Ratopia News

Notice: Those with this icon(💌) are inspired by the players’ opinions. Thank you so much again.
The following includes updates applied from Monday to Thursday.


[h2]Patch List[/h2]

The lizard territory expansion cycle has been adjusted to be proportional to the game difficulty.

The Kingzard will now appear when there are three or fewer nests remaining.

Now, the Kingzard spawns with a small group of enemies.

💌The number of lizards generated at once for nest defense has been significantly reduced.

Now, additional small groups of enemies will spawn during nest demolition.

- 💌To reduce the accidental destruction of animal habitats, the health of objects will now recover slightly over time.
- 💌Criminals can no longer be arrested in dungeons and invasion maps.
- 💌An alert has been added when there are no Ratizens available to use service buildings due to class restrictions.
- The loading animation for city invasions has been updated.

[h2]Bug Fix[/h2]
- 💌Fixed an issue where save data accumulated and increased in size after invasions or dungeon entry.

Loading the affected save file will now save data at the normal size.

- 💌Fixed an issue where existing statistical data was not reset when starting a new game.

Statistical data has been reset for some save files.

- 💌Improved an issue where Ratizens wandered around without placing resources in blueprints.

- 💌 Fixed an issue where the speed adjustment function of the bed would not turn off when an event occurred while it was activated.
- 💌Fixed a bug where negative values appeared on the resource price graph during trade.
- 💌Applied missing translations when dispatching Ratizens for exploration, diplomacy, etc.
- Fixed an issue where information about research efficiency increase was missing in the leader information window.
- Fixed a bug where trade routes could be opened regardless of Relations.

[h3]Added on June 24th[/h3]
- Fixed an issue where Ratizens would fall when saving and loading while using the elevator.
- Fixed an issue where costs were not being paid even when hiring mercenaries for invasions.
- Fixed an issue where the [Let's Be Friendly] achievement could not be achieved.
- Fixed an issue where the screen transition was not smooth when executing an invasion.
- Fixed an issue where roof edge tiles could still be climbed like a roof even when replaced with regular tiles using the tile replacement feature.
- Fixed a trade bug caused by rabbits and water.
　- If these trade items were being traded, the trade will be canceled.
- Implemented a temporary fix for the issue where demolition orders could not be issued for lizard road tiles.
　- These tiles can be demolished after destroying the nest and issuing a 'mining' command.
- Fixed an issue where the "Fired" debuff would not be removed when assigned to a new job.
- Fixed an issue where Ratizens would remain suspended in mid-air if saved while falling.
- Fixed a bug that occurred when a soldier was assigned to a campsite and then demolished, followed by a save and load.
- Extended the respawn cycle of new lizard lairs to 24 days after all lizard nests are destroyed (previously 12 days).
- Fixed an issue where an invasion alert would appear even when there were no lizard nests to invade.
- Standardized the number of allied soldiers that can be hired for Invasion to match the number that can be hired at the campsite.
　- Each troop type: 5 → 3
- Added soldier outfits to the Royal Wardrobe.
- Fixed an issue where the amount of items obtained during exploration was proportional to "Strength" instead of "Carrying Capacity".
- Fixed an issue where diplomacy was not possible with a city at war with another country.

[h3]Added on June 25th[/h3]
- Fixed the issue where weapons would disappear after entering the management tab in battle mode.
- Fixed the issue where the cost was not deducted when proposing an alliance.
- Fixed the issue where the calculation formula for war reparations was incorrect.
- Fixed the issue where it was possible to designate a rally point at the ruins after clearing a dungeon.
- Fixed the issue where tiles that could be destroyed after demolishing a lizard nest became indestructible upon reloading.
- Fixed the issue where mercenaries could not shoot arrows upwards.
- Fixed the issue where some sound effects would continue to play even when starting a new game.
- Fixed the issue where the prosperity level displayed in the diplomacy window reflected the actual city prosperity level with a one-day delay.


We will continue to work hard to make a better game. Thank you.

[h3]Hello dear leaders of Ratopia![/h3]
Thank you once again for waiting patiently for the update over a long period of time. This time, we have prepared content related to lizard invasions, dungeons, and diplomacy. However, since we were preparing multiple pieces of content at once, we are a bit worried that the overall completeness may feel somewhat lacking. We plan to continue with subsequent updates for the General Leader based on your feedback for a while, so please keep sharing your fun ideas and suggestions for additional convenience features! If you encounter any bugs or issues that need fixing, please report them through Steam and Discord, and we will resolve them quickly with hotfixes!

