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Hi Everyone,

The Negotiation System now has a working Story Element in the Testing Branch! It will still be a while until this reaches the Default Branch as it needs more testing, but it now works and anyone can opt in to try it today.

The Testing Branch is open to everyone and is available via Steam/Clanfolk/Properties/Betas

The Negotiation System turned out be be quite complex due to the interaction of so many game systems to make Negotiation work as a live event vs a traditional instant dialogue tree, but that is the cool part so I think it is worth the extra time.

As part of v0.457 there are many other new mechanics to be aware of as well (part of why this update took a while)

Note: There is a single prototype Negotiation Event right now. It is triggered by denying the Outcast Father when he arrives looking for the Outcast Mother. Wait a few days and it will happen.

Lets dive into all the new stuff!

[h2]The Negotiation System[/h2]


The Negotiation System is a Live Event that is triggered by a Messenger. In this case, Lauchlan wants Janat and Keneth to come with him. Lauchlan has also brought backup after being turned away the first time.

The Player has the option to Send them Away or start a Brawl at any time, but the options to keep Janat and Keneth are gated behind Authority and Courage Thresholds. This is where the Live Negotiation happens. The Player needs to finesse the Courage and Authority bars to unlock the options they desire before patience runs out.

Note: Though always available, brawling is a very dangerous option and should be considered a failure case. More on that below.

[h3]Patience[/h3]
Patience will lower over time as the Negotiation progresses. When Patience runs out, a failure case will trigger. In this example the failure case would be a Brawl. Tempers got to hot.

Patience can decrease more quickly if the Opponent feels threatened and more slowly if they are in a dominant position.

[h3]Conversation Topics[/h3]
The major factor in Patience reduction is the conversation flow. When the flow is left on Natural, this can be seen as the conversation topics flowing logically from one to the next. On the other hand, imagine moving the slider all the way to Intimidation. This means your Clan Leader will ONLY pick intimidating topics, and the Opponents patience will go down much more quickly.

Opponent: "Wow looks like rain"
Clan Leader: "You have a very punchable face"

Opponent: "What a nice rug"
Clan Leader: "You really do have a very punchable face"

Listening to that would get tiring quickly, which is what I am trying to model here.

Another important piece of the puzzle are two new skills Intimidation and Persuasion. I will go into more detail on these below, but someone who is very persuasive will do much more Authority "damage" to the Opponent when a Persuasion topic is picked. This is the same for Courage and Intimidation.

[h3]Authority[/h3]
Authority is the Opponent's sense of being "in the right" and conversely the Clan Leader's sense of being "in the wrong." When Authority is maxed, the Opponent will choose an outcome and the Clan Leader will have to agree because they have been out debated.

On the other hand, if the Clan Leader moved the Authority bar to zero, the Opponent will give up their argument and leave.

Authority changes based on both sides Persuasion skills. So trying to out talk a very smooth talking messenger could be difficult. There are ways to help with this though.

Authority can be influenced by the Environment. As seen in the Picture above, Jon lead Lachlan into the Clan Hall, which is very large and also richly appointed. Lachlan has gotten the affliction "Such Luxury" from the surrounding area. Lachlan is very impressed and as such, his Authority constantly takes a small decrease every second.

So WHERE the argument takes place really matters. Talking to a Tax collector in a Grand Hall would not be a good idea.

[h3]Courage[/h3]
Courage is the Opponent's will to fight. When the Opponent's Courage Bar reached zero, they will flee, but if it reaches the Maximum, the Clan will surrender and give in to the Opponent's demands.

An important note on Courage is that if a Brawl does break out, the Initial Courage values of the Opponent's side will be determined by the Courage Bar location when the negotiation ended. Low courage opponents are quite easy to scare off with a show of force or knocking a few down.

The Player Clan's Courage will be the inverse of the Opponent's Courage. So if the Opponent is at 20%, the Player Clan will be at 80%. So handling a Negotiation well can put you in a much better position in a Brawl!

[h3]Signal For Backup[/h3]
Signal For Backup can also be a very powerful option. In some cases, it it smart to let the Opponent think that they are in a much stronger position. Having greater numbers than the Clan Leader will make the Opponent lose patience more slowly. This can give the Clan Leader time to make more convincing arguments and win via Authority.

