[b]Hey Loners![/b] We have big news to share. If you tuned in to the OTK Expo today you may have already heard: [b]Atomic Picnic will hit Early Access this September. [/b] But that’s not all, [b]we are kicking off a new playtest right now[/b]. If you’ve playtested the title before, you have access here on Steam and can jump right in. If you haven’t yet, head over to [url=OTK.to/AP]OTK.to/AP[/url] to join the community and get your Steam key. The feedback that you’ve given us in the last playtests has had a major impact on our development. Check out a new trailer with some of what's new, and then read on for all the details: [previewyoutube=ZixwTCXjqAY;full][/previewyoutube] [b]New Features[/b] [list] [*] New weapon: the powerful Pistol! [*] New Mini-boss: Jonathan, a Turtle mini-boss that can be found in the Twilight Dam map. [*] New Enemies: Flying Shooter that sprays a pattern of shots, and JellyEgg who spawns several Mini Jelly. [*] New Upgrade (Curio): Doom on Device, adds a Doom effect on the enemies that are hit by your device. [*] New character skills: Both active and passive skills (more details below)! [*] New character base statistics: Each character now has 4 different base stats. [*] New device models: Your grenades have new looks. [*] Hidden OTK influencer tags [/list] You read that right, [b]each character now has their own abilities[/b]. More info on each: Active abilities, activated by pressing the ‘Q’ key: [list] [*] Hani / Handyman: Hani charges his hammer and smashes it on the ground, damaging enemies and healing teammates. He can charge the hammer for up to 3 seconds, the longer the charge and more damage taken while charging, the more damage and healing he does. [*] JD / Tacticbot: JD summons a flying drone that follows him around and shoots enemies. [*] Bonnie / Dive Bomb: Bonnie jumps into the air and lands with an impact that deals damage in an area around her. [*] Ash / Dash Bomb: Ash dashes through the air, ending with an explosion that deals damage to nearby enemies. [/list] Passive abilities, always affecting individual characters: [list] [*] Hani / Closer: Hani does more damage per each nearby enemy, up to 20% more damage. [*] JD / Multitap - When JD throws a Device, he causes all Fast Reloads Curios to activate automatically. [*] Bonnie / Headbutt - When Gear Dashing or Super Jumping through enemies, Bonnie deals damage and applies the Concussion debuff. Concussion slows enemies. [*] Ash / Scout: Ash has one extra Air Gear charge. [/list] These Passive Skills are now affected by Mementos too: [list] [*] Hani Passive Skill is now affect by Area Size [*] Bonnie Passive Skill is now affected by Cooldown and Damage [*] JD Passive Skill is now affected by Cooldown [/list] [b]New UX / UI Elements & Changes[/b] [list] [*] New screen: Start a Picnic [*] A new map selection screen to check which maps you have unlocked or not (still with placeholder graphics) [*] New UI background [*] Animated background in all screens [*] New game flow: Removed main menu [*] New Esc menu [*] New social tab with Steam friend list display [*] Now players can join others when already inside their own Camp [*] Now if the player is solo on a hosted Camp the game will auto change to single-player mode (no connection needed) during a Picnic [*] New Discoveries screen unlock animations [/list] [b]New Audio: [/b] [list] [*] Healing Shrine SFX [*] Offerings SFX [*] Loner's Camp OST [/list] [b]Balancing & Other Changes:[/b] [list] [*] Overall rebalancing to make game harder [*] Harder mini-bosses [*] Harder enemies [*] Rebalanced time needed to revive others [*] Weapons fast reload thresholds balancing [*] New XP curve [*] Rebalanced Mementos [*] New Berserker VFX [*] Controller Support now working for Social screen, and Start Picnic screen [*] Teddybear and some other AoE Curios now break destructible items [*] Added a delay after the players complete a Picnic (kill the final boss), so they have time to collect the loot before the End Game screen shows up [*] New camera configuration for all characters [*] New animation for Map selection screen [*] Increased Air Gear invulnerability, or iFrames time [*] Changed the active abilities UI (Devices, Air Gear, Active Skills) to fit the new Active Skills button [*] Changed the Discoveries screen to allow for more Discoveries on the same screen, and fill the whole screen area [*] Restricting Steam join to only when inside Camp [*] Performance changes in Loner's Camp scene related to shadows [*] Rework on enemy despawn system to deprioritize enemies that are not actively engaging in combat, and are not being seen by players [/list] [b]Fixes:[/b] [list] [*] Rework on Jellyfish shield code that fixes some Curios that bypassed Octavio’s shield [*] MiniJelly base stats fixed [*] Ricochet ability now working properly [*] Changed Memento title instead of Curio in the Tab screen in-game [*] Rojo device area preview size is now the same as its collider [*] Ghost story now dealing damage to all enemies [*] First upgrade no longer automatically selected when using a mouse in the Level Up screen [*] Peace Time title now showing up when a boss is killed [*] All maps no longer use the same enemy configuration [*] In the in-game HUD, in the Objectives widget, the Jelly Fish boss's name is now correct (Octavio) [/list] As you can see, there’s a ton of new stuff to check out in this playtest. But heads up on some known issues as well… [b]Known Issues:[/b] [list] [*] Some buttons have localization for gamepad support, and the strings go beyond the intended area [*] Active Reloads and other gameplay mechanics used in the Camp should not count towards the Discoveries [*] Some new upgrades still don't have detail stats in the Level Up screen (the lower text with stat changes) [*] In the Twilight Dam map, the collision in the Dam area can cause the player to not move properly [*] Discovery "Starting with the basics": Tracking each enemy defeat multiple times on clients [*] "Peace time" text does not show up properly after a boss is defeated. [*] Hani's active skill can have an animation glitch if used right when the character levels up [*] Ping icons are not disappearing, and will accumulate in the map [*] Some projectiles VFX do not disappear [*] MiniJelly and JellyEgg are not being damaged by some curios [/list] Get to testing, and let us know what you think here on Steam and in [url=www.discord.gg/atomicpicnic]the Discord[/url]!