KickStarter ATOM RPG - Wasteland Soviet style! - now with Dead City update

[RK47]

You can just leave and come back next time.
You do have henchmen right? Just feed them mushroom and cake as well for +DEX. Set them to aggressive so they'll help quicker.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

You can just leave and come back next time.
You do have henchmen right? Just feed them mushroom and cake as well for +DEX. Set them to aggressive so they'll help quicker.

Plant Bunker completion is mandatorym right? I can't do the Dead City instead?

 

[RK47]

They're both mandatory, yes, but I can't see why you can't make the effort to return later once you've leveled up or better prepared with chems and weapons.

 

[Modron]

I think both are mandatory to get different ending options but both end up giving you the password needed to access that basement so not sure you can't just do one of them only and finish the game. The real question is can you skip both and go into the basement straight away as you can pick that door lock I should have tested that instead of reloading when it led to combat.

 

[RK47]

I think both are mandatory to get different ending options but both end up giving you the password needed to access that basement so not sure you can't just do one of them only and finish the game. The real question is can you skip both and go into the basement straight away as you can pick that door lock I should have tested that instead of reloading when it led to combat.

You can pick both locks but the resulting combat is pretty tough in the basement.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

What about Trudograd, will it be continuation of the story or before-the-end DLC? Will it be a separate location like Mountain pass of Woes?

Sorry if this was answered before.

 

[skacky]

Bought this today. Already spent 9 hours on it. Really liking it so far, good shit.

 

[DarKPenguiN]

Just grabbed this because...

a) Its codex approved (more or less)

b) The dev seems genuine and has the balls to be here talking with you assholes.

c)The dev seems to have heart and has been updating this game well after release.

I'm impressed by everything i've read in this thread and cannot wait to get into this shit. I know my $14 doesnt mean shit but i'd rather give it to this this guy than most of the devs out there ...Except the dev who made Stellar Tactics and Cleve but they already have my sheckles.

-So...I just want to make sure there isnt going to be any subliminal messages that will make me into a godless commie. Other than that I think I'm going to love this game.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

So...I just want to make sure there isnt going to be any subliminal messages that will make me into a godless commie

Nonsense, none of that here.
I hope you don't mind turning into a mushroom though.

 

[DarKPenguiN]

...Game is amazing.

I havnt played so much in one sitting since Grimoire released.

I was honestly a bit worried after reading the codex review that the dialogue intricacies would be lost on me (with all the Russian inside jokes and nods to Russian intellectuals/philosophers and such) but alas- Even a dumb 'Antarctic American' Penguin can get lost in the writing...And its good! Feels really 3 dimensional in terms of NPC's having life and not just being filler.

Damn, I really am liking this game- Alot.

As far as I'm concerned , this is the Fallout 3 that never was- Pulling another all nighter , its looking like.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

...Game is amazing.

I havnt played so much in one sitting since Grimoire released.

I was honestly a bit worried after reading the codex review that the dialogue intricacies would be lost on me (with all the Russian inside jokes and nods to Russian intellectuals/philosophers and such) but alas- Even a dumb 'Antarctic American' Penguin can get lost in the writing...And its good! Feels really 3 dimensional in terms of NPC's having life and not just being filler.

Damn, I really am liking this game- Alot.

As far as I'm concerned , this is the Fallout 3 that never was- Pulling another all nighter , its looking like.

Most Russian-inside jokes are stupid, if you can feel the setting (and have read wonferful bataille review) you lose nothing.

 

[flabbyjack]

I got stuck at the end. Me and my pals with my sniper rifle, maxed out armor and skills, and then get gunned down right away by the enemy.

Even save scumming until I land crits doesn't work. Heavy weapons, grenades, et all.

This was a while ago. Not sure if I will play through again.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

I got stuck at the end. Me and my pals with my sniper rifle, maxed out armor and skills, and then get gunned down right away by the enemy.

Pump your body with drugs to the grills. It helps.

