Ratopia News

Hello all, it's Cassel, developer of .
This month, we focused extensively on the Shaman Leader theme. Finally, with the content now complete enough to share, I am excited to present it in this development diary.

As briefly mentioned in Development Diary #32, the Shaman theme involved discussions around various ideas. Deciding how to implement these ideas in an engaging way, and determining the direction and objectives for development, was no easy task. In particular, given the diverse perspectives held by both the development team and players regarding religion, it required a careful approach to integrate and balance all these ideas within the constraints of limited development time.

Regrettably, this also meant making difficult decisions to set aside some of the more compelling concepts. Before diving in, I want to sincerely thank everyone who shared their thoughts on the religious theme. Now, let me formally introduce the Shaman theme to you all.


[h3]Religion System[/h3]

With the Shaman update, Ratizens who follow specific religions gain additional abilities. While the Scientist content focused on using structures to efficiently develop the city, the Shaman content centers around utilizing Ratizens to drive the city’s growth. As a result, the key to this theme lies in managing paths, schedules, and spaces to ensure that more Ratizens can adopt a religion.

The planning process for the Shaman theme was not without its challenges, as the variety of experiences we wanted to offer made the journey anything but smooth. Numerous requests to adjust the direction required us to clarify the specific experiences we wanted to deliver before moving forward. After careful deliberation, we established the following objectives for the Shaman theme:

- Incorporate elements that utilize deceased Ratizens
- Make the process of forming religions more engaging than simply completing them
- Design systems that are easy to understand (though we often feel like we fall short...)
- Enhance space management and Ratizen control mechanics
- Provide a unique experience through new mechanisms
- Enable creative applications through existing systems
- Offer players a variety of choices

In hindsight, these goals may seem overly ambitious. However, we felt that such challenges were necessary to ensure the theme update’s quality. Furthermore, rather than confining everything into a single religion, we decided it would be more enjoyable to split the content across two distinct religions. This approach allows for potential additions like religious inclusivity and conflict, making management even more engaging for players.

The basic progression in the Shaman theme is as follows:

Once the Shaman Desk is researched and constructed in your city, you can build the initial conversion structures for the Umbran and Purgon religions. When a Ratizen is assigned to a conversion structure, they will begin converting other Ratizens to their religion. However, since a Ratizen’s religious devotion is limited in time, mechanisms must be in place to ensure followers do not lose their faith.

As the number of maintained followers increases, additional religious structures and doctrinal bonuses are unlocked. These unlocked structures provide more opportunities to convert additional followers. The doctrinal bonuses include both positive and negative effects, requiring players to make careful choices. Furthermore, as the religion advances in stages, the city is at greater risk of facing crises, making balanced management essential.

After navigating these processes, you can fill your city with religious Ratizens and construct the Shaman Monument to achieve victory.


A richer religious tech tree.


Each religion has its own unique strengths and characteristics, and it’s possible to develop both simultaneously. While this approach offers optimal efficiency, it comes with slower growth and a higher level of management difficulty. As such, it can be an engaging challenge for experienced players or those managing a sufficiently stable city.

Now, let’s dive into the details of the Umbran religion. Initially, we planned to cover both religions in this diary, but as we began writing, the volume grew larger than expected. As a result, we’ll cover the Purgon religion in the next development diary. Thank you for your understanding, and for this diary, we’ll focus on the unique appeal and systems of the Umbran religion!


[h3]Umbran[/h3]

The Umbran religion is a cult that worships darkness and harnesses the souls of living beings to perform shamanic rituals. Ratizens who witness its supernatural rituals or are inspired by its ominous idols become enthralled by the Umbran faith.

When Umbran structures are constructed, souls are generated whenever Ratizens, animals, or enemies die. These souls enhance the efficiency of Umbran structures, allowing the influence of the Umbran religion to spread throughout the city. As you research the Umbran religion, you’ll unlock mechanisms that generate even more souls, further amplifying its power and reach.


Conversion to the Umbran faith accelerates with each soul generated.


Initially, we designed souls to directly affect Ratizens who follow the Umbran religion rather than its structures. However, this approach risked becoming overly efficient as the number of Umbran followers increased. Conversely, reducing the effectiveness of souls made them significantly less appealing during the early stages of gameplay when soul generation is limited.

To address this, we restricted the use of souls to specific Umbran structures, ensuring that only select buildings could benefit significantly from the power of souls. This adjustment not only enhanced the distinctly religious atmosphere of the Umbran faith but also provided clearer feedback to players about the impact of soul generation.

