Cat Status¶

Cat status is primarily composed of four properties and their associated enums:

Property	Enum/Type	Use
`social`	`CatSocial`	This is the cat's current social caste. For example, if a cat is part of a Clan, they are a `CLANCAT`. If a cat is owned by Twolegs, they are a `KITTYPET`.
`group`	`CatGroup`	This is the group type for the group that a cat is currently affiliated with. If they have no group, this will be `CatGroup.NONE`, which does function as a `NoneType` value. Note that each afterlife has its own `CatGroup` and that all other Clans are considered `CatGroup.OTHER_CLAN` as opposed to the player's `CatGroup.PLAYER_CLAN`. This info isn't saved within the cat's save file, but is retrieved during runtime based off of the `group_ID`.
`group_ID`	`str`	This is the group_ID for the group that a cat is currently affiliated with. If they have no group, this will be `None`. Note that each afterlife has its own ID. The "default" groups: `PLAYER_CLAN`, `STARCLAN`, `DARK_FOREST`, and `UNKNOWN_RESIDENCE` each have static IDs that will always be the same across every save file. These can be easily accessed via `CatGroup.PLAYER_CLAN_ID`, `CatGroup.STARCLAN_ID`, `CatGroup.DARK_FOREST_ID'`, and `CatGroup.UNKNOWN_RESIDENCE_ID`. Other groups will have IDs assigned when they are created and saved within their save info.
`rank`	`CatRank`	This is the rank a cat currently holds, typically within a group. For now, only `CLANCAT`s have ranks. Cats that are part of a `CatSocial` that has no ranks will take a `CatRank` matching their `CatSocial`. For example, a `CatSocial.LONER` will also be a `CatRank.LONER`.

We also utilize one more enum: CatStanding. This is, essentially, what a group thinks of a cat. For example, a member of a group will have the standing MEMBER, while a cat who was exiled from the group would have the standing EXILED. You can use the func get_standing_with_group() to retrieve a cat's currently standing with a group. The functions is_lost() and is_exiled() can assist in quickly finding standing status.

Important

All of this information is stored within two attributes: group_history and standing_history. These preserve all past information as well as current information. We can retrieve the number of moons a cat has held a rank, we can pull a cat's entire standing history with a certain group, we can see all the socials a cat has held in their life. The majority of this information can be retrieved through properties and funcs already made in status.py.

Common Status Changes¶

Exiled or Lost¶

When cats are exiled or lost from a group, their group will change to None and their standing with their old group will change to EXILED or LOST respectively. Their social will change to one of the outsider socials: ROGUE, KITTYPET, LONER; and their rank will change to match this social.

If a cat is pregnant when lost or exiled, their kits will gain the UNKNOWN standing with their parent's group. If the parent was lost, the kittens will also be considered as such. The kits will take the same social as their parent.

Tip

Note that you can always get their past information through all_socials, all_groups, all_ranks and get_standing_with_group()

Dead¶

When cats die, their group becomes one of the three afterlives: STARCLAN, UNKNOWN_RESIDENCE, DARK_FOREST. This means that if you want to check what group they were in before dying, you would need to use all_groups. Their rank and social will stay the same as it was in life. If they were within a group during life, their standing with that group becomes KNOWN.

Tip

As the afterlives are groups, they can also have associated standings with cats! A member of an afterlife will have the MEMBER standing. If a cat's afterlife group changes, the prior group's standing will become KNOWN.

Joining the Player Clan¶

Cats of all social castes can join the player Clan. When they do, their social will change to CLANCAT and they'll gain a rank appropriate for their age. Their standing with the player Clan changes to MEMBER. Their group becomes PLAYER_CLAN.

Tip

Some cats who join the Clan may have already been a CLANCAT! Perhaps they are a prior member who was lost or exiled, or perhaps they're from a different Clan. When they join the player Clan, they will attempt to take their last held Clan rank. Note that LEADERs and DEPUTYs will become WARRIORs. If this rank is incompatible with their current age, our current functions for handling this process will detect that discrepancy and correct it with an associated ceremony event.

Near vs. Far¶

standing_history doesn't just track the cat's standing with a group, it also tracks their near attribute with that group. near is a bool. True means a cat is close enough with that group to interact with it. False means they are too far away from that group to interact with it.

For now, this value only changes when cats are driven away via the Leader's Den. This replaces the old driven_out cat attribute.