Rebellion Developer Delves into Atomfall's Extensive Accessible Gameplay Feature Set

[T0@st]

Last month, we released Atomfall, and it quickly became our most successful launch in the over 30-year history of Rebellion. We want to shine a light on something else we're proud of—how Atomfall is also Rebellion's most accessible title to date. Atomfall might offer challenges for those that want them, but it shouldn't be difficult to physically play. With that in mind, we want to showcase some of the standout accessibility features we've built to help everyone explore the mysteries of the Quarantine Zone. We've included features across motor, vision, audio and cognition, with many becoming accessibility firsts for the studio—including additional audio cues, directional indicators on subtitles, and more. We hope that the host of features, both in and outside of options, helps welcome more players to the Quarantine Zone.

Playstyle
We've built a world full of choice and we want players to be able to play their own way. So, instead of difficulty, Atomfall provides a choice of Playstyle. There are five preset Playstyles to choose from, including Investigator for those seeking more survival gameplay, Brawler for a combat-focused experience, and our default Atomfall experience in Survivor. Sightseer, on the other hand, is a preset which will allow more players to explore and enjoy the Quarantine Zone. It lessens combat and survival aspects and provides a boost to exploration to help you through the expansive Lake District and all its mysteries.




Rebellion is known for expansive customisation of difficulty, and this applies to Playstyles in Atomfall—each preset can be fully tailored to provide an experience that suits you, and it can all be changed at any time during your playthrough.

Navigating Leads
A huge part of Atomfall is investigation; meeting the survivors in the world and following leads they give you. To help with reading and cognitive load, the Exploration section of Playstyle allows you to enable features like Navigational Hints, Flagged Leads and Waypoint Markers.

We want the player to get wrapped up in the different threads and explore at their own pace without pressure to complete the main story, but we also recognize this isn't for everyone. Turning on the Flagged Leads option will highlight the main story quests, and Waypoint Markers also assists with this, giving the option of markers on the compass to follow to your objective, if you enjoy that extra level of guidance.



Lastly, Navigational Hints provide short, clear hint text which summarizes a lead, reducing overall reading and complexity of language.

Contrast & Text Scaling
Atomfall includes options to boost the contrast of UI and gameplay elements, as well as expansive text scaling up to 104px at 4K resolution, in line with Xbox's Adjustable Text Size accessibility feature tag. These tags have been key for us in finding impactful areas to work on for our players, as well as ensuring they can search for the features they need with confidence.



For extra contrast with the UI, Atomfall offers several options for you to change the color of UI elements, like the crosshair, and a backplates option allows you to set the opacity of backplates behind all text and UI in the game.



For gameplay, you have options to turn on extra UI for traversal points, high contrast icons for enemy threats, and can set the color of the outline of interactive objects in the game. There is also an NPC highlights feature, which allows you to set a strong color overlay on all hostile and non-hostile NPCs in the game, to give extra visibility for players who need it.

Directional Indicators
As well as full subtitles and a host of customization options like subtitle color, speaker name color, size and background, our subtitles in Atomfall include an option to enable directional and distance indicators. These indicators show an arrow which points towards the source of the dialogue and an approximate distance to the source.



This will help anyone playing with reduced audio to locate who's talking—especially in combat situations, where enemies may shout from behind your character. Alongside this, players can turn on the enemy icons option to show in-world icons above enemies, to assist in locating them visually.

Informative Audio
Atomfall has a lot of informative audio by design, such as distinct audio for pick-ups and unique shouts or cues for when an attack is incoming to the player. On top of this, Atomfall features additional audio cues for in-game interactions and to assist with combat.



A layered set of features allows players to turn on snap aiming with cues, to know when they are snapped on to an enemy; aiming cues, which offer signals that help guide a player to their target using pitch and frequency; and passive NPC sounds, which provide spatialized audio for all NPCs, allowing engagement in melee combat through audio alone.

Controls and Remapping
Atomfall features remapping for both Keyboard and Controller and includes presets for one-handed play, made possible using our automated movement features and adaptive hardware. By default, Atomfall's control scheme can be set to have no holds using expansive toggle options, affecting actions like aim, and short holds for interactions.



All interfaces are also fully usable with a mouse or through button presses, giving players choice to use what is most comfortable for them.



We're so proud of what we've achieved with Atomfall, and we hope that these features help more people to play and enjoy the game. But, with accessibility, we can always do more—if you have feedback, please get in touch with us through our Help Centre, or join the conversation on our Discord.

Atomfall is out now for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4|