One of the creators of retrorangepi was able to solve the issue for me via Facebook:
"from terminal:
wget http://www.retrorangepi.org/asplashscreen
sudo cp -v asplashscreen /etc/init.d/
If you want to change the boot screen and tune or enable splash video, edit the file:
sudo nano /etc/init.d/asplashscreen (in plain terminal) OR
sudo pluma /etc/init.d/asplashscreen (in Desktop mode terminal)
comment/uncomment lines in do_start function (remove or add #)"
Worked like a charm. Hopefully this might help anyone who runs into the same issue.