought on the map.
I am also thinking on an Apprentice Mode. Since the skill level will be so important in being able to build high tier items, it may become necessary for Apprentices to shadow older Masters as they work so that there will be someone to replace them when they finally need to be fitted for a tomb.
Together these new systems will hopefully create a unique story of a Clan Dynasty growing from a few confused Clanfolk in their underpants standing by a lake, all the way to a massive and Influential Clan that controls a large portion of Scotland.
Conclusion
So now you are totally up to date :)
As mentioned above, I am still in the middle of active design/development for this system so things may change, but I do feel very good about how these systems fit together right now.
Update 16 will be a huge one. I plan to get the World Map/Expedition/Tech Unlocking into a prototype state for Update 16 with examples of all the new systems working, but still having the Default gameplay setting be what is in there now. Update 17 will be about refining Update 16 based on feedback and adding new content for the World Map and related Systems.
Now I hope it is more clear as to why I have been so quiet. These new systems are all that I am thinking about these days, and I am totally focused on getting Update 16 done.
I am very excited to see how this all finally comes together and thank you so much for your patience!
Andrew (Blorf) Hume
MinMax Games Ltd.
Update 16 with also contain everything below.
(Please click on the link below to read further details)
All the following changes are currently available on the Testing Branch, and will become available on the Default Branch once Update 16 goes live (after more additions and tuning)
(Note: The Testing Branch is always available to everyone under Steam/Clanfolk/Properties/Betas)
Flooding - Increased Fertility, but also Increased Risk.
Traditional Turnip Lanterns for Samhain - Spooky and Fun.
Difficulty Modes - New Very Challenging Modes for Experts.
Lightning Upgrades - Dangerous Lightning! (Off by default.)
Baby Toys and Toyboxes - Cute, and more to come.
Dried Berries - Preserve those Berries for Winter!
Smarter Cats and Rats - Tom and Jerry mode activated.
Missing Item Alert Upgrades - Alerts understand reservations now, better info, more quickly.
Reservation Viewer - See exactly where Clanfolk are going and why.
Customizable Pet Tombs - These work like the Human Tombs and have new Glyphs!
Caves and Rocky Overhangs - Places to take cover and keep things dry early on.
Smart Missing Supply Viewer - Makes it much more clear why some things are not being crafted.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1700870/announcements/detail/4476110102203467100?snr=2___