Clanfolk News

Hi Everyone,

Hearth and Home is a very important update for Clanfolk as it completes the "Day To Day Life" focus and allows me to finally start concentrating on what we have been calling "Year 2+"

"Year 2+" is about making each play through feel unique.

The goal with Clanfolk has always been to make day to day life interesting. I wanted the "in between times" to be engaging, and I think that with Hearth and Home we are finally there. It feels like a little real life Scottish Homestead to me, one that is even able to evolve into a community.

I will continue to add items and crafting stations as needed (Bee Keeping for example,) but the main focus going forward will be on "Year 2+" elements.

This will be a mixture of greater focus on the Clanfolk themselves, their attributes and quirks, combined with external factors such as Plagues, Famines, Cold Snaps, Taxation, Conscription, and Theft to name a few.

Another key component will be selectable difficulty levels and challenges. This could involve settings as simple as non permanent Ice Jugs, Unlimited Rats, or Longer Winters, or LOTS of rain.

The main goal is going to be to maintain the feel of family life on the Homestead while also making each game evolve differently based on internal and external factors.

So that is what is coming, and I am very excited to get started, but Hearth and Home is also very cool and we finally have some Haggis, so lets dive into that!



The goal was to use traditional foods and farming to deliver even more on the 1300's Scottish homestead experience.

Hearth and Home features new historically accurate Crops, requiring new map generation, new advanced recipes, a pottage station that can make stew out of anything on hand, as well as a long list of improvements and bug fixes,



So first off, there are no potatoes. They did not arrive in Scotland until around the 1700s, so 400 years too late. In fact potatoes come from Peru! Clanfolk has been great for me learning new things :)

The new crops are Kale (Kail), Onions, Turnips (Neeps), and Broad Beans. In the 1300's, apparently these were the main staples of the peasant folk. Kale was so popular that there were multiple poems about it.

The new crops will spawn in small patches on new maps. They look quite different than the normal grasses and are hopefully not too hard to find.

When drawing the crops, I tried to make them look as close to how they do in nature as possible. They even have the right flowers when they are ready to be picked. (Note; In the real world usually you want to pick a plant before it flowers, but flowers are a great done-ness indicator for a game)



For people who want to continue their current save, each Trader Biome has a chance to bring one type of seeds at Reputation level 2. They will start bringing the actual plants for eating/cooking at Reputation 0.

Another note on planting crops. There was an issue with planting at the very end of Summer wasting seeds because even in optimal conditions it was not possible to get a full crop before winter. Now if tilled soil is kept watered and fertilized, it will be possible to get 1 full crop out in time, so the seeds will not be lost.



When the new crops are harvested, they will drop both the seeds and the food plant.

There is a new Seed Shelf and Seed Stockpile. Beware, herbivores and especially Rats find the seeds very attractive.



The new crops will generate basic food, Pottage ingredients, and are all used in the new High Tier Recipes.

Kale (Kail), Onions, Turnips can be eaten raw, but are not highly desirable.

Broad Beans need to be cooked before eating, unless the Clanfolk is starving.

Onions and Neeps can be roasted at the Cooking Fire, Fireplace, or Kitchen to make a much tastier meal.

Pluck is literally the organ meat that is Plucked out when butchering (Heart, Lungs, Liver) and is different than Offal which is what “falls off/out” (hence the word) I had heard of Offal, but never Pluck, so once again Clanfolk has taught me something new :) Pluck is the main ingredient in Haggis, so it of course had to be included.

Now when large animals are butchered, there will also be some Pluck produced alongside the Meat and Hide. This can be roasted, or added to Pottage Stew, but its main use is the Haggis.



Hearth and Home introduces Pottage Stew (Hunter's Stew/Perpetual Stew.) Traditionally there was a large cooking pot that was kept filled and simmering with whatever meats and vegetables were on hand. The new Cooking Pot fulfills this role.

The Cooking Pot will cook the new crops and Berries or Mushrooms as well as any type of Meat. It is meant to work just like Pottage Stew and cook anything on hand.

