Game News ATOM RPG: Trudograd standalone expansion revealed, coming to Early Access on May 11th

[Infinitron]

Tags: ATOM RPG: Trudograd; ATOM Team

We've known since shortly after it was released that ATOM RPG was getting a standalone expansion called Trudograd, based on the unfulfilled Extended Story stretch goal from the game's original 2017 Kickstarter campaign. The expansion entered full production after the release of the Dead City update last May, and over the past five months has gotten several sneak peek development updates without ever actually being formally announced. I guess they ended up saving that for when we really needed it. ATOM RPG: Trudograd is a direct sequel to ATOM RPG, sending the player character to the giant post-apocalyptic metropolis of that name to find a way to deal with the meteor threatening to inflict a second apocalypse on humanity. Like the original ATOM, Trudograd will be released on Early Access first, on May 11th. Here's the announcement on the expansion's new Steam page:

Greetings and salutations, friends!

Today we are finally ready to name the release date of our next game. Atom RPG: Trudograd is coming out into Early Access on May 11th 2020.

Previously, Early Access became the most important tool in our arsenal. Because of your feedback, advice and general ideas, Atom RPG became a game many enjoyed. From bug fixing, to new details, weapons, quests and even visual solutions like the isometric camera mode, we owe it all to you, the players.

We hope that you will contribute your feedback this time around as well. Only our cooperation with you can make Trudograd a truly great experience.

Though there is a lot of work ahead of us, this time the first Early Access version will be much more developed than the last. It will feature five large locations, 100+ characters, several dozens of quests, including the starting ones of the central plot line, new weapons, new items, new abilities and a new type of visual quests.
We will also add updates every few months, so there will be more for you to explore.

We really hope that you will enjoy what we prepared for you. See you on May 11th!

We hope you are all doing well. Take care of yourselves. And, of course… let there be ATOM!

Yours, Atom Team
​

Fantastic news. It seems like Trudograd and the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous alpha are shaping up to be this spring's biggest RPG releases. The Russian RPG Renaissance comes through again! According to the Early Access FAQ, the expansion's final release will be sometime around November.

 

[Atomboy]

Wow! Thank you for posting about us, dude! I really hope your words will come true :D There's still a really long way ahead for Trudograd. Though with all the awesome suggestions in our codex thread and from our players in general, we are sure to succeed in delivering a sexy new game eventually! Also, we'll go on GOG's Early Access thing as soon as we can, too. We just got around to posting on Steam faster. GOG's release date will be decided and proclaimed soon. Thanks again!

 

[MrMarbles]

I'm sure this will be as awesome as the base game, though when I read the title I honestly thought it was Turdograd

 

[Atomboy]

I'm sure this will be as awesome as the base game, though when I read the title I honestly thought it was Turdograd

Yes, now even I read it like that some time. How awkward! That's okay though.

 

[aratuk]

Didn't the early access release for the base game also get an "in development" release on GOG, or am I misremembering?

 

[Atomboy]

Didn't the early access release for the base game also get an "in development" release on GOG, or am I misremembering?

Nope! We released the original Atom RPG on GOG much later in development, if I'm not remembering it wrong it happened after the game was finished and fully released on Steam. I didn't know GOG had an Early Access kind of program before last Spring or something like that. After Atom RPG was finished, we added some free dlcs to it on GOG as well as on Steam, that's why the GOG version updated like 10 times after release.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

goty

 

[SausageInYourFace]

So does this mean the base game is completely finished now or are there any bigger updates expected to this also?

 

[thesheeep]

Not sure if this was answered somewhere else already but:
Will you be playing a new character in that expansion or will you be able to import the one from the main game?
If you cannot continue to play your old character: Why not, story-wise I mean?
Gameplay-wise, I'd get it. Not too much room to grow after reaching the end of the first game - assuming this won't go full fantasy and give you god-like abilities.

 

[Outmind]

Trudograd translates to something like city of labor. Wonder what that will be like.