**Planned Development Items**

- Adding victory objectives and achievements for the General Leader
- Adding and refining tutorials for new contents
- Improvements and additional contents for diplomacy and conquest
- Balance adjustments related to combat and diplomacy

[h2]Localization[/h2]
　Added Ukrainian Translation

Special thanks to Danyil Repenko, nolucknohero, Randych, SirEdvin, the vlad, KVarnitZ, and everyone who helped with the translation work on 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**

▶Added Lizard Invasion

- Lizards are new invaders that appear instead of weasels when Prosperity is above 7.
- Lizards have a tendency to settle in one place and expand their territory.
- As the Lizards' territory expands, the anxiety of Ratizens increases. Therefore, be sure to build enough strength to suppress their proliferation.

▶The diplomacy system has been revised.

Due to the new diplomacy system, existing diplomatic data will be reset.
At the start of the game, 13 out of 21 cities will be randomly selected and placed on the map.
These cities can be found through exploration.
All cities will occupy surrounding areas based on their level of prosperity.

　Exploration Office

In the Expedition Post, two actions are possible: exploration and survey.
To reveal the map, you must use the exploration function.

　　　Exploration

- Send unemployed Ratizens to explore unexplored areas.
- The time required is determined by the movement speed of the assigned Ratizens.
- Food is consumed.
- Pay the Ratizens who go on the exploration.

　　　Survey

- Send unemployed Ratizens to surveyed areas to conduct a survey.
- Like exploration, it consumes food and incurs costs.
- Obtain goods from the area based on probabilities.
- The amount of goods, success rate, and time required are determined by the abilities of the assigned Ratizens.
- Surveying areas under the control of other nations will decrease goodwill.

　Diplomacy Office

You can interact with discovered countries or view diplomatic activity records between other countries.
The diplomatic actions available for interacting with cities are as follows.

　　　Present

- Spend money to increase the city's Prosperity and improve Relations.

　　　Open Trade Route

- Enable trade with the city through the Trading Center.

　　　Form Alliance

- You can borrow troops when invading other cities.
- You can borrow allied troops at the Campsite to defend the city.
- You can receive resources through support requests.

　　　Condemn

- Decreases Relations with the city.

　　　Declare War

- Enables the state to invade the city.

　　　Invade

- An instance map where you take military and supplies to attack enemy territory, similar to an expedition.
- You can bring mercenaries and allied support troops, but it costs resources.
- If you win, you can plunder resources and wealth.

　　　Peace Treaty

- You can change the hostile relationship back to a neutral relationship.
- You must pay war reparations to the opposing nation.

　Trading Center

Functions the same as the existing system, but trade agreements must be established in the Diplomatic Office to proceed with trade.
The goods handled by each country change every season.
Already agreed trades will proceed until they expire, regardless of the goods.
Trade may be interrupted if there are changes in diplomatic relations, such as declaring war.

　Bank

All previous loan matters are reset.

▶The dungeon system has been revised.

A limit on the number of Squad Headquarters that can enter each dungeon has been established. The limitations are as follows.

　　Forgotten Mine

Squad Headquarters Limit : 1

　　Barbaric Palace

Squad Headquarters Limit : 2

▶Two new dungeons have been added.

For new dungeons, new gameplay must be initiated for them to appear on the map.

　　　King's Chamber

- A dungeon where you must stop the weasels trying to revive the ancient king and defeat the king's wraith.
- The number of Squad Headquarters you can bring is limited to 2.

　　　Forgotten Ruins

- A dungeon where you must escape with the Golden Beetle.
- It is an escape-type dungeon that the leader must complete alone.

▶Five new types of troops have been added.

　　　Shielderat

- Shielderats have the effect of increasing the health of soldiers placed in the same Squad Headquarters.
- Shielderats can be trained in the Barracks.

　　　Medic

- Medics have the effect of naturally healing the health of soldiers placed in the same Squad Headquarters.
- Medics can be trained in the Support Academy.

　　　Bannerat

- Bannerat have the effect of increasing the movement speed of soldiers placed in the same Squad Headquarters.
- Bannerat can be trained in the Support Academy.