In the picture above, Lachlan has the "Overwhelming" affliction. This is because he has 3 guards with him, all glaring at Jon while they Negotiate. Lachlan's Courage increases quickly, but his Patience decreases more slowly, which can be used to the Player's advantage.

On the other hand, if the Player wants to Scare Off Lachlan and his cronies, then a full show of force should do the trick as well. In some cases, sacring off the Opponent would be a very bad idea, so again the Negotiation flow needs to be tailored to the outcomes that the Player wants to unlock.

[h3]Negotiation Summary[/h3]
Since the Negotiation flows over time, the Player has some control over its outcome based on the Conversation topics chosen, the Environment, as well as the amount of Backup they have.

As a Negotiation progresses, it is important to adapt to the flow of the conversation. If it turns out that Intimidation just is not working, then perhaps a compromise option unlocked with Persuasion could give a good enough compromise.


[h2]New Skills[/h2]
To make all this work, two new Skill have been added, Persuasion, and Intimidation.

[h3]Persuasion[/h3]
Persuasion will directly modify Authority changes in Negotiation, but the addition of this new skill also may have some other cool side effects. Since Persuasion is a Skill, it can have a priority. This means that it could potentially be some Clanfolk's job to "Cheer People Up" when they are not working on higher priority tasks.

So imagine guests who were close to leaving due to low satisfaction having someone look after them a bit. This opens the door to more hospitality options that I am excited about.

Currently, the Persuasion Skill is levelled up via Talking. So the Clanfolk with high Social needs will tend to be the best at Persuasion over time because they talk the most :)

[h3]Intimidation[/h3]
Intimidation will directly modify Courage changes in a Negotiation, but it also increases the damage done in Brawls.

Intimidation values increase via hard labor. Things like Hauling and Chopping Trees create the biggest gains.

Intimidation Skill Priority determines WHEN a Clanfolk will provide backup in a Negotiation. If the skill is at the bottom of the list, they will only come during free time. If it is at the top of the list, they will come as soon as they finish their current task.

When a Brawl erupts, everyone with the Intimidation Skill active will drop their current task and participate. (Babies don't Brawl though)

Those with the Intimidation Skill Disabled will Hide during a Brawl.


[h2]Brawling[/h2]

When a Negotiation fails, sometimes the outcome may be a Brawl. Brawling does not use weapons and is not meant to be fatal. It is a failure case in a Negotiation where long term injuries are possible.

I struggled with the idea of Combat in Clanfolk quite a bit. Initially, when Negotiations were a normal Dialog Tree instead of a Live Event as they are now, I considered making the Brawl Injuries a dice roll as part of the Dialog tree, but once the Live Negotiation happened, the Brawling had to be Live to feel right.

The Important outcome of Brawls is the threat of Injuries and Avoiding them. The Player should consider less optimal compromises in a Negotiation to prevent a Brawl from happening. In some cases it is better to compromise than risk an injury.

Brawls track two forms of "Health." There is the Health Bar, which will get knocked down as the fighting progresses, leading to a Knock Out state. There is also the Courage Bar. It is possible to Scare away opponents in a Brawl. As an Opponent is surrounded or sees their ally Knocked Out, their Courage goes down and eventually they will flee.

[h3]Knock Outs and Injuries[/h3]
As a Brawl progresses, people get Knocked Out as their health gets low. The Higher the Intimidation Skill, the more damage done during a Brawl, and the less likely Damage will be taken.

When a Knockout does happen, there is a change of Injury. These new Injuries are the most important part of the system, and I think will add a lot of flavor to the personal stories of each Clanfolk.

I will be writing an Injury Manager System to handle distributing a wide variety of these afflictions in the future, but for now the test case is a broken left or right arm. This will lower work efficiently drastically until healed and should make the player thing twice about throwing punches.

[h3]Brawling Optional[/h3]
I have put quite a lot of thought into making the Brawling fit into the peaceful but also historically accurate atmosphere of Clanfolk, but in the case where players just do not want to have it ever happen, there will be an option to bypass this stage in a Negotiation as well.

