Atomic Picnic News

[h3]Greetings, Loners!
[/h3]While deep in the production of the first Major Update, we are continuing our streak of constant releases with various improvements based on your feedback!
Some highlights are: Revamped visuals with a polished City of Sands, new VFXs, and finalized models for Area Hold and Taka-chan.
We’ve also refined the gameplay experience with quality-of-life upgrades, such as improved curio stat displays, thicker strikethroughs in the UI, and capped size increases for those big Snowbros.
As for gameplay balance, Train Plateau and Twilight Dam feature smarter enemy adjustments, rebalanced objectives, and updated Memento unlock costs for a fairer challenge. Newer players who find the First Map a bit challenging will feel this change the most.
Oh, and placeholder green cubes? They’re officially out. 😉

[h3]What's New
[/h3]Visual Improvements

• Revamped visuals for City of Sands.
  

Old City of Sands


Revamped City of Sands

• Reduced shine on Icy Orbs when increasing in size.
  
• New Hani Galvanized (Active Skill buff) Icon.
  
• Final models for Area Hold and Reward Chest ("Taka-chan").
  
• New VFX for:
  
  • Bitter Barking Brew safeguard.
    
  • Bonnie's Unstable Debuff.
• Removed placeholder green cubes from visuals.
  
• Polished Loadout UI for a cleaner look.
  
• XP drop color adjustments for better clarity.
  
• New animations added to Objectives UI.

Quality of Life Improvements

• Thicker strikethrough in the UI for improved readability.
  
• Positive curio stat changes are now displayed on top of negative changes.
  
• "Alternate Actuality" Snowbro Model now has a capped size increase.
  
  • Although the Area can still increase, Snowbro won't be huge now if you focus your build on Area Size 🤣
    

[h3]Gameplay Changes[/h3]
Balance Updates
We’ve made adjustments to keep gameplay challenging but fair:

• Friaca is slightly nerfed to improve fairness.
  
• Memento Changes: You now need to unlock Banish and Purify Mementos before use.
  
  • (Previous cost: 470 / 1250 / 2020).
    
  • Banish: 920 / 2010 / 4000.
    
  • Purify: 920 / 2010 / 5000.

Tutorial Enhancements

• Every Loner starts somewhere, and now our tutorials make learning the ropes more intuitive
  
• Devices now reset automatically in learning areas.
  
• Arrows were added so that paths could be readable better.
  
• Healing shrines now feature target signs, letting you know they can (and should) be shot for recovery.
  

Combat

• Increased all enemy spawn distances.
• Adjusted miniboss and boss HP for solo play.

Explosives Rebalance

• Updated spawn behavior and damage for explosive interactions.

Map-Specific Tweaks:

Train Plateau:

• Reduced elite snacks required as objectives (from 4 to 2).
  
• Replaced snacks with gunners for certain objectives.
  
• Rebalanced gunners: they now take longer to increase the max number of enemies.

Twilight Dam:

• Swapped gunners for snacks in objectives.
  
• Balanced snacks to better-fit gameplay.

[h3]Fixes to keep the action flowing[/h3]
Here’s what’s been patched up:

• Resolved Loadout character animation freezes when navigating back from skills.
  
• Fixed Purify and Banish buttons becoming unresponsive on the first level-up.
  
• Nightmode Octavio now correctly takes damage when hit in the eye.
  
• Curios are now only selectable after completing their animations.
• ESC Menu no longer fails to open during Purify/Banish selections.
  
• Prevented players from walking over water in camp.
  
• The timer now displays the total run length, including pauses and level-ups.
  

[h3]Known Issues[/h3]

• Gold Goblin can get stuck in specific places in Twilight Dam
  
• There are some missing textures on Loner's Camp and Twilight Dam
  
• The game starts stuttering, freezes, and clients are disconnected
  
• Dead ally might be invisible to other players
  
• Safeguard while downed blocks the user from continuing playing
  
• Inviting through Steam makes friends join random people
  
• Ash's Ultimate and Gear Dash Combo Allows Unintended High-Flying Out of the Playable Area
  
• Placeholder Cubes are Being Used as Debuff Indicators
  
• Incorrect Prompt for Curios Screen: "TouchPad" is Shown Instead of "Share" on the DualSense Controller
  