　　　Trainerat

- Trainerat have the effect of increasing the experience gain of soldiers placed in the same Squad Headquarters.
- Trainerat can be trained in the Support Academy.

　　　Priestess

- Priestess have the effect of increasing the dodge rate of soldiers placed in the same Squad Headquarters.
- Priestess can be trained in the Temple of War.
With the addition of the Priestess, the maximum dodge rate that a citizen can have is limited to 90%.

▶A new military structure, Campsite, has been added.

Campsite can be used to station mercenaries and troops from the allied cities for defense purposes.

▶Macerat’s placement effects have been slightly adjusted:

- Attack Power 4 → 5
- Defense 3 → 2

▶Temple of War training workload and wages have been slightly adjusted to match the Barracks.

- Training workload 600 → 720
- Daily wage 225 → 250

▶Ratizens will now start with 20 health in a wounded state even after receiving a lethal blow.

▶Hive Trap’ attack power and frequency have been adjusted:

- Bee Attack frequency 3 → 2 seconds
- Bee attack power 4 → 5

▶Mine’s damage has been adjusted:

Damage 20 → 25

▶Explosive Barricade’s damage has been adjusted:

Damage 30 → 40

▶The effects of Leader’s Armors have been generally increased slightly:

The materials for the Plate Armor have been changed: Iron Ingot 8, Gold Ingot 2 → Iron Plate 8, Gold Ingot 4

▶The formula for calculating the happiness provided by necessities has been changed.

An error was fixed where the range of happiness provided by daily necessities was incorrectly applied. This adjustment aims to increase the need to supply a variety of daily necessities. Although the difficulty of obtaining happiness has increased due to the error correction, Ratizens' happiness will now increase without limit in direct proportion to their satisfaction with daily necessities.

- Modified: Happiness increase from daily necessities: Satisfaction / 10
- Modified: Happiness increase from daily necessities can exceed 10.

▶Maintenance Office’s job effects have been added:

Job effects: Dexterity +5, Movement Speed +20%

▶The price and production workload of gunpowder were incorrectly applied and have been corrected.

- Price 210 → 90
- Required workload 1200 → 900

▶A limit of 200 has been added to the maximum number of blueprints that can be placed.

Excessive placement of blueprints has been causing significant pathfinding issues for Ratizens, leading to many problems. Therefore, we have had to limit the number of blueprints that can be placed at once. We are really sorry for the inconvenience. We will continue to improve the system to prevent such issues from occurring in the future.

- 💌 A feature to adjust speed (1x to 4x) while sleeping in the Royal Bed has been added.
- 💌 The wounded status of units will be removed upon returning from invasion & dungeon maps.
- 💌 The electricity supply range of other Electricity storage units is now displayed when constructing a new storage unit, improving the construction process.
- 💌 An event that reveals dungeon locations upon reaching a specific prosperity score has been added.
- 💌 The amount of starting Food resources has been slightly increased to lower the early game difficulty.
- 💌 The buff effect obtained when a citizen immigrates to the city for the first time has been enhanced.
- The player character's attack motion is no longer interrupted by enemy attack.
- A Ratizen income attribute has been added to the statistics window.
- A food and necessities intake attribute has been added to the statistics window.
- 5 new achievements have been added.
- Nest Stomping
- Let's be friendly
- Survive this?
- The Mummy
- Ratopia

[h2]Bug Fix[/h2]
- 💌 Fixed an issue where fishermen could not perform fishing activities properly when moving away from the camera.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where changing the direction of a door also changed the direction of some other doors.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where the perpetrator and victim in a crime event were the same person.
- 💌 Fixed an issue where an error message occasionally appeared when citizens walked on the bottommost tile of the map.
- 💌 Improved the pathfinding AI of drones.
- 💌 Fixed a bug where the "Who... are you??" achievement was not being achieved.
- Fixed a bug where trade situations were not loading correctly.
- Fixed a bug where the mod manager was resetting.
- Fixed an issue where some motions of the Military Ratron were incorrectly applied.
- Fixed a bug where some sounds were playing incorrectly.
- Fixed an issue where the designated power storage information for the Ratron Recharger was resetting upon save and load.
- Fixed an issue where power production structures were incorrectly reported as having problems despite functioning properly.
- Fixed an issue where Ratizens could not properly consume items when using the commercial law to restrict items to higher-class Ratizens only.
- Fixed an issue where a flame effect appeared around an injured Firat when placed in a bed.
- Fixed an issue where the game frame rate dropped when using the Firat for an extended period.
- Fixed an issue where the work conditions of production structures were not being copied correctly.
- Fixed an issue where police were not attacking rebels.
- Fixed an issue where electricity generated by electric traps did not harm allies.
- Fixed an issue where previously activated skills could still be used after the altar was demolished.
- Fixed an issue where snow did not melt if it was directly under a ladder.

