Mar 31

Ratopia - Cassel Games

　Hello all, it’s Cassel, developer of <Ratopia>.

　After the early March update, we've had some time to catch our breath. During this time, we revisited the feedback left by users on Steam and Discord, organized it once again, and worked on business tasks and technical research that had been put off, all while reviewing the overall schedule. It's necessary to refine our long-term plans for better updates in the future.

All the feedback piled up! There's really a long way to go!!

　When planning our development schedule, we start by distinguishing between main and sub-systems. Main systems, like the power system in the scientist update, are of high importance and require a lot of work, but must be developed within a deadline, whereas sub-systems are features that would be nice to add, although they don't have a set deadline.

　After distinguishing between main and sub-systems, we sequence the main systems according to events or festivals. Then, we insert sub-systems that would complement the main systems in between. This way, if the development of a main system is delayed, we can remove some sub-systems to flexibly adjust our plans.

　For instance, the volcanic biome that we're discussing in today's DevDiary was a sub-system planned from the early stages of development. It was intended to be added along with late-game content.

Volcanic Biome

　The volcanic biome is located in the deepest underground area of the <Ratopia> map. It's designed as a biome to be explored in order to dramatically increase military power and economic scale, with a distribution of various rare resources. Being late-game content, it was planned to be added after the early access phase, and we spent a lot of time contemplating how to make the use of the volcanic biome satisfying within the game.

The various appearances of the volcanic biome that have changed over time

　The volcanic biome, unlike other biomes, was intended to be challenging and dangerous to settle in. Initially, the plan was to have Ratizens lose a significant amount of health the longer they stayed in the volcanic biome due to a temperature gauge. Proper development would only be possible after supplying the Ratizens with protective gear.

　However, as development progressed, we realized that supplying equipment to Ratizens was not the right approach. In Ratopia, Ratizens purchase their necessities based on their individual financial situations. Those who dared to mine tiles in the dangerous latter part of the volcanic biome were mostly unemployed Ratizens with little money, who, sadly, often couldn't afford even the basic necessities.

　Therefore, we revised the plan to have Ratizens take fire damage every time they stepped on a tile within the volcanic biome. This solution was not only simpler to implement but also allowed players to solve the problem in various ways. They could destroy the damaging tiles, soak Ratizens in water to prevent fire damage, or provide Ratizens with more sleep time and recovery buildings to ensure safe development.

It seems like there's a savory smell coming from somewhere…

　However, these methods felt insufficient as preparatory steps for settling the volcanic biome. This was because, even without using these methods, settling could proceed, albeit slowly, without much inconvenience.

Ratfiend

　Digging down to the underground from the early stages to obtain rare resources was not our intended scenario, as swiftly settling the volcanic biome was supposed to involve risks. Initially, our plan was to make settling the volcanic biome without sufficient military preparation risky by applying the invasion system, where predators stronger than weasels would invade. Salamanders, which appeared in Ratropolis, seemed like a suitable choice for these invading predators.

Salamanders we tried to make cute for this game

　Upon reevaluation of the plan, it seemed like it might give players a negative experience. From the player's perspective, it was difficult to know at what point of developing the volcanic biome enemies would start invading, and accidental development could trigger invasions that were too strong, potentially ruining the game. The intention was for players to prepare and then start developing, knowing the risks involved, but it seemed more likely that sudden invasions would lead to exhaustion from defending the city rather than advancing development.

　Therefore, we considered limiting the salamanders' movement so they wouldn't leave the volcanic biome. The idea was to make them attack only the player's structures and Ratizens located within the volcanic biome during invasions. This way, it seemed like players could prepare adequately for invasions before starting to develop the volcanic biome.

　However, even this alternative had many flaws. Players could potentially trigger salamander invasions to prevent weasels from invading the city, and there was also the possibility of the city's soldiers repeatedly descending into the volcanic biome to attack the salamanders, only to be defeated.

　The more we thought about it, the more problems appeared, and it seemed like solving all of them would require a lot of time. Therefore, we decided to set aside the invasion system related to the volcanic biome and look for other ways to make obtaining resources from the volcanic biome risky. Making the player feel the danger didn't necessarily have to come in the form of invasions.

　This led to the idea of introducing a giant monster that guards the volcanic biome. The giant monster wouldn't invade the city but would hinder the Ratizens developing the volcanic biome, making players feel like they need to defeat the monster for smooth development.

　However, technically, adding a giant character that moves along tiles was not feasible, so, regrettably, the giant monster had to be scaled down to the size of rats. This resulted in the creation of a character that looks a bit grotesque, reminiscent of a rat living in hell.

