Oct 19, 2019

Secret room on the roof of an administrative building

Atomic Heart - Tanya

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The area shown in the Vavilov complex trailer is a secret room on the top of the closed administrative building in the Vavilov complex. The building was designed in a way that the upper floor can be seen from the outside, but from the inside, there’s no sign of the room above.

Employees of this complex simply call this place Laboratory, although it is not exactly that.

Many rumors are spread among ordinary workers of the Vavilov complex about what is happening there and whether it exists at all. The real purpose of this room knows only limited number of people — surgeons (all entire doctors of science) and laboratory assistants (no lower than candidates of science). In fact, the most advanced developments of Soviet medicine and technology are being implemented in this room.

A large space is divided into several zones fenced from each other by privacy screens: Operating Room, Department of Postoperative Rest and Rehabilitation Zone, combined with the Occupational Therapy Zone.

Some say that they don’t perform surgery on animals in this room (in attempt to increase milk or frost resistance) but in other secret laboratories of the complex. Here they are operating on agents using the latest methods that have successfully passed testing and have proven effective. Not a single death was recorded. At least officially.

Large robotic tractors from the Pavlov medical complex and the technical complex Popov fly to the operating room. However, they are not carrying containers with production, but neat cases made with heavy metal. Only containers with drugs or some parts developed in Popov can fit in this. If you aim to calculate the number of arriving robots, you will notice that a third tractor is mooring on the roof, carrying an oblong container exactly to the size of the human body. Obviously, cured patients are also taken away by air, because they have never been seen on the territory of the Vavilov complex.

The entire tech staff are robots to prevents the possibility of the leak of sensitive information. Robots perform simple actions: clean rooms, bring the equipment, carry heavy loads. Some robots, trained in more complex operations, help laboratory assistants: sort flasks, control a centrifuge, measure doses of drugs, etc.

The passage to the Laboratory is hidden from workers. Ordinary employees of the administrative building don’t even know that a future is happening above their heads. The laboratory floor is covered with soundproofing material.

A secret passage leads from the Laboratory to the administrative part (in case of fire alarm). Laboratory assistants sometimes pass through it, although this is forbidden. Drugs and patients (as well as personnel) are delivered by flying robotic tractors. This is done to eliminate errors of the human factor, and also because of secrecy (there is no need to take a non-disclosure agreement with the driver, accompanying persons, etc.). Since such tow robots are used to transport goods and cattle, their appearance in Vavilov is not suspicious for ordinary workers of the complex — they often fly over their heads.

The only ones who can speculate about the arrivals of transport are bored sentries who watch the landscape of the complex behind the gates for hours. Often they are the ones spreading rumors and legends. Especially those who see at night how the large windows of the secret room (many think it's just a glass roof) light up with a mysterious light.

Someone believes that they grow special tomatoes and cucumbers for members of the Politburo — incredibly sweet and full of vitamins. There are many supporters of the idea that this is the observatory for monitoring American spy satellites or establishing contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. And others just say that the wife of the Head of the complex and other "close ones" take sunbathe there. But in fact, few people think about it. The architectural solution and no more. Well, roof is a roof.

Laboratory assistants sometimes ask themselves: why was such a strange place chosen to house the operating room? The agricultural complex, and even on the roof — such an uncomfortable logistics. They have to get up early to catch the air transport, which takes them from the hostel of the Pavlov complex (where the medical staff live), but the place is far away. Therefore, latecomers are forced to rush into the Vavilov and secretly dive into the secret passage to the laboratory, risking being noticed and getting a severe reprimand. Older surgeons and professors only smirk pointedly at them in return. Maybe they just occupied an empty room, as they often do. Or maybe, and most likely, they placed the laboratory where it would be least looked for — in the gray administrative building of the agricultural complex.

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Oct 11, 2019

Archive documents: Weaponry

Atomic Heart - Tanya

A record of the chief engineer dated February 16, 1939 was found. Uploading data from the archive... Please wait…

In Atomic Heart game weapons help in battles as faithful comrades. That’s why players will be able to customize almost every detail, change the appearance or even functionality. Searching through locations, the Agent will find details and recipes that are needed for crafting on special devices. If you wrap the handle of an ax with electrical tape, you’d increase strength, and if you hammering nails to it, it’d increase damage. Each element of the weapon can be improved separately — sight, clip, range of attack and so on. The required materials won’t always be at hand, so don’t rush using all the details at once.

Weapon choices affect gameplay. Imagine you find a powerful pistol with only a couple of bullets left, but it kills enemies with only two shots. Or you craft a weapon with low damage, but it allows your character to move faster and deftly kill enemies. It opens up new perspectives and options: play stealth and surprise your enemies or rush ahead.

Love your weaponry like your first woman, but don’t be upset if you had to choose another. Change your playstyle from melee to range depending on your preferences and game situation. Soviet military engineering will make sure you experience dynamic battles and spectacular final strikes.

The model of PTRD rifle was found in game files. Uploading... That quality and level of detail will be shown in the game.