Hello all, it’s Cassel, developer of .
As expected, May was really busy. Although there were many events, we focused on development by operating exhibitions and external events with minimal staff to add as much content as possible for the next major update.




Thank you to everyone who visited "G-Fusion" and "PlayX4".


The long-awaited next update is scheduled for June 17 (KST). The content is still not as polished as we would like, and many bugs are appearing in every test, which is quite concerning. However, we want to release it to users quickly to get feedback and develop in the right direction. After June, we plan to increase the level of completion through subsequent updates and numerous hotfixes, so we ask for a lot of feedback. In this development journal, we will introduce the new dungeon and invasion system added in the next update.



[h3]New Dungeon[/h3]

The "King's Chamber" dungeon, which appears in the deep desert biome, is the third boss dungeon added to . It brings the Pharaoh Weasel mummy summoning concept from our previous game .

Initially, we envisioned this dungeon as one where players would constantly face mummy weasels from both sides, trying to stop them from stealing artifacts. Players would have to use defensive structures to block these weasels and succeed in looting before they die. As time passes, new enemies with unique traits and elements that players need to destroy would appear, making it a dungeon where players must quickly decide whether to attack, defend, loot, or build.

We designed this dungeon with the expectation that only skilled players would reach it. Therefore, we aimed to provide challenging content through more complex and new systems. However, it didn't turn out as planned. Combining various systems with boss battles required development costs and time equivalent to creating a new game. How it eventually turned out will be explained in the later parts.


The Initial Plan and Concept that seemed simple


We began development with strong determination and enthusiasm, thinking it would be simple. However, we soon faced various issues. Most of these problems arose from poor control convenience. It would have been ideal if the rats moved and defensive structures were built automatically as players intended. However, in , the movement, troop management, and construction systems required players to press many control keys. This made the structure too busy and hectic to enjoy the content we wanted to provide in the dungeon.

Therefore, regrettably, we started to change the systems to simplify the original plan. To ensure smooth progression, we significantly reduced the elements that players needed to destroy within the time limit and almost halved the types of enemies appearing in the dungeon. This was an unavoidable choice considering development costs and time.




The Mummy Weasel Breeding Process


In this dungeon, it was necessary to drastically shorten the construction stage of structures to improve convenience. The first step was to compress the materials needed for building defensive structures into a single resource. Initially, the plan was for players to explore the “King’s Chamber” or defeat enemies to obtain various construction materials. However, identifying and targeting different types of resources among moving enemies was very difficult, and transporting multiple types of resources to the blueprint took too much time. Therefore, compressing the material resources significantly reduced the inconvenience by allowing players to carry only one type of resource.

The next feature we added was automatic acquisition and automatic supply of materials. Even though the resource materials were unified, it was still difficult to aim and pick them up among the enemies. Therefore, we thought it would be a good idea to improve it further so that resources would be acquired automatically when the player character approached them. By displaying the status of the acquired resources at the top and automatically consuming the materials when building, we were able to completely eliminate the inconvenience of resource transportation. Since there are no citizens or drones in the dungeon to build in place of the leader, this level of convenience improvement seemed necessary.




There would have been no need to unify the construction resources.


We also tried adding rest periods between enemy appearances to provide time for construction and reorganization. Additionally, we placed sand tiles to allow construction in previously unreachable areas. Improvements were repeatedly made to ensure a comfortable play experience, such as adding braziers to indicate the direction of enemy appearances.

While we spent a lot of time improving convenience, the work to enhance the boss battle also took unexpected time and costs. This dungeon was developed with a focus on defense content rather than boss battles. As a result, even when the boss appeared at the end of the dungeon, it could only summon mummies or strengthen the summoned mummies, which was deemed too unimpressive given its appearance.