It definitely looks much more dangerous

　We wanted Ratfiend to be small yet invincible, creating an entity that players should avoid fighting against. The idea was to either block Ratfiend's path through tile construction or encourage players to develop the biome while avoiding Ratfiend. However, this solution also presented new problems. There was no information screen to explain Ratfiend's invincibility, leaving players without guidance on why it wasn't losing health, and our allied soldiers seemed eager to descend into hell by seeking out and attacking Ratfiend.

　Due to these issues, we decided to give Ratfiend high defense instead of invincibility. Adding an enemy information screen is a feature that's needed in the long term, but it was too time-consuming to add immediately just for Ratfiend. Moreover, having soldiers attack an enemy that takes no damage or making invincible enemies undetectable by soldiers could appear buggy.

　With these twists and turns, Ratfiend was added to the game. We haven't heard much from the players yet, but we'll need to pay close attention to see if it functions as intended.

The Greed

　We also experimented with various concept designs for the animals that would appear in the volcanic biome. Since no real creatures live near lava, it was necessary to be creative. Initially, the animals designed for the volcanic biome were cute and matched the environment, but as the biome evolved to emphasize its difficulty and danger, the designs of the appearing animals became increasingly horrifying and grotesque.

Creatures evolving into monstrous forms

　Adding new animals isn't straightforward due to the need for them to fit into various uses and production chains. The current animals in the game also fall short in terms of utility, necessitating minimal additions. Among these, the Salt King was added specifically for events. Rather than complicating the game with additional complex production chains, the intention was to establish it as a "joker" animal that players could use to obtain the resources they needed.

The Greed’s design change from Lucifrog to Gluttonishark.

　The Greed was designed to spit out different resources according to a formula when players input resources. The goal was to allow players to infinitely obtain limited resources or recycle unnecessary ones.

　However, in practice, its utility was much lower than expected. Even if resources could be obtained from deep underground, transporting them to the city was very cumbersome, and without knowing the formula, players hesitated to input resources because they couldn't predict the outcome. Most importantly, the rewards were not significant enough to justify the effort of going deep underground to use it, lacking the appeal to make it worthwhile.

Here’s your meal~~ (What am I supposed to do with this guy…)

　Ultimately, it was decided to replace the ability of The Greed, and it needed to be designed in the following direction:

　- Ensure the rewards obtained through The Greed are overwhelmingly powerful, allowing players to know in advance and act accordingly.
　- Minimize the quantity of rewards that require transportation to the extent that a leader alone can carry them if they are tangible and need to be transported.
　- Increase reusability so it's not something used once or twice and then forgotten, but can be continually utilized.

　After much deliberation, The Greed's ability was reshaped to alleviate players' critical situations. By paying a high amount of money to The Greed, players could end ongoing enemy invasions or stabilize all rebelling Ratizens. This approach was seen as sufficiently appealing because it offered a way to resolve dire late-game crises with economic power.

　Given its powerful capability, there was a concern that overuse of The Greed's ability could disrupt the game's balance, necessitating a safeguard. It was decided to significantly increase the cost required to use The Greed's ability each time, as a way to control its use. Although different from regular animals, incorporating The Greed added a new dimension of accumulating wealth, making it an intriguing system that encourages long-term strategic planning when used.

　Moreover, there are still many systems intended for the volcanic biome that haven't been added yet. The plan is to appropriately incorporate these remaining elements during other main system updates, gradually enhancing the game. We look forward to your continued support and feedback for future updates! Thank you for reading this lengthy post today.

Mar 31

Star Conflict 1.12.4.8 π²/6

Star Conflict - Super Glix

Pilots! You’ve probably already figured out what this is about so let’s not drag it out and get to it. And the matter at hand is very important! Pay attention, this will be on the test! You better not fail! There will be no second chances!

Game world changes

Infected territories now have schools where you can study the biomorph language. Some of the native speakers are impossible to understand. They can often be seen drinking plant-flavored hot water in the middle of the day while discussing the weather.
Before you get a bomb in the “Detonation” game mode you will now have to file a hand-written application and submit it to the station where your ships are docked no later than 10 working days before the battle.
A meteor shower has destroyed the iridium plantations in the Federation sectors, causing the container prices to rise.
There is a rumor that the Aliens are preparing for some event. Could it be a space jam session? Or are they waiting for some unknown visitors? We’re yet to find out…

New bundles in the store

“Crash the party” bundle

Price: 50 xenochips.
Bundle contents: game crashes immediately upon purchase.

“Crash the party (foreshadowing edition)” bundle

Price: 49 xenochips.
Bundle contents: game crashes at some point after the purchase.