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Oct 3, 2019

Q&A: inspiration, localization and Matryoshka dolls

Atomic Heart - Tanya

Loading the new chapter of Questions and Answers. Loading completed.

1. Which languages will be available in the game? (Voice over/interface)
The main languages will be Russian and English, but we’ll try to add subtitles of all popular languages.

2. How many weapons will be available in the game?
The game will have dozens of types of both firearms and melee weapons with a different rarity. Players will be able to add modifications to the weapon that increase its characteristics. We have a lot more interesting information about this system that we’ll share in future updates.

3. Is the plot of the game linear or can it be completed in different ways?
The game has a linear dramatic plot. The player is experiencing a made character story, as it is in God of War. There is no way to go through it differently from the plot point of view, but there will be different gaming experience. The game implements the unusual ecosystem of robots that reacts differently to different player actions. Thus, the same combat situation can be overcome in several, very different from each other, ways. That is the most interesting part — Atomic Heart is a highly replayable game and we will maintain this standard by adding the variety of available tools.

4. Is it possible to upgrade the digital edition to collector’s edition?
At the moment, the easiest way to change the pre-order edition or platform is to return funds through Xsolla and purchase again. Since we use a partner’s payment solutions, it may be a problem to set up an extra payment from a technical point of view.

5. What aspect brings the most fun when working on the game?
We like to create things and watch how the world reacts to it. We follow comments on our social networks very closely. The way it develops and begins to live an independent life after publication is perhaps the most interesting aspect (of course, after the development of the game itself). As an example, our fans from Belarus simply sent us a weapon as a gift, which was shown on one of the screenshots. Weapons was welded in a garage made of skates and nails. Can you imagine how cool it is to keep what literally some time ago was just an image on the screen?

6. Will vodka be the key to survival?
No. Vodka will definitely help to survive, but this is not a key consumable. In the game you can eat many things. We don’t want Atomic Heart to be associated exclusively with vodka. This is too flat for us. :)

7. What is your inspiration for developing Atomic Heart?
Literally everything. We are in one long stream of creativity, and everything that comes to mind, all cool ideas, especially those that can complement the plot, are tested by the narrative team. Of course, the Soviet period itself is shown in detail in literature and movies, as well as in historical materials about the USSR, and our alternative universe is created taking into account what took place in real history. However, we don't pursue the accuracy of all the facts. This is still a game, not a documentary. It must achieve its main goal in the first place — to entertain the player.

8. Will there be a stealth system in the game?
The player himself chooses the style of playing. But the ability to be quiet and invisible is very important and more profitable in Atomic Heart. The player has several different devices to deactivate robots. But it only works against mechanical enemies. Biological enemies are much more difficult. The game for players who go right ahead will be tough because monsters and robots react to your presence. They have both vision and hearing. Moreover, they are connected to one common network called the Team. This is more like Skynet from the Terminator, which connects them through special communications network into one single ecosystem. Due to this, the world seems absolutely alive and the level of feedback of the game to the player’s actions is very high.

9. How will the character move around the game world? Will there be trains or other fast travel?
In some locations, there are special devices that speed up movement, including by air. Trains and fast travels will be available.

10. What difficulties did you face when creating Atomic Heart?
The biggest difficulty is the consistency of the setting. Taking into account the ambitious ideas of the whole game — it is necessary to achieve the level of detail in the entire setting that the whole world will be perceived holistically. This is an extremely difficult task even for us, the authors of this idea. We do not copy — we create a new world, and this is both the main feature and the main difficulty in developing the game.

11. Will there be a bestiary and anatomy of monsters in the game?
Yes, there will be a dossier with profiles for various types of machines and creatures found in the game. Of course, this is an important part of the game’s story, and it’s very interesting to study.

12. Will there be enemies Matryoshka dolls in the game?
No. :)

Jul 31, 2019

Everything we know about Atomic Heart

Atomic Heart

Next to nobody had heard of Atomic Heart before it dropped a disturbing, explosive trailer in May 2018—now, it's one of this year's most anticipated shooters.

Its inspirations are varied: you'll spot flashes of Metro, BioShock, Nier: Automata and Stalker in its art and gameplay footage, while the world is a product of both Russian sci-fi and the experiences of the dev team, some of whom grew up in Russia. But what do you actually get when you mix all of those influences together? Here's everything we know about Atomic Heart.

Watch the trippy Atomic Heart cinematic teaser

Developer Mundfish put out a new cinematic teaser that depicts a cryptic conversation between what we assume is your main character and a shadowy figure on a screen. The trailer is only in Russian, but you can turn on closed captions to get the full picture.

What is it?

An alternate reality Soviet-era first-person combat game with killer robots, clown-themed torture chambers, and grandmas trapped in flowing molecular gloop. Yeah, it's weird. Its combat is a mixture of shooting and melee swinging with improvised weapons, and the scarcity of ammo means you'll want to sneak through some areas, too.

What's the story? The premise?

The devs say the story is a bit like an episode of Black Mirror—if the show were set in a warped version of the Soviet Union sometime between the '30s and '60s. As Mundfish CEO Robert Bagratuni told IGN last year, the USSR still exists in this reality, "but a technical revolution has already taken place: robots, the Internet, holograms have already been invented ... all these innovations are submerged in the atmosphere of communism, confrontation with the imperialism of the West and all the other inherent political and social aspects of the time.”

