Update 20 - Bears!

Hi Everyone,

Update 20 is all about Bears, their Behaviors, and their developing Stories. So, I spent a bunch of time researching Bears and fell into another rabbit hole. Here is the result!

The Bears have a unique set of Behaviors that simulate the the natural drives and reactions of real bears. The goal was to make bears as realistic as possible instead of having them just be aggressive monsters.

I will describe life with bears in detail below, but rest assured it is possible to coexist with the bears if desired. You can also scare them away, or hunt them if feeling foolhardy.

If you want to avoid Bears completely, you can also turn them off in Settings/Gameplay.

Story wise, the Bears are fully tracked, just like people, and remember everything that has happened to them. Currently there are two "story" bears, each with three story stages that unfold over three years, but that will expand in time as well.

Hooking the bears up to the Story Generator will allow for interesting longer term encounters with Bears, getting to know them over time as they roam their territory. Bears add some spice to the Homestead when they wander in, and probably some relief when they finally leave, but their return should feel familiar and maybe a bit nostalgic as their story develops.

Note: You do not need to start a new game for Bears to appear. The only requirement for them to appear is that it is year 2+ and the right season.

Also: There will be some behavioral oddities with the Bears for the next few days. I am working hard on ironing these out and will be pushing small patches. Since their behaviors are so complex, there is a lot of emergence between Bears, Cubs, Clanfolk, and Deerhounds which can lead to situations that I had not accounted for. But if anything, these situations will be odd/entertaining for the most part :)

Artis is a young female bear who is still quite Timid and Unsure around Humans. Her Habituation and Food Conditioning are nil. If she does not learn any bad habits, she should not be a large threat.

Spawn Requirement: Year 2+, Spring Day 2, Sunset

Mathan is much older, larger, and has little patience for Humans. He sees Humans as an easy source of food, and he knows they flee at the sight of him. Mathan is a menace, but his intense fear of Fire can be used to manage where he wanders.

Spawn Requirement: Year 2+, Autumn Day 2, Sunset

Bears track five new attribute bars to simulate real world Bear behavior.

• Territory: Decrease this bar to zero and the Bear will move on, for a while.
  
• Habituation: This is how safe a Bear feels around Humans.
  
• Food Conditioning: This is how much a Bear associates Humans with an easy meal.
  
• Standoffs: When Bears encounter Humans, a Standoff will occur. The result will be Fight or Flight
  
• Fight: Once full, the Bear Attacks. Initial value based on Food Conditioning.
  
• Flight: Once Drained the Bear Flees. Initial value based on Habituation.

• Courage: A Bear Standoff takes Courage, which is based on the Intimidation Skill.
  
• Panic: If Courage gets too Low, the Clanfolk will Panic and Run, this triggers the Bear's Hunting Instinct.
  
• Scaring Bears: It is much safer to Scare a Bear from a distance than to hunt it, the Wecht Drum or Bagpipes will work for this.
  
• Drum?!?: Yes, there is a new instrument!
  
• Fire and Torchlight: Great for keeping bears away from an area.
  
• Deerhounds: Great protectors, and their barking helps to Scare Bear away.
  
• Poking the Bear: Do not mess with an Angry Bear.
  
• Garbage: Bears love it.
  
• I don't want Bears: They can be turned off in Settings/Gameplay.

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A quick diversion from Bears to mention how helpful reviews can be. Even a short review indicating what stood out to you or a new experience achieved can be quite useful in letting others know what Clanfolk is all about. Reviews also help me to understand what players are enjoying and how to prioritize my tasks.

So between the Steam Forums, Discord, the Testing Branch, and Reading Reviews is how I decide what I will be working on next, the long term shape of the Clanfolk, or find a new rabbit hole to fall into.

So if you do decide to leave a review, thank you! but also no matter how you get your ideas and experiences out there, I read them and they are all very useful and appreciated!

Back to Bears!
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The Territory Bar represents how confident the Bear feels in the area. The goal with this bar is to cause it to drain as quickly as possible so the Bear moves on.