Therefore, to make the Pharaoh Weasel a more impactful character like other bosses, we decided to add attack patterns. Initially, we thought simply moving one tile left or right to avoid attacks would be too trivial, so we added several attack patterns that cover a wider range. However, the more ambitious we became, the more development time it consumed.




Could this development ambition be the curse of Tutankhamun?


With the update date approaching, we could no longer afford to spend much time on the dungeon, and we were very worried about whether the current dungeon with all the changes would work properly. So, we decided to ask experienced players to test it during the PlayX4 exhibition.

Unexpected problems began to arise. The "King's Chamber" dungeon required interaction with the central sarcophagus to start the main game. However, most players could not even begin because there were no instructions about this. We had to verbally guide them to proceed to the next step, but then they didn't notice the approaching enemies. Although we intended for players to build defensive structures to defend themselves, not a single person built any. Seeing it not function as intended made it clear that we needed to provide much more detailed explanations.




Despite spending months developing it, players were stuck from the beginning…


We also spent considerable effort on the final battle with the Pharaoh Weasel, but the demonstration ended without players properly experiencing these systems, which was quite disappointing. Nonetheless, I’m grateful that we were able to identify these issues now, and we plan to use the remaining time to refine the game. Another dungeon, which I couldn't introduce in this journal, also has many discovered problems, so we will need to speed up our work.



[h3]Lizard Invasion[/h3]

The lizard invasion is a new type of invasion that appears after the weasel invasion and targets cities with a high prosperity level. There were several ideas for the invasion method, such as an aerial assault on the player base or an appearance on water tiles. However, we decided that the most suitable method was for habitats to form around the city, gradually expanding and applying pressure.

Unlike previous invasions, this one focuses less on reinforcing city defenses to repel the invading enemies. Instead, we wanted players to train soldiers and launch expeditions outside the city to attack the lizard colonies. This approach introduces new tasks for players and offers a different experience from the usual invasions.

To achieve this, several new features had to be researched. First, there needed to be scenarios where enemies did not invade even when the invasion cycle was reached. We also had to implement a feature where lizard soldiers would appear to defend their colony when it was attacked. Additionally, as time passed, the lizard colonies needed to grow and exert increasing pressure on the player.


Will you really destroy the bustling, happy lizard village?


As we developed this new invasion system, it required extensive research and testing, along with various design considerations. Notably, we had to think about what to do if players trapped the lizard colony with walls, whether players could actually find the lizard colony if it didn't invade the city, and if it could serve as a more intense threat and pressure than the weasel invasion.

One quick way to resolve these issues was to apply the existing invasion system. Although I was reluctant to do this because it made the new invasion too similar to the previous ones, it had the advantage of ensuring that the defensive structures players had built up to that point would not become worthless.




Knock knock. It's your neighbor, just stopping by to say hello~


Thus, the method where enemies from the lizard colony invade the player’s city was applied. As the lizard colony grows, more lizard soldiers appear, making them harder to deal with. We were worried that this might lead players to destroy the lizard colony as soon as it appears. If this happens, the elite lizard soldiers prepared for the later stages wouldn't even get a chance to appear, and the late-game crisis would be resolved too quickly, potentially leading to boredom.

We wanted players to face multiple battles, gradually overcoming the crisis rather than driving out the lizards completely in one fight. Therefore, it was necessary to make it difficult for players to immediately eradicate the lizard colony.

To achieve this, there needed to be a mechanism to protect the lizard colony when it was attacked immediately after its creation. We decided to introduce the 'Kingzard,' the leader of the lizards, making it difficult for players to defeat it without sufficient military strength. This was intended to encourage players to invest time in training soldiers for their attacks.




The once bulky Kingzard had to go on a diet to be able to roam outside the dungeon.


Since the Kingzard was added as a powerful guardian of the lizard colony, it needed to possess strong combat abilities and high intelligence. It could swiftly chase down soldiers attacking the lizard colony and deliver powerful stun attacks. Even when isolated by the player's baiting strategy, it could teleport back to its base to avoid being easily defeated. However, making the Kingzard so powerful introduced new challenges when combined with the lizard invasion system.

If the scale of the lizard invasion is too strong, it creates too much anxiety for the player. Conversely, if it is too weak, there won’t be enough military pressure, which could lead to a lack of motivation to attack the lizard colony. We spent a lot of time thinking about how to resolve this dilemma. After much deliberation, we decided that even if the lizard colony grows, the invasion scale does not become excessively strong. Instead, the size of the defending lizard forces would significantly increase when the player attacks the lizard colony. To compensate for the reduced potential invasion scale, we decided to address the reason for attacking the lizard colony by having the citizens' happiness decrease as the colony grows.

