Cheese: Hello, everyone! This is Cheese from the <Ratocalypse> development team.
Last month, we replaced our existing dummy opening with fully finished assets, and showed it off for the first time at BIC, where we recently exhibited <Ratocalypse>.
If you stopped by and played the demo there, there's a good chance you already saw it.
In this dev diary, we'd like to walk you through how this opening came together.
Researching References
We had experience making animated openings for our previous titles, <Ratropolis> and <Ratopia>, but in both of those games the opening worked more like an intro video that led straight into the title screen.
This time, we wanted the <Ratocalypse> opening to play up to the moment a player starts the game, so the game feels more immersive and natural with the actual in-game experience.
Since the opening would play at a different point than in our previous titles, we started by looking at other games that tell their story in a similar way, to figure out the most effective approach.
<The Last Spell> Opening
We looked at the openings of many different games, but the one we referenced the most was <The Last Spell>.
Like <Ratocalypse>, it's set in an apocalyptic world.
Without relying on complex animation, it conveyed its atmosphere effectively through changes in illustration and simple screen transitions alone.
In particular, seeing how it achieved a strong sense of atmosphere and storytelling within a limited production budget became a major reference point for deciding the direction of our own opening.
Validating with a Dummy Sketch
Normally, making an opening follows a process along the lines of "storyboard → asset production → assembly → cinematics."
But since story plays a bigger role in <Ratocalypse> than in our previous titles, we wanted to assemble a dummy version of the opening before the final assets were even made.
This would let us check in advance whether the way the story was delivered, and the overall direction, worked the way we intended.
We started by sketching out a simple storyboard to map out the overall flow.
A fairly simple sketch, but the starting point for the opening
We decided the opening would be directed around the idea of the player reading, line by line, a letter left behind by the protagonist.
The text of the letter would appear on the right side of the screen in sequence, with the background changing to match each line as it appeared.
Our goal was to help players naturally understand the protagonist's situation as they read through the letter.
At the point we started working on the dummy opening, the game hadn't yet been properly revealed to the public, so we assembled it using simple placeholder sketches and temporary AI-generated images.
The goal was to create internal reference material for reviewing the composition, mood, and storytelling method before commissioning the final assets that would actually go into the game.
The dummy opening we ended up with
Since the images were only temporary, some parts looked a bit rough, but it was enough to check how the pacing of the cuts, the transition speed, and the letter-based storytelling method would actually come across.
Afterward, user testing showed a positive response to the opening, so we decided to move forward with full production while keeping the overall structure.
Full-Scale Production of the Opening
Since we had already validated the overall flow at the dummy stage, our focus during full production shifted to raising the quality of each individual scene.
Some scenes kept the same composition used in the dummy version, but for scenes where we felt the visual information was lacking or the emotional impact was too weak, we redesigned the composition from scratch.
We also adjusted the overall color palette and lighting to match <Ratocalypse>'s dark tone, and refined the transitions so each cut would flow naturally, like a single continuous video.
Detail elements were added on top of the dummy opening cuts
Actual production process images for the second version of the opening cuts
After reassembling the opening with the new assets, we added detailed direction so the screen wouldn't feel too static.
We reinforced scenes with effects like falling rain and lightning, along with sound effects such as thunder and rain, adding small touches of motion and sound so that each scene would feel a little more alive.
The finished opening, with environmental elements reinforced
Closing
That covers how we made the new <Ratocalypse> opening.
You'll be able to see it for yourself in the <Ratocalypse> demo, coming this October.
Beyond the opening, we're continuing to refine several other areas based on the feedback we received after BIC, so we hope you'll look forward to the demo as well.
We'll be back in the next dev diary with more new development news.
Thank you for reading this long post!
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4156040/Ratocalypse/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasselGames/
X: https://x.com/CasselGames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassel_games/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@casselgames
Cheese: Hello, everyone! This is Cheese from the <Ratocalypse> development team.
Last month, we replaced our existing dummy opening with fully finished assets, and showed it off for the first time at BIC, where we recently exhibited <Ratocalypse>.
If you stopped by and played the demo there, there's a good chance you already saw it.
In this dev diary, we'd like to walk you through how this opening came together.
Researching References
We had experience making animated openings for our previous titles, <Ratropolis> and <Ratopia>, but in both of those games the opening worked more like an intro video that led straight into the title screen.
This time, we wanted the <Ratocalypse> opening to play up to the moment a player starts the game, so the game feels more immersive and natural with the actual in-game experience.
Since the opening would play at a different point than in our previous titles, we started by looking at other games that tell their story in a similar way, to figure out the most effective approach.
<The Last Spell> Opening
We looked at the openings of many different games, but the one we referenced the most was <The Last Spell>.
Like <Ratocalypse>, it's set in an apocalyptic world.
Without relying on complex animation, it conveyed its atmosphere effectively through changes in illustration and simple screen transitions alone.
In particular, seeing how it achieved a strong sense of atmosphere and storytelling within a limited production budget became a major reference point for deciding the direction of our own opening.
Validating with a Dummy Sketch
Normally, making an opening follows a process along the lines of "storyboard → asset production → assembly → cinematics."
But since story plays a bigger role in <Ratocalypse> than in our previous titles, we wanted to assemble a dummy version of the opening before the final assets were even made.
This would let us check in advance whether the way the story was delivered, and the overall direction, worked the way we intended.
We started by sketching out a simple storyboard to map out the overall flow.
A fairly simple sketch, but the starting point for the opening
We decided the opening would be directed around the idea of the player reading, line by line, a letter left behind by the protagonist.
The text of the letter would appear on the right side of the screen in sequence, with the background changing to match each line as it appeared.
Our goal was to help players naturally understand the protagonist's situation as they read through the letter.
At the point we started working on the dummy opening, the game hadn't yet been properly revealed to the public, so we assembled it using simple placeholder sketches and temporary AI-generated images.
The goal was to create internal reference material for reviewing the composition, mood, and storytelling method before commissioning the final assets that would actually go into the game.
The dummy opening we ended up with
Since the images were only temporary, some parts looked a bit rough, but it was enough to check how the pacing of the cuts, the transition speed, and the letter-based storytelling method would actually come across.
Afterward, user testing showed a positive response to the opening, so we decided to move forward with full production while keeping the overall structure.
Full-Scale Production of the Opening
Since we had already validated the overall flow at the dummy stage, our focus during full production shifted to raising the quality of each individual scene.
Some scenes kept the same composition used in the dummy version, but for scenes where we felt the visual information was lacking or the emotional impact was too weak, we redesigned the composition from scratch.
We also adjusted the overall color palette and lighting to match <Ratocalypse>'s dark tone, and refined the transitions so each cut would flow naturally, like a single continuous video.
Detail elements were added on top of the dummy opening cuts
Actual production process images for the second version of the opening cuts
After reassembling the opening with the new assets, we added detailed direction so the screen wouldn't feel too static.
We reinforced scenes with effects like falling rain and lightning, along with sound effects such as thunder and rain, adding small touches of motion and sound so that each scene would feel a little more alive.
The finished opening, with environmental elements reinforced
Closing
That covers how we made the new <Ratocalypse> opening.
You'll be able to see it for yourself in the <Ratocalypse> demo, coming this October.
Beyond the opening, we're continuing to refine several other areas based on the feedback we received after BIC, so we hope you'll look forward to the demo as well.
We'll be back in the next dev diary with more new development news.
Thank you for reading this long post!
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4156040/Ratocalypse/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasselGames/
X: https://x.com/CasselGames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassel_games/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@casselgames