WAR RATS: The Rat em Up News

[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]

[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]Damage Numbers In Horde[/p][p]Flipped damage numbers for units in Horde coming from the Left so they are now reading properly.[/p][p][/p]

• [p]NEW UNIT: Supply Dratnes[/p][p]These are unarmed transport units that the TechnoRat use to ferry supplies across the battlefield. They have a chance (which is difficulty dependent) to randomly appear during missions across the Campaign (except mission 1), New Game + and Horde and will fly from one side of the map to another up in the sky. If you shoot them down a crate will drop from them that holds plenty of supplies: ammo, health, nades and CHz. Keep an eye out for them! They may just come in clutch.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Leaderboard Scores Backend Implementation[/p][p]Added Leaderboard score calculation in the backend (This should all be retroactive so your score is based off of your existing stats in your Stats book.) The things that affect your score are how many times you’ve beaten the Campaign. How many territories you have conquered in both regular and NG+. How many horde mode waves you’ve survived. How many Skirmish battles you’ve won. And also the difficulty setting you play on while doing those things. Save slot doesn't matter. It all counts. This is purely in the backend for now. Meaning you won’t see them yet, either yours or other people's. It's just so I can start collecting scores and testing behind the scenes. But feel free to Rat em Up extra hard knowing your scores are being saved from now on for future rankings. Coming very soon! In the next patch probably. If it all works. And everything does to plan. And the rats don't devour me and my soul for all eternity.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Gameflow Improvement[/p][p]Removed “Main Menu” and “Restart” buttons from the Campaign Death Screen. Now the only option is “Continue”. This was done to emphasize the roguelike nature of the game and help with first time players who may think that dying means a Game Over fail state completely. Other game mode death screens remain the same.[/p]

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

[p]Hello fellow rats![/p][p]I have just updated the game with Road Map Update 5: HORDE MODE! This is by far the biggest update yet, it's basically an entire new way to play the game. And I know I said that when I added New Game Plus, but trust me, this is waaaay more so. In fact I regret even using that phrase with New Game Plus cause that doesn't even cut it now.[/p][p][/p][p]And of course I gotta start by saying thank you to everyone who's bought and played and enjoyed the game! It really means the world to me. And if you have been enjoying the game, please consider leaving a positive Steam review, it really does help! Not just with the algorithm but also helps other people decide if they want to try the game. [/p][p][/p][p]Anyway, let's dive in to the full patch notes. It's gonna be a long read so grab yourself a nice drink and settle in. Or just start playing right now and learn as you go![/p][p][/p]

• [p]HORDE MODE[/p][p]This is the main addition of this update. A brand new mode, complete with a brand new map! In Horde, you are not on the attack this time. Instead, you must defend your base from BOTH sides as endless waves of TechnoRat terrors try to destroy it. Your base has 3 lives, and each enemy (not just Ratineers) that enters the base will remove 1 life. If your base lives reach 0, it's game over, and you have to start over. If you die however, you can continue from the last completed wave.[/p][p]You do not have your regular Troops to recruit in Horde, instead, you have stationary defensive units that can be teleporatted in at specific locations. They can be healed, and it always costs half the CHz to repair rather than recruit, so try to keep them alive if you can. [/p][p]In addition to these new Troops, you can also build walls, campsites and minefields, but instead of the usual Build Menus, you can only build them on specific locations called Emplacements. These are specific builds and you must hold down the Interact button to build them. Each one, including the Troops, takes a different amount of time to activate. So plan ahead as you have a limited amount of time between each wave. There will be a preview image of what it is that will be built when you enter the build area.[/p][p]Each wave will spawn a certain amount of enemies that will come from both the left and the right side of the map. The number of enemies will increase with each wave, and after a certain wave more enemy types will come. Every 10 waves, all the enemies will increase in attack and health. [/p][p]Once each wave has been defeated, you will have a brief time of rest called the Prep Phase and a CHz Chest reward will spawn near your base. The amount of CHz in this chest will increase with each wave cleared. You can use this Prep Phase to repair, build, resupply, gather CHz and loot and all that. I mean, you can do that stuff during the waves too, but you'll probably be busy trying to survive.[/p][p]After each Prep Phase, all Gear left on the battlefield will be cleared, the cost of all Emplacements will go up slightly and a new wave will begin.[/p][p]The game will track your Highest Cleared Wave depending on the difficulty you've chosen for your current Ratty. This will be shown both in the Horde Menu and in the HUD during Horde games (As well as the Stats book in the Shop) and will also be added to the Leaderboards once those are added in a later patch. [/p][p]The game will also save after each successful wave is cleared, so you can continue later or if you die. Dying in Horde does NOT remove your gear. And you do NOT gain XP or new Blueprints while in Horde, but you can always return at any time after playing the other game modes to upgrade your Ratty.[/p][p]There is a new HUD feature during Horde: The Proximity Meter. This will alert you to when enemies are approaching your base and from which side. There's 3 levels of warning, which show roughly how near they are. [/p]
• [p]NEW UNITS[/p][p]There are two new units in the game: Machine Gun Teams and Mortarat Teams. These are exclusive to Horde mode and are recruited by using Emplacements rather than the Radio. The Radio is actually disabled during Horde. Machine Gun Teams are rapid fire, direct line of sight units. Mortarat Teams are long range indirect fire units that cannot attack when enemies are in close range, so plan accordingly.[/p][p]These units can be upgraded via Terminals on either side of your Base in Horde. These upgrades do not carry over to other saves or game modes.[/p]
• [p]NEW MAP[/p][p]There is a new Map in the game: Ratharan Desert. At the moment, it's exclusive to Horde mode, but I will be adding it to Skirmish in a later patch. I will also be adding more Horde maps with different layouts and enemy wave compositions at a later date.[/p]
• [p]Other[/p][p]Just a couple bug fixes/QoL/polish in this update, as the bulk of my time was taken up with all the Horde mode stuff.[/p]
  • [p]Golgus shots were not damaging Walls. This has been fixed.[/p]
  • [p]TR Ratineers blood splats on the ground will now fade away after a time.[/p]
  • [p]Added a Loading Tip[/p]
  • [p]You can now go to the Shop at any time. You can go there via the Horde screen. [/p]

