ATOM RPG News

Dear friends!

Finally the moment has come, when our game ATOM RPG is completely finished. In this update we balanced out melee weapons, added to the enemy AI, finalized all of the quests that were left unsolved in the previous update. The main thing, however, is the change of Dead City into a place full of new, unique characters with their own stories and quests. The map is now filled with points of interest and new locations. To see the list of all changes, scroll to the end of this post now.



We would like to use this post mostly to thank you all for the motivation, unique ideas, kind words of praise and endless support. We told this to you multiple times now, yet these words never lost their sincerity and meaning for us: without you, there would be no game, especially of this magnitude. You, our dear players, are the ones who shaped it starting with Kickstarter and the Early Access versions.

This final version of the game is truly your achievement, as much as it is ours.

And the work doesn’t stop here. Our next project will be a stand-alone add-on to the game, code-named Trudograd. It will hopefully hit Steam later this year. Until that time, we will share news of porting Atom to other platforms, translating it to other languages, and of course the development process of the new add-on.

Thank you for being with us, and we really hope that you will continue this journey we got planned out.

Let there be ATOM!




Changelog:
- 20+ New locations;
- 40+ New unique characters;
- 20+ New quests;
- Several kinds of new enemies including two types with unique AI behavior;
- Added new AI tweaking support for modders;
- Several new random encounters;
- New craft armor made out of chitin;
- New combat armor and spiked “Hedgehog” helmet;
- Throwing weapons, both custom and common;
- One new firearm and a special melee weapon;
- New global map for the metro;
- New hazards, including a radioactive sandstorm;
- New animations;
- New loading screen art;
- New sounds and effects;
- Several usable items can now be used multiple times from main slots without entering the inventory menu;
- Dzhulbars has an ability to speak in certain conditions;
- Stun works on enemies that were immune to it;
- Other new minor gameplay enhancing features;
- All of the bugs from the older version found by the testing team and the players are now fixed;

Hey guys!
Here's a cinematic trailer we made for the upcoming Dead City Update.
Only two days to go. See you on the 29th!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn7sY2MCa-Y

Hi, guys!

As you know, work on the big new update for ATOM continues for more than a month now. There's still a lot to do before we're through, but we finally decided on the publishing date. The update will hit Steam on May 29th. We will post the full change log on the same date. Meanwhile, here are some of the highlights of the upcoming update:

• Added lots of new locations to the Dead City - both above ground and below;
  
• Fixed and updated a lot of animations, sounds, portraits, loading screens;
  
• Added tens of new characters;
  
• New monsters;
  
• Added tons of new various quests;
  
• Added new armors and weapons;
  
• Lots of small fixes here and there and many more!
  

See you on the 29th, guys! Thanks for sticking with us.

Hey guys!

Finally, it’s time for the big Update! We did a lot of work this time, and positive improvements have touched upon a lot of the game aspects. Playing ATOM is now genuinely more comfortable. The inventory management is easier, the interface in general is more intuitive, the follower mechanics have more options, the re-balancing of weapons made combat more dynamic and interesting, especially during the new random encounters.
And of course we added a lot of new NPCs, quests and maps for you to test all of the new features.

Here is a compact list of changes:

• Quality of life improvements - your recommendations were heard and implemented in the new inventory and follower systems;
  
• Improved English translation thanks to you, our players, and a wonderful writer Scott Hamm who worked on such titles as “Age of Decadence” and “Battle Brothers”;
  
• Full mod support - we promised and we delivered;
  
• Better balance and weapon stats;
  
• Changes into the ability tree;
  
• New weapons;
  
• New AI features;
  
• New follower settings including friendly fire settings;
  
• New graphic effects;
  
• New graphic elements (icons, portraits, items, in-game art);
  
• New sounds for items and weapons;
  
• New animations, including a special martial arts move you may learn;
  
• New item with the ability to reset your stats and skills;
  
• Dozens of new characters with unique dialogues, portraits and quests;
  
• A quest line that can be tackled by joining any one of the two new factions;
  
• New maps;
  
• New random encounters;
  
• Improved game stability;
  
• Option to change the item highlight color;
  
• New achievements;
  
• Tons of bug fixes;
  

We really hope you enjoy playing this new version, and we’ll be eagerly awaiting your feedback.
Thank you… And let there be ATOM!

P.S.: We will write a comprehensive manual for mod makers in the near future. So stay tuned for that!

Hey guys!

As promised, it’s now time to introduce you to the changes in the combat system balance. These changes were made to make the system look more linear and thus more understandable, without changing it so much you’d have to restart the game.

So, what changed?



This branch was changed by lowering the AP needed for shooting, so that low DEX characters would have a better time using the weapons. Also, we made the minimum damage higher.

Let’s look at some examples. The last three numbers in each example mean AP cost for a simple shot, an aimed shot, and for the reload.

Nagant - 6-9 DAM, 3 4 3 AP
TT - 8-14 DAM, 4 5 2 AP
M-712 7-13 DAM, 4 5 3 AP, and 6 for the burst.

Mark-19 and Polyak weapons also got a higher chance to stun - 10% and 6% respectively. However, since Polyak’s projectile contains 5 projectiles in one shot, the actual stun chance is 30%.

SMGs like PPS-43 and Scorpion got the biggest changes. First of all, they now operate on Machine Gun rules and have a Short and Long burst options instead of single shots. This makes the DPS higher. We also balanced this new addition by lowering the active distance and AP, while making minimum damage a bit higher.

PPS-43 - 7-14 DAM, 5 AP for short burst, 6 for long burst, 3 for reload.
Scorpion - 8-12 DAM, 3 4 4 AP.



Custom made weapons of this category now ask for less AP per shot, but take more to reload. The sawed off shotgun lost single shot ability, but double barrel shot now costs 4 AP. Izh lost some effective distance, but a single shot now costs 4 AP. Also, as a cherry on top, all 12 cal weapons now have a chance to stun.

Hunting rifle - 8-10 DAM, 3 4 3 AP
Hunting shotgun - 7-13 DAM, 4 5 3 AP, 16/18 distance.

SVD is no longer a low damage Remington clone and now costs less to fire, PTRD lost an aimed shot ability, but its damage still makes it the deadliest rifle.

SVD - 12-23 DAM, 5 5 3 AP
PTRD - 25-45 DAM 7 3 AP



Changes in this branch mostly concern the AK family. AKS74U is now in the middle grounds between an assault rifle and an SMG, having less AP cost and damage. AK-47 now has 5 bullets in a burst and has a stun chance.

AKS74U - 8-13 DAM 3 4 5 3 AP
AK-47 - 9-19 DAM, 5 6 7 3 AP, 3% stun chance (15% in burst).

We are still working on changing Machine guns, but they will probably have less AP cost.



Large penalties for use and peculiar mechanics made most players enjoy shields less than we wanted them to, so we made the mechanics pretty much straight forward and penalties much lower. These are also currently being tested out, but you will see the results as soon as 1.08 hits.

We really value your opinions on the changes. Thank you all in advance.

With kind regards, Atom Team