WAR RATS: The Rat em Up News

[p]Hello fellow rats![/p][p]I know I have been pretty quiet around here lately, besides a couple posts and replies in the Discussions section. But I am back with some news! And yes quite a few things to tell you all indeed.[/p][p][/p][p]So, firstly, I took two weeks off from work for paternity leave. Our second daughter was born on the 19th of September. Naturally, that delayed work on the game.[/p][p][/p][p]Besides that, I had been working on implementing multiplayer, but it proved too much for me and my noob coding abilities. I am just one person working on the game. Please forgive me. I really did try my best. I encourage you to read my full post about it here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/3167260/discussions/0/601918052458825371/[/p][p][/p][p]Anyway, this doesn't mean I will never ever ever add multiplayer, it just means it will not be in the 1.0 launch version like I had planned. As my game dev journey progresses (hopefully, if this game does well enough to allow me to continue) and I gain new skills, I may very well come back and add it in a later patch. For free of course. I was able to do a successful LAN test, so if that is something that would interest you please let me know and I will work on adding it in in the near future. I just couldn't get it to work over Steam.[/p][p][/p][p]But for now, I am focusing on making WAR RATS the best single player experience it can be. And please know that I really tried to add multiplayer. Ultimately it was getting to the point where I started to dislike working on the game, and so I had to stop. Cause I love working on this game so much, I wasn't gonna let that ruin it for me. And I mean really the game was always single player focused anyway.[/p][p][/p][p]And so on to the big news: 1.0 launch date![/p][p][/p][p]20th November 2025[/p][p][/p][p]That is when I will be launching 1.0. So, if you're not adding multiplayer anymore, what is 1.0 gonna be then eh? EH?! I hear you squeak. Or maybe it's just the rats in my walls screeching at me. Or the rats in my head. Are they in the walls or just in my head? The age old question. Anyway, 1.0 is gonna be mostly polish, QoL and bug fixes. Is that underwhelming? Maybe. Is it still ratty? Yes! I mean the game has had 6 major content updates, plus many small patches, since the beginning of Early Access, and is now pretty much how I envisioned it to be when I started this thing. So I will be happy to call it 1.0. [/p][p][/p][p]There will be some new content of course. I am filling out the Nest Decorations and fleshing out Horde mode with new reward mechanics and maps. Including 2 new exclusive Horde mode reward weapons which are pretty cool if I do say so myself. And more skins! Good ol skins. The skins of the ratoose shall drape upon your rodentian frame.[/p][p][/p][p]And as long as people are playing I will be patching the game and adding content in the future. I will have full patch notes when 1.0 launches. They will be many many words to read. So make sure you can.[/p][p][/p][p]But yeah that's all for now really. Thank you so much for being on this journey with me. The response has been absolutely amazing. You guys are the best seriously and I hope to keep making games for you to enjoy! I have some big plans for the world of WAR RATS :) If you like what I do, please spread the word, leave a positive Steam review and make sure to play on 1.0 launch day. And if you don't like what I do, what the squeak are you even doing here?[/p][p][/p][p]Squeaky squeaks mlem.[/p][p]Regards,[/p][p] Brian[/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello fellow rats![/p][p]I've updated the game with a small patch.[/p][p]As always, thanks for playing the game! And please leave a positive Steam review if you've been enjoying it. It really helps a lot :)[/p][p]Here are the patch notes:[/p]

• [p]NEST DECORATIONS[/p][p]New decorations for your Nest have been added. The Nest Decorations menu has also been updated.[/p][p]There are now different options for the top layer and for the ground layer and for rooms.[/p][p]Also, decorations now use your Total RatPower to determine if they are available. The first 2 decorations included in the last update are not affected.[/p][p]Some decorations are mutually exclusive. Meaning you must choose between them. In this patch, the Garden and RATMUTHUR are such.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]NEW NEST DECORATIONS[/p][p]There are 7 new decorations. They are:[/p]
  • [p]Top layer decoration: Trophies. TechnoRat head trophies for your walls.[/p]
  • [p]Top layer decoration: Hanging Plants. Some nice hanging plants.[/p]
  • [p]Ground layer decoration: ChillSpot: A bean bag complete with cans and a handheld.[/p]
  • [p]Ground layer decoration: LoungeSpot: A lounge chair with a book.[/p]
  • [p]Room decoration: Garden. A quiet little indoor garden.[/p]
  • [p]RATMUTHER. A supercomputer AI interface.[/p]
  • [p]Ratquarium. A place to house some Ratfish and watch them swim around.[/p]
  [p][/p]
• [p]Rearranged "Testers" list in Credits to better utilize space.[/p]
• [p]Total RatPower being displayed in the Nest Decorations menu was wrong. It was not accounting for current RatPower plus RatPower spent. Which was the intended value. This has been fixed.[/p]

