I often encounter the opinion that there are no developers in Russia, and all games are made somewhere there, in the West. There are not so many game studios in our country, but they, imagine, make Black Magic Casino excellent competitive projects. Recently just appeared Mundfish , Which is working day and night on the very technically advanced domestic game – Atomic Heart.
It’s interesting for us to follow the project in the editorial office, but the developers are not yet ready to show anything – even the editorial office of the gambling. But we managed to talk with the director of Mundfish Robert Bagratuni and find out something from him.
If you have not watched the Atomic Heart trailer, I advise you to do this before reading further
Half -life period – 70 years
Nobody heard about your studio before the release of the Atomic Heart trailer. Sorry for the tactless question, but … who are you in general?
Mundfish has not yet been represented by the general public. Before making ourselves, we wanted to make sure that Atomic Heart turns out exactly the way we planned. For more than a year, Mundfish has been working hard on the project, but the game world has been worked out in detail for more than seven years. When quite talented people with experience in the game industry gathered around the idea, the studio actually formed. While we are moving at our development pace. We do not have a publisher, for example, but we do not exclude his appearance in the future.
About twenty people work on the game, and we are actively growing. Our task is to make an AAA project that will bring something new to the game industry. We do not really like the tendency towards Freedeization, and we are not inspired by work on mobile games with a similar monetization model. We would like to earn more traditional ways and make a game in which we ourselves want to play.
I understand you very much! And how justified are the comparisons of Atomic Heart with Bioshock? What you were inspired when you decided to make a game?
Since some team members were born in the USSR, many ideas came from those times. We drew inspiration in our childhood, in the books on which we grew up: Strugatsky, Lem, Harrison … We want to put our game on a par with such works as Fallout, Bioshock and Doom.
In general, science fiction occupied a special place in the life of a Soviet citizen: there was no Internet, it was impossible to stick in an iPhone, from entertainment – only reading and sport. And if all this is put on each other – the Internet, robotics, the Soviet Union with coupons for food – you get Atomic Heart. In a nutshell – this is " Black Mirror in the USSR ". By the way, about coupons: this is not just an analogue of a monetary unit. The game tells about the era of digitalization in the USSR, and therefore there are many side functions, in addition to simple exchange.
Sounds great, very adult. And what awaits players in this world?
Events unfold on the territory of the entire Soviet Union: from the Arctic in the north to Gorno Altai in the south. The inherent in the USSR gigantism and incredible scope create a unique sensation on the surface. At the same time, the huge infrastructure of the plant 3826, its underground factories spread throughout the map of the world. Key infrastructure elements are connected by railways. Some trains are armored, it’s not so easy to get to them. You have to suffer.
Railways are very important and affect how the player moves. Travel so much faster than on any self-propelled devices. Transport means a lot for such a large card – some of its species can be controlled in cooperative mode.
Yeah, the game will have transport! And what has not yet lit up in the trailer?
As we develop, we will upload materials that will give players the best idea of what will happen in the game. I am convinced that it is incorrect to express it in words, it is much cooler to just show! We are now working on game mechanics and are not yet ready to reveal their essence. We do not strive to copy, we like to come up with something new.
Then a personal question. A condensed milk was seen in the trailer. And you love it yourself?
Yes. The most ordinary condensed milk with sugar in a well -known blue bank.
Excessively advanced technologies
How difficult and expensive to introduce RayTracing technology? How do you work with her?
Here I have to say many thanks to the company NVIDIA for amazing technological progress, which has become an objective reality. And, in particular, the company's employees who, with their daily work, fantastic involvement in the process, did all this possible.
The technology is truly amazing. I admit, at first I was skeptical (there were no good examples – all in words), but when in the end everything worked, I was delighted! The level of shadows, reflections, how quickly and accurately it all goes … The result makes an indelible impression: sensations from the game, the level of immersion becomes completely different. If there is an opportunity to take this video card – without a doubt, you need to take!
SOVIT LUNAPARK VR
AND more O technology . How much closely Atomic Heart is connected With SOVIT LUNAPARK VR?
I must say right away that these games are not connected by gameplay and plot, but events unfold in one universe. Soviet Lunapark is a cheerful, dynamic and terrible arcade shooter in VR. It allows you to see some zones of the plant 3826 from the inside, in its skin to feel that it was necessary to survive ordinary employees, soldiers and nurses when everything went according to plan.
SOVIT LUNAPARK VR
Atomic Heart is plotor oriented game ? Or the gameplay part will prevail?
We try to observe the balance, because we are sure that this is the most correct way.
The game world is stuffed with all sorts of strange things. This is our chip. In fact, in the Soviet Union it was: everything is very unusual and unpredictable. The USSR was famous for brilliant engineers and advanced studies in science, while in the atmosphere of strict secrecy some people could well give rise to robots, zombies … Yes, in general anyone else! The game will surprise the player from the first minute to the final, the surprises are organically entered into the plot.
Will there be a political subtext, is it planned as a kind of statement – for example, criticism of totalitarianism? Or is it just a stylish surreal fantasy?
We do not think about any political context in the development of Atomic Heart. Regarding the statements – I think everyone will decide for himself what the developers wanted to say.
Well, at least there will be a cranberry? Mechanical KGBSHNI and all that other?
Bioenginery in the game is quite common, so the answer is more likely not than not. Although they are unlikely to look like you imagine it.
It turns out that all these strange and frightening … creatures from the trailer appeared due to uncontrolled biological experiments?
At the factory, production automation programs were launched ..
It is better to hide from these creatures – or easier to fight? What gameplay should we count on?
You will not have to quarrel fiercely, but there is an appropriate mechanics, and in some situations it is really better not to break into the crowd.
Will there be references for “their own” – like condenses?
There will be a lot of references. I am sure that thanks to Atomic Heart, the Western audience will learn a little more about our past and our culture.
And the last. The name Atomic Heart is just a reference to the song, or a nuclear theme is affected in the game?
Here, probably, it should be said that any coincidences are random. The song did not mean, we are talking about the love line in the plot. In general, "peaceful atom is the heart of the robot!" – as the inscriptions on the posters say.
Pretty mysterious … thanks for the answers! We are waiting for new details!