Although players might still feel uneasy not knowing how low the happiness could drop, the pressure should be lessened since the city won't be destroyed in one go by an invasion. Additionally, to reduce stress from late-game invasions, we plan to add events that prevent invasions and events where players could incur losses in trade due to the lizard colony, to balance the game.

Although players might still feel uneasy not knowing how low the happiness could drop, the pressure should be lessened since the city won't be destroyed in one go by an invasion. Additionally, to reduce stress from late-game invasions, we plan to add events that prevent invasions and events where players could incur losses in trade due to the lizard colony, to balance the game.


Let's provide money and food so the lizards don't starve.


This covers the content we developed this time. I would like to introduce more, but we need to continue working on the remaining tasks, so I’ll stop here. We will do our best to continue development in the remaining time, so please look forward to this update! Thank you for reading this long post.

How’s it going?

We are thrilled to announce that Ratopia is going to attend the video game fest called G-Fusion 2024 in Guangzhou, China! G-Fusion is a video game fest hosted by GCORES.

Ratopia will be exhibited at booth [D24] on May 18th and 19th . We can’t wait to see you there!

Alienware has lent us some wonderful exhibition equipment. Experience the game with the Alienware equipment and receive the small gifts we've prepared.




G-Fusion 2024 Website: https://site.gcores.com/fusion2024/

　Hello all, it’s Cassel, developer of .

　Weather warmed up all the sudden and it already feels like we are in the middle of summer. We too are sweating profusely as we prepare for the next 'General Leader' update. It often feels like our office turns into a sauna when we engage in heated discussions about what to prepare.

　For the next update, we've decided to include new dungeons, the invasion of the lizards, and improved diplomatic and conquest systems. There's a lot of combat-related content, which means a lot of testing and balancing to be done. With public holidays and events following one another starting in May, I'm worried whether we'll have enough time. Although we're still in the middle of development and don't have much to show yet, in this development diary, we will briefly introduce the upcoming changes to the diplomatic, conquest, exploration, and trade systems.



[h3]Diplomacy[/h3]

　In the General Leader update, we aimed to enhance the previously simplistic diplomatic system. We introduced the need to manage Relations with city-states and also wanted to create a system where a city could use its military power to conquer other city-states. This provides additional motivation and goals in the later stages of the game when the player's economic and military strength is robust, and it also offers benefits when a player has rapidly developed their city.

　In the improved diplomatic system, Relations will fluctuate through various means. Moving away from the previous system, where Relations could only be increased through gifts, we aim to create more complex influences similar to those in games like *Civilization*, *Total War*, and *Crusader Kings*. For example, criticizing Nation A could increase intimacy with Nation B, which is hostile to Nation A. Going forward, relationships with city-states will be categorized into four stages: vassal states, allies, neutral, and enemy nations. Players will need to gather various information about the nature and competitive relations of the city-states to determine their diplomatic stance.


The method of sending gifts will also become more refined.


　Once sufficient favorable relations have been established, it will be possible to form alliances with other nations. Allies can provide economic support by sending resources or offering loans at low interest rates. Militarily, they can assist by sending reinforcements when the player's city is attacked by threats like the Infected or Weasels. However, maintaining multiple alliances will require substantial economic backing.

　Adding diplomatic events such as betrayal, anti-national alliances, monetary integration, and world wars could lead to a richer and more intriguing set of scenarios. For this to happen, it was necessary to enable city-states to engage in diplomatic actions with each other. We envisioned a system where city-states either ally or fight against each other in an intricate international situation and global warfare system. However, due to the high development difficulty, we plan to start by implementing simple diplomatic systems first and then gradually expand them.


Would the developer fulfill their greed and Rest in Peace?



[h3]Conquest[/h3]

　A major change in the diplomatic system is that players can now attack city-states. The goal is to invade city-states, plunder resources, and thus enable economic growth. Players can declare war and dispatch troops to the city-state that has become a war zone. These troops, along with allied forces, then move to a new battlefield map where the combat unfolds.

