Kinfolk Dev Log #2

Version 19 is done, which means I'm on the home stretch to releasing the demo!

Thank you to everyone who has been helping out this last month with testing and feedback for the game! I'm really excited to see this project grow and keep getting better with each new version! I had a lot of fun working on this update. I even went a little crazy and changed my test characters head to my kittens face for a few days!

The biggest change with this version is definitely the addition of animals and their AI. I'm really proud to say that I went all out with this one, which is also why this update took a bit longer than they have in the past. The AI could really do with a deep dive of its own, but I'll do my best to keep it rather brief here!

Animals, in brief!

Animals in kinfolk, like everything, have a lot of detail beneath the surface, but it's presented fairly simply to the player. Creatures in Kinfolk have a big ol' list of needs that they need to fulfill, like hunger, thirst and safety. As they go about their business, they're constantly assessing their needs and their surroundings to determine what they need to do to maximize their chance of survival. They respond to the things that they see and hear, as well as what they smell, which means that creatures like deer or rabbits might stay away from places that players have been in a lot, whereas predators like wolves will be more attracted to these places that smell like food. Creatures also have their own diets and things that they're afraid of, which gives you, the player, the ability to really dive into the beastiary of the game to understand how each creature will respond to different situations!

Let me know if you'd like me to do a deep dive on the AI for Kinfolk! It's really cool, and really has a lot of depth to it!

The Importance of You!

Thank you to everyone who has helped test the game so far! I've had a lot of fun exploring this fun little world that we've shaped together!

Aside from the addition of the AI, the biggest change in this version is some back tracking. I'm really transparent with playtesters about the reasoning behind why I do things the way that I do, and Kinfolk is a pretty technically detailed game, with quite a few things being simulated behind the scenes to make the world come alive and be as engaging as it is. Sometimes my cool ideas are a home run, like with the heat transfer system that the cooking and smithing systems use. Sometimes though they're a swing and a miss, which means I have to either change around how a system works or presents itself, or sometimes, backtrack an entire idea because it just isn't working in the game.

That had to happen twice in this version. I pulled out the wrestling system that I'd implemented before, which was used in combat, and was a subset of the grabbing mechanic. It just wasn't working, and the controls were just not working well with the rest of the game, so I decided to just gut it in favour of some simpler mechanics that use what's already in the game, so it's more cohesive and intuitive for the players.

I also ended up backtracking on how first aid was applied. I was trying to avoid having a bunch of crafting combinations that players would have to execute to do things like make splints, bandages, etc, but again, this was just leading to confusion and frustration, which is definitely not how I want Kinfolk to play. To address this, I just simplified it all, and now first aid is just done by interacting with another player with the correct item in your hand. ezpz. Making these correct items is now a lot easier as well, there are no more combinations to remember for both hands, you can just simple combine items like a bandage and a stick to make a splint, then use the splint to mend a fractured bone. It's much easier to grasp as a new player, and easier to work with in the game.

All in all, this continues to be a big learning experience for me! As the game grows more complex, the controls and interactions are, conversely, getting simpler, which is a direction that I'm really happy with!

Thanks for being a part of this journey! Read on the specific version notes below, and be sure to Wishlist the Game before you go!

Version 0.19 Release Notes

Animals, Messes and more!

Servers

• Steam Users are now properly authenticated between the client and server

Gameplay

• Animals have been added to the game (see above for a detailed breakdown!)

• Job selection has been moved to an interactive object in the game lobby

• Job Selection screen now shows which jobs everyone has bid on

• Added in animal waste: eggs for chickens, patties for cows, scat for game animals

• Diversified the meat selection: Beef, Venison and Chicken

• Slack Tub, Fermentation Tun, Trough all have volume and can be filled with various liquids

• Movement debuff from Fractures has been reduced slightly

• Splints are now a craftable object

• Fixed an issue with baking where bread would sometimes not bake

• Removed the "Wrestling" mechanic

• Mobs can no longer be grabbed unless they are restrained

• Ropes no longer require the player to be prone in order to restrain them

• Burners will now burn players if they are ontop of them while they are lit

• Players can no longer pick up hot items

• Picking up hot items will now burn the player and throw the hot item in a random direction away from the player

• Hot objects now emit a particle effect

• Players will now die if they sustain too many injuries

• Added in "Cow Feed", which can be made in a cauldron

• Flour will now "poof" away if you try to throw it

  

Audio / Visual

• Added in movement animations

• Update the assets for Cards

• Updated the fonts for the game to make them easier to read and more on theme

• Added some tooltip baubles to the cards which display the deck they are from and at what point they check their objectives

• The contextual outline has been removed

• The cursor and object names now change to reflect the context of the item (interactivity, distance, etc)

• Fixed a layering issue with particle sets

• Fixed an issue where corpses didn't always have outlines

• The phrasing on some card conditions has been improved

• Vessels (cauldrons, bowls, mugs, etc) names now change to reflect the liquid they are filled with

• Tweaked the colours for various particle effects

  

The Town

• Added Chickens and Cows to the village

• Fixed some tile issues with corners in each building

• Updated the guard house to a tower, with some nice old roman ruins that it was built into

• Added a training dummy in front of the Guard tower

• Added a feeding trough to the paddock with the cows

• Added some creepy bits to the edge of the map to really sell the anxiety effect