[h3]Clan Leader (Future Content)[/h3]
Currently the Clan Leader comes up a lot in the descriptions above. The Clan Leader is currently auto picked as the oldest Clan Member, but I plan to add a new system to choose them as well as have story outcomes to this selection in the future.

I am very excited to hear your thoughts on the Negotiation System.

Thanks again everyone!

Andrew Hume (Blorf)
MinMax Games Ltd.

Hi Everyone,

I have been unusually quiet for the last few weeks (post Winter Holidays,) and I wanted to let everyone know what I have been up to and that I did not fall into a snowbank somewhere :)

My brain has been totally occupied with a new system that has caused a domino effect with other cool potential additions, which I shall explain below.

Note: Usually I update the Testing Branch at least a couple times a week, and I know the testing branch crew (anyone can join) have been particularly wondering what's going on. I have not been able to update the testing branch because the system that I am currently working on is very much in progress, evolving and quite large.

[h2]So What Happened[/h2]
When I got back to work after the holidays, the first thing I did was continue the Outcast Mother's story with "The Father Returns" That eureka moment mentioned in the Update 13 notes where I was able to create group based tasks via the Story Element system allowed me to assign some Guards to the Outcast Father, and that is where things got...interesting, and where the last 3 weeks vanished for me in the blink of an eye.

So the Outcast Father comes back demanding the Mother and Child return. This lead me to do a lot of thinking and MANY prototypes on what conflict could mean in Clanfolk. The Outcast Father likely would not just leave, so there had to be the danger of a fight. So how to to handle this?

I didn't want to dive straight into traditional combat, so I needed something completely different and hopefully more personal. I also needed a system that would work for Tax Collectors, Emissaries from the King, and Conflict from within the Clan. One system to rule them all. If the end result was a fight, how did we get there? The important part is why did the fight break out.

So after many iterations, I am ready to at least explain the system and show the current interface. It is vitally important to explain that this is a glimpse of current development and the end result may change as I work on it and get opinions. But you all do deserve to at least see what is going on behind the scenes and what it all currently means. So again, this is "in-progress" design work and over the last few weeks have undergone a lot of iteration and this is likely not final, but I am very excited about showing it none the less.



So, the Negotiation System is now fully integrated into the Story Element system, and some Story Element choices will now trigger Negotiations.

A Negotiation is a real time conversation between your Clan Leader (more on this later) and a Messenger of some sort (in this case a very angry Father.)

The goal in the Negotiation is to move the Patience, Authority, and Courage values to the required thresholds to allow the desired choice to be picked. It is like a battle of wits.

The Negotiation progresses between the two Clanfolk, each speaking and responding based on their Personality Traits (more on this later.) The Player guides the flow of the conversation, using the Conversation Topics slider seen in the picture above.

This is a balancing act because the further the player deviates from the Clanfolk's natural personality, the more forced the conversation becomes and the quicker the Patience decreases. Patience reaching 0 is a failure case for the conversation, and in this case would mean a fight breaks out.

The player wants a particular outcome, BUT, the Clan Leader is their own person and will tend to have either a more Aggressive or Persuasive personality type. This means that when an Aggressive person picks an Aggressive conversation topic, that topic would have more impact overall. They are just better at being intimidating.

Having a very aggressive leader negotiate with the Angry Father is probably very effective (and believable), but not so much with a Tax Collector who has the might of the King behind them. The player may shift the conversation topics slider to the Persuasive side, but the more they shift the conversation, the less natural it will be and the quicker patience decreases.

The Conversation will progress live in the game and the other non player participant will make their own choices as well. So while the Patience ticks down, the conversation will start to unfold and between the Clan Leader's personality and the Other. The Player does their best to weight the topics to get the result they want, but it is not guaranteed. So the choice of Clan Leader directly impacts what choices likely become available as the Negotiation progresses.

If we look at the image above, for "Demand Andrew leaves the area" to be valid, Andrew's Courage needs to be quite low, and Andrew's sense of Authority also must be diminished. On the other hand, this demand can be made at any Patience level. So the player wants to get the White lines into the dark yellow portions of the meter by guiding the Conversation... Or using other means.