One of the huge benefits of Pottage Stew is that it is always warm and ready to go, simmering in the corner.

The Cooking Pot is probably the most advanced crafting station now as it combines pieces of kitchens, beds, and even the compost to be able to service up to 6 Clanfolk at once using a variety of items. It has 13 art states that change as each Clanfolk takes their bowl of Stew. Please watch it at least once to make all the pixel pushing worth it :)

The Clanfolk will also form a very orderly queue as they line up for Stew.



The Kitchen is now the home of the best food recipes.

These complex recipes are very difficult to make, will require multiple ingredients, and clean dishes, but they also give long term Buffs!


Vegetable Soup will increase Movement Speed.


Hearty Stew will increase Work Speed and Warmth (great for Winter)


Fish Stew is Brain Food. It will give a 2x Bonus to many Skill Experience Types


Brose is still made at the Tiled Peat Stove, but it will now give a small Warmth Boost early on


Haggis is finally here. Haggis will naturally improve Mood and will also give a Work Bonus.


Haggis and Neeps is the King of meals. One plate of this will last a Clanfolk an entire day, but it is the hardest meal to make. It even requires Butter and Milk!

Haggis and Neeps will improve, Work, Mood, Warmth, and Satisfaction of Guests. It is the Ultimate Food.



With all the ingredients required for the High Tier Foods, it has become important to have control over what foods the Clanfolk will eat. If making Haggis and Neeps, we don't want the Clanfolk to eat all the Haggis beforehand.

The Food Desirability is set in the Inventory Menu. The setting can go from 0% where the food will only be eaten if the Clanfolk is starving up to 10,000% where they will try to eat it even if it is on the moon.

One thing to note alongside the desirability in the Inventory panel is the Cooking Pot. Since it is a crafting station, it does not have a desirability, but it does have priority, which is used to determine how attractive the Pottage is.

A priority of 0 works like a desirability of 0% and a priority of 5 is 100%, and 10 is 200%. A Boosted Cooking Pot will have 10,000% desirability.


There is also the Serving Table to consider here as it gives a 2x desirability modifier to anything placed on it. That means a food that is 80% desirable, is 160% on the Serving Table. This can be used to get Clanfolk to eat certain items in specific areas. The Serving Table can have its Allowed Foods defined in the same way as a Stockpile.

A final note on Food Desirability. The choice to eat a certain food is also Distance based, so a less desirable, but very close food can also be picked. Distance plays less of a role than Desirability in the decision of what to eat.



The Tile Table has been added to give an early Decoration Table to house Rush Lights. This will allow the early homes to be decorated with a little light.



This one has been a request for a long time. You can now sort your Inventory Bookmarks as well as have their position saved!

The Bookmarks now also support a second Row instead of the slider to allow more items to be visible on screen at once. The font size for the counts was also increased as this was a common request.



This one has been a request for even longer. The Units Bar members can now be dragged around and organized into families.

While building this new dragging system, I also implemented an auto sort that should place the units in fairly optimal positions. The rules work such that the older Clan members will stay on the left, and the newer families will be on the right. Children sort with their family, until they partner up and are then moved to the right.

What this means is that if someone is single they sort next to their parents (if the parents are alive) This system seems to keep everyone organized in an easy to understand way.

• Gordon
  
• Stuart of Bute
  
• McCormack
  
• MacAlister
  
• Sinclair
  
• Bell
  
• Muirhead
  
• MacNicol
  
• Kerr
  
• Gray
  
• MacCallum
  
• McCulloch
  
• Lamont
  
• MacAulay
  
• MacTavish
  
• Paisley
  
• Eliot
  
• MacPherson
  
• Hamilton
  
• Grant
  
• Johnston
  
• Leslie
  
• Logan
  
• MacLaren
  
• MacLachlan
  
• Shaw of Tordarroch
  
• Macfie
  
• Pringle
  
• Note: There are now 73 Clans available in Clanfolk! (Apparently the perfect number by coincidence)
  
• Adding Clans is quite intensive time wise with building the art and researching the correct Tartan/Motto to use. Going forward I am planning on making an override directory where people can put in their own Clan art/info.
  