• The player can get stuck in a gap and fall out of the map area
  
• Selecting 'Unlock Skills' on an unlocked character and then switching to a locked one allows purchasing skills for a locked character
  
• The game starts stuttering during the transition to the Final Boss stage
  
• Opening Taka-chan and then instantly leveling up might cause the Taka-chan screen to freeze
  
• Music starts stuttering and stops playing until the game crashes or the user returns to Camp in co-op
  

[h3]Director's Note[/h3]
Hey everyone!
We're right in the thick of development for the next Major Update, and it's progressing very nicely! I wanted to come here and tease you a bit of what's to come ;)


I'll leave you all to figure that one out. 😛

See you guys in the next update!

First of all, Happy 2025 Loners!

This update introduces exciting new features to enhance your adventure! Enjoy a revamped Objectives UI and two brand-new Mementos (Cosmic Fragrance and Infinite Trash), which add fresh layers of strategy to your gameplay.

We’ve also introduced visual upgrades, including polished drop effects and new banners for interactable objects. Plus, category icons have been redesigned for easier navigation, and performance optimizations ensure smoother gameplay for hosts and players alike.

And as some of you Loners requested, you can now skip the Special Chest Animation!

[h3]What's New[/h3]

• New Mementos Added:

• Cosmic Fragrance (Purify)
  
  • Once you purchase some Cosmic Fragrance levels, you can spend them during a level up to Purify any Cursed Curio, removing all negative effects and only obtaining the positive ones!
    

• Infinite Trash (Banish)
  
  • After you get some Infinite Trash points in the Mementos store, you can spend them during a level up to banish any level 1 Curio or Cursed Curio from the pool so they won't reappear again during this run. Keep in mind you can't banish Curios that you've already obtained. If you banish a cursed curio, that exact combination of effects won't show in your current run again!
    

• New Objectives UI – A sleek and improved way to track your goals!

[h3]Visual Improvements
[/h3]

• New banner for interactable objects and NPCs in the camp.
  
• Polished drop VFX for better consistency with pebbles’ behavior. Both now rotate when dropping.
  
• Enhanced VFX for the curio "Bitter Barking Brew."
  

[h3]Quality of Life Updates[/h3]

• Category Icons: Redesigned for easier navigation (Discoveries, Mementos, Loadout, Start Picnic).
  

• Performance Optimizations:
  • Boost performance for the host by revamping enemy systems to determine player position.
    
  • Optimized VFX for One-Eyed Twirl for smoother visuals.
    

[h3]Changes[/h3]

• Special Chest Skip:
  • Only the host can skip, with a fast-forward button, to finish the animation quickly.
    

• VFX optimizations for Icy Orbs.
  
• Curio UIs now display "MAX" instead of "LVL 4" when maxed on every screen.
  
• Removed Christmas decorations from the camp. It's time to welcome the new year!
  

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Turtle Bombers localization names are now correctly displayed on the discovery screen.
  
• Buff stacks no longer break lines when exceeding 99 (below health).
  

[h3]Known Issues
[/h3]

• The game starts stuttering during the transition to the Final Boss stage
  
• The game starts stuttering, freezes, and clients are disconnected
  
• Opening Taka-chan and then instantly leveling up might cause the Taka-chan screen to freeze
  
• Music starts stuttering and stops playing until the game crashes or the user returns to Camp in co-op
  
• Dead ally might be invisible to other players
  
• Safeguard while downed blocks the user from continuing playing
  
• Inviting through Steam makes friends join random people
  
• Ash's Ultimate and Gear Dash Combo Allows Unintended High-Flying Out of the Playable Area
  
• Placeholder Cubes are Being Used as Debuff Indicators
  
• Incorrect Prompt for Curios Screen: "TouchPad" is Shown Instead of "Share" on the PS5 Controller
  
• The player can get stuck in a gap and fall out of the map area
  
• Selecting 'Unlock Skills' on an unlocked character and then switching to a locked one allows purchasing skills for a locked character
  

[h3]Director's Commentary[/h3]
Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all your comments, feedback, critiques, and suggestions. A special shout-out goes to ruff1298 in our Steam Discussion forum; bro's been cooking a lot. While we're preparing our first major update, addressing the most significant player's pain points is still essential. We're currently looking at changes related to the first map's difficulty and improving the Discovery System to allow for a much better progression and unlock flow. This will be a lot of work and take some time, but we hear you and want to make it right
Please keep sending your feedback; this is the only way we can make Atomic the best game it can be 😊 . As always, I'll be on the Steam Discussion forum answering you guys, or you can ping me on our Discord and send your feedback there!