“Lengthy deal” bundle

Price: free, one purchase per account.
Bundle contents:
1000000000 credits
100000000 free synergy
100000 GS
10000 monocrystals
10000 units of every resource
Every game location that your ship visits (including the Hangar) now has a little space snail that crawls towards the ship. If it reaches the ship and touches it, your account progress will be reset but you will receive the other items from the bundle… Including the snail. It will reappear at the same distance from a random direction but its speed will now be up by 5%. We hope you will enjoy this experience!

Interface

All icons in the game are now black and white.

Comment: we’ve discovered that the icons were still readable and distinguishable, which interfered with the fascinating process of figuring out “what is this thing on me?”

A new confirmation window before flying into the Open Space has been added, asking the pilot if they didn’t forget their own head.
ChatGPT 4.0 bots have been added to the chats to liven up the atmosphere. A new quest to detect the bots has been added:
- A 10-minute timer starts upon accepting the quest.
- Mark the players that you believe to be bots with special flags.
- After the timer runs out you will get 500 GS for every player that you correctly identified as a bot. But you will also lose 1000 GS for every real player marked.

Imbalance changes

The game is perfectly balanced. If you don’t agree then you will be banned, your game will uninstall automatically, and your PC will self-destruct!!! To avoid that, send 1000 GS to the following address...

Players and bots

Inexperienced players get unlimited access to a set of NY weapons.
Players that came close to mastering the game at the same level as the top players were banned.
Banned all players with win/loss ratio higher than 3 as part of reworking the balance and meta ships.
All players that were dissatisfied with how the destroyers are balanced now have no access to missiles when firing at a destroyer. They also no longer have access to the plasma arc, pirate singularity generator, and the ram.
Fixed a bug when bots gave minimal rating to the missions in PvE. Now they not only just do that, but also insult the players.
Bots in PvP were replaced with real players.
All players now have access to cheats. We remind you that using cheats is forbidden. If you are not yet banned, please contact the support.

Ships

General

All ships except for Nordstorm are now only available during holidays.
Ships that haven’t been used in a month will now be automatically deleted from the players’ accounts.
We’ve finally figured out how to switch between crystalline and human input language. All Ellydium ship names will be changed.
Old rank bonus values were restored and increased. Now a Ghost can destroy an Emperor in only 6.9 sec. Nice.
When a PvP battle starts, the speed of all ships begins gradually decreasing to the point of 10% of the maximum value. This will allow for a smoother experience and a PvP battle in chat. We also brought back the ability to chat with the enemy team! Go all out!

Premium ships

Raised the maximum number of unique modules from 2 to 5.

Comment: this change is to raise the sales of the premium ships. We’ll definitely balance it out later somehow.

Unavailable ships

All previously unavailable ships can now be accessed by purchasing the corresponding DLC. The Special Operations boss ships will also be available. Hurry up and get the ships you need while the 50% discount is still active!

Guard frigates

All Guard frigates are now forced to pursue allies. They will also try to cover vulnerable destroyer modules from enemy fire.

Suppression destroyers

We’ve noticed that this class of ships is quite popular, so we’ve reduced the time of their respawn in half.
Modules destroyed in battle now cannot be repaired and disappear from the ship’s slots forever.

Comment: these changes will increase the demand for modules, revitalizing the market.

Nordstorm

The ship will get a 50% buff to damage, temporary weapon damage duration, speed, and special module cooldown rate in order to improve game balance.

Comment: statistics showed that the ship turned out to be a mediocre interceptor.

Polar Bear

Because of global warming the average space temperature has risen, causing the ship to melt away.
Comment: congratulations, you now have a second Grizzly!

Thrasher

Thanks to the latest developments in space dentistry and the use of Crystallid technology, the fangs in the ship’s mouth are now shining much brighter!

Comment: this technology is approved by 9 out of 10 border sector dentists.

Saw One

Is fine. But the Pilgrim
- Is now named Saw Two. But that’s not all! Kirishima
  - Is now named Saw Three. The most unlucky of all was Tornado
    - Which is now named Saw Half. You should have seen the look on the Yith’Mor pilots’ faces!
      - Their ship is now named Saw Green™

Naglfar

The ship was heavily subsidized by the government as a single father of many children.

Empire ships

The leaders of the faction made the difficult decision to conventionalize the names of the ships. As part of the first phase, the fighter ships will be given new names. Thus, the Spark and Shark ship names will remain unchanged, but the other fighters will be named in a similar fashion: Saark, Sbark, Scark, Sdark and so on. This naming convention is planned to be implemented in the next 3 years after the approval of the relevant legislative bill.

Manul

The Outpost shipyard issued an urgent request to not pet the ship against the hull plates direction.

Saw Half

Hacking into systems now allows you to take control of the other half of the ship. Now it’s definitely Saw Half!

