Ratopia News

Hello all, it’s Cassel, developer of .

June was a physically exhausting month as we undertook major updates, including new invasions, new dungeons, and new diplomatic systems. Immediately after the update, we focused on fixing the bugs reported by users and used any remaining time to review the feedback we received from them.

Among the feedback we compiled, there was a request to expand the content that can be performed with the leader, the player character. Although it will be challenging to develop this quickly as we are still preparing follow-up updates for the vassal and diplomacy-related systems, we have been working on the leader's skill system for a while now. In this development diary, we would like to introduce this system and discuss the considerations involved in its development.



[h3]Leader Skills[/h3]

Feedback indicating that there aren't many special actions available for player character has been collected since before the release. To address this, we designed the leader skills to allow player to use abilities that make city management easier and to add some variety to the repetitive nature of commands and tasks. By enabling player to exert significant influence over city operations through leader skills, we aimed to create a sense of satisfaction when overcoming frustrating or stagnating situations.

To seamlessly integrate these skills into the game, we borrowed elements from totemism. We thought it wouldn’t be unnatural for the rats to worship other animals, much like humanity once did. When deciding which animals to include, we chose the twelve animals of the East Asian zodiac, as they are familiar and their associated effects would be easy to design and to be understood. In addition, the imagery of the leader mimicking animal behaviors-chasing away enemies like a tiger or running swiftly like a horse-seemed charming even in conceptual form.

With the concept in place, we also needed to consider how players would learn these skills. Initially, we thought of constructing a grand temple in the city where players could choose an animal to worship. To prevent the use of multiple skills simultaneously, we decided to limit the number of animals that could be worshipped at one time to one. Additionally, when players first choose or later change the worshipped animal, they would need to offer tribute (Pia), providing a use for the accumulated Pia in the late game.


Initial Skill Acquisition Screen Using the Temple Research Tree


However, this method soon changed to one where individual “Shrines” for each animals were built and activated. This change allowed multiple shrines to be constructed in the city, prompting players to strategically consider the optimal placement for each shrines. Additionally, this approach provided the advantage of visually emphasizing the currently active shrine with effects such as lighting up. It also allowed us to stagger the construction phases of the shrines, thereby controlling their introduction and difficulty level within the game.


Design Process of the Lowest Tier, the Rat Shrine


Shifting from a single grand temple to twelve individual shrines increased the workload significantly. With critical tasks piling up each day, tackling the construction of all twelve shrines at once was overwhelming. As a result, we progressed with the planning and design of the shrines intermittently whenever time permitted. Now, after a year, we have finally completed the work on all twelve shrines.


We are excited to see which animal will become the most worshipped!



[h3]Skill Usage[/h3]

Since the rat, ox, and dog skills had already been implemented earlier, some players might already be familiar with these functions. When a player activates a shrine, a new button appears on the lower left HUD. Players can use the skill by pressing and holding this skill button.

The longer the player holds the skill button, the more potent the effect becomes, or the effect lasts only as long as the button is held. This design encourages players to consider the timing and location of skill usage, which is a cost I'd say, while also allowing them to watch the skill animation and plan their next actions.

However, since the skills become more powerful the longer they are held, player dependency on these skills might increase. If players become too reliant on these skills, they might use them regularly, potentially leading to player fatigue. To address this, we set a very long cooldown time for skills to significantly extend the interval between uses.


Additionally, determining how to display the remaining cooldown time for skills proved challenging. This was due to the inherent time concept within the game . For example, there was debate over whether to show the cooldown timer as '06:00' in time or as '72 seconds' in real-world time.




The Evolution of the Skill Use Button, It Hasn't Changed Much So Far


After lengthy discussions, we decided to display the cooldown in in-game time rather than real-world time, provided that we keep the clock UI that informs players of the in-game time. This decision was made to maintain consistency with the game's internal time concept. Although it may seem like a small feature, it was an incident that required deep consideration to determine what would be best for the game and the players.



[h3]Skill Usage Effects[/h3]

We wanted the effects of using skills to be beneficial to city management. Since this is a city-building game, we aimed for the skills to focus more on the Ratizens and the city rather than the player character. However, to clearly show the effects of the skills on the screen, it was necessary to restrict the usage effects to the area around the leader, who acts as the camera. We began to define the direction of the skills through a few initial skill ideas.

• Plants corresponding to the surrounding biome grow.
  
• Collect all unpaid taxes from nearby Ratizens.
  
