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Atomic Heart Is at the Stage of Polishing; Devs Confirm 2 Endings and Stable Performance on PS4

Lunatic_Gamer

Gold Member
While Mundfish did not say exactly when we'll play Atomic Heart, they did state it is now in the polishing phase, suggesting that all the content is in place.

Unfortunately, we can’t say yet. Usually, developers are very careless about the release date, they postpone it and keep saying “tomorrow”. But everything is not as simple as it seems from the outside: the release date affects communication with publishers, it will affect the schedule of Xbox Game Pass, which Atomic Heart is a part of as well as featuring in stores and the global network of major releases (where everything is adjusted to fit each other).

In general, we cannot tell you the release date right now due to a million little nuances, starting with factors beyond our control (localization of the game into other languages), and ending with the mood and atmosphere within the team, which will obviously be worse if we eventually have to move this date.

But you should know the main thing: never before were we able to say “The game is ready, now it is at the stage of polishing and final assembly”. And now, quite recently, we said this phrase – and it is true. The long wait is almost over, we promise.

On the topic of multiple endings, Mundfish said fans can expect two, though the game's story will still be linear.

We have 2 endings. But we are not an RPG: Atomic Heart has a strict linear plot, and one should not expect incredible variability. We've put an important moral choice in the hands of the player closer to the finale, because we want to nudge the community to argue and discuss about the themes that we have laid out in the story. We want you to draw your own conclusions and make your own decision, not being influenced by forces from above.

The ever-burning question of performance was answered with the reassurance that the PlayStation 4, the best-selling console of the past generation, already runs the game at 'good, stable performance'. Hopefully, that bodes well for the other platforms, too.

We will answer this question closer to the release, because until the very last day we will be pushing to reduce the minimum system requirements of Atomic Heart, and we are not yet completely sure how far we can go. We want everyone to be able to play. On PS4, we have good stable performance, we are definitely not abandoning the pastgen version, and we are doing everything possible to optimize the game to please players with low hardware configurations.

Lastly, Mundfish revealed that the development of Atomic Heart actively began in 2018. The gameplay experience will be seamless (without loading screens) and DLCs will only be considered after the game's launch.

 
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Denton

Member
First teaser released in july 2017 yet the game started dev in 2018? I guess the trailer was just prescripted "target" thing. Or they do not count prototype dev as part of the actual game dev.
 

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Neilg

Member
First teaser released in july 2017 yet the game started dev in 2018? I guess the trailer was just prescripted "target" thing. Or they do not count prototype dev as part of the actual game dev.

Most studios dont.
It's pre-production - a handful of people figuring out the look, story, and plan. They take that to investors, get some funds released, then hire & start real work. Releasing the teaser/target that early is very useful to show to investors, especially if it took off, and great for hiring because then your new team knows what they will be working on.

Pre-production can last for years before an idea gets scheduled for a full team and even in huge studios it can involve as few as 2-5 people working only 10 hours a week juggling it with other projects. And for every one that gets off the ground, 10+ get scrapped. it's not a good metric for how long it takes to make a game so it doesnt get counted. (cyberpunk didnt take 9 years... 2012 -> 2016 was pre-production)
 
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