• When the Territory Bar reaches zero, the Bear will leave the area.
  
• When a Bear is Hunted or Scared, the Territory Bar will decrease.
  
• Noise from the Homestead will also lower the Territory Bar over time, but as Habituation increases, the Bear will see Noise as less of a threat.
  
• Bears will also leave to make a Den for the Winter.

This simulates how comfortable the Bear is around Humans. Habituated bears are not necessarily aggressive, but they do not see humans as a threat. This brings them into closer contact though which can lead to bad outcomes.

Keeping Habituation low is important. A Habituated Bear gets closer and stands its ground longer. This leaves more time for the Clanfolk's courage to deteriorate, causing a flee which will result in a bear charging due to instinct.

• As Habituation Increases, the Bear will get Closer and will maintain a Standoff Longer.
  
• Habituation increases slowly over time as the Bear gets used to Human settlement noise.
  
• Habituation will increase quickly if a Human panics and runs from a Bear.
  
• Habituation Decreases when a Bear Flees from Humans due to a Standoff or Injury.

The Flight Bar can be seen as the Bear's Courage when dealing with Humans. Habituation determines how full the Flight bar will get. Another good reason to keep Habituation low.

When a Standoff happens, the Flight bar will decreased based on what the Human (and helpful Deerhound) are doing. Hopefully the Flight Bar drains before the Fight Bar fills.

• The Flight Bar will Drain during a Standoff, and when it reaches zero, the Bear will Flee the Standoff.
  
• Over time, the Flight Bar will increase again to a value determined by Habituation.

The Food Conditioning Bar shows how much the Bear sees Human settlements as a place to get an easy meal.

• A Food Conditioned Bear is Dangerous.
  
• Food Conditioning creates more Habituation as the Bear is drawn to Human areas for food.
  
• As Habituation increases, the Bear gets closer, eventually the Bear sees the Humans as a competitor for the Food and has lost all Fear.
  
• Food Conditioning cannot be decreased.

The Fight Bar tracks how close the Bear is to charging. Once the Fight Bar fills, the standoff is over and the Bear will do its best to attack and remove the perceived threat.

Unless there is a doorway nearby or a loyal Deerhound ready to intercept the Bear, someone is in for pain.

• When the Fight Bar is full, the Bear will Charge and Attack.
  
• During a Standoff, the Fight Bar will increase, and its initial value is determined by Food Conditioning.

• A Standoff occurs when a Bear and a Human get too close to each other.
  
• When a Standoff happens, two bars will appear below the Bear, Gold for Flight, and Red for Fight.
  
• When the Gold bar drains, the Bear will Flee. When the Red bar fills, the Bear will Charge.
  
• The Human in the Standoff will also have a Gold bar that shows their Courage.
  
• The initial value of the Courage bar increases with higher Intimidation Skill.
  
• As the Standoff progresses, the Human will try to back away safely, but if the Courage bar reaches zero, they will Panic and Flee.
  
• If Courage is below 25% and a Bear charges, the Human will also Flee.
  
• Humans playing dead will not be mauled as much as those who are caught while fleeing.

• When Hunting a Bear, as soon as an arrow hits, the Bear will either Attack or Flee.
  
• The Bear will Attack if it has a high Fight Bar or is Angry due to being recently injured, otherwise the Bear will Flee when hit.
  
• Repeated attacks on a Bear over a short period of time are very dangerous, so the Hunting task is cleared each time an arrow hits.
  
• Hunting will lower the Territory and Habituation bars quickly, but is also quite dangerous.
  
• Currently there is only one case where a bear will outright kill a Clanfolk. That is if the mama bear's cub is killed. In that case I assume you asked for it, so their fury will be unleashed. Later on I will likely add some difficulty settings for this, but for now, you have been warned about cub hunting.

• A safer way to get Bears to move out of the area is to Scare them.
  