Cheers!
-[Dev] Ashkental

We’ve rolled out a quick hotfix based on your feedback! Thank you for helping us make the game better! Here’s what’s new:

• Fixed a bug where enemies hit by the Chain Light evolution would sometimes become permanently invulnerable until the end of the run.
  

How’s the Zone treating you during the Holiday Update?🎄 Let us know by hitting the “Send Feedback” button after your next picnic or joining us on Discord to chat—we’d love to hear from you!

Thank you for an amazing 2024! Your support means the world to us, and we’re excited for what’s to come in 2025. ✨

See you out there, Loners!

To celebrate the end of the year, we prepared a new update with new Curios, a new night mode map, and quality of life improvements!

And... a holiday splash art for you Loners to download. 😁

We've been reading all your comments and took time to revamp a significant part of the Combat Experience by changing how enemies despawn and completely remaking the Snakes (and other Shooters!) and its AI Behavior!

This update should boost multiplayer performance as well! So, if you were having networking issues, please try again and let us know!

[h3]What's New?
[/h3]Curios:

• Alternate Actuality: Defeating an enemy has a chance of spawning Snowbro, who'll inflict stacks of Chill on your Enemies! Gear Dashing through Snowbro will cause it to explode and deal tons of Chill!
  

• Scoopert: While your Device is on Cooldown, it spawns Orbs around you that apply stacks of Chill to enemies. Shooting these Orbs applies even more stacks!
  

New Night Mode Map:

• Twilight Dam: An ancient structure used to generate energy from way before Core splitting was a thing... A reality break envelops this area on permanent Twilight.
  

Director Note:
The Night Mode version of Twilight Dam should introduce a new challenge for those Loners who are incredibly experienced. If you manage to beat it, let us know!

Visual Enhancements:
A snow-kissed Loner's Camp:

• The Loner's Camp gets a holiday makeover:
  
• Snow-covered landscapes and frozen water.
  
• Twinkling Christmas lights.
  
• A glowing Christmas tree.
  
• And yes, even Rose is rocking a Santa hat.
  

• Goop VFX revamped! Now, it’s yellow for better understanding and visibility.
  
  • This is part of our quest to improve readability and better teach Camille's fight. This should make the Goop less fearsome for some players who mistook it for a "Poisonous" field.

• Enhanced lighting on characters, weapons, and devices in the loadout screen—looking sharp!
  
• Sleek new outlines for characters, enemies, and props.
  

[h3]Quality of Life Upgrades
[/h3]

• Locked Content Preview:
  • Content that players have yet to unlock appears in the mysterious atomic font... 👀

• Visible discoveries display unlock progress for better tracking.
  

• Interactions: Hold E action is now instant for most in-picnic actions.
  • Selecting Offerings, Buying Items, Activating Events, and Opening Taka-Chan are examples of now instant interactions.
    
  • Reviving Players is still a press-and-hold action.
    
  • All Camp actions are still press-and-hold.
    

[h3]Changes & Balancing
[/h3]

• Discovery System Rebalanced:
  • Most Discoveries are now easier to unlock
    
  • Some Discoveries now offer higher currency rewards.
    
  • Previously unlocked content will still be available, even if the discovery disappears and it's locked. Don't be surprised! Players will receive unlocked notifications again, even if the item has already been unlocked.

• Enemy AI Tweaks:
  • Enemies will not easily despawn anymore.
    
  • Enemies will now spawn much further away from you.
    
  • Snacks will now try its best to teleport in front of the player they are targeting.
    
  • Snacks now teleport further away from the player.
    
  • Shooter enemies AI rebalanced to be less frustrating when attacking players from behind.
    

• XP drop VFX intensity toned down—less flash, same reward!
  
• Slippery Surfaces: Light poles just got trickier. Testing this feature for future hazard zones.
  

