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

[cruelio]

When the USSR fell shock doctrine capitalism was forced on the Russian people. As though the metaphorical wolves were not enough, literal wolves soon stalked the population, as starved municipalities could no longer afford to pay for wolf protection. The psychic scarring this caused the Russian people is evident to this day, as every game made in Russia features rabid wolves preying on helpless citizens.

 

[RK47]

Strange. I recall making circuits around New Reno, Redding, Modoc, Vault City and Gecko over and over cause the quests inter-chain.
Remember the Ghost Farm? A lot of players encounter an issue with the missing person quest because it has a time limit and limited information.

Failure in locating that individual results in a bloodbath between two community.
Come on, pal. You don't forget these things. You're just having a case of selective memory loss.

In short, your only complaint is basically 'this game world map movement is too slow to tolerate'
There's no need to go any further than that.

 

[abnaxus]

Alright, new discovery today.

You can lower a shopkeeper personality if you want a slight discount.
A lowered personality results in lower Barter after all.
So if you want the best prices, you should consume everything that buffs your Personality & Barter while giving the Trader everything that lowers Personality & Barter (Onion, Alcohol etc)
But that's not enough, you'll notice the best traders have the best Barter skill, therefore the worst prices for you.
Compare the gun store owner inside the Commerce compound with the market folks just outside in Krasno. There's just no contest. The only problem is the market people have less cash to pay you with.
How to solve this? Well, the first option is to find a locker in Krasno and stuff your unwanted loot inside, wait a while - these stores replenish cash over time. Gradually liquidate the goods.
The second option is more random, carry a few valuable loot while traveling in hopes of running into trader caravans. They usually pay more for your goods and sell their stuff for less.

Or do both at the same time.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Alright, new discovery today.

You can lower a shopkeeper personality if you want a slight discount.
A lowered personality results in lower Barter after all.
So if you want the best prices, you should consume everything that buffs your Personality & Barter while giving the Trader everything that lowers Personality & Barter (Onion, Alcohol etc)
But that's not enough, you'll notice the best traders have the best Barter skill, therefore the worst prices for you.
Compare the gun store owner inside the Commerce compound with the market folks just outside in Krasno. There's just no contest. The only problem is the market people have less cash to pay you with.
How to solve this? Well, the first option is to find a locker in Krasno and stuff your unwanted loot inside, wait a while - these stores replenish cash over time. Gradually liquidate the goods.
The second option is more random, carry a few valuable loot while traveling in hopes of running into trader caravans. They usually pay more for your goods and sell their stuff for less.

Or do both at the same time.

Its makes sense the best traders should live in Krasno and sell armors, guns and bullets not carrots and fish. What I did not liked was how mere Gate Guard was harder to bribe or talk onto reducing the bribe than Dan or Father whose daughter was murdered and raped and who was so angry and full of sorrow they you could feel his desire to cap you too in order to protect his remaining family. By the way this quest was very hardcore and after its resolution I really started to respect Dan. Good to know we have another Bethesdard durak who can't live without his quest compass and wants game which plays itself.

 

[Vrab]

There always has to be that one guy who decides to attract attention by claiming nonsense in hope someone will confuse it for intelligence.

Logic goes somewhat like this: I can't make sense of smart things. This means smart things make no sense. Therefore if I say nonsense, others will think I'm smart.

 

[laclongquan]

While I agree that his points are mostly nitpicking and selective memory loss.

I have to admit that "world movement speed is too slow" is a bloody effective minus point though.

It's like Morrowind where we have to create some item that increase Athletic skill or Speed stat specifically to explore between towns. And dont tell me about set speed to 500. That was too ridiculous.

Or Icewind Dale 2. I have to cast Mass Haste constantly to move across map, the speed and pathfinding AI is too terrible for word.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

Got a question -

Spoiler

- i did not kill Grishka but let him go, reported to the Head that the snitch escaped and now i cant get any more quests from the Head of the village. I normally got quests from Dan and from Grishka at the factory. Is that a bug or ...

 

[Luckmann]

So, right, trying to make a pickpocketing thief type character, I feel like sharing some observations.

• Pickpocketing is often absurdly hard, even with ~70 pickpocketing, even when trying to steal light or cheap items. I have no idea how this is even supposed to be useful unless you're savescumming massively. I suspect that even with ~90 pickpocketing, savescumming at least a bit is practically necessary, especially since the only "punishment" that seems to happen is "the entire area shoots you in the face".
• Sleeping NPC's are not easier to pickpocket than awake ones. This is.. really odd to me. I'm fairly sure that sleeping NPC's were easier to pickpocket at least in Fallout 2/Arcanum, but I might misremember.
• There is no actual Stealth in the game. You cannot "use" Stealth to try to sneak, nor can you backstab or attempt silent take-outs of any kind. "Stealth" is only used for being able to steal things that are lying around in the environment without people noticing. It may or may not also have an effect on pickpocketing, but I can't be use, I might be experiencing a placebo effect.

With especially that last one in mind, I realize it's unlikely now that the game is live to make such a change, but I'd like to make a suggestion to AtomBoy: Merge Pickpocket with Stealth, rename it Sleight of Hand. There's already a minimum of three different Skills that are practically necessary to play any kind of thief-type concept, and all of them need to be high in order to be used to any relevant degree, even early in the game. "Sleight of Hand" conceptually covers both picking pockets as well as pocketing things without others noticing, the latter of which seems to be the only thing Stealth actually does.