• Bagpipes and the Wecht Drum can be used to create Loud Noises to Scare the Bears.
  
• Deerhounds will also accompany their owner to help.
  
• Scaring Bears will lower the Territory and Habituation bars.
  
• Bears will also prefer to avoid areas lit by fire or torchlight.

• Bears are Omnivorous so they will eat just about anything available.
  
• Bears are particularly fond of Rotten Food, so Dumps are very attractive to them.
  
• Bears will also raid Berry Patches, Eat Mushrooms, take Fish from Rivers, and Destroy Beehives to eat the sweetened brood comb inside.

Bears have their own set of Quirks that will modify their behaviors like they do for Clanfolk. This gives the bears extra personality that can also evolve over time.

As Artis gains experience over the years, her quirks develop from those of a timid young bear, unsure of her surroundings into a protective and confident mamabear who commands respect.

Mathan's quirks feed his enormous appetite, but also to boost the importance of a new Gameplay Mechanic...

Ahh finally a use for torches beyond lighting and ambience. They keep bears away.

Normal bears will not like to stand next to Fires, so torches next to beehives for example can keep the bears away. This range is about 2 tiles.

On the other hand, Mathan is terrified of fire (part of his backstory and why there are bears in the area in 1300's Scotland)

Mathan will not approach even the light from fires. So the entire light range of the torches is off limits to him. Note, this system checks the actual lit tiles, so wall that blocks the light will also create corridors where Mathan can walk.

Using the lighting mechanic is important because Mathan has no fear of people and loves eating human food. Using the "Keep Lit" option with the torches is a good idea when Mathan is around.

The Deerhounds have a whole new set of behaviors to assist with the Bears as well.

If a Deerhound is set to Guard mode it will assist with Bear Hunts and Bear Scares. In both cases the Deerhound is there for support and not to attack (because it would get killed.)

In the Scare Bear task, the Deerhound will help by barking to intimidate the Bear as well.

But the Deerhound's main role is as a buffer against a Bear's charge. In that case they will enter hero mode and try to save their Clanfolk if they can.

I had a pretty epic case of this where a Deerhound saved its human from being mauled and chased off the bear, but due to injuries the loyal hound died next its owner. I did give her a hero's funeral though. Currently I have turned off bleed out due to injuries, so you do not need to worry about losing your beloved pet. It may end up being a difficulty option later.

So, there is a new instrument, the Wecht Drum! In the 1300s, they were used to winnow oats and were both a tool and musical instrument. They have quite a booming sound that is ideal for scaring off the bears too.

In reality they need clean rawhide for the drumhead, but I decided to go with dry hide instead so they could unlock earlier in the Ideas flow. This will bring them online at around the same time as the Bears start arriving, so you have an option other than hunting them.

I also couldn't leave out the Bagpipes, so those will also work as a tool for the Bear Scare task.

Once a Standoff starts, you will notice gold bar appearing below some Clanfolk. All of these Clanfolk are trying to escape the bear without setting it off.

The Clanfolk will try to maintain a facing direction with the bear while slowly backing up. This backup speed increases as courage decreases. Remember courage is directly tied to the Intimidation skill. If the Courage gets below 25% that Clanfolk will run.

If the Clanfolk are lucky, there will be a door nearby and they will try to hide inside. In general the Bear will not follow into houses.

It can be quite interesting when a Bear wanders through town and everyone starts noping out and backing into doorways.

Clanfolk will not exit doors near Bears, but they will still try to look for work away from the bears so life can go on, but just not in a bubble around the bear.


Why are my Clanfolk flopping over! This is the Clanfolk playing dead. If it's brown lay down.

When a Bear does charge, they will do much less harm to a Clanfolk playing dead. The bear will lose interest more quickly, and if a Deerhound is around it will give a good opportunity for the bear to be chased off.

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

I am going to get to work on Update 21 now.

Thanks very much for playing Clanfolk!

Andrew Hume (Blorf)
MinMax Games Ltd.

Enjoy the Bears!