 

[Saduj]

I got stuck at the end.

As previous poster said, use drugs for AP and DR. With all the extra AP, you can use the long hallways to kite enemies/hide around corners. Not sure how to keep companions alive though. Might be best just to just have them wait outside. By end of first round, I had lost two and it was obvious that there was no saving the third.

 

[ironmask]

Yeah, I love this game but they have some encounters which are entirely impossible. There's challenging and there is frustrating, and sometimes this game can be really fucking frustrating.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I got stuck at the end. Me and my pals with my sniper rifle, maxed out armor and skills, and then get gunned down right away by the enemy.

Pump your body with drugs to the grills. It helps.

Yes, but what about the game?

 

[Atomboy]

Sveicināti, mīļie draugi! I'm real sorry for not responding to almost anyone in almost three pages. Trudograd is much more demanding dialogue-wise, so along with my buddy, I mostly spend my days writing, editing and translating to make as much characters as possible for the testers. Right now, it looks really cool! Now, I will go down into the depths of this post, and find something to talk about!

You have some boring dungeons that really feel like a bottleneck in an otherwise open world game. Especially the bunker lab with plant monsters(?) was a game ruiner for me. Also the place with the castle was boring as fuck.

That's mainly because we were trying to plan them out like real bunkers. There's usually no more than 1-2 exists from a real bunker! That's why they have a rigid structure like that. But funnily enough, the plant bunker is the most varied one, since you can blow your way through instead of collecting and reading all the stuff! As for the Mountain Pass of Woes, if you mean it's boring because there's not a lot to do, it's because we planned it as a very small location with only a couple of quests. For a big one, you should try Dead City!

The English translation is perfectly adequate, it's just that with zero knowledge of Russian culture you're not going to understand half of the references the game makes. Obviously a lot of stuff will appear incomprehensible when you don't know what the fuck people are talking about.

Although, there is an unfair ratio, we also have references that nobody apart from the English audience would get, and a very special class of references that nobody would ever get! So there's plenty for everyone. As long as you know about the pioneer boyscouts, perestroyka, and the basic history of USSR. Without that, though, it might be really weird, won't argue with that. I always imagined, that if the player doesn't know ANYTHING about USSR \ Soviet memes, it would feel like Morrowind, only without explanations for every weird word and name! Does it feel like Morrowind? ;----)

The English translation is perfectly adequate, it's just that with zero knowledge of Russian culture you're not going to understand half of the references the game makes. Obviously a lot of stuff will appear incomprehensible when you don't know what the fuck people are talking about.

I can't even imagine how average American can dig it

I think they do! If an American of about my age or older plays it, he will get some things, through osmosis. Everyone watched TV back then! And if he saw Borat, he'll probably understand everything.

For every truly funny pop culture reference I’ve seen in games, movies, etc, there are 100 that just seem gratuitous.

Even if the ratio is much better in Atom, “getting” pop culture references is way overrated. I understood a few references in Atom and the rest just seemed like original stories of varying entertainment value. I doubt 200 instances of me thinking “oh they just referenced X” would have made the game any better.

I agree. The references are there, because we feel like a lot of players like them, and it can be fun finding them all, but (for me at least) they are a way of storytelling, not the purpose of it. Knowing every single one isn't important. Can be fun, but not important at all. Thus, if a player doesn't get any of them, it's all good, as long as he gets what people are talking about at least slightly.

It's not just 'references', there's a tone and attitude that's carried through.

Maybe it's because I'm from a post-soviet shithole, or maybe I just have that fucked up janky type of sensibility, but the game's text/dialog resonated with me that few others do.

Thanks dude! I feel it too...

Atomboy please respond, was game's lore somehow inspired by this batshit insane Russian TV series from early 2000s? Caught some references but not sure.

Spoiler

Well, now I know Yuriy Galtsev starred in a weird series about Russian horror, and as a crossdresser no less! Nope, I missed it for some reason, either due to age, or watching different channels. Although, if this series name is descriptive, and it really plays out folk and urban Soviet \ Russian horror stories, it has the same source as Atom! I always loved our horror legends when growing up!