　Combat on the battlefield begins with the deployment of soldiers across the units positioned on the map. After deployment, pressing the "Start Battle" button initiates the assault, with soldiers from both sides charging in sequence. During combat, players cannot issue rally orders to adjust the positions of their soldiers; instead, the battle progresses in an automated manner where soldiers follow a predetermined path to engage the enemy. This design choice was made because in the structure of , massing soldiers for attacks could potentially become the focal point of all battles. To prevent this and enhance the strategic aspect of the game, battles are designed to offer a more distinct and strategic combat experience.


Funny that we cannot dig a hole when we need the most..


　The size of the battlefield and the number of defending soldiers increase dramatically depending on the prosperity level of the city being invaded. We aim to facilitate battles on a large scale, up to 100 vs. 100, on these new battlefields. We do not intend for all civilians within a city to be conscripted into soldiers; therefore, we plan to encourage the active use of allies and mercenaries. In the future, if it becomes possible to deploy siege weapons or defensive structures before the battle starts, this could add even more diversity to the combat scenarios.


Ratopian~~! Ataaaaaaaaaack~~!


　In battlefields, the side that first destroys the opponent's headquarters wins. If the player is victorious, the player can choose to take specific resources produced by that city-state as spoils of war, or they can turn the city-state into a vassal state to periodically receive resources. Additionally, if it becomes possible to construct unique buildings from a vassalized city in the player’s city, this would further enhance the allure of conquest. However, with over 20 city-states appearing, this adds a layer of complexity that requires careful consideration.



[h3]Explore[/h3]

　The current exploration system primarily serves as a foothold for illuminating the map to facilitate trade, and we have long intended to improve it. Given that the General Leader update also addresses content outside the player's city, it seemed like an opportune moment to enhance the exploration aspect as well.

　Previously, exploration involved simply selecting an area to explore, and after a set period, the exploration would be completed. This method allowed players to discover hidden areas and potentially find other city-states, which then enabled trading for desired resources. However, once all necessary cities were discovered, there was no further need to explore, and exploration itself became repetitive and lacked rewarding elements, leading to a somewhat tedious experience.


Just come out and let’s trade already!


　I wanted players to think more strategically on the exploration screen and gain more from their efforts. For example on the current system, what I wanted was to create situations where players would need to calculate which terrain to explore for maximum benefit, and use clues gathered from explorations to deduce the locations of desired cities. However, the first priority was to diversify the rewards players could obtain from exploration.

　Therefore, we added a feature that allows players to acquire resources through exploration. This enables the procurement of scarce or depleted resources within the city, significantly diversifying the previously straightforward objective of merely discovering cities. This enhancement makes exploration a more dynamic and rewarding component of the game.

　However, if exploration alone could satisfy all resource needs, it might undermine the incentives for trade and military expansion. Therefore, the resources obtainable through exploration were limited to basic resources related to the targeted terrain, and only a small amount could be acquired to ensure that exploration did not become the main method of resource procurement. This was intended merely to mitigate situations where a small amount of a specific resource was needed, but obtaining it through trade or military expansion would take too long and be frustrating.

　As exploration can now bring resources, we changed the system so that ratizens must be assigned to conduct the exploration. Ratizens assigned to exploration missions temporarily disappear from the city and cannot be utilized, and the city's food supply is also consumed in proportion to the exploration time, necessitating careful cost calculations. Additionally, the exploration speed, required food, resource acquisition, and success rate all vary depending on the abilities of the ratizens involved, enhancing the complexity and ensuring that sending just anyone on an exploration could result in a loss for the player.


Ah, who I should send to those barren lands, this agony as leader truly never ends!


　While the exploration system has become a bit more complex and now includes additional rewards, which I find satisfying, it still seems to lack the fun of deducing which terrains might be best to explore. I'm pondering how to solve this issue. Should similar terrains be grouped together more closely? If you have any good ideas, please feel free to share them.



[h3]Trade[/h3]

　Following the enhancements to the exploration and diplomatic systems, we are also working on improving the trade system, which had its own set of issues.

　Initially, some resources could not be imported through trade, resulting in situations where players might never encounter certain resources due to bad luck. This was particularly true for animal and plant resources. The decision to make some of these resources unobtainable via trade was intended to encourage players to seek them through exploring the field. For instance, structures like silk farms exist in the game that can continuously produce more silkworms if you start with just four. Allowing silkworms to be imported through trade would greatly diminish the joy of discovering them and the necessity to seek them out. However, ultimately, this design led to unintended problems by colliding with other systemic limitations.