For those interested in detailed change logs, following this link and starting at V0.405 will give you a listing of all the changes since Update 11 (Zones and Decorations)

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1700870/discussions/0/3183488858470509508/?ctp=18


[h2]Road Map[/h2]

There is a lot more to come! Please take a look at the Road Map for further long term details as well.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1700870/view/3388412789658793666

Diving back into the code now.

Thanks very much for playing Clanfolk!

Andrew Hume (Blorf)
MinMax Games Ltd.


p.s. I would also like to give a shout out to my Friend and Partner (Narlak's) game "No Creeps Were Harmed." It just released into Early Access a few days ago and is a great 3D Tower Defense Game.

While I have been working away on Clanfolk for 6+ years, he has made Golftopia, and now No Creeps Were Harmed.

Just as back Story, Narlak and I have been working together now for 19 years, 5 years in AAA development and now 14 years at MinMax. We made Space Pirates and Zombies 1 and 2 together, and are now working on our own personal titles, but support each other where we can.

I hope you will take a look!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1932260/No_Creeps_Were_Harmed_TD/

• Fixed case where a rabbit being hauled back by a Cat on Load would be dropped, which would cause the Rabbit to be stopped.
  
• Fixed case where moving an object in a crate onto a tile that needed to be cleared would cause Idea Points to be awarded for the move as if the object had been built.
  
• Fixed case where a mother cat with kittens is tamed, but the kittens were not tamed. This could cause problems when the kittens wanted to nurse but the mother cat was inside a house. When the kittens get hungry enough, they will now also tame themselves to reach the mother.
  
• Fixed "In Use" decorations like Rush Lights being available for trading while on fire and getting snatched off tables
  
• Fixed case where sometimes potential tasks would be picked that should not have been due to items that would not be usable at the time of the task being picked during task calculation. This lead to cases where Clanfolk would break off a task to do nothing and another Clanfolk would take over where they left off. So they would take turns for example spinning hanks instead of 1 person doing the job multiple times.
  
• Fixed "Need More Beds" Alert to understand Baby beds as well as Double Beds and how to best count them to make sure everyone has a place to sleep.
  

• Fixed bug introduced in v0.405 that would drop crafting items when they were picked up if it was the last case of that item on the map, creating indecision loops. Sorry about that one. I did not see it in my tests of v0.405
  

• Fixed case where there is only one item left in a manual build queue and it has multiple recipe items. If there was an auto build item wanting to be built, it could abort the build of the manual item and move itself in front of the manual item in the queue. In the case of Tallow, this caused a spare clay bowl to be produced as well
  
• Fixed Butter and Tallow such that when recipes using them are aborted a free bowl/dish is not produced
  
• Fixed Kiln position to make it properly centered over the four squares it covers, also scaled it up to fill the space better
  
• Added Dragging to the Inventory Bookmark System!
  

• Major improvement to Settings/Video/Brighter Nights setting
  
• Reworked the Sun Position/Ambient Lighting system such that the shadows remain visible at sunrise and sunset to fix the problem where the grass in particular looked totally flat/washed out at those times.
  
• Synchronized the shadow lengths exactly with Sunrise and Sunset such that the travelling shadows from left to right can now be used as a meter to gauge day progress. Shadows will be longest right at sunrise and at sunset. Shadows will be on the left in the morning since the sun is in the east.
  
• I am curious on opinions on Brighter Nights. I am on the fence with making this setting default, or at least something between the current somewhat dark nights and the bright nights being default.
  
• Added ability for the Grass Shader to detect Units moving on it and then deform based on that. It is very subtle, but has been on my mind as a fun thing to try out for ages.
  

• Updated Polish
  
• Updated Japanese
  
• Fix for bug introduced on July 18th that could cause units that needed to leave the map to get stuck if they were carrying something that they needed to drop when they were set to leave the map.
  