On the flip side, this change restricted the utility of souls to a limited number of Umbran buildings. This felt disproportionate to the effort required to generate souls, as their influence seemed too minimal. To counterbalance this, we expanded the functionality of soul-utilizing Umbran structures by allowing them to provide bonuses to nearby Ratizens. This adjustment ensured that the effects of souls could influence the entire city more broadly.


The Ritual Cavern replenishes the stamina of weary Ratizens. These guys... were good guys?!


The process of increasing followers of the Umbran faith is relatively straightforward compared to the Purgon faith. By increasing the supply of souls to boost the efficiency of the basic conversion building, the Sanctum, or by constructing one of the five Umbran idols around the city, you can steadily grow your congregation.

Conversion system through the idols were added because simply enhancing the efficiency of the Sanctum felt a bit monotonous. Each idol has unique effects within its range, converting Ratizens without a religion during specific activities such as sleeping or eating. For Ratizens already following the Umbran faith, the idols help maintain their devotion.


To enhance clarity, each idol incorporates the animal motifs of existing shrines.


The five idols of the Umbran faith are unlocked progressively as the religion’s rank increases. This was designed to prevent an explosive growth in followers due to the idols’ probabilistic conversion effects and to let players experience the gradual process of expanding their congregation alongside the development of their city. In short, we wanted players to consistently and strategically think about how to grow their followers step by step.

Once converted, Umbran followers undergo attribute changes depending on the doctrines they follow. As the number of followers increases and the religion’s rank rises, these doctrines become more powerful. The doctrines of the Umbran faith offer significant bonuses, such as greatly enhancing the growth rate and work efficiency of followers. However, these benefits come with downsides, such as increased craving for joy and a higher propensity to commit crimes. Most importantly, converted followers gain the ability to be assigned to Umbran buildings.

There is an exception for the Sanctum, the first Umbran conversion building. Since it operates by assigning Ratizens, even unconverted Ratizens can be placed in the Sanctum, and they are converted upon assignment. This was a deliberate design to prevent situations where the absence of followers would completely block progress in religious content.

However, this exception led to unintended scenarios. Leaders could repeatedly assign and unassign Ratizens to the Sanctum, effectively forcing conversions and artificially inflating the number of followers—a method that went against the design’s intentions.

To address this issue, we've rolled back the exception, and implemented a system where Umbran followers could naturally emerge through city entrances or specific events if no followers currently existed in the city. This approach felt much more organic and aligned with the game’s design goals.

Another problem arose due to the restriction that only Umbran followers could be assigned to Umbran buildings. When a follower lost their faith, they would lose their job as well, becoming unemployed and idle.


Even during a performance, Owen suddenly quits his job. Is he fleeing from reality after realizing the truth?


The inclusion of probabilistic elements in the process of converting and maintaining specific Ratizens as followers made these situations nearly unavoidable, even with meticulous city planning. This created inconvenience and dissatisfaction, particularly among players who preferred automation and stability. Players were often left thinking, “It doesn’t matter who gets assigned!” and would either randomly place any available follower or wait for new Ratizens to convert if replacements were unavailable.

To alleviate this issue, we considered applying the automatic assignment feature from beds to the Umbran buildings. If unemployed Umbran Ratizens were available, they could be automatically assigned to buildings. However, this method frequently resulted in unintended assignments, forcing players to fix inefficient placements, which only added to the frustration.

Ultimately, we addressed the problem by designing the system so that Ratizens assigned to Umbran buildings would maintain their faith, making job continuity predictable for assigned followers. While this appeared to solve the issue of unassignments, it introduced the potential for a new problem: players constructing large numbers of Umbran buildings to artificially sustain their follower count.

To prevent this exploit, we reviewed the possibility of limiting the number of each building that could be constructed. However, imposing such limits risks restricting player freedom, making it critical to find a balanced level of limitation. A system where construction caps are gradually lifted as the religion’s rank increases seems appropriate, but since this requires additional development work, we plan to observe the situation without implementing caps for now. Hopefully, building a large number of structures to compensate for a lack of followers will prove to be an unnecessary concern.


What’s the point of the Umbran if we can’t operate a massive army of necromancers?


To construct Umbran buildings, players must produce exclusive resources: "Scrolls" and "Grimoires". These resources can only be produced at the "Spirit Workshop", an Umbran-exclusive production building, which requires higher workload and longer work hours compared to other resources. However, since the Spirit Workshop is a building that increases efficiency with the use of souls, players are encouraged to think about ways to increase soul generation if the production speed feels insufficient.