One notable problem was the silkworms. How would I produce what does not exist at all?


　Another issue was that the pricing system in trade was not functioning properly. Although it was intended for players to check resource prices and trade according to the conditions of their city, most players imported needed resources regardless of cost and exported produced resources even at very low prices, leading to a rigid pattern in trading behaviors.

　Some raw materials, even when priced high, could be processed into other resources without any loss, and since the city-states importing these resources were fixed, there were not many choices available in trading. Consequently, prices did not provide enough incentive for players to deliberate whether to engage in trade or not.

　This situation was further exacerbated by the arbitrary adjustment of resource prices. The city-states in have their unique market rates for the resources they import and export, but these rates fluctuated based on probabilities, independent of the player's trading activities. Since it was impossible to predict how prices would change, from a player’s perspective, it was simpler and more convenient to just buy the needed items immediately, regardless of whether the prices were low or high.


THEY GOT COPPER?! IMPORT IT ALREADY!!


　To address these issues, we implemented several system improvements. First, we ensured that every city-state can export special resources unique to their biome. For instance, city-states based in maritime regions are now required to export items like Luminators, fish, salt, coral, and hermit crabs. This change should prevent situations where certain resources are completely unavailable, making production impossible or leading to perpetual resource depletion as the game progresses.

　However, if players could continuously import desired resources from one city-state, there would be little incentive to interact with various city-states or to directly explore specific military regions themselves. Therefore, we made it so that the special resources each city-state sells rotate periodically, preventing the constant availability of all special resources.

　For example, if a player has built a city environment that consistently needs salt, and the trading partner ceases to sell salt, the player must either cultivate diplomatic relations with another nation to procure salt or directly mine salt tiles oneself. Alternatively, one could wait until the original nation starts selling salt again.

　This system is also designed to make players consider supplying resources through conquest, not just trade. Choosing between obtaining a perfect half or a destroyed whole is always a dilemma.


Of course, you might get nothing but enemies.


　Finally, we plan to refine pricing to reflect two key aspects: First, we aim to make prices more responsive to the player's actions. Many players may have repeated the action of selling easily obtained resources to acquire scarce ones. This behavior, lacking any real strategy and merely exploiting repetitive gains, is not only uninteresting but also does not offer a way to maximize profits. Therefore, we intend to reduce the benefits gained from such repetitive trades and instead increase the benefits of engaging in more varied and strategic trading.

　To enhance this, we need to add a bit more realism to trading. For example, as a country becomes more dependent on a particular resource from another nation, that nation might gradually raise its prices. Conversely, if a country becomes too reliant on exporting to a particular nation, it might attempt to continually lower its prices. Such dynamics can lead to players reconsidering their strategies, pondering, "Wouldn't it be better to sell to a different country?" Rather than importing at high prices or exporting at low prices, finding new markets could prove to be more beneficial.

　At the same time, we needed to think of ways to stabilize the prices of resources for which players have ceased trading. Previously, even if a product was not being actively traded, its price could continue to skyrocket or remain stubbornly low, which significantly diminished the meaning of stopping trade on that resource. Therefore, we want to introduce a mechanism that pulls prices back toward a baseline as they deviate from it. The further a price strays from the base price, the higher the likelihood that its fluctuations will be more pronounced.

　In other words, while the probability of price increases remains higher for goods that a player imports continuously, if the price of an item has risen significantly, we intend to increase the likelihood that when it falls, it does so sharply. This adjustment ensures that players do not have to wait excessively long for prices to return to normal or resign themselves to continuously rising prices—a situation all too familiar in reality. This mechanism is designed to keep the trading market dynamic and prevent players from feeling helpless against an ever-inflating market.


Time to say good bye to never falling prices


　There is a concern that these improvements might excessively increase the amount of management required compared to before. However, these enhancements are expected to increase the enjoyment of trade itself and, concurrently, the fun of interlinked diplomatic engagements. I believe that this improved trade system will contribute significantly more to city development than before.



　I intended to write briefly, yet the text has become quite lengthy. This likely indicates just how many aspects of need improvement and how many features we wish to add. In the next development diary, I will introduce new dungeons and the lizard invasion, providing even more for you to look forward to. Thank you for taking the time to read this long article!