Hi Everyone,

It was Clanfolk's first anniversary in Early Access as of July 14th 2023. I just wanted to thank everyone for their support! I really love working on Clanfolk, and the community we have built together is awesome. There is much more to come :)

[h3]The Zones and Decoration Update has Arrived![/h3]

First off, I want to thank those on the Testing Branch for all their help over the last couple months testing/improving this new version as it developed. Their suggestions and tireless bug reporting are a huge help to me.

Note: Anyone can join the testing branch under Clanfolk/Properties/Betas. If you do join, expect bugs, and if you find any, please report them here or on Discord. It makes Clanfolk better for everyone.

Lets get right to the details :)


[h2]Zones System[/h2]


The new Zones System allows players to draw out areas where Clanfolk will limit their search for jobs or to fulfill needs. These Zones can be used to optimize crafting behavior or to create auto assigned home areas for separate families within the Clan.

Only members of a Zone are limited to that Zone, so NON Zone members can come and go as they need to. It is best to think of a Zone as leashing Clanfolk to an Area. Zones do not keep other Clanfolk out.

Zones are not required for the Clanfolk to function, and in general it is best not to use them unless you are after a very specific behavior. An example would be to keep a cook in the kitchen and also to only grab cooking materials from the kitchen storage. Other Clanfolk could still come and go from the Kitchen, but the cook would only do cooking in that small area, and would not cross the map for ingredients, leaving that up to a hauler instead.

Zones are very powerful because they limit what Clanfolk can see. If a Clanfolk is assigned to zones and behaving strangely, make sure the item they are expected to use is within their work zone for the related task.

Clanfolk can be members of multiple Zones and can even inherit membership as a family member, guest, or traveler.

[h3]Home Zones[/h3]

• Clanfolk can define a Home Zone where they will try to stay to fulfill their personal needs like food, sleep, pooping etc. This is a method to define separated housing for different families
  
• Home Zones can be toggled as auto assigned as well. New family members can inherit membership into zones when they are born or join the family.
  
• Home Zones also allow automating the housing for workers and travelers, allowing for a more functional Inn.
  
• If Clanfolk are Starving, Dehydrated, or Freezing they will leave their Zone to try to survive. Their self preservation will outweigh their zone etiquette. :)
  

[h3]Work Zones[/h3]

• Work zones can be defined to optimize where Clanfolk will pick jobs and where they will go to collect building supplies.
  
• Work zones can be defined per skill type so that the work zone for cooking does not interfere with woodcutting work for example.
  

Clanfolk do not require zones to complete tasks, and in general will be very effective without them, but work zones are another tool to tune behaviors.

[h2]Decorations System[/h2]


One of the most common requests has been for new methods to customize the Homestead, to really make it feel unique. The new Decoration System is the first step in that direction. There will be quite a bit of expansion in decorating options, but for this update I wanted to get the most difficult tech dealt with first.

• Decorations are a new class of Item that have their own Stockpile Type, Storage, and Inventory Menu Section.
  
• Decorations will increase the beauty of rooms, but in the future may also have side effects like wall hides providing insulation to a room, or a bed cover providing a little warmth boost.
  
• The entire object system needed a rewrite to allow multiple objects on a single tile, BUT this was very worthwhile because this change allows us to place rugs UNDER objects, as well as connect decorations to walls without blocking the floor tile in front of them.
  
• There are currently Wall, Floor, Fitted, Item, and Object type decorations.
  
• Wall: They stick to the Wall, but don't block object placement
  
• Floor: They draw under objects, but don't block placement
  
• Fitted: These use special art for each object they are affixed to. An example of this is a Tartan bedspread. It needs different art to “fit” to each bet it lays on top of.
  
• Item: These work like normal items in storages. So the art is the same in all cases as the item is put on a shelf.
  
• Object type decorations take up actual floor space. An example of this are the new tables. These tables work as holders for Item, and Fitted decorations. Note: Tables are required for the placement of Rushlights.
  

[h3]New Decorations[/h3]

• Rushlight: This is a traditional alternative to candles (Which were very expensive and regulated) They provide only a very short range light (1 tile radius) but beautify a room.
  