The purpose of introducing this production chain was to regulate the expansion speed of the religion, preventing it from becoming excessively rapid, while ensuring that players don’t feel bored during the expansion process. Given the simplicity of the Umbran conversion mechanics, players who had already secured enough resources and sources of souls could easily expand their religion simply by building idols and waiting. By adding continuous steps through a production chain, we aimed to enhance the experience of being a leader devoted to fostering a religion, making the gameplay more engaging than just passively waiting for growth.


To ensure smooth production, the leader goes on patrol once again.


The issue was that these resources, once produced, were used solely for construction and then left unused. It was necessary to create additional ways to continuously utilize these resources even after building Umbran structures. With this in mind, we devised ways to make these hard-to-produce resources provide ongoing bonuses. For instance, we considered adding features like rituals that offer consistent benefits to Umbran followers or the ability to permanently modify the characteristics of Ratizens.


Let’s "Normalize" Ratizen characteristics through soul remodeling!


The feature to modify characteristics was intended to consume not only Grimoires but also accumulated souls. This was aimed at expanding the usage of Umbran-exclusive resources and diversifying how souls could be utilized. However, due to difficulties in implementing a system that consumed both Grimoires and souls simultaneously, we ultimately decided to create a building that only consumed souls.

With the limited use cases for Umbran-exclusive resources, it became clear that more diverse buildings were needed. However, since we also needed to work on the Sanctus, we could only add a few basic structures for now. Even after the Shaman update is released, we plan to continue updating this theme. If you have ideas for additional buildings or features, please feel free to share them with us—we’ll gladly consider them!


In addition, we’ve developed various elements tied to Umbran rituals, including new leader equipment, milestones, and events. We hope you enjoy the Shaman update, which is set to release in mid-January. Wishing you all a happy New Year, and may 2025 be a year full of health and happiness for everyone!

Hello all, it's Cassel, developer of .
This November, we worked on tasks related to the Shaman theme. Since development has only progressed to a prototype level for one of the two religions, Umbran, we decided it would be better to delve into topics related to Shamans after more progress has been made.

As a result, we contemplated what topic to cover in this Development Diary. It occurred to us that we hadn’t yet shared details about the new intro video we worked on 2–3 months ago. So, we thought this would be a great opportunity to share the production process behind creating the intro video.

Note: I am not professionally trained in screenwriting! Please understand that my approach to creating the intro video may be somewhat unpolished.


[h3]October 2021: Intro Planning[/h3]

The planning for 's intro dates back to October 2021. Similar to the previous game, , the goal was to use an intro video at the start of the game to briefly introduce the story and system, sparking the player’s curiosity, immersion, and enthusiasm.

I spent considerable time pondering what kind of intro scenario could achieve this effect. To find inspiration, I researched opening sequences from other city-building games and intro videos created with 2D animation, replaying the clips I collected repeatedly.

Through this process, one idea came to mind: showcasing how various rat cities thrived and eventually fell. Such a narrative could naturally hint at the game’s content and challenges while motivating players to think about the kind of city they want to build and how they will prepare for crises. This seemed like an intro video concept well-suited for , which features multiple endings.


After outlining the general flow in my head, I started creating a storyboard to solidify the concept. I first considered how many shots would be needed and what atmosphere and emotions each shot should convey. I gathered reference images to help shape these ideas. Then, I began noting down what elements, direction, and dialogue each scene would include.


Reference images often came from memorable scenes in impactful movies that immediately came to mind.


As I worked on the storyboard, the world and story of naturally became more detailed. Later, to better convey my ideas visually, I attempted to sketch out some scenes despite my lack of drawing skills.


Hand-drawn sketches I eagerly photographed with a smile, thinking they might someday appear in a DevDiary.


The final part of the intro received particular attention. I wanted it to seamlessly transition into the title screen, just like in the previous game, . This approach was heavily influenced by my personal experiences with games that used similar techniques. The smooth conclusion often left me with heightened anticipation and excitement for the game.

However, at the time, was still in a prototype stage without even a title screen. This meant I had to simultaneously conceptualize the title screen to align with the end of the intro. While linking the intro to the title screen was a challenging task, I felt it was worth attempting, considering the synergy it could create upon completion.

This led the intro planning to extend into the title screen planning (covered in [DevDiary #11]). Once the intro and title screen were organized to some extent, I shifted back to game development, thinking the intro would only be added closer to the release.


Some of you may wonder why we started planning a video that would likely be added far in the future so early. This was due to the unique challenges often faced by small development teams like ours. We require more time for technical implementation and research than for graphic work. As a result, there can occasionally be work gaps where art team members have little to do for certain periods.