Lightbringer

Ship pilots got a fine for violating lighting and safety standards while handling lasers.

Zhen

The information screen inside the ship’s cockpit has been enlarged to make looking at memes during combat more comfortable.

Executor, Confessor

The crews of the ships got into a heated argument about the most appropriate way to neutralize the enemy.

Weapons

General

All weapons in PvE now deal 3000% more damage.

Comment: we’ve discovered that the weapons do not deal enough damage at level 100 in PvE missions. If the damage is still insufficient, the damage will be increased by another 3000%.

Laser weapons

Added aim assist.

Comment: due to constant complaints about cheats, we decided to lower the upper skill bar for using laser weapons so that more players can play as real professionals without cheats.

IFG-4622

It was revealed that ships hit by this weapon did not burn down completely. Now the burning damage applies even after the ship is destroyed.

Kinetic Supercharger

The spread increase speed is now cut in half.
The weapon is now named “Kinetic Supergrinder”.

Flux Phaser, Scatter Gun, Thi'Lith Beam, Destructor

These weapons are now ES.

“Fort-4” launcher

Beam width increased from 20 meters to 200 meters.
Firing range increased by 100%.

Comment: these changes were made to improve countermeasure ability against Nordstorm. In addition, 10-kilometer death rays have always lit a fire in the hearts of players!

Special modules

Disintegrator

The projectile speed increased to 100000 m/s.

Comment: we really hope that players will now be able to hit interceptors in warp more effectively. There is no escape!

Now the Tachyon Charge effect significantly increases the energy of the projectile, allowing it to pierce through obstacles.

Reflecting shield (Relic)

The shield now protects the hull of the ship, it can’t be bypassed, and also it recharges twice as fast, and also restores 10000 shields per second, and also reflects the plasma arc, and also...

Comment: please buy Relic DLC.

Enlightenment

Removed from the "Weapon" category.

Comment: let's be honest already... Oh, sorry, wrong game.

Modules and modifiers

Energy converter

Can now be installed on Suppression destroyers.

Comment: have fun.

A1MA

The module now functions the same as it originally did, and it can also be installed on Suppression destroyers.

Comment: you’re welcome.

Emergency repair station

The module can now be activated only during emergencies. False activation will be penalized.

Comment: don’t forget to put out traffic cones around the station or you'll be fined!

Kongmíng manual controls, Ze’Ta swarm

Now when exposed to “Rebellion” trojan or Systems hacking, the drone/swarm flies off to the nearby store.

Landing platform

It is now possible to land drones.

Comment: we discovered that real players hardly ever use the landing platform.

Warp gate Ram-M

Any ship that has passed through the gate is now homing in on a selected enemy ship and its ramming damage has been increased to lethal.

Comment: the gate was quite difficult to use, especially in terms of deadly ramming. We decided to ease the conditions for effective play.

IR Flares

Can now block sensors of the surrounding ships.

Comment: we came to the conclusion that the module is not used often enough, so now its capabilities have been extended.

Decor

Changed the logic of triggering the death effect for all relevant decors, now the effect triggers when the enemy is killed.

Solar battery (Yes-yes, it gives 5 pts. of energy per second)

Replaced with the “Solar panel” decor.
Anticipating a change to the description of this decor, the name has been changed to “Solar panel (Yes-yes, it gives energy depending on the light intensity and distance to the light source according to the formula AP/BR², where P is the intensity of the light source, R is the distance to it, A is the efficiency of the panel, and B is the degree of pollution of the panel. Made from natural, eco-friendly, non-GMO materials. No developers were harmed during production)”.

Comment: maybe it’ll fit, maybe it won’t, whatever. We’ll make it scroll or something.

Miscellaneous

Seed-chips are now called seed-cheats, which is more in line with their functionality.
Fixed a bug that caused seed-cheats working for players in Co-op.
Fixed a bug that caused seed-cheats not working for bots in Co-op.
Fixed a bug that caused seed-cheats not working for players in PvP.
Please do not ever touch the ships with the “Solar panel (Yes-yes, it gives energy depending on the light intensity and distance to the light source according to the formula AP/BR², where P is the intensity of the light source, R is the distance to it, A is the efficiency of the panel, and B is the degree of pollution of the panel. Made from natural, eco-friendly, non-GMO materials. No developers were harmed during production)” decor installed. Please do not ever touch those ships. Please do not ever touch those ships. Please do not ever touch those ships. Please do not ever touch those ships. Please do not ever touch those ships. Please do not ever touch those ships.
Please do not ever touch those ships.
Please do not ever touch those ships.

Bug fixes

Bugs: fixed forever.
From now on, if you find something you think is a bug, it's officially a feature.