Here's a little update on how we're doing with Update 10, which is probably the most content we've added to the game in one go.
As I revealed in the last blog, this next update already includes 1) new mining and ore processing structures, 2) a brand new reputation system for migration that keeps the challenge going and lets you make bigger towns (see the new bar on the needs menu, in the pic below), 3) a completely new goals system - including some new goals - 4) and numerous tweaks and fixes.
But over the past month, we've been working predominately on the version's biggest feature…
Gameplay Modifiers
In update 10, each time you beat a map by completing all the goals you'll unlock several new gameplay changing modifiers that can add replay value and extra challenge on future play-throughs, a bit like a mini campaign.
We’ve made 18 mods in all, some which add new challenges and goals, and others which are basically "cheats" for those who just want to make a big town. It's up to you what to enable or disable.
Here’s the full list (90% of these are finished):
Challenge Mods:
- Bad Behaviour: Citizens are far more likely to commit social issues, making your town more chaotic.
- Bartertown: A new goal to trade a set number of resources in each stage before you can proceed.
- Storehouse Rats: Food and drink resources will begin to decay if you have too many in stock, making stockpiling tricky.
- Wanderer: Begin without any engineers or citizens, making the start somewhat harder.
- Slow Learner: Doubles the amount of time it takes to research new buildings, forcing you to plan ahead even further.
- Radiation Sickness: Radiation as an effect that can periodically cull a random percentage of your town, forcing you to adapt to an unexpected loss of people. This one is for expert players only.
- Tyrant: A new goal to set at least half your laws to flogging or execution.
- Progressive: Same as above, but you must encourage at least half the laws.
- Plague Outbreaks: Enable this and occasionally everybody in your entire town will catch the plague at once.
- Multiple Towns: A big new goal that requires you to build at least 3 small town outposts rather than just having one big town and manage them all together.
- Misery: Increases the rate which morale drains, making this need far more threatening than before (and people now also leave town when their morale runs out, rather than dying!)
- Cowboy Builders: Construction times will take much, much longer meaning you have to plan ahead again.
Positive Modifiers:
- Resource Packages: Periodically spawn a bundle of essential resources in the storehouse.
- Bounty: Food and drink production buildings produce twice as much with this turned on.
- Reinforcements: Periodically spawn a group of citizens instantly, rather than waiting.
- Full Refunds: This will instantly give you back the resources you consumed making a new building. It should make perfecting your layout easier.
- Assassin: An ability that lets you kill any citizen you want on demand. This is actually a debug tool we have but we thought we might as well chuck it in as using it feels rather sinister...
- Double Loot: Ruins have twice as many items in them.
(The UI below is still being developed - we've got a lot of icons to draw!)
When you unlocked all of these (perhaps you'll get 3-4 per map), you can turn on all 18 at once if you feel like it, it’s up to you. Hopefully unlocking and trying them out will significantly increase the length of the game, combined with all the other features I’ve already mentioned, and achievements and medals for completing maps (which we're still working on)... As I've said, there's a lot coming in the next update.
Release Date Estimate
Sadly I don’t think we’re going to hit our Christmas deadline having to work around day-jobs as we do, and with some nasty things that have happened to me personally this year (2020 has been tragic in some ways). But on the whole things are going well. In fact I think we’ve made more content faster than ever before, which is just as well because there’s so much to test and balance with these new features. I don’t want to cut corners and introduce new bugs that could hurt our review score by charging for a Christmas release date, especially as we're tottering on 70%, just 1% above the dread “mixed” zone.
We also need a really big version to mark our 1.0 release. If we don't, nobody will notice when we leave Early Access, which certainly won't help sales. So hold in there, fans of the game, but our survival as a company depends on getting it right. Hopefully it will be out quite early in 2021, with a beta version to try even sooner.
Behind The Scenes Stuff
There hasn't been too much behind the scenes drama since I last wrote a blog, at least game-related drama. Just when I think we’re going to run out of money for good, we get a good sales week and can limp on a little further. Just when I think I can't take another bad review, a good one or email comes in and cheers us up again.
Right now, as we're getting to the end, I think the 4 of us are focused on getting to the finishing line like exhausted marathon runners. It’s been almost 6 years of work to get to version 1.0, and though we want to make the best game we can, we're also keen to be done. December 2014 (when we first came up with the idea of making a post-apocalyptic city builder) was a loooong time ago…
It’s strange knowing there's nothing else I need to design after this. I've been constantly planning one version after the next for so long, always trying to keep two steps ahead of the coders (and players), and now that part of my job is almost over. I can’t quite believe it. Our part-time American contractor, Adam, is finishing up his last few small tasks at the moment and then he’ll be moving on. He joined us in 2016, thinking this game would be a year or two of his life, but has stuck with us ever since even though it certainly hasn't been a money-maker. Adam has such an easy going, positive attitude, we're all going to miss him, and finding out what British slang words he doesn't understand.
Approaching the end has pretty much made my dilemma over how to make a game in Early Access redundant. Readers of these blogs will know I was wondering whether to stick to one’s personal vision - and therefore lose money and get insulted in reviews - or adopt an admittedly very sensible business strategy and focus on complaints and basically making the game players request, even if - in my view - that leads to a generic game, and even if I don’t have the personality or interest in being a business guy.
Those problems don’t matter now. The game is almost finished. It is what it is. We did our best.
I think on the whole things may have been better if we didn't need to use Early Access. I’m not sure making something you care about in front of an anonymous audience is necessarily the best approach, or games revolving around “updates” and being a "service" to keep players hooked leads to interesting experiences. I'm an old-school gamer and liked it when single-player games were content to just give you a few nights entertainment and be done. I hope that’s what Atomic Society does for the price of a cheap take-out (or even less if you get it on sale). I liked the days when we got 3 Grand Theft Auto games (for example) in one console generation instead of… none, as it was in the last, because they kept updating the same game infinitely.
I do think our game is “better” because we listened to players, but I think at the end of the day, you can only really make something for yourself, even if that makes you unpopular.
What happens after this update? I’m not sure. This year has been pretty good at teaching me not to plan ahead. I have ideas for other games naturally, but I’ve been reluctant to commit. I'm not the same person I was 12 months ago, so deciding what to make in advance is foolish. One idea has risen to the top however, but it will be a long time before anything is playable. The only criteria I have is "would I buy and play this game?". 6 years of experience making AS is going to come in very handy.
I know some people in the comments seem reluctant to make games after reading my depressing blogs, but I think the answer is to keep the hobby attitude. Pretend that money and success don’t matter and won't come, and just make the game you enjoy making.
As soon as I personally think about making games as a business that’s when all the fun gets replaced by stress. But that’s just me. You can only do what you can do.
Until Next Time...
I'd currently say update 10 is about 80% done (excluding translations). I’ll let you know as soon as the beta is ready to try out.
Thank you to everybody who's been a part of our Early Access journey. The fans of the game have made it all worthwhile.