 

[Diggfinger]

Wow! Thank you for posting about us, dude! I really hope your words will come true :D There's still a really long way ahead for Trudograd. Though with all the awesome suggestions in our codex thread and from our players in general, we are sure to succeed in delivering a sexy new game eventually! Also, we'll go on GOG's Early Access thing as soon as we can, too. We just got around to posting on Steam faster. GOG's release date will be decided and proclaimed soon. Thanks again!

I'm still confused:
is it an expansion?
Or sequel?

or stand-alone expansion?

Anyway...great news and good luck!

 

[Mark Richard]

Farmers, lock up your daughters.

Will you be playing a new character in that expansion or will you be able to import the one from the main game?

The protagonist is the same one from the last game. After returning to HQ, he/she was promoted and sent out on a new mission. You'll be able to import saves.

I'm still confused:
is it an expansion?
Or sequel?
or stand-alone expansion?

Trudograd is a standalone expansion pack which does not require the original game to run.

 

[jackofshadows]

I'm confused about save import possibility. I mean, if it goes as it is then what about this?

Not too much room to grow after reaching the end of the first game - assuming this won't go full fantasy and give you god-like abilities.

All relevant skills are basically maxed, top gear etc. If it would be base level of the expantion even if devs will manage to provide adequate challenge progression will stuck anyway and that is sucks for an RPG. Some new toys like power-armor and more big guns - it's not enough.

 

[thesecret1]

several sneak peak development updates

Oh for fuck's sake, it's sneak peek. PEEK. Stop misspelling it, sneak peak is a sneaky mountain.

 

[Atomboy]

So does this mean the base game is completely finished now or are there any bigger updates expected to this also?

Yeah, the main game is completely done. We will be giving Atom RPG bug support until the end of our days, but story-wise and such it is done. I think the only change we can expect for Atom RPG is a director's cut in 20 years. Maybe 5 years! Like, imagine if everyone enjoys Trudograd's features and balance and combat more than Atom's. We'd have to stick them into the original Atom and call it a director's cut! But that's not in any plans for the future 1-2 years, atm.

Not sure if this was answered somewhere else already but:
Will you be playing a new character in that expansion or will you be able to import the one from the main game?
If you cannot continue to play your old character: Why not, story-wise I mean?
Gameplay-wise, I'd get it. Not too much room to grow after reaching the end of the first game - assuming this won't go full fantasy and give you god-like abilities.

Story-wise, you will always play as the same character as in Atom RPG, just a few years later. Mechanically, there will be an option to transfer characters from Atom RPG saves made after beating final boss. As for room to grow - hopefully there will be. That's the biggest thing we're working on - the providing of challenge to people who finished Atom on like level 60. Right now it seems like if you completed the game on levels from 10 to 25 it's still pretty fun and there is room to grow. Hopefully with the help of players and testers we'll make some challenge for everyone.

Wow! Thank you for posting about us, dude! I really hope your words will come true :D There's still a really long way ahead for Trudograd. Though with all the awesome suggestions in our codex thread and from our players in general, we are sure to succeed in delivering a sexy new game eventually! Also, we'll go on GOG's Early Access thing as soon as we can, too. We just got around to posting on Steam faster. GOG's release date will be decided and proclaimed soon. Thanks again!

I'm still confused:
is it an expansion?
Or sequel?

or stand-alone expansion?

Anyway...great news and good luck!

I think Abu Antar best put it when he named the thread for trudograd is a standalone expansion sequel. Now it's standalone because you won't need Atom RPG to play, it's an expansion because it has better graphics and stuff, it's a sequel because it continues the story of game one. BUT WHY ISN'T IT ATOM 2???? Because it will be much shorter than Atom RPG. We're spending x4 the time on making every single map and/or model, so it's quality over quantity this time. True Atom 2 will have like 500 hours of playtime. Trudograd is expected to have half of Atom RPG's playtime, unless you read every single line and do every single possible thing some of which are so well hidden nobody would get to them.