[p][/p][p]And that's it for this update! It's a massive one, I hope you all enjoy it. I actually find I like playing Horde more than the base game now haha. Although that's probably because I've played the base game for countless hours at this point. Please let me know your thoughts! As always I welcome all feedback, good or bad (as long as it's constructive please) so don't be shy. You can write in the Steam forums or join the Discord! Or message me on my social medias (wootusart)[/p][p]Every time I add stuff to the game I think of even more stuff to add haha. I have so many ideas for Horde mode now, so stay tuned for more content in the coming weeks![/p][p][/p][p]All the rat love in the rat world![/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]New Head Slot Skin[/p][p]A baseball cap has been added to Skin Selection. There's no unlock condition for it (for now, but there probably will be in later patches). [/p][p][/p]
• [p]Mission 6 (Chit Chit Jungles) Balancing[/p][p]This mission during the Campaign will now spawn 1 additional Rat Trooper each wave. Applies to all difficulties.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Rat Dealer's Kiosk FX[/p][p]There is now a puff of smoke particle effect when Rat Dealer's Kiosk spawns in or out.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Rat Dealer's Kiosk HUD Icon[/p][p]There is now a little icon in the HUD that will appear whenever Rat Dealer's Kiosk is around.[/p][p]Top right corner of the center panel.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Stay tuned for Road Map Update 5 (Horde mode) coming soon![/p][p]Regards,[/p][p] Brian[/p]

[p]Hello fellow rats,[/p][p] I have updated the game with the following stuffs:[/p][p][/p]

• [p]Added Icons to the Shop Menu and Starting Weapon Selection screen to indicate the projectile type being fired by the gun. So you can just quickly see without having to read the description how the gun plays. I hope the icons are self-explanatory. [/p][p][/p]
• [p]Grenade throwing has been changed. It no longer relies on movement momentum to add distance or change trajectory. As much as I loved this mechanic (and yes I am aware some people did not like it, even hated it) I had to change it to a more “traditional” way of throwing: where the grenade is thrown at a certain distance and height each time, regardless of your own movement, position or speed. The reason I have done this is while getting ready for Horde Mode, I found that when facing left and throwing grenades I could not get it to function the same way as when facing right. I don’t know why, I spent hours trying to figure it out but couldn’t so I just said fuck it, let’s just do it live and throw nades like all the other games. I guess another bonus to having it this way is I can now add Gear or Upgrades that will increase or alter the throw distance and/or height.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Arty Rat’s Barrage now has a wider area to land shells on. The amount of shells and damage per shell has not changed. But this was done to better differentiate Arty Rat from Bomber Rat. So Arty Rat is more of a large AoE attack where the damage is spread out and Bomber Rat is more of a concentrated big attack.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]The minimum amount of shells fired during Arty Rat’s Barrage is up 1 for Cheasy and Ratgular Difficulties. Total shells remains the same.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Flrat Cannon shots were passing through the Shooting Range Targets. This is now fixed.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Flrat Cannon was OP. I have nerfed the impact damage (the direct hit damage) of its shells by half. Their shrapnel damage is unchanged.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Discovered that buildings were still being built even if the game was paused (like if you were in a menu) and have fixed that. So hopefully that finally puts an end to any issues related to the game unpausing while in menus. Because once a building is finished the game will unpause itself and if you were in a menu that meant it would unpause in the background and you'd be stuck in the menu cause the menu functionality is tied to the game state being paused. Yes is all very convoluted I'm just a noob at coding ok? OK?![/p][p][/p]
• [p]Special Rats will now emerge from your special place facing the direction you are facing and move and do their things in that direction. So you can send them to the left if you're facing left.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue when starting a New Game while you have an existing game going, that sometimes the warning pop-up would not display, leading to possible unintentional overwriting of saved games.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Updated Stick Grenratters to not explode on contact with friendly troops or world items like Crates or Barrels. Please note that they will still damage or kill those things if they are caught in the explosion.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]There will now be an additional RAT RAT Walker spawning each wave on Mission 7 (Tundrata) when playing in Hairy Rat Balls mode.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Updated the Tips in the Play Guide.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Updated “Wipe Game Stats” warning text. Game Stats wipe will now also reset your New Game Plus progress. [/p][p][/p]
• [p]The pre-mission "Lil Ratty Prep" scene and the post-mission "Marching Old Guards" animations now will show a "Press \[Space] or (A) to skip" message. (I plan to have these buttons change dynamically with any custom keys in a future update.)[/p][p][/p]
• [p]Shooting Range now has a little score board and destroying targets increases your score.[/p][p][/p]

[p]And that's that for this patch. Thanks as always for your feedback! It really helps me make the game the best it can be. And thanks for your patience as I make this game too![/p][p]And of course I gotta say this: If you are enjoying the game please leave a positive review on Steam! It really does help. Even a one word review counts so don't worry about writing any beautiful words of poetry or anything.[/p][p][/p][p]Regards,[/p][p] Brian[/p][p][/p][p][/p]