Ratopia DevDiary #36 - Leader Perks

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

This month, I spent most of my time playtesting, polishing the game, and handling company business matters. With the official launch just around the corner, we have been conservative in adding new content. As a result, I feel like I’ve almost run out of new topics to introduce in the development log.

So, for this entry, I will briefly introduce the Leader perks that will be added at the official launch and wrap it up there.

Leader perk

The Leader perk system was an idea conceived in the early stages of planning, but it had been so long that we had almost forgotten about its existence. When we posted an announcement on Steam ahead of the official release in May, a player asked about the locked feature in the Leader information window. It was only then that we realized the need to work on this before the official launch, prompting us to revisit the original design document.

The locked button that had remained inaccessible since the beta version.

The ancient design document we dug up contained various ideas and brief explanations about the Leader's growth system. Among them was a concept for a perk system that would grant additional stats and abilities to the Leader character. Back then, it was noted that perks could be purchased with Pia (gold coins) or acquired through exploration. However, since the game had evolved significantly over time, we decided to modify both the method of obtaining perks and their effects.

To use perks, Leader Points must be consumed. Initially, we had designed the system so that Leader Points would be acquired by spending Pia. This idea stemmed from the intention of using perks as a Pia sink. However, this approach had some drawbacks—early in the game, when Pia is scarce, it could significantly reduce the usage of the perk system. On the other hand, in the late game, when Pia becomes abundant, players could unlock all perks at once, reducing the need for strategic decision-making. Moreover, given that the starting amount of Pia and its acquisition difficulty have changed over time, this approach no longer seemed appropriate.

The alternative we considered was Prosperity. If players could acquire Leader Points based on their Prosperity level, it would provide motivation to increase Prosperity while ensuring that all players could utilize the perk system in a balanced way, regardless of the amount of Pia stored in the treasury. However, considering that the maximum number of Leader Points obtainable is limited to 8 and that most players do not reach Prosperity level 7, the system would, on average, allow players to acquire only around 4 to 5 perks, which felt somewhat limiting.

As Prosperity increases, the Leader's contributions should be recognized too~!

If the perk system takes root successfully, we may consider expanding the ways to obtain Leader Points in the future. For example, players could earn Leader Points through in-game events.

Since the number of perks that can be acquired has decreased, we aimed to fill each perk with powerful effects. Initially, due to concerns about development time, simple additional stats like "Attack Power +2" and "Movement Speed +10%" were considered as candidates. However, rather than that, we wanted perks that could guide specific player actions using the Leader or enable new types of gameplay that were not possible before. Even if not all perks were extremely powerful, we also considered convenience features that could alleviate some discomfort for certain players.

With these criteria in mind, we listed several new functional ideas that did not previously exist. We then selected the ones that aligned with our intentions and could be developed within the timeframe leading up to the official release. Here are a few examples:

< Perk Effect Ideas >

　- Immortal – Restores 100% health every day at 00:00.

　- Hunter – Resources obtained from animals personally hunted +100%.

　- Farmer – Can apply a nurturing effect to plants using the X button.

　- Robber – Can loot the money of deceased Ratizens using the X button.

　- Edifier – When arresting criminals personally, their criminal status is immediately cleared.

　- Researcher – Can research technologies without using a Research Desk.

　- Doctor – Can heal sick Ratizens using the X button.

　- Blacksmith – Instantly crafts equipment when producing items.

　- Chef – Instantly crafts Royal Cuisine when cooking.

　- Engineer – Instantly crafts Ratron when producing it.

New features also had to take button assignments and the situations in which they could be used into account.

From perks that increase stats under certain conditions to those that grant new effects to specific buttons, we came up with around 30 different perk ideas beyond the ones introduced earlier. However, considering the current state of development, we had to reject many of them. It turned out that imagining perks that are truly suitable for implementation at this stage was more challenging than expected.

That said, we still have the desire to invest some development time into adding particularly appealing effects. So, if you come up with any interesting perk ideas, please share them in the comments!

The layout structure of perks also went through gradual changes. Initially, we considered a tree structure, similar to an RPG skill tree, where unlocking a perk would require acquiring its preceding perk. However, the newly designed perk effects each had strong individual characteristics, making it difficult to create meaningful connections between them. Additionally, since the number of available points was limited, using a tree structure would have restricted players from acquiring a diverse range of perks.

Instead of a tech tree structure, we categorized the perks into eight tiers, with 2 to 4 perks unlocking at each Prosperity level. Within each unlocked tier, players would be free to acquire any perk they wanted. However, this approach made it crucial to carefully assign perks at each Prosperity milestone, just like with milestones, ensuring a well-balanced progression.

The designed perk effects were difficult to quantify or rank in terms of superiority, and placing too many perks in the late game risked reducing gameplay diversity. Instead, we felt that concentrating perks in the early game would offer more advantages in terms of player freedom and usability.

So, we condensed the perk progression into three tiers, unlocking them at Prosperity Lv.2, Lv.3, and Lv.4. In the first and second tiers, we placed no more than five perks to lower the learning curve for the perk system. By the time players reached the third tier and became more familiar with the game, they would have the freedom to choose any perk they wanted.

This structure also made it easier to add new, appealing perks in the future—whenever we wanted to introduce a new perk, we could simply place it in the third tier without disrupting the existing system.

The Evolution of the Perk System Structure.

Another major consideration in designing the perk system was how to handle perk point resets. Since the game has a long playtime and limited opportunities to acquire perks, we wanted to allow players to reset them.

The question now is how to implement this reset system. Should we allow perks to be reset at any time by spending Pia, thereby creating an additional Pia sink? Or should resets be limited to periodic or specific events to prevent excessive freedom in changing perks?

At this point, we are still deliberating on the right balance. Most likely, we will need to test the implemented perk system and evaluate which approach works best.

With this, we have finally granted freedom to a system that had long remained locked away. Although it is still in development and not yet fully complete, I am glad to have had the opportunity to introduce it briefly.

If there are any other aspects we may have overlooked, please let us know! We will do our best to develop and refine the system in the remaining time.

Thank you once again for your love and support for the game.

See you next month!

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