To prevent such situations, it’s essential to prepare tasks in advance that can be worked on regardless of development progress. The intro was a perfect fit for this purpose, and having a prepared plan meant we could use it whenever needed. Fortunately, in 2021, we didn’t have to put this plan into action.


[h3]February 2022: Prototype Production[/h3]

However, the peaceful development life was short-lived... Before long, the intro work faced a crisis (of progress, that is), leading to its full-scale development. This time, we moved beyond simple planning and ventured into prototype production. Before starting the production, it became necessary to refine details such as camera movements, scene timings, required direction, sound effects, and more.

Some directions were difficult to convey through text alone, and certain scenes required validation to determine if they were even feasible with our technical limitations. To address these challenges, we created simple animations to visually represent our intended direction.


An animation example illustrating camera movements.


Whether it was helpful or not, based on the organized storyboard and reference materials, our art team member began working directly on the prototype. The key to prototype production was speed and efficiency, so the focus was on completing it quickly and succinctly. During this process, resources from both and were utilized extensively.


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The art team member’s touch brings forth new results.


However, as we reviewed the completed prototype, additional concerns began to surface:

　- Would showcasing the collapse of each city distort the message of “What kind of city will you build?”
　- Could we achieve natural visuals by adding a sticker-like feel to the resources used in the game?
　- Should we emphasize core game elements such as taxes, wages, and other economic factors more prominently in the intro?
　- Would it be acceptable to have the dialogue script in the intro narrated with human voices?
　- What if we replaced the intro with a scenario mode and prepared opening videos for each scenario instead?
　- Is it okay to reference the names of other leaders in the intro?
　- Does the overall tone of the intro feel too dark compared to the title screen?

Perhaps my attachment to the project made me overly critical, noticing only its shortcomings. Overall, as we focused on emphasizing the story in the intro, it felt increasingly disconnected from the gameplay. It seemed like the opening wasn’t fully highlighting the unique characteristics of .

At the time, however, we couldn’t come up with a clear solution to improve this. Coincidentally, new tasks emerged, and we decided to temporarily halt the intro work. We concluded that revisiting it in the future with better-planned scenarios could yield a more satisfying result.


[h3]August 2024: Video Production[/h3]

Despite the passage of 2 years and 6 months, no alternative scenarios emerged to replace the original. With so many tasks to develop, creating new intro scenarios had naturally fallen down the priority list. Before we knew it, the time to prepare for the official release had arrived, and we decided to carve out time to draft additional new scenarios.

This time, we worked on three different types of scenarios, each emphasizing a unique aspect: the first version focused on highlighting the game’s core mechanics and features, the second showcased cute or impressive scenes to accentuate the game’s atmosphere, and the third delved into the protagonist’s backstory, explaining why they decided to build a city, placing an emphasis on the story.

However, after reviewing all the scenarios together, the consensus was that the original draft was the best. Upon reflection, the original draft had a balanced blend of the key elements, and refining these strengths seemed to be the optimal approach. Since we already had a prototype for the original draft, it was relatively easy to outline the necessary tasks. But the challenge lay in figuring out how to make it more captivating within its established framework.


Artifact-like records of brainstorming how to execute the scenes.


A storyboard recreated for higher quality.


Direction check~!


After completing the storyboard, we enlarged it to its actual size and began full-scale production. However, various unforeseen issues arose, and the process ended up taking about two months. For instance, the style of the video’s beginning and end became slightly inconsistent due to the extended development time, requiring adjustments. Additionally, we hadn’t properly considered the placement of subtitles, the pacing of narration, and the transition to the title screen, which caused further trouble. Revisiting and revising a partially completed video was a particularly taxing task.

There were also numerous considerations regarding the sound design. One of the biggest dilemmas was whether to use human voices for the rats’ dialogue in the intro. Since the rats in the game don’t speak with human voices, incorporating human voices into the intro seemed like it might feel out of place. On the other hand, completely removing human voices or replacing them with odd noises would significantly hinder the clarity of the intended message.

We decided to test various sample sound effects and finalize the decision based on the results. Ultimately, the rats’ dialogue in the opening was replaced with the same voices used for the rats in the game, creating the impression that the narrator—a third party—was explaining the scene. Though, to most players, it might still feel like it’s the protagonist’s voice.

The narration has already been recorded by a voice actor, but the background music and sound effects are still in production. The background music is being composed once again by Remi, who created all the tracks for . Once all the sound design is completed, we plan to update the game so that the intro plays at the start. We hope the intro video will leave a strong first impression on new players.