[p][/p][p]That's all for now. Hope you enjoy. And happy rat killin![/p][p]Regards,[/p][p] Brian[/p]

[p]New Game Plus battles were not awarding RatPower. This has been fixed.[/p][p][/p][p]It's such a small update I'm not gonna increase the version number. Consider it part of 0.7.0[/p][p][/p][p]Squeaaaaaaaaaaaaaak[/p]

[p]Hello fellow Ratooseses,[/p][p] I have updated the game with Road Map Update 6! The Nest Update.[/p][p]This update brings with it a big change in the flow of the game. You now have a central hub in the form of a playable nest level. From here, you can use the Shop, choose your Skins, select your Special Rat, pick your weapons, play all the game modes, decorate your nest and just hang out with your little rat friends.[/p][p][/p][p]There's a lot to read for this one. So sit back and relax and use your eyes to turn letters into words and make information in your brain. WOW.[/p][p][/p][p]Or not. And just play. Whatever I don't care I DON'T. No I really do I doooooo.[/p][p][/p][p]Anyway, the rats. They sometimes tell me to write things. And yes as always a big thank you to everyone who's played the game so far! Your support really means the world to me. And if you've been enjoying the game please consider leaving a positive Steam review. It really does help.[/p][p][/p][p]Ok on to the patch notes![/p][p][/p][p]THE NEST[/p]

• [p]This is the main ratmeat and ratpotatoes of this update. This is a playable area which serves as the main hub of the game now. After pressing play, you will select your Save Slot and then choose to start a New Game or Continue if you have a save file there. If you start a New Game, you will play through Basic Training before entering the Nest. From the Nest, you can then unlock various rooms such as the Shop, Skin selection, Special Rats, Weapons and all the good stuff. You can also go to the different game modes via the Nest. By entering different doors. So Campaign, Skirmish, Horde etc. all have their own door to go through to get to that game mode.[/p]
• [p]On every death or victory, you will return to the Nest instead of the Shop like before. (The Shop is right there when you spawn in though)[/p]
• [p]Each room in the Nest needs to be unlocked with RatPower. RatPower is a new resource that is awarded every time you win a battle in Campaign or New Game Plus. If you are continuing a game from before this update, you should be given an appropriate amount of RatPower in accordance with your progression, so you can unlock rooms as if you had been playing with RatPower from the beginning. Rat Dealers Shop is always free to unlock.[/p]
• [p]There are tooltips that help you out in the Nest. You can turn those off in the Options menu once you are familiar with how it all works.[/p]
• [p]You can build decorations to customize your Nest. Although right now the options are very limited. I will be adding more in the coming updates![/p]
• [p]And last but not least, there are little rat friends running around in the nest. The more CHz you have, the more rats there will be. And the more RatPower you collect and spend, the more Little Ones there will be. [/p][p][/p]

[p]NEW MECHANIC - WEAPONS LOCKER[/p]

• [p]The Weapons Locker is a room that is available to be unlocked in the Nest. This room allows you to access any weapons that you have previously unlocked and purchased in the Shop. Meaning you no longer need to buy a weapon twice if you swap it out! This is not retroactive unfortunately. So anyone continuing a game will need to buy a weapon again once again before it registers in the Weapons Locker. But after that it will function normally. [/p]

[p][/p][p]NEW SKINS[/p]

• [p]Snazzy. This skin is a fancy tuxedo top complete with shirt and tie. Although there are no sleeves. This is awarded after clearing wave 20 in Horde mode in any difficulty.[/p]
• [p]Plushie. This is a giant rat soft toy that you can carry on your back. A thank you for anyone who played the game during Early Access. To claim the skin, make sure you launch the game after updating to Road Map Update 6 (the most current update as of this writing) and get to an autosave point. You must do this between now and when the game launches into 1.0. Which will be (hopefully) sometime in October or November at the latest of this year. You will NOT be able to claim the skin ever again. I will remind you again each update until 1.0. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. DON’T @ ME.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Bug fixes, QoL and Polish[/p]