The English translation is perfectly adequate, it's just that with zero knowledge of Russian culture you're not going to understand half of the references the game makes. Obviously a lot of stuff will appear incomprehensible when you don't know what the fuck people are talking about.

Yeah, I felt a little lost at many of the (what I assumed were) pop culture references. Still I thought the translation was pretty good overall.

Thanks dude! We're trying real hard to perfect it even still. It's okay to not get them. They are not the purpose of dialogues. I dunno about my buddy, but I put them in because I like making metatext. Now you made me sound pretentious! But that's true!

You had level 1 perks, level 2 perks, level 3 perks, etc. To get any level 2 perk, you had to first get any two level 1 perks, and to get level 3 perks, you had to have two level 2 perks, and 4 level 1 perks. I don't remember a game where the same system took place, but I think there were a few ones. Diablo or something? So the new thing is much more free, but you still don't have full freedom. Then the guy who makes these trees and perks went into hiding and I don't know what he does to the tree right now. Maybe it willl not be as described. He is very proud of his work tho.

I hope it's balanced better this time. A lot of games make the mistake where the lower level skills/abilities/perks in a tree are better than some of the highest level ones but it's more obvious in ATOM's ability tree, especially the dog's. And please no +skills perks.

We're trying really hard, but I can't tell yet!

Is it bug or not?

Spoiler

I killed members of pedophile ring (can't handle six guys inside, so shot 3 guys on map which made all Peregon hostile which I didn't care 'cause all other quests were fulfilled), cleared out the basement, and when return to KRZ, no postman is seen anywhere near the cinema.

Also the smart reference to "The Crying of Lot 49" made me happy.

Thanks! What you describe is a quest trigger break, but just like Murk said, you didn't miss anything but a cryptic speech by the postman.

Finaly, news!

...along with new weapon mods that will be discussed in a later post.

Replies coming soon! I'm so busy!!!! OH GOD!!!

Ok dude, looks intresting these things you shared, some questions araise:

PA requires fuel judging by screenshot? Thats good, am i blind or does the guage in bottom right say "MAᴙX" or "MAᴙK"?

I see guy fireing bullet while butstocking opponent, this John Wick trick or engine problem? Why do we need new skill for this ability if melee skill already exists?

There are four brooms in your inventory, wich one of the following are most likely:

1) babushka companion
2) two-handed melee weapons
3) crafting component

Instead of radiation now we must manage cold, cool. Is radiation still a thing in some areas of game?

The art looks great and i like the big screen grabs of character sheet... if you could... you know... just acident happen... you misclicked, screenshoted and posted perk tab... :D

*edit: I forgot to ask: is there way to sign up somehow for this closed beta?

Hey! It says КРЯЖ! It's a geological thing.
1) babushka companion unlikely
2) two-handed melee weapons most likely
3) crafting component likely!

Buttstocking works with melee skill, what I meant when writing was that you'll get a perk (I always mix up the English for perks, skills and distinctions, forgetting which one is which) that makes the buttstock attack available. When it's available, you'll be able to buttstock people with great success and okay AP loss. At least that's how it is now. And firing while buttstocking is a visual glitch we already removed!
Right now, there are no radiation spots in the game. Cold is basically Radiation 2 Electric Boogaloo. However, things might change before the release. Perks aren't ready yet! Only on paper. We still need design! As for closed beta, first of all, because all of my translations go to an editor before we even think about adding them into the game, this testing will be totally in Russian on the first stage. If you're okay with Russian, I'll ask the QA guy who is in charge of forming the testing team. There might be a form to fill out on our VK in a while if he's still looking.