The final scene of the completed intro—"Become a hero in ."


We plan to continue improving the areas where the game falls short. While updates may sometimes be slow or disorganized due to development constraints, we are always deeply grateful for your patience and support. We promise to keep showing you our progress and growth.

In the next Development Diary, we hope to share updates on the progress of the Shaman theme. Until then, thank you for all your hard work this year, and we wish you a joyful holiday season!

Notice: Those with this icon(💌) are inspired by the players’ opinions. Thank you so much again.

[h2]Patch List[/h2]

- 💌 Improved AI so that Ratizens affected by diseases prioritize using the hospital.

[h2]Bug Fix[/h2]

- 💌 Fixed an issue where the Wireless Recharger would reset the Ratron's Stamina to 0 when charging beyond 100.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the traits icons of rats were displayed abnormally in the statistics panel.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where an error occurred when the state of a storage was changed while a Porter Drone was in transit.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where controller vibration settings were not saved.
- 💌 Translations for Help have been applied.
- 💌 Mitigated an issue where drones would often get stuck in walls.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the power consumption settings for the Drone Hangar and Joy Box were not functioning properly.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where using the in-game filter function caused an error.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where Halloween Pumpkin Ghosts repeatedly multiplied.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the Stamina reduction rate modification effect for Ratrons was not being applied correctly.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where Ratizens could not catch fish when fishing outside the player's camera view.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the area attack effect of greatsword-type equipment was not functioning correctly.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where items in storage could be remotely withdrawn using the statistics panel.

[h3]Hello dear leaders of Ratopia!![/h3]
Thank you once again for waiting so long for the update. This time, we’ve added several events, the disease system, the enemy defeat reward system, new power structures, and leader equipment. We had a lot of fun implementing and testing the various ideas suggested by our leaders. Please continue to share your fun ideas and suggestions for additional convenience features! We also appreciate your ongoing bug reports and balance feedback through Steam and Discord!

Notice: Those with this icon(💌) are inspired by the players’ opinions. Thank you so much again.

[h2]Patch List[/h2]

**For convenient gaming experience, please begin a new game**

▶The Halloween Ghost Festival event has been added.

- The Halloween event occurs in late autumn in cities with a prosperity level of 4 or higher. You can obtain leader costumes and decorative structures, so we hope it brings you a fun experience.

- Halloween costumes have been added.
- Halloween achievements have been added.

▶The disease system has been added.

- Disease occurs when Ratizens’ hygiene drops to a critical level!
- Please manage hygiene to prevent disease from reaching severe stages.
- If a disease has already spread, it’s best to quickly prepare a doctor.

▶💌Sharp Tooth are obtained when defeating enemies.

- The number of Sharp Tooth you receive varies depending on the type of enemy and the difficulty level.
- You can check the amount of Sharp Tooth you hold in the Savings tab of the statistics panel.

▶A black market has been added to make use of Sharp Tooth.

The black market consistently sells specific resources.
The black market’s goods refresh every season.

▶New milestones related to disease and Sharp Tooth have been added.

- Path of Extraction
- Path of Treatment
- Path of Plague

▶Events related to disease and Sharp Tooth have been added.

▶💌New electricity buildings have been added.

-⚡ Quantum Storage: Shares resources with other connected Quantum Storages.
- ⚡ Porter Drone Station: Transports resources over long distances between storages via drones.

▶⚡The ability to individually modify Ratrons has been added to the Ratron Assembly Plant.

-Modify Ratrons for specific purposes!
Modification effects can be changed at any time, but this will consume resources.

▶⚡The electricity consumption method for the Ratron Assembly Plant has been adjusted.

-Electricity is now only consumed when assembling or modifying Ratrons.

▶⚡ The power consumption of the Electric Lift Station has been adjusted.

-Power consumption changed from 8 → 5.

▶New leader equipment has been added.

- These items require the construction of an Engineering Workbench to view materials and craft.

- Weapon: Thunder Bow
- Weapon: Lightning Rod
- Armor: Shock Armor
- Armor: Shield Generator

▶The resources required to produce Gold Coins and Coins have been adjusted.

Initially, the only way to acquire Pia was through the production of Gold Coins and Coins. The production process was designed with efficiency and convenience in mind for this purpose, but adjustments were not made even as various new acquisition methods were introduced. As additional methods for obtaining Pia are continuously added and will continue to be added, we have now made adjustments to production accordingly. We will continue to monitor and make further adjustments as needed.