• [p]Added a quick fade-in whenever you enter Rat Dealer’s Shop[/p]
• [p]Added RatPoints System[/p]
• [p]Added UI Panel for RatPoints that appears in the Nest.[/p]
• [p]Added legacy RatPoints to be added to players who continue a game from before this update[/p]
• [p]Brand New Players will now play through Basic Training when starting a New Game.[/p]
• [p]If you die during the Tutorial you have an option to skip it (with a warning).[/p]
• [p]When starting a New Game, the option to skip Basic Training will appear if you have already completed it before. This appears when starting a New Game in the pop up that asks for confirmation that you will wipe your current save.[/p]
• [p]The Tutorial now informs players that yes the Ratvolver is garbage but you can unlock new better weapons later. (I cannot believe some people don't understand basic video game progression in 2025. Is this the first game you ever played??)[/p]
• [p]Loading into the Tutorial or Shooting range will now keep your current save’s difficulty. Before this update it would default to Normal for those levels. Not that it matters.[/p]
• [p]New Game Plus difficulty modifier is now a manual option available from the New Game Plus menu. You can set it between 0-100. 0 is default. Although if you set it anything above like 20 you will probably not stand a chance. But ya know what go ahead and see if you can do it! I believe in you![/p][p]The difficulty modifier used to be tied to how many times you had cleared a New Game Plus run, and it was persistent across the game no matter what save slot you were using. This would result in NG+ being pretty unfair if you played it with a new character after having cleared a few NG+ runs with a different Lil Ratty.[/p][p]I am planning to make New Game Plus only available after beating the Campaign in a coming update. Not yet, but soon. So this is your warning.[/p]
• [p]Leaderboards button has replaced Shooting Range button in the Main Menu.[/p]
• [p]There are now some extra screen flashes during the TechnoRat Base death scene.[/p]
• [p]Changed “Tutorial” to “Basic Training” as the name of the Battle that is displayed when winning it.[/p]
• [p]Skirmish difficulty settings are now locked to save slot difficulty settings[/p]
• [p]Arrow now appears over blueprint in tutorial if not picked up within 5 seconds[/p]
• [p]Tutorial videos now have a “Press \[space] or (A) to >>” message[/p]
• [p]Tutorial videos now have an updated “Press \[space] or (A) to continue” message[/p]
• [p]The descriptions of the Horde Mode skins said “Awarded for reaching wave #” This should have been “Awarded for clearing wave #” This has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Padlock icon now appears over locked shutters. Will animate open when unlocked[/p]
• [p]Tooltips appear when moving in front of Nest stations or doors. These can be turned off in options.[/p]
• [p]Added rats and Little Ones to nest.[/p]
• [p]Added Decorations Office.[/p]
• [p]Added first two Nest Decorations for Top layer: Sconces and RatKing Portraits.[/p]
• [p]Started to add Decorations Office Menu UI. This is a WIP menu.[/p]
• [p]Added Teleporatter Stations to Nest[/p]
• [p]Added sounds for: Ambient Nest. Rooms unlocking. Doors opening.[/p]
• [p]Moved the “Prev” button in the What’s New screen over to the left to get it out of the way of the text ratdammit.[/p]

[p][/p][p]And I believe that should cover everything added or changed in this update! I really hope you enjoy the Nest. I think it really adds a lot to the experience. Let me know your thoughts. I am always open to feedback.[/p][p][/p][p]Happy Rat Killin![/p][p]Regards,[/p][p] Brian[/p]

[p]Hello fellow rats![/p][p] I've updated the game with a small patch.[/p][p]As always, thanks for playing the game! And please leave a positive Steam review if you've been enjoying it. It really helps a lot :)[/p][p]Here are the patch notes:[/p]

• [p]Leaderboard! There is now a Leaderboard to view. It displays the top 10 ranked players with your score at the bottom (unless you're in the top 10 then your score is in the top 10 innit) Your RatPoints are automatically uploaded any time the game autosaves, so if you have not played to the point of an auto save since the last update, your score will not be displayed there. Which sadly means a lot of people who played since launch but have since stopped playing won’t be included unless they log in again at some point.[/p][p]You can find the Leaderboard through the Main Menu on the left side of the screen.[/p][p]You can also see your RatPoints during gameplay by looking at your Stats Book in the Shop.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]New Head Slot Skin: Gunner Rat Helmet. A helmet with a visor and antenna. Awarded for clearing wave 10 or up in Horde mode. Any difficulty.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Sometimes entering Rat Dealer’s shop would trigger the exit condition, meaning you could have automatically skipped it without meaning to. This has been fixed.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Increased the CHz amount rewarded in Horde CHz Chests slightly. It’s more noticeable in the earlier waves.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Added another intro screen. This one recommends using Mouse and Keyboard to play.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]While in Horde mode, if you look at the Play Guide through the Pause Menu it will now show the Horde-specific Play Guide.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Baseball Cap Head Slot Skin is now unlocked only if you have cleared wave 5 or up of Horde mode. Any difficulty. [/p][p][/p]

[p]That's all for now. Happy rat killin![/p][p]Regards,[/p][p] Brian[/p]