Hello to all our players. We decided to leave early access, but this does not mean that work on the game will be completed, Only the early access label will disappear. But we will continue to work on the game and there will be a full release in the future.
This patch fixes a crash which could occur on stage 4-1 when dying in a particular way. The Steam build ID for the new version with this fix is 13522645.
Hello to all our players. We decided to leave early access, but this does not mean that work on the game will be completed, Only the early access label will disappear. But we will continue to work on the game and there will be a full release in the future.
A small update with some new features and mostly bug fixes.
New features: - You can now hide UI with a hotkey (default F1). - You can place click on placed tiles to see some information about them. - Added a leaderboard.
Bug fixes and QoL: - Added a "back to menu" button when selecting a run. - Fixed some issues with the settings menu. - Increased font size on the cards. - You can now see level completion progress (numbers on the island button). - Fixed a bug where you couldn't lose in the tutorial.
In the last announcement about the system being complete, the puddles were randomly placed by the system. Feedback from our testers was that there were many puddles where it made no sense, which made the puddles more of a hindrance than adding to the overall fun. Hence, we've decided to rewrite the system, and now the puddles are hand placed, which was a much more laborious task than we had anticipated. We hope that you guys will now have fun challenging the touge in the wet!
New Track: Tsuchisaka
It's finally time for a new track, and we're happy to announce that Tsuchisaka will now join the roster as one of the custom made maps for TS. In our previous game, Tsuchisaka was one of our favourite tracks, with a great layout, big elevation changes, and slow and high speed sections. We're really excited for it to make a comeback, and believe that it will quickly grow to be one of your favourite tracks here too!
Walltap Penalty System
In the top level of players, a driving style has emerged, whereby to drift the rear of the car into the guardrails to gain time. The penalty system has been updated specifically to detect this exploit, and should generally not affect the penalties of other forms of collision. Gentle wall taps should still not be penalized. Thereby, along with the new track and rain weather, we've decided that it would be a good time to reset the leaderboards. We hope to see a cleaner driving style at the top of the leaderboards soon!
Changes, Improvements and Fixes
Added AMD FSR3 Upscaler (upscaler only, not frame gen)
Attempted fix at "Connecting to server failed" issue. If this issue still occurs to you outside of server maintanence periods, please ping me!
Made multiplayer lobby creation remember last setting
Fixed game crashing when player level exceeds 404 (<- lol)
Made opponent disappear from minimap when their headlights are off during night time
Atomic Society will be removed from sale at the end of this week.
It's been a long, wild ride but the time has come to shut down our little studio and move on to new pastures. Don't worry, everybody who owns the game will still be able to play it. It will remain in your Steam library forever. However, the game barely sells anything these days, and there are still several costs involved in running a business (accountants, etc) so we have to start winding things up, starting by removing the game from sale.
I guess it's an appropriate time to say goodbuye. 2024 marks 10 years since a friend and I (with the optimism of complete beginners) asked “why don't we make a game for fun?”
2014 was a boom period for wannabe developers with crazy dreams. Steam Greenlight (remember that?) had been running for 2 years, the indie market was opening up, and Unity had made it possible for beginners to test their luck, for better or worse. Our idea of a post-apocalyptic town building game was a brand new concept back then. When we revealed it in 2016 (via Kickstarter), no one had heard of Frostpunk, Endzone, or Surviving the Aftermath. That Kickstarter still failed, but luckily a random YouTuber made a video of our fledgling pre-alpha and suddenly thousands of players fell in love with the game's potential and were clamoring to play AS. After yet another 2 years of grueling work, we released the first ever Steam version in Early Access (one of the most stressful things I've ever done!) and it sold quite well, considering we were making things up as we went. For a year or two afterwards we even earned basic salaries from this passion project - not much but we did get the privilege of doing something we loved.
However, it was really hard living up to everybody's expectations. A fully 3D town building/social sim game was a huge concept for a tiny group of hobbyists working around their day jobs! We could just about handle it, but we were slow, and the games industry moves fast. Richer competitors came along. Also, after 7 years of work on top of regular jobs, “burnout” was becoming a thing too. But we pressed on for 3 years in Early Access, getting the game to the best state, and finally let it go for good back in 2021 (during a real life post-apocalyptic event of Covid).
Unfortunately a game only really gets one big launch, and Early Access had been it for us, so that final release didn't do much, but at least finished and I was done. I couldn't even look at Steam without having a weird panic attack after we released. Making and marketing a game had worn me down (several real life disasters didn't help either). You need a lot of business stamina to stick it out in indie dev, and a peaceful real life. After we launched, our American coder friend had to get a real job, our artist had to give up dev to look after their elderly parent, and main coder Nick started a new family. It was okay though as we had nothing more to add to the game, but life had called us all in new directions.
I'm still extremely proud that we managed to create a pretty big 3D game out of a dream, that we stuck with it even when the problems seemed insurmountable, and that Atomic Society is still something different and quirky in an industry that likes to play it safe. For someone's first ever shot at game dev, it's not bad!