Gold Coin:
　- Material: Gold Ingot 1 → Gold Ingot 2
　- Price: 35 → 50
Coin:
　- Material: Copper Ingot 1 → Copper Ingot 2
　- Price: 15 → 20

▶The prices and Food recovery values of Fish have been adjusted.

Due to the unique way fish and Anglerfish were generated in the past, their efficiency had been significantly increased. With the recent addition of new milestones, however, the efficiency and profitability of fishermen have grown excessively. As a result, we have adjusted the price and food recovery values of regular fish. Additionally, since fish prices have decreased, we’ve also reduced the price of grilled fish to prevent excessive profit for grilled fish producers.

Fish:
　- Price: 30 → 24
　- Food: 40 → 32
Grilled Fish:
　- Price: 35 → 32

▶The amount of mushrooms required for Grilled Mushroom has been reduced. Other values have been slightly adjusted accordingly.

Grilled Mushroom:
　- Material: 30 → 24
　- Price: 40 → 32
　- Workload: 400 → 450

▶The price of Coal has been adjusted.

Coal:
　- Price: 45 → 40

▶The defense of the Firerat has been improved.

Due to the unique characteristics of the Firerat as a unit, it needs to be deployed independently, but its survivability was too low, making it difficult to use. To address this, we have increased its defense to ease operational difficulty.

Firerat
　- DEF: +4 → +6

▶The Reforging Effect for electricity damage increase has been slightly reduced.

-0 to -2, depending on the weapon.

▶The resources required for negotiations with lizards and weasels have been increased, while the amount of Pia obtained has been reduced.

Weasels:
　- Pia: Prosperity x 500 → Prosperity x 300.
Lizards:
　- Pia: Prosperity x 1000 → Prosperity x 500.
　- Food 량: 50 → 100

▶A compensation system for enemy base generation has been added.

When you destroy an enemy base, you can now recover tile and object resources that were removed when the enemy base was generated.

- The Winter Festival event has been adjusted to occur on specific dates in winter.
- The Autumn Beer Festival event has been adjusted to occur on specific dates in autumn.
- Optimization of save data has been carried out.
- The auto-save time has been changed from 02:00 to 03:00.
- A feature to skip the starting countdown for the Royal Forge and Royal Kitchen minigames has been added.
- 💌 Improvements have been made to allow viewing more information in the Ratizen Info Panel:
　- Happiness Screen: Crime Threshold / Rebellion Threshold
　- General Status: Work Efficiency, Joy decline rate, Hygiene decline rate, Food decline rate, Stamina decline rate, and Necessity decline rate
💌 Thought bubbles that appear when viewing the Ratizen Info Panel have been diversified.
💌 Adjusted the name combination formulas for citizens after surpassing 100 Ratizens.
💌 Increased the resource adjustment speed when selecting resources at the Exploration Office by holding input.
💌 Added a feature to release specified resources from the Storage.
💌 Reduced the frequency of some currency exchange rate events and extended the duration of provided exchange rate tickets.
💌 Added UI to display the quantity of resources that can be obtained from the target when assigning tasks at the Gathering Camp.


[h2]Bug Fix[/h2]
- 💌 Fixed an issue where construction tasks continued despite being restricted by the Labor Law.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where modifying the power supply or resource selling point at production facilities consuming electricity would also modify the other.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the opening animation of the King's Chamber dungeon played in unintended locations.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where items couldn’t be withdrawn from a storage when a door was built directly next to it.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the “Collect” option appeared for a prisoner in jail but could not actually collect.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where, when multiple production conditions were set, clicking the fifth condition would cause the scroll to move to the bottom.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the death tax effect in Milestones was incorrectly applied to citizen migration in diplomacy.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where food consumption at the Exploration Office was not functioning properly.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where food consumption at the Exploration Office was not accurately reflected in the statistics panel.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where, when collecting taxes and the cumulative tax exceeded a Ratizen’s holdings, the displayed amount reflected the cumulative tax rather than the actual collected amount
- Fixed an issue where snail mucus was causing damage.

Hello all, it's Cassel, developer of .

It's hard to believe that next week will mark a full year since we launched Early Access. Initially, we anticipated that about a year would be sufficient to refine the game’s quality, but we haven’t yet reached the level of content and polish we aimed for, so it seems we'll need to extend the Early Access period through the first half of next year.

We’re now developing with the official release timeline in mind, and as the year-end approaches, each day feels busier and more intense. Despite reducing our participation in exhibitions to stay focused on development, our ambition to expand content has kept us feeling short on time.

