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Ratropolis DevDiary #0 - Introducing the game and its progress

Cassel
29 Jul 2019
Views 178


Watsup! My name is Cassel, the lead developer of Ratropolis.

We made an English website, and I would like to keep writing and sharing my development journal.

Brief introduction about Ratropolis and past progress on development are written.




- Introduction -


Ratropolis is a game which you build and defend the city of rats against enemy invasion.

It is a defense game combined with deck building system, 'Slay the Spire' and 'Dominion' is popular in this genre.

Players use their cards to place units and buildings to defend the city from enemy.

As players progress in the game, they can earn extra cards from loot chests and merchants.

The key to the game is to use cards in the right place and survive for a long time.


< Trailer >

I need to change this to a better introductory video ... I have a lot of work to do.




- Past Development -


The current Ratropolis was built over 8 months.

Initially, I directed the game toward Civilization-like genre rather than Defense.

Since there are many functions players need to understand, the entry barrier was high.

Due to the complexity of the game, players had to play for a long time to enjoy the game.

In the initial 3 months, we implemented various mods, but we were less satisfied. 


< How complex does it look? >



So after giving a deep thought, we decided to focus on the card / stimulus battle system.

Remove designs that complicated the game play. 

It was a fun task, getting rid of all systems and simply leaving the card deck and the battle.

The game has been simplified, or as I call it, reborn.


<Deletion process >


It took the development team more time to delete features.

So, we decided to start over, and create a new game.

With a reference to defense game ‘Kingdom: Newland’, we set the background to a slide view. 

Changed the traditional turn-based progress to real time. So that player control significantly affect the game.

It took about three months to create a prototype,

This prototype was demonstrated to several game production clubs. 

Presentation was successful with many developers leaving positive comments. 

Thanks to them, we continued to move forward with the passion.


<Starting left July, August, and September prototypes >


After the demonstration, we reflected the feedback into the game

I started to extend the game volume. 

For 2 months, cards, buildings, characters, backgrounds, and sound effects have been added. 

In preparation for an emerging event at the end of 2018, we fixed bugs and worked on the tutorial. 

Fortunately, many enjoyed the game at the presentation.

I prepared handful questionnaire for feedback. 

which were in return filled with interests and ideas. 

I received many feedbacks on UX and Usability. We are currently working on these issues.


<List of feedback and precious Questionnaires>




This is the progress of Ratropolis from past to present. 

In the next diary, I'll show more development-related content. 

Thank you for giving us interest, and leaving feedback for us in the comments.

Happy new year everone!


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