timmy-home/timmy-world/README.md

Tower Game — Trust and Conflict Mechanics

A narrative emergence game with real consequences. Trust must be maintained or it decays. Conflict has real impact on relationships.

New Features (Issue #509)

Trust Decay

• Trust naturally decays over time at different rates based on current level
• High trust (>0.5): decays slowly (0.003/tick)
• Medium trust (0-0.5): decays normally (0.005/tick)
• Negative trust (<0): decays faster (0.008/tick) — harder to maintain
• Ignoring someone for extended periods causes additional trust decay

Confront Action

• Real consequences based on current trust level
• High trust (>0.5): Productive confrontation, small trust loss (-0.05 to -0.15)
• Medium trust (0-0.5): Risky confrontation, moderate trust loss (-0.1 to -0.3)
• Negative trust (<0): Hostile confrontation, large trust loss (-0.2 to -0.4)
• Creates "trust crisis" when relationship drops below -0.5

Wrong Action Penalties

• Performing actions in wrong rooms decreases trust with witnesses
• Tending fire outside Forge: -0.05 trust
• Writing rules outside Tower: -0.03 trust
• Planting outside Garden: -0.04 trust
• NPCs react with confusion, concern, or raised eyebrows

NPC Behavior Changes

NPCs now react differently based on trust level:

• Marcus: Cold/silent when trust < -0.3, cautious when trust < 0.2, normal otherwise
• Bezalel: Dismissive when trust < -0.2, neutral when trust < 0.3, friendly otherwise
• Other NPCs show appropriate reactions to trust levels

Trust Crisis System

• Global state trust_crisis triggers when any relationship drops below -0.5
• Creates narrative tension and consequences
• Affects world events and character interactions

Acceptance Criteria Met

• Trust decreases through wrong actions
• At least one character reaches negative trust during gameplay
• Low trust changes NPC behavior
• Confront action has real consequences

Running the Game

cd timmy-world
python3 game.py

Running Tests

cd timmy-world
python3 test_trust_conflict.py

File Structure

• game.py — Main game engine with trust and conflict mechanics
• test_trust_conflict.py — Tests verifying acceptance criteria
• README.md — This file

Design Notes

Trust is not a resource to be managed — it's a relationship to be maintained. The decay system ensures that:

1. Trust requires active maintenance
2. Neglect has consequences
3. Conflict is risky but sometimes necessary
4. Relationships can break and need repair
5. NPC behavior reflects the quality of relationships

This creates meaningful choices: do you tend the fire (productive) or confront Marcus (risky)? Do you help Bezalel (builds trust) or ignore everyone (trust decays)?

The system is designed so that negative trust is possible and happens naturally through gameplay, especially through confrontations and neglect.