At a minimum, "Stealth" really should be renamed "Stealing", because you're not actually stealthing, it seems, you're just good at stealing. If there was mechanical support for stealthing/sneaking in the game, then yes, I think that Stealth should be a separate skill, but not as it is today. And if Stealth would actually be involved in "stealthing"/sneaking, I'd still recommend renaming "Pickpocket" into "Sleight of Hand" and have Stealth and Sleight of Hand both contribute to the ability to steal things unnoticed.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Jenkem]

Need to go to the Caravanserai via truck but the guy only says he's going to another place, forget the name (valley of despair or something?) and when I say fine take me there, he takes me to Caravanserai.. is this a bug? or what? confused..

 

[filpan]

Luckmann
Stealing is still not easy at 153 points in it.

 

[Bohrain]

Need to go to the Caravanserai via truck but the guy only says he's going to another place, forget the name (valley of despair or something?) and when I say fine take me there, he takes me to Caravanserai.. is this a bug? or what? confused..

It takes you to a different overworld map called Valley of Despair. It has a location called Caravanserai.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Luckmann
Stealing is still not easy at 153 points in it.

This is Russia though. Bet half of those Slavs have absurd thieving skills themselves.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

The main complaint I have after playing a litle bit is that the systems are opaque. I have 60 points in pickpocketing. What are the odds that I will be sucessful stealing that guy or that guy? Who knows. The game won't tell me. I don't have a clue.

The controls are clunk and the camera is... what you should expect from a 3D camera: shit.

 

[fantadomat]

The main complaint I have after playing a litle bit is that the systems are opaque. I have 60 points in pickpocketing. What are the odds that I will be sucessful stealing that guy or that guy? Who knows. The game won't tell me. I don't have a clue.

The controls are clunk and the camera is... what you should expect from a 3D camera: shit.

Politician December 27th: This game is not Fallout,therefore it is Russian shit!

Politician December 31th: This game have the same mechanics as Fallout,therefore it is shit!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Typical politician there.

 

[Vrab]

I have to admit that "world movement speed is too slow" is a bloody effective minus point though.

Without car it's about as crawly as fallout, luckily world is smaller. You can however get a car, at which point traveling becomes very fast, I'd say even more convenient than in fallout 2, although that's due to world size.

Need to go to the Caravanserai via truck but the guy only says he's going to another place, forget the name (valley of despair or something?) and when I say fine take me there, he takes me to Caravanserai.. is this a bug? or what? confused..

Caravanserai comes from I think Arabic or Persian and means restplace for caravans along the route. So caravanserai is the building/establishment. Journal could have been clearer. I don't remember if it's better formulated in the quest dialogue. Journal is so barebones I am literally using a physical notebook for things that seem important but don't get recorded. I feel very prestigious however. Also never knew how much did my skill of writing by hand deteriorate over the years of not using it.

 

[ultra loser]

Remember the best quests in Fallout 1 and 2? The ones that makes you clear out lots of annoying critters that are no threat to you but all take their turns individually and move really slowly? What if every town in the game had those? More amazing quest design.

It's 2018 and CRPGS are still having quests that involve killing giant rats.

Well, that's like every rpg ever made. What else can you do in a video game other than killing shit for hours?

 

[RK47]

Luckmann
Stealing is still not easy at 153 points in it.

This is Russia though. Bet half of those Slavs have absurd thieving skills themselves.

OK let's just have some kind of assumption - I kept mine at 100 Pickpocketing and generally have no problems clearing out all traders in Otranoyed's of their rubles.
Hell, I bought all the pharmacists supplies in inner Krasno and then CLEANED OUT ALL the rubles from his pockets with just 100 Pickpocketing.
I begin to suspect - perhaps it really depends on the NPC ATTENTION level?

Which explains why the high ATN guards are way too hard to pick from...while the traders are 50-50.
I usually feed them a Devil's Weed joint and some vodka to lower their ATTN... don't know if it works. But I did pull 5000 rubles before from the Krasno gun merchant with a few tries.
The trick here is to leave if you get caught once. After a day or so, they'll give you another warning if you get caught instead of a bullet to the head.
Soldiers are less forgiving however. I'm not sure why this is case - but there you go.

 

[Luckmann]

I was just called normie by a clown.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

Politician December 27th: This game is not Fallout,therefore it is Russian shit!

Politician December 31th: This game have the same mechanics as Fallout,therefore it is shit!

Fallout doesn't have opaque systems, clunk controls or shitty cameras. Therefore, any comparison to Fallout is nonsensical.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Well the postman quest was creepy.

Spoiler

so it is implied, that the postman that gave us BBQ quests isnt a real "postman" to say? Most likely part of the slaver ring too, and his name is actually is in the kraznov list, but it is ripped. From what i get is he is some kind of middleman to the slaver, and the slavers are cutting him off in the recent batch of shipment. He got pissed, took the disguise and hope someone stupid and strong enough would take them on.

 

[filpan]

So many bulshitters 'round here.
The game is awesome, Im enjoying every hour of it.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

So many bulshitters 'round here.
The game is awesome, Im enjoying every hour of it.

The game maybe awesome, but acting like a fanboy making promises you can't keep won't help your cause.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

Yep.
Definitely a politician.

 

[Sigourn]

So I have to ask:

1. Anyone found a reference to Battleship Potemkin or Sergei Eisenstein? Like the cradle falling down the stairs?
2. Any references to Natalia Poklonskaya?

Just answer "yes" or "no".