Robots have been mass-produced to help with agriculture, defence, timber production and simple household chores—and now they're starting to rebel. You're a mentally-unstable KGB special agent called P-3, and the government has sent you to investigate a manufacturing facility that's fallen silent.

On arrival it's clear that everything is, to put it mildly, royally fucked. Robots are out of control, once-dead creatures walk again, and traps are set to ensnare any who enter. It's your job to find out what's happened and put an end to the chaos.

Somewhere between the murdering and madness is a love story, although we don't know how big a part it will play.

10 minutes of Atomic Heart gameplay

Mundfish released 10 minutes of Atomic Heart gameplay earlier this year, and you can watch the full video below. It gives you a glimpse at both the shooting and melee combat, as well as the weird world the devs have created.

Also note the zipline ropes, the use of quick-time events, and the large robot enemy at the end of the video, which we suspect is some sort of boss.

Atomic Heart system requirements

Atomic Heart's Steam page lists both minimum and recommended system requirements. You'll need at least an i5 4460 / AMD FX-6300 CPU, 6 GB of RAM and a GTX 760 or R7 260x to run it. The recommended specs are an i7 3770, 8 GB RAM and a GTX 1060.

However, there's a chance those are both placeholders: the game's website says it's "hard to tell exact requirements at the moment" (although it does say they'll be "modest").

Is Atomic Heart an open-world game?

It's not clear. The world encompasses "the entire Soviet Union—a vast circle, the borders of which reach the Arctic in the north, Altai Mountain in the south, and with plains, lakes and much more in the middle". Different areas of Plant 3826 will be spread "all over the map". You'll get some choice about the order you tackle them in.

In an interview last year, Mundfish CEO Robert Bagratuni told Austin that Atomic Heart was "conceived as an open-world game", but later declined to confirm that the map was fully explorable. When asked whether the world was seamless, he told Wccftech he couldn't yet answer. "Now, I can say that there will be many different biomes," he added.

We reckon it might be a series of connected levels spread out across a large map, Metro Exodus-style. It has a railway system to whisk you between different locations.

Atomic Heart will have a crafting system for makeshift weapons

Atomic Heart's weapons are makeshift, and you'll piece them together from "various metal parts, detached from robots or taken from the household appliances or fragments obtained during the game". It's not known exactly how the crafting system works, but the image above suggests there will be plenty of ways to boost your damage stats.

Will Atomic Heart support VR headsets?

A 2017 teaser listed SteamVR and PSVR as release platforms for Atomic Heart, but Mundfish has since said the game won't get a full VR release. "There are no such plans now," it told Wccftech earlier this year. "Maybe as we get closer to the game release, some elements of the game will be available in VR, but now it’s hard to say which and in what form."

The devs previously released a VR game called Soviet Lunapark VR that was set in the same universe as Atomic Heart, but it was removed from Steam earlier this year. Anyone that had paid for Soviet Lunapark will get a free copy of Atomic Heart.

Atomic Heart will have PvP multiplayer—and maybe co-op too

Atomic Heart's story is designed to be played solo, but the devs say they're "thinking about co-op mode". They've kept schtum about what exactly they're planning.

They've revealed more concrete plans for PvP multiplayer. "If you are ready to challenge other players, a secret railway will get you to a special region meant for PvP battle," reads the game's website.

Atomic Heart development controversy

If you've been following Atomic Heart's development, you'll probably know that a bit of controversy bubbled up in January after a report—citing anonymous sources within Mundfish—told of mass layoffs and incompetency at the studio. A summary of the report, posted on a Russian gamedev-related Telegram channel (an instant messaging service), can be found on ResetEra.

The devs partially responded to these claims in a later interview with a Russian outlet. The (roughly) translated interview is here: basically, they dispute the initial report, and say the game is far more polished than the Telegram channel claimed.

In its Wccftech interview, the team also moved to reassure fans about its development process. "[Our] experienced developers, who worked in large game companies like Ubisoft … are experts in making AAA games and complex subsystems such as online multiplayer, AI ecosystems, analytics and scoring systems and other complex and high-tech tasks," they said.

"Also, we’re working closely with Epic Games and we stay informed about all the latest technologies and UE4 features before they actually get publicly available. Our partners from Nvidia help us in graphics and performance optimization. So, for all the reasons described above our game is being developed at the highest technical level."

Mundfish has provided development updates infrequently, although a recent Discord post—copied and pasted to Reddit—hinted at more regular updates going forward. The team is currently putting together a video to show what it has been working on, and has recently opened a new office in Moscow, the Discord post said.

Atomic Heart RTX raytracing demo

The game is being built with Nvidia's latest RTX tech, including raytracing and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), and the team has released a tech demo that you can download and try here.

If you'd rather just watch a video of the tech in action, the video above will do the trick. The team is particularly happy with how the tech improves lighting and shadows, and says the performance is holding up well.