In this DevDiary, we initially hoped to share the finalized plans for the Spell and Religion in detail, but the planning expanded, requiring additional technical review time, so not as much progress was made. Therefore, this time, we'll provide a brief overview of the background and outline for the Spell and Religion and introduce the new Disease system, scheduled for an update next week.



[h3]Spell and Religion[/h3]

The Shaman theme, along with the Navigator theme, was part of ’s core concept from the early stages of development. The central idea of the Shaman theme was to increase city efficiency by utilizing the deaths of Ratizens and enemies. However, adding such a large-scale system within our limited development time was a high-risk and unrealistic goal, much like the Electricity in game. We felt it would be more practical to introduce it as a DLC if the game sold well after the official release, allowing us to dedicate time to it. As a result, the Shaman theme remained as a plan tucked away in the depths of our memory for a long time.


If only there were a spell to increase development efficiency...!


Then, while discussing enemy defeat rewards, as mentioned in the last Development Diary, it dawned on us that we could enhance the reward system by incorporating the Shaman theme. Expanding the enemy defeat rewards would naturally and efficiently tie into the Shaman theme, so I tried casting a “spell” to prioritize the Shaman theme’s development. However, it didn’t quite work as planned. Given that the Shaman theme is intended as content-rich and substantial, adding it in a small portion might not be satisfying, and it seemed risky to allocate extensive development time to the Shaman theme solely for the sake of enemy defeat rewards.

In the end, we decided to separate the enemy defeat rewards from the Shaman theme. Nevertheless, bringing the Shaman theme out from the back of our minds and into active development has allowed us to start shaping its framework. Through numerous discussions and brainstorming sessions, we’ve managed to gather a variety of fresh ideas.


An Idea for a Spell that Imposes a Lifespan Limit

In the past, we gathered user feedback and drafted a document outlining a system for Ratizens' aging, parenting, reproduction, and eventual death. However, we struggled with finding a way to manage the hassle that would come from handling the aging and deaths of over a hundred Ratizens. Given the game structure where each Ratizen needs a designated workplace, we were concerned that having to continually reassign each Ratizen could be quite inconvenient for the player.


A baby rat can’t work, and an elderly rat’s efficiency declines if they do.


But what if we used magic? If a spell could temporarily boost the efficiency of certain Ratizens while gradually increasing their chance of death with each use, it might help reduce player resistance. This way, players could choose to balance Ratizen efficiency with the risk of death, allowing them to control the difficulty and inconvenience of managing Ratizens.

This type of spell would be designed to use the souls of deceased Ratizens or enemies. Additionally, dividing Ratizens into groups who support or oppose this soul-harnessing method could create a choice for the player, letting them decide how to collect souls and how extensively to use these spells.


Focusing on Religion Rather Than Spell

On the other hand, some felt it might be risky to emphasize elements like souls or Spell. Although featured Spell and Souls, these elements might not fit as well in , which emphasizes a bit more realistic styled economics and city management. Using magic to resolve realistic or economic issues in could feel out of place.

So this time, we explored a concept closer to "Religion" rather than "Spell." Players can create their own religion, selecting one positive and one negative effect for their doctrines. Once shrines are built throughout the city, Ratizens who use them will experience the effects of the player’s chosen doctrine. As the number of followers grows, additional effects can be added to the doctrine. However, attracting more followers becomes increasingly challenging without careful city planning.


This is similar to the Ideology DLC in or the religion creation system in .


By using this system, Ratizens would no longer feel dissatisfied about the lack of joy facilities in the city, allowing the player to pursue unique, concept-driven playstyles, like requiring only vegetarian diets. However, there weren’t many elements that directly influenced the deaths of Ratizens and enemies, and as freedom increased, there were limitations on the types of buildings or content that could be added beyond parameter adjustments.


An Idea for Balancing Between Two Religions

This time, we aimed to introduce a new mechanism not previously available to players, encouraging them to think about how to integrate it with existing systems.

In the game, two religions—Umbran and Purgon—emerge, each with a unique way to expand its followers. Umbran, a group that reveres magic and knowledge, uses the souls of deceased Ratizens and enemies to boost city efficiency. In contrast, Purgon is a martial faction that harnesses spirits, emphasizing city order through the sacrifice of Ratizens. Buildings with new functions are designed to become accessible when the number of followers in each religion reaches a certain threshold.


The cards and concepts from were instrumental in developing ideas for Umbran and Purgon.

Prototype of the religion tech tree. While it’s still fairly empty, we’re looking forward to the day it’s filled with about 30 research elements.