Thanks to everyone who bought and enjoyed the game and supported tiny, no-budget indie devs like us. I hope you all enjoyed being crazy post apocalyptic dictators, setting wild laws that might not show up in other games, and that these old blogs have been inspirational for anyone who wants to make their own gaming dream. If you believe in your game, you've got to make it!
However, now it's time for us to head out into the post-apocalyptic “wasteland” and see what other adventures are out there.
Thank you all for the response on the 1.1 update! We are very happy to see that you guys are enjoying our work.
We've now started the process of porting Hadean Tactics to other platforms, we will have more information to share soon. There are also more music tracks coming so stay tuned. 🎵
While all that's cooking, here is this week's update:
Fixes
-- Fixed transparent models at the Crypt preview for skins. -- Fixed traps not displaying effects when triggered. -- Fixed Celestial cooldown triggering after battle ends. -- Fixed Heart-eater with the Echo Amulet relic unintentionally killing non-Ephemeral allies. -- Fixed rare instances where you were not able to click the Boss node. -- Fixed Idol of Wrath event killing allies. -- Fixed instances when drawing a 0 cost card through Trick Box relic could result into a non-playable card. -- Fixed not being able to Bench a Wanderer unit when playing Solo Hero. -- Fixed Slippery value on one of the options of Concoctanation Station Event.
Gameplay
-- Added option to select a Corruption level and Access End Game for Custom Heroes. -- Solo Hero and Hardcore modes now can't be selected at the same time. -- Fighting Bandits now rewards more gold.
If you have any feedback, suggestions, find any bugs, or you want to contribute with the translation of the game to your language, feel free to reach us on Discord, or here on the Steam community.
It's been a hot minute but here we are with a comprehensive update!
First of all, we'd like to announce that we'll be attending the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month in San Francisco with a Gate Zero booth. If you plan to be there, be sure to stop by and say hi!
Research Efforts
What's unique – and challenging at the same time – about making a historical video game as compared to a TV series like The Chosen, is that players get to explore locations just as they were.
From a geographical point of view, this requires much more research to ensure the map is accurate as you can technically choose to run anywhere you like, while in a TV series, the viewer only sees the locations the camera shoots, and from limited angles at that.
We've taken this unique challenge seriously by doing due diligence in research, at the same time being mindful of the balance between historical accuracy and making a video game that is fun.
Historical Consulting Sessions
Last week, we invited archaeological architect Leen Ritmeyer to hold a talk with our team about daily life in Capernaum. Leen's reconstruction drawings of Capernaum and designs of 1st century homes have been an big source of inspiration for us.
One piece of advice he gave: "Do not look at life in 1st century Capernaum with your 21st century ideas." It was an incredibly insightful talk, and we're looking forward to incorporating the knowledge in our script, art and game design!
In addition, we've received over three hours of video research from historical consultants in the past week about character references and clothing from the 1st century, so our art team has been busy!
Members of our team attending a talk with archaeological architect Leen Ritmeyer
Our script team was visiting from the UK and also got to attend the talk at our office in Norway
Capernaum Art + Fun Facts
These days, our small but hardworking art team has been working closely with our archaeological consultants to ensure accuracy as they continue building the town of Capernaum.
Fun facts about Capernaum:
The 1st century synagogue of Capernaum where Jesus taught at was never excavated, so no one knows for sure what it looked like.
Fishing was quite a profitable industry. It was an elaborate business that could involve employees mending nets, maintaining boats, preserving, transporting and selling fish.
Torah scrolls were often kept in the house of the Ruler of the Synagogue and brought in a cart to the synagogue where they were read.
We've learned an innumerable amount of detail concerning architecture and life in Capernaum during Jesus' time, but we won't bore you with the nitty-gritty... Instead, we'll show you some results!
A redesigned version of the Capernaum synagogue following feedback from historians
Mood exploration for the streets of Capernaum
Mood exploration for the streets of Capernaum
WIP concept art of the residential district in Capernaum
Models of fishing nets
Capernaum docks
Game Mechanics Prototype
Our prototype team has been working hard experimenting with game mechanics, and this past week, we had a new round of closed testing among members of our community. We'll show more of what we're working on when we're ready!
In the meantime, here's a funny bug our head of studio Arve discovered...
New Executive Game Consultant
We started this year off welcoming John Gibson as our new Executive Game Consultant and Gate Zero Development Board Member.
John brings two decades of experience and expertise in game development and publishing to our team. As former CEO, co-owner, and co-founder of Tripwire Interactive, he led the team that brought hit games like Killing Floor, Maneater, and Chivalry 2 to market, selling tens of millions of copies and winning multiple game of the year awards.
John has been offering support and counsel to our team in the past months, and will continue to provide guidance throughout our project's milestones and pivotal decisions. Following advice from John, we have also evaluated increasing the budget and quality of Gate Zero to ensure the highest possible success.
This month, we hit another milestone on Instagram: Reaching 5.2 million and gaining 65,824 followers in just one week!
In total, we have reached over 14 million unique accounts on Instagram since we first went viral in October last year. Word about our game is spreading more than we can imagine, and we're so excited to see where all this is headed in the coming year!