Director Note:
Although they seem small, these combat changes are extremely significant. We've noticed the game is much more manageable, especially when doing Events, Objectives, or when fighting against lots of enemies. Enemies not despawning and spawning much further away means you can see them and better prepare yourself for the fight, while they won't just randomly pop right in your face all the time. This is part of our ongoing efforts to make combat in Atomic Picnic feel amazing, so let us know what you think. This change could only happen due to your feedback on our Steam Forums and Discord!

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]

• Snake Enemy:
  • Fixed Elite Snake's bouncing bullet VFX
• Camille Teleport:
  • Lag spikes during boss fights? Not anymore. Performance and connection issues resolved.
• Enemy Spawn Stability:
  • No more random despawning. Enemies are here to stay until defeated.
    
    • This fix should mitigate disconnection issues.
• Explodable Bouncing Bullets:
  • Fixed multiple explosions, missing explosions, and odd behavior on irregular surfaces.
• Peace Time Spawns:
  • Fixed enemies who were rudely interrupting your downtime.
• Performance Tweaks:
  • Bullet data optimizations that should decrease network traffic.
    
  • Optimizations for enemy jump VFX.
    
  • Fixed leaking event data from incomplete events that were causing performance and networking overhead.
  
  
• Camille Fixes:
  • Corrected oversized hitbox, expanding ball of bullets attack position, bullet size, and compatibility with the Suspicious Mirror (Curio) and JD's Active Skill.
• Other Fixes
• Fixed Taka-chan not responding when opening it simultaneously when the Mini-Boss spawns.
  
• Fixed Camp UI disappearing (We fixed it, but we are still testing this! So help us if you see that happening!)
  
• Fixed Enemies getting stuck on a rock shelf in Train Plateau.
  
• AI Pathfinding Update
  
  • Fewer places where enemies are spawning inside walls.
    
  • Enemies jump loop should not happen anymore.
    
    • Sometimes, enemies kept jumping in the same place without getting closer to the player.
  • Enemies navigation mesh is more straightforward and should demand less from weaker machines when hosting.
    
  • Melee enemies slightly shake when reaching the player's closest position on NavMesh.
    
  • Improved Little Mac's AI to better focus on one player at a time.

[h3]Known Issues
[/h3]

• Dead allies might be invisible to other players.
  
• Inviting through Steam sometimes makes friends join random people.
  
• Safeguard, while downed, blocks the user from continuing playing.
  
• The game starts stuttering during the transition to the Final Boss stage.
  
• Ash's Active Skill and Gear Dash combo allows unintended high-flying out of the playable area. (This is why we can't have nice things 🤣)
  
• Placeholder Cubes are being used as Debuff Indicators in Bonnie's Drop Lvl 3 skill.
  
• Incorrect Prompt for Curios Screen: "TouchPad" is shown instead of "Share" on the PS5 Controller.
  
• There are still some connection issues happening, we will continue investigating them.

[h3]Happy Holidays!
[/h3]This is more than just an update. It’s a thank YOU from us! Most of the impactful changes we've made here were thanks to your feedback, reports, and suggestions. Please keep them coming so we can make Atomic Picnic the best game it can be 💖

Have fun with the new content, improved combat experience, and a snow-kissed Loner's Camp! Whether you're here to build the best Chill Build or soak in the holiday vibes, this update is for you.
Bundle up, grab your Snowbro, and make this holiday one to remember! See you in-game!

Happy Holidays from the BitCake Team

PS: We will take our break from Dec 20 to Jan 6, but we're already cooking stuff for next year. Stay tuned!

[h2]Hey Loners![/h2]

We’ve rolled out a quick hotfix based on your feedback—thanks for keeping us in the loop! Here's what's new:

• Smarter Multiplayer Startups: Increased tolerance on the startup of multiplayer matches in order to reduce connection errors at the start of a picnic.
  
  • This fix should help reduce the number of failed picnic starts when playing in a squad, especially when in a group with a high discrepancy in PC specs.
    
• Future-Proofing: Added even more tools to help us diagnose and tackle potential connection hiccups down the line.
  

If you weren’t able to play with friends before, please try now and tell us how it went!

Quick Reminder: Don’t forget to hit the "Send Feedback" button after your picnic, or swing by our Discord to chat with us. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

See you out there, Loners!