Concept art for Umbran and Purgon buildings. We also transferred existing buildings into the Shaman theme to enhance thematic consistency.


Through this, we aimed to allow players to experience new features as they spread their chosen religion, while also encouraging them to adopt aspects of the other religion’s functionality. The intention was for players to weigh the pros and cons of blending religions and to think carefully about how to utilize each. This would involve optimizing city efficiency through spatial management and Ratizen allocation.

This idea requires a significant amount of development work, making it the most resource-intensive feature, but we believe it could become extensive content that aligns well with the theme. While technical reviews are still ongoing, so it’s too early to confirm, we are designing it to incorporate various user-suggested ideas, such as communal beds and the ability to change Ratizen traits. If you have any fun ideas that might fit well with the Shaman theme, feel free to share them in the comments!



[h3]Disease System[/h3]

Diseases are negative conditions that arise when Ratizens remain in low hygiene conditions for extended periods or due to certain events. Although mentioned in game descriptions for a long time, it’s a feature that hasn’t yet been implemented.

Just as Ratizens die from starvation if food supply is withheld for too long, we wanted diseases to pose a similar threat, where neglect could lead to Ratizen fatalities. Given that the Shaman theme plans to include effects related to Ratizen deaths, we decided that implementing the disease system first would be timely.

The biggest differences between disease and starvation are the stages of the condition and the possibility of contagion. Diseases progress through initial, mid, and terminal stages. In the early stage, there isn’t much of an issue, but if hygiene isn’t maintained or treatment isn’t provided within a certain period, the disease progresses to the mid-stage. When a Ratizen reaches the mid-stage and uses a building, that building becomes contaminated, allowing other Ratizens who use it afterward to have a small chance of contracting the disease in its early stage. If a Ratizen in the terminal stage doesn’t receive treatment, they face a high risk of death, meaning that without swift treatment or isolation, the city’s situation could quickly worsen.

However, implementing the function for Ratizens to leave disease in buildings they visit posed challenges. Given the variety in building types and forms, adding a contagious state to each one would be quite labor-intensive. To address this, we looked to the existing Ratizen interaction system, modifying it so that infected Ratizens would transmit the disease to nearby Ratizens instead of engaging in conversation.


A disease that compels others to mimic actions…?


However, Ratizens in were designed to only converse with nearby Ratizens when they had no other tasks to complete. Much like in our bustling modern society, Ratizens almost always have tasks queued up, meaning conversations are rare. This meant that if an infected Ratizen attempted to start a conversation with another Ratizen, a player could simply order them to dig a hole, effectively preventing the spread of disease—a rather ingenious prevention method.

Testing revealed that the anticipated sense of crisis from disease wasn’t quite there, highlighting the need for a more effective method to spread infection. During this time, we recalled the recently added snail AI, which leaves a trail of slime as it moves across the map. Inspired by this, we considered configuring the system so that an infected Ratizen would leave a secretion after performing certain actions, such as sleeping, eating, or engaging in leisure activities. Other Ratizens who come into contact with this secretion would have a certain probability of becoming infected.


Ratizens leaving germ-filled secretions…


An infected Ratizen can be fully protected from spreading disease by receiving treatment at the hospital or being supplied with necessities like soap. However, this approach felt a bit too straightforward and uniform. To address this, we wanted to introduce an immunity value that would determine the likelihood of contracting disease. As the city develops, more factors would be introduced to boost immunity, making disease prevention easier.

However, implementing and explaining new attributes like immunity proved challenging in terms of tutorials and UI, and with other development tasks piling up, attempting these changes immediately wasn’t feasible.


With the addition of diseases in the game, we also incorporated disease-related effects into existing events and added milestone effects to help players prevent or utilize diseases. We’re excited to see how players experience and make use of these features.

One concern, however, is that while we envisioned scenarios where a peaceful city could be thrown into crisis by disease, players who manage basic hygiene well may rarely encounter disease, raising questions about whether many players will experience it, or if it may be too harsh for beginners. We’ll need to keep monitoring and adjusting to see how much disease impacts cities. After the update next week, we would greatly appreciate your feedback if you get a chance to experience the disease system!


Let’s build enough toilets so the Ratizens can take care of their bathroom needs comfortably.


While we couldn’t cover everything in this DevDiary, we’ve also been working on new Electricity Structures and a in-game Halloween event. These are scheduled to launch alongside the disease system next week, so please look forward to it! And if you know anyone who hasn’t purchased the game yet, a discount is planned starting on November 10, so we’d be grateful if you spread the word! As the weather gets colder, please stay safe from illness, and have a healthy month ahead!