Hollowgate Player Needs – Full Design Document (v1.0)

Category: Core Gameplay
Status: Draft
RFC ID: RFC-002
Related: Player Core Systems, Suspicion System, Reputation, Riot System

1. Overview

Defines primary physiological and social needs and their impact.
Specifies decay, recovery, thresholds, and penalties to keep players engaged with daily routines.
Enforces sanitation and appearance standards to influence suspicion and social outcomes.
Versioning: v1 covers physical needs; v2 will add mental state/stress and riot/lockdown decay adjustments.

Hunger: measures satiety. High = minor energy regen buff; low = reduced health regen and strength penalty.
Sleep: measures rest. Low = reduced stamina cap and slower stamina recovery; brief microsleeps if critical.
Toilet: tracks urgency. If ignored, the player defecates on the ground, generating a littering incident, hygiene loss, and suspicion spike.
Hygiene: measures cleanliness. Clean = small conversation/social acceptance buff; dirty = social debuff and faster suspicion gain when near guards.
Energy: classic Hytale-style activity/stamina bar.

Needs decay in real time while online; decay pauses when offline.
Severe neglect drives suspicion gain and guard attention; littering counts as misconduct.
Buffs are modest and temporary; penalties are strong and escalate.

Hunger: decays over time and during activity; recover via food items; overfull capped to prevent stacking.
Sleep: decays over time and accelerated by heavy exertion; recover by sleeping in a bed, or by drinking “energy” items.
Toilet: urgency rises over time and faster after eating; recover by using toilets; forced defecation applies littering and hygiene loss.
Hygiene: decays with time, sweat, and dirty environments; recover via showers/sinks.
Energy: drains with sustained actions (sprinting, crafting, jobs); recovers via rest, food boosts, or idle time; cannot exceed cap.

Warning thresholds provide UI inditcaors and mild debuffs; critical thresholds apply strong penalties and generate suspicion modifiers.
Hunger critical: health regen halted, strength penalty high.
Sleep critical: stamina floor reduced, movement penalties, risk of brief control loss (stumble/microsleep).
Toilet critical: imminent forced defecation; on trigger, apply littering incident, hygiene drop, and suspicion bump.
Hygiene critical: conversation debuff, NPC avoidance, elevated suspicion gain in monitored areas.
Energy critical: action speed penalty, job output reduced, increased fatigue/stress gain.

Needs panel shows bars/bands with critical markers.
Contextual alerts: approaching toilet need, hygiene warnings, low energy.
Incident logs show littering events tied to toilet neglect for clarity and enforcement.

Suspicion: low hygiene and littering add suspicion; clean state slightly improves decay rate.
Jobs: low energy or sleep increases job failure chance and reduces output; some jobs require minimum hygiene.
Reputation: persistent poor hygiene and littering decrease social reputation
Health and Combat: hunger and energy affect regen and damage output; sleep affects stamina availability.
Riot/Lockdown: decay adjustments (v2) slow hunger and sleep during suppression states; hygiene drops faster when facilities are restricted; incidents from neglect can amplify riot-related suspicion.

Mental State/Stress: new need tracking psychological load; rises from incidents, intimidation, sleep debt, hunger stress; lowers via safe social spaces and rest. High stress amplifies suspicion gain and reduces performance.
Lockdown/Riot Decay Modifiers: hunger and sleep decay slowed during lockdowns and riots to avoid compounding penalties while movement is restricted.

Physical needs create ongoing custody pressure through decay, debuffs, and suspicion ties.
Hygiene and toilet compliance prevent misconduct flags and social penalties.
v2 will extend the model with mental state/stress and lockdown/riot decay adjustments.