I'm confused about save import possibility. I mean, if it goes as it is then what about this?

Not too much room to grow after reaching the end of the first game - assuming this won't go full fantasy and give you god-like abilities.

All relevant skills are basically maxed, top gear etc. If it would be base level of the expantion even if devs will manage to provide adequate challenge progression will stuck anyway and that is sucks for an RPG. Some new toys like power-armor and more big guns - it's not enough.

We're still working on it and will probably work on it while the game is already in Early Access. The possibilities for challenge are there, as long as you didn't transfer a level 45 character like some of our players have. The biggest trick is to make the game a challenge for them as well, without resorting to level scaling. I'm currently running a few ideas, also another guy is running even more ideas. Like giving everyone armor piercing rounds and the ability to attach dynamite to the player's face, or even giving enemies the same perks and skills the character gets, and let me tell you these are some F'd Up SkiLlS! Plus, the new toy philosophy is also there, you'll get a lot of heavier gear in Trudograd's act 2. Act 1 if you are crazy enough!
Edit: there's the final resort, if we never balance it out for super high level old players, we'll just market it as a text quest for them. There are some dialogue options out there, that cause sudden death with disregard to the player's actual HP and armor. So it might be like a Sierra quest/Fallout 2 hybrid for them. You walk around, kill everything, solve quests, but one day a dialogue option kills you so you have to reload!

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Bro...but bro...bro! When is ATOM 2 coming out?!?

 

[Atomboy]

Bro...but bro...bro! When is ATOM 2 coming out?!?

If it'd be up to me alone, I'd make it a surprise comeback. I'd make the team do racing games and tetris clones for 5 years, so everyone forgets about us and then I'll preview Atom RPG 2, a next generation crpg with astonishing water physics and smellovision!!! It won't happen like this in real life, but I'm almost 90% sure we really will release an RPG that won't be related to Atom between Trudograd and Atom 2. After Trudograd, there's gonna be something completely different. Almost sure!!

 

[Black Angel]

ATOM 2 WHEN????!!!!!!11!!!1!!1!!!

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Yeah, the main game is completely done. [...] we can expect for Atom RPG is a director's cut in 20 years. Maybe 5 years! [...] But that's not in any plans for the future 1-2 years, atm.

Dude

 

[karnak]

 

[Sin2x]

May 1 would have been kinda more appropriate as the International Workers Day. Congrats anyway.

 

[Ismaul]

I'm sure this will be as awesome as the base game, though when I read the title I honestly thought it was Turdograd

Yes, now even I read it like that some time. How awkward! That's okay though.

Here, some new stink to remove the old:

I read it as Trudeau grade. All looks, no substance.

 

[flushfire]

It would be better overall if the import only takes world state and not character levels/items. Maybe give a minor but unique item, that's it. How will you balance the game for both imported and new characters? The difference, even disregarding levels, is huge. I don't understand why importing everything needs to be in. The negatives far outweigh the positives.

 

[Saduj]

Mechanically, there will be an option to transfer characters from Atom RPG saves made after beating final boss.

Hmm, I didn't save after beating the final boss. Could always just do that one part again. But I probably just want to try a new character anyway. Does gear transfer over from the previous game? If so, will new characters be provided decent gear?

Also, I just noticed Steam says I've spent 95 hours playing your game. That includes hours of idle time where I was doing something else. But still, I would have guessed it was less than half that. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

 

[jac8awol]

I'm sure this will be as awesome as the base game, though when I read the title I honestly thought it was Turdograd

Yes, now even I read it like that some time. How awkward! That's okay though.

Here, some new stink to remove the old:

I read it as Trudeau grade. All looks, no substance.

Welcome to Trudeau Grad, the Canadian blackface college simulator!

Hey can someone answer a question for me about Atom, I'm on the fence about buying it. Are there sci-fi elements like mutants, AI robots and ghouls? I think I need that in my post-apoc games, I don't think I could bear grim Russian realism in that sort of setting.