[h2]Other Means[/h2]
A very powerful side effect of the Negotiation taking place over time is that environmental factors can also modify how the Authority and Courage values change over time. Triggering the Negotiation in a favorable environment can add environmental Afflictions to either side of the Negotiation. A couple scenarios below will demonstrate.

In the Case where it is desirable to have the Courage bar very low, the Player could position some of their Clanfolk near the Negotiation as backup. In the picture above, Poor William is all alone, facing Andrew and three guards, but in the case where William had a dozen Clanfolk supporting him, Andrew's Courage would naturally decrease over time as an "Outnumbered" Affliction could be triggered.

In the Case of trying to impress a visitor, Meeting them in a grandly appointed Clan Hall, could give just the authority boost needed. On the other hand, meeting the Tax Collector next to the dump may be a smart idea if trying to explain how poorly the Clan has been doing.

Currently these examples are all theoretical, but I really love the idea of these Negotiations taking place over time like a little mental battle and having unit placement and environment matter.

[h2]Clan Leader[/h2]
The Idea of a Clan Leader has been on my mind for a while, but now with the Negotiation System, their role has become very important. The choice of leader and their personality would really guide the future of the Clan.

The system for choosing the Clan leader as well as the outcomes from within the Clan if multiple people thought themselves in line for the role will also lead to a whole new set of Negotiations and interpersonal relationships/alliances.

The Clan Leader system will likely develop over time as the Negotiation System itself is the priority right now. For Update 14, I want to focus mainly on expanding the Story Generator using the new Negotiation System which puts us in a great position for delivering the Year 2+ content in an interesting way. I suspect Update 15 will be about fleshing out the Clan Leader system.

[h2]Elephant in the Room[/h2]
So, this whole Outcast Father returns with guards has lead to another obvious question. Combat? Well not exactly. I want to keep to the spirit of Clanfolk which is a peaceful homstead in 1300's Scotland and not the front line of a warzone. But I also realize that in some cases arguments will get physical, and I think there is a good solution to this.

In 1300's Scotland, there were still laws and people having disputes did not randomly murder each other, for the most part. So in the case where words fail them, the Clanfolk will be able to get physical, but not stabby. This system will be an extension of the Negotiation system and is directly connected to Courage/Intimidation.

The goal is not to kill an opponent, it is to get them to flee or surrender. Based on the outcome of a Negotiation, the level of the Courage bar will be given to all the "enemies" on the map. (but modified by their personal attributes. This means new quirks like being fearless or a coward come into play)

So a fight can break out, but this Courage bar is "mostly" what is taking the brunt of the damage vs health (though health will go down, and more importantly injuries will happen.) Again, unit placement is important here. Someone who is surrounded will have a negative Courage affliction, diminishing their courage per second. Call the deerhounds, enemy afraid of dogs, boom, they may flee.

If someone gets pushed, or a particularly nasty insult is thrown from the nearby mob, or is hit with a Haggis, more Courage loss.

So the end result is supposed to be more of a brawl, with shoving, insults, and positioning. The goal is to make it interesting to watch, but also remaining mostly hands off. I don't want this to be an RTS or a bloodbath. Just an argument that got out of control.

There are a few large positives from this. Injuries are a great way to modify gameplay and give some long term consequences. All kinds of new quirks become valuable in relation to personality. And we don't kill off our story actors, so the Player can get to know them when they return looking for trouble in the future.

I am going to get back to work on this now. As you can see there are a LOT of moving and interconnected parts, but the whole interconnectedness is what I think will make it awesome :)

Thanks again everyone!

Andrew Hume (Blorf)
MinMax Games Ltd.

Hi everyone!

Clanfolk is currently on sale for 25% off. At the end of the sale, the price of the game will be raised to reflect advancements made during Early Access. We wanted to provide advance notice in case anyone would like to purchase the game at the current discounted price.

Thank you for all of your support!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1700870/Clanfolk/

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Hi everyone, get Clanfolk for 25% off during the Steam Winter Sale! Harness your environment to survive in Clanfolk - fish, gather, hunt, and farm as you prepare for the coming winter.

Check out this game and Hooded Horse's other published games during the Winter Sale until January 4.

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