Hello Fellow Rats!
First of all, a big thank you for making WAR RATS: The Rat em Up's 1.0 launch a massive success! The game got on Steam's "Popular New Releases" list at 10th place over the weekend! So that is absolutely mindblowing. And we currently sit at 96% positive with over 150 reviews. The response has been more than I could ever have imagined. I am truly blown away. Thank you!
And I just gotta say I find it funny that so many people are saying this is like a flash game (for good or bad), when I'm actually even older than that! The main inspiration for this game is from FutureCop: LAPD released in 1998. Seriously if you play that game, specifically the "Precinct Assault" mode, you'll be like oh he basically made an updated 2D version of that (with rats) haha. Also classic sidescrollers from the Sega MegaDrive era were massive inspirations. Alien3 to name one. And even the OG Contra on Famicom. Doom on DOS (and by extension the new Dooms) and the OG Fallouts 1 and 2. Yes I'm old! But I am honestly so thrilled that so many of you feel the nostalgia of your youth through my game, even if it wasn't my direct intention, it's still awesome to be able to have that affect on people with something I made.
I know there's a lot of bugs that people are discovering, and I am writing them all down and working through them as best I can. I couldn't do much over the weekend as I have two small children at home and this weekend was particularly busy with the launch as well. It's crazy that even with 6 months of Early Access and many many playtesters, there are still some major bugs popping up! But it's to be expected I guess. Even massive AAA studios release games with bugs, and I am just one person. So I please ask for your patience and understanding if you're experiencing any bugs. And make sure you let me know about it! Otherwise I cannot fix what I don't know about.
But anyway enough squeaking you stupid old rat bastard you say, or maybe that's the rats talking to me again. SHUT UP RATS. No? Ok I'm sorry rats. I'm SORRY. Ahem. Today I'm releasing a patch of some things I've managed to fix since launch. These are the issues that seem to be affecting multiple people so I tackled them first.
And as always: if you're enjoying the game please leave a positive Steam review. It really does help.
Ok on to the patch notes:
NEW HEAD SLOT SKIN:
PartyRat! C'mon Ratty let's go party.
Limited the amount of rats that will spawn in the Nest to 150 small rats and 20 medium rats to avoid potential chugging in the late game if many resources are acquired.
Fixed issue with Stick Grenratters automatically changing to Plasma Nades when leaving the shop.
It is no longer possible to open the Ammo Dispenser Menu if the Radio is up.
Campsites will no longer heal you while the Radio is up or the game is otherwise paused.
Special Rats should now be working properly for everyone. (I say should cause I haven’t experienced this bug, nor has anyone else up to this point, so I can’t really test it. Please let me know if it still doesn’t work for you.)
Fixed Dratne death scene causing the controller to vibrate even if the option was off. Missiles fired from Missile Turrats were also causing this. That’s been fixed as well.
Fixed pressing the “Close Menu” button while in the Decorations screen to not actually trigger the closing of the menu.
Sentry Guns will now clear themselves from the game if returning to the Nest and they won’t be there magically like some kind of phantom.
Decals (scorch marks left by bullets or explosions) will now fade away after 5 minutes. This should help with lost fps in long missions.
In the Shooting Range, there were healing fx particles floating up near the entrance. These have been removed
Also in the Shooting Range, if playing Cheasy, there might have been a campsite that spawns in near the base, this has been fixed
In the Main Menu, controller left stick should now cycle through all the buttons properly.
TechnoRat Missiles were not being affected by the camera shake off toggle. This has been fixed.
TechnoRat Missiles were not exploding if they hit a Barraticade and would pass through, this has been fixed.
TechnoRat Missiles are now slightly slower, have less range and have a bit less maneuverability.
And that covers this here thing here.
Happy Rat Killin!
Regards,
Brian