• Rushlights are made with Straw and Tallow (Tallow is collected as drippings when cooking meat now)
  
• Rushlights really allow the lighting system to shine. :)
  
• Tartan Coverings: This allows you to show your Clan colors as part of decorating. The Decorative Tartan can be used to create Rugs, Wall coverings, Bedspreads, and Table Coverings. It can also be used to create a standing Clan Banner.
  
• Hide Coverings: These use the new Decorative Hide. And can cover Walls, Beds, and the Floor.
  
• Heather Wreath: This is a new use for the collected Heather and provides a splash of color on the walls.
  
• Straw Mats/Rugs: This is an early decorating option, but makes rooms look more homey
  

I plan to add many more decorations in future updates. For this Update I just wanted to get the hardest test cases in there and working.

By Default workers will auto decorate as decorative items are crafted, but this behavior can be turned off in Settings/Gameplay/Auto Decorate. All new decorative objects will have their slots blocked, but existing ones will remain as they were.

[h2]Ideas Panel Upgrade![/h2]


So as the Ideas Panel has grown and grown with the new items and objects added, it became near impossible to navigate. Some kind of search function has been a very common and very reasonable request. Well its in there now :)

The Ideas Panel is a self generated menu, which makes it 100% accurate when it comes to what will unlock what, and it also morphs itself as I make changes to recipe requirements etc, so that is great, but it is generated by a machine so was not really readable when it got large.

There was a really nice side effect of this machine generation though. I was able to add filters to how the menu constructs itself, so now there is not just a search window, but also Filters that will allow the player to cull things that they are not interested in seeing. You all had to suffer with the old Ideas Panel soo long that I wanted to make sure that using it now was very configurable/hopefully painless.

Search wise, there is a drop down, but if you click above that, you can also enter text and it will cull the dropdown entries to entries that contain that text. I use it all the time now.

[h2]New Clothing System[/h2]

• Clanfolk had a nasty habit of daring each other to spend winter in their underwear. This should now be fixed. The old system was body temperature based, but in many cases the warm rooms offset the cold outside enough such that winter clothing was not added in time.
  
• With the New System, Clothing is based on what would be normal to wear for a season.
  
• The Clanfolk will try their best to maintain appropriate seasonal clothing based on what the average temperature and weather would be.
  
• Clanfolk are still allowed to make adjustments to these seasonal templates as they need to keep warmer or cooler, but the Bare Chested Bearded Winter Scotsman should be a rare sight now.
  

[h2]Sparkless Iron Torches![/h2]


Calling this one out because it was without a doubt the most common request.

These new torches take iron to build, but will not throw sparks. There is a Wall and Pole mounted variety.

[h2]Baby Basket[/h2]


The babies now have the most advanced bed in Clanfolk. It is a 1x1 basket that they sleep inside of, instead of on top of.

This basket went through many iterations, one even apparently looking like an alien mouth eating the baby, from the perspective of the first two people I showed it to. I hope it is much better now. :) A little bit of twine in the wrong spot, and I end up with an baby eating alien.

[h2]Double Sleep Mat[/h2]


The New Double Sleep Mat will allow players to use that baby basket earlier. Babies used to come quite late game and generally players did not get to babies until they are already thriving, having the double Straw Bed.

It is important to note that for pregnancy, Both partners need to have 7500+ mood, not be hungry, and be in a private room. Happy baby making :)

[h2]Change Logs[/h2]

So for those interested in the full story of this update, please take a look at the Steam Forums here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1700870/discussions/0/3183488858470509508/?ctp=16

Update 11 starts with changelist 0.373. It is a pretty interesting read if you like fine detail! There are quite a few smaller changes in there that are not listed above.

[h2]Road Map[/h2]

There is a lot more to come! Please take a look at the Road Map for further long term details as well.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1700870/view/3388412789658793666

Diving back into the code now.

Thanks very much for playing Clanfolk!

Andrew Hume (Blorf)
MinMax Games Ltd.