• Increase the movement speed and abilities of nearby Ratizens.
  
• Distribute money to nearby Ratizens to increase their happiness.
  
• Create tunnels that allow Ratizens to teleport to nearby locations.
  
• Make nearby Ratizens follow the leader.
  
• Prevent nearby Ratizens from dying for a short period.
  
• Put nearby Ratizens to sleep.
  
• Instantly wake up nearby Ratizens from sleep.
  

Initially, we brainstormed ideas by focusing on the effects as listed above. However, after deciding to use the concept of the twelve zodiac animals, we rethought the effects to match the characteristics of each animal. We assigned specific traits to each shrine's effects so that they could handle important aspects of the city. For instance, if the monkey solves the city's entertainment issues and the pig helps the city survive during a famine, players can more easily decide which shrine's power to use in various crisis situations.

• Rat - Economy
  
• Ox - Labor
  
• Tiger - Attack
  
• Rabbit - Gathering
  
• Dragon - ???
  
• Snake - Healing
  
• Horse - Speed
  
• Sheep - Experience
  
• Monkey - Entertainment
  
• Rooster - Stamina
  
• Dog - Defense
  
• Pig - Food
  

Deciding and implementing the effect of the dragon was particularly challenging. As a mythical creature, we wanted to assign new and powerful effects to the dragon. However, developing additional systems to support these powerful effects would have taken too much time and many balance considerations. Reluctantly, we assigned a characteristic that could utilize existing effects, which felt somewhat underwhelming for the prestigious dragon. We’ll keep the exact effect a secret until the update since the dragon is too embarrassed to reveal it.

(Can anyone guess the effect of the Dragon Shrine?)



[h3]Unique Passive Effects[/h3]

After applying a very long cooldown time to the skills, we encountered an additional problem. Since players couldn't receive additional effects from the shrine during the cooldown period, they were incentivized to switch between different animals to use their skills alternately. Although there is a small cost associated with switching, we wanted to encourage players to maintain the effects that align with their management strategy rather than frequently changing shrine effects.

To achieve this, we added passive effects that apply to the city even when the skill is not in use. These powerful passive effects ensure that players don't need to switch shrines frequently and allow the city's design and management direction to change slightly based on the chosen shrine in each game.

Due to time constraints, we were only able to implement the passive effects for the rat, dog, and ox shrines before the early access release. However, we were very pleased when a user posted a strategy that leveraged the rat shrine's effect.




When the Rat Shrine is activated, Ratizens who collide with the leader automatically pay their taxes.



[h3]Skill Visuals[/h3]

It wasn't easy to determine if the skills' effects could be implemented and then actually implement them, but deciding how to visually represent the skills was another challenge. The initial idea of having the leader mimic animal behaviors to activate the skills, proposed during the concept-setting stage, proved difficult to apply due to limitations in animation production and expression, necessitating a new alternative.

After much consideration, we decided to have the face of the animal deity appear above the leader's head and have the leader perform an animation that matches the skill's effect. However, when we tested having the animal's face appear, we found that players were so focused on the character's actions that they didn't even notice the effect.




Hey hey! How would the players notice the effect if it's too cute~?!


There was more to the visual effects than just this. We also needed to work on displaying the skill's effect range and the effects that occur when Ratizens are impacted by the skill. Additionally, different sound effects were required for when the button is pressed, held, and released. Since the skills are based on the zodiac animals, we wanted to include the animals' sounds when the skills were used. Looking back, it seems we designed the skills in a way that made them incredibly challenging to develop.



[h3]Explaining Skill Effects[/h3]

Explaining the skills to players turned out to be more challenging than creating them. It was particularly difficult to convey that players need to hold the button to use the skill and to detail the additional effects without making the descriptions excessively long.

Despite multiple revisions to the text, longer explanations reduced readability, and the limited space for displaying text made significant improvements difficult. Realizing that short and precise explanations were too ambitious, we decided to make the descriptions more concise, even if it meant sacrificing some accuracy.


We apologize to our translators for the frequent changes.


We're concerned whether players will fully understand the abbreviated explanations, so we plan to continue monitoring and tracking feedback after making the changes.

Working on the leader skills over such a long and fragmented period has made it challenging to compile this development diary. In addition to the leader skills, we are also planning to add new content that players can perform with their characters, such as a system where the leader temporarily gains strength through food and a system for enhancing the leader's equipment. We appreciate your anticipation and support.

Thank you for reading this long article. Hope you have a wonderful July.

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/