Will these improvments come to the base game as well? Maybe as an enhanced edition

Basically, Trudograd is really different from Atom internally, and uses different Unity setups, that's why just copying and pasting features would be impossible. We might add some quality of life improvements if we survive long enough to make a Director's Cut, but I won't make promises now! We went too far... Instead of being an Atom mod, it became it's own game!

Leave and return with maximum drugs and automatic rifles.

2 x sweet cake
1 x toadstool

For DEX+3 is essential.
Buff up your endurance and HP as well.

Equip stealth suit and helmet to maximize aggro distance.

Vintorez or Scorpion SMG shreds these grasses easily.

Revisited the game in 2020 and noticed some nice changes in the quest resolutions. E.g KRZ Bunker door price is free if you can find the right girl to date.

Saw a few 'modded' weapons as well. There's a Speedloader Nagant for 2AP reload, a scoped Hunting Rifle for additional crit and enables the Sniper perk usage. The game also hand placed the new Saiga Shotgun at a nice 'late-game' place that many complained there wasn't much of a reward despite the challenge of getting there.

They also revamp the 'hidden occult boss'; it was actually challenging now trying to take it down before you unlock automatic weapons.

I do wish the dev would just answer the demand for manual party control during combat to make the non-combat build more viable and there's still one minor bug that remained:

Spoiler

When the Cult sent me to murder the pig and leave a note, the game could not detect that the note is left behind if the NPC is informed of the Cult's intent. I smoked the pig after taking the thank-you money from the guy, left the note and the game still thinks I forgot to leave the note.

I agree with the tactics!
The girl bunker option was added in Early Access! The rest is all true!
The pig bug you encountered is a trigger break, we'll look into it! Thanks!!!

I found the game to be very good and would definitely recommend it. Plot-wise, I particularly enjoyed the identification with the Russian secret services, which are ordinarily difficult to relate to. It builds up that loyalty nicely. Funny how the current trend with opponents are the benign mind-controlling types who wish to extinguish all differences for the sake of harmony; Thea 2 has exactly the same thing. The game also prompted me to start reading Mister Hexogen, which is a riot in Russian. It would have been better if the game cut on the cheap jokes and added a bit more of that style instead, which is entertaining but also serious. The cheap jokes are sometimes grating - e.g., why insert the rainbow of pain joke from Korgoth? It was good there, but completely out of place here. In terms of themes, I thought ethnic conflict should have been featured more prominently. Everyone knows that ethnicity becomes the rallying point in environments like prisons or Russia in the 1990s. This is especially odd given that the game seems to take place somewhere next to the Caucasus. Dungeon Cleaners understood this better.

It's a really sweet touch that they added portraits to all the characters. This definitely livens it all up and is a beautiful compensation for the ridiculous 2000s games where we had to stare at 3D models even for the main characters. Admittedly, the amount of irrelevant celebs on the portraits is a bit silly, but it's still much better than nothing.

The weakest part is probably the southwestern area (Vogelevka, Shivering Forest, and the Chasm of Troubles or whatever the English names are). Also the Death Gang is pure cringe. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised by the Dead City. I thought that since it was towards the end of the game, it would be empty and haphazard, but it was reasonably well-done. I appreciated how dynamic it felt with the maniac quest, and it was also a nice touch that you could meet earlier characters there.

In terms of combat, I second the popular sentiment that that the absence of even basic formations makes the companions highly annoying. I understand the desire to make combat more challenging, but perhaps it should have been done in some other fashion than making the companion AI so bad and any control so clunky.

Thank you! I'm really glad you liked it. Not gonna lie, the Korgoth reference is most probably there, to find out whether someone would get it and not think it's a reference to Indiana Jones. You are the first one and I tip my fedora to you! I won't tell what the other writer's process is, but I go with so many references of varying quality because its fun for some players, but mostly because of my views on writing. I see it as my duty!
The Mountain Pass of Woes and Dead City were supposed to be tiny, barely inhabited regions in the original plan, but then nobody liked the idea, so we made the Dead City huge in a post-release update!

You can just leave and come back next time.
You do have henchmen right? Just feed them mushroom and cake as well for +DEX. Set them to aggressive so they'll help quicker.

Plant Bunker completion is mandatorym right? I can't do the Dead City instead?

While they are mandatory to see the whole plot, there are no quests or NPCs you really need to win the game. The final boss is always accessible in it's lair if you're equipped accordingly.

Just grabbed this because...

a) Its codex approved (more or less)

b) The dev seems genuine and has the balls to be here talking with you assholes.

c)The dev seems to have heart and has been updating this game well after release.

I'm impressed by everything i've read in this thread and cannot wait to get into this shit. I know my $14 doesnt mean shit but i'd rather give it to this this guy than most of the devs out there ...Except the dev who made Stellar Tactics and Cleve but they already have my sheckles.

-So...I just want to make sure there isnt going to be any subliminal messages that will make me into a godless commie. Other than that I think I'm going to love this game.

...Game is amazing.

I havnt played so much in one sitting since Grimoire released.

I was honestly a bit worried after reading the codex review that the dialogue intricacies would be lost on me (with all the Russian inside jokes and nods to Russian intellectuals/philosophers and such) but alas- Even a dumb 'Antarctic American' Penguin can get lost in the writing...And its good! Feels really 3 dimensional in terms of NPC's having life and not just being filler.

Damn, I really am liking this game- Alot.

As far as I'm concerned , this is the Fallout 3 that never was- Pulling another all nighter , its looking like.

Thank you very much, dude! I'm really glad you enjoyed it!

Bought this today. Already spent 9 hours on it. Really liking it so far, good shit.

Thank you, man! Honestly, reading that someone new liked Atom never gets old! 9 hours is just the start though, I really hope you'll like it till the end!

What about Trudograd, will it be continuation of the story or before-the-end DLC? Will it be a separate location like Mountain pass of Woes?

Sorry if this was answered before.

The answer to this always changes, so don't worry. Basically, it's a shorter, but improved sequel with some new mechanics, updated graphics, new world map, power armor, the works. You will play as the same character, only two years later, with a new mission, new rank, and in a new place and even climate completely.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

The English translation is perfectly adequate, it's just that with zero knowledge of Russian culture you're not going to understand half of the references the game makes. Obviously a lot of stuff will appear incomprehensible when you don't know what the fuck people are talking about.

I can't even imagine how average American can dig it

I'm sure quite a few references probably went over my head as an American but I don't think it impacted the game negatively. If anything, it seems that Americans are the ones not complaining about it being overloaded with pop culture references because we just don't see it.
Also, I agree with JarlFrank in that the translation is fine.

 

[skacky]

I personally like the bunkers a whole lot since they remind me of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s labs, though I think Bunker 317 has a very dick move moment that should be easier to deal with (you know the one).

 

[toro]

I'm not touching this until the flood of updates stops

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I'm not touching this until the flood of updates stops

I think the main game is fixed enough already.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Atomboy Can you share a general ETA on Trudograd? 2nd quarter? 3rd?

 

[Toffeli]

I'm currently on my first proper playthrough after trying the game for a while at release. Enjoying mostly so far. Just got Hexogen to join my crew which already had Fidel and the dog. Which brings me to ask is there a way to respec a companion. I know there's an option for player character, but no info if it's also possible to reset your companions skills. Kind of regret how I picked up the first 5 levels for Fidel.

 

[Crispy]

I just started this game myself last night. Still haven't gotten out of the starting village but I like what I see so far.

I wish there were more tactical options in combat such as kneeling and going prone, but it's hard to complain.

Surprising amount of polish and spit-shine for a Russian indie release. Grammar and writing aren't half-bad, either.

Fun!

 

[RK47]

Respec potion can also be consumed by companions

Spoiler

Oblivion Ampoule is available in the newly added underground bar in Krasno's sewers.
If you give it to Fidel or any companion, you can pump his weapon stat to 199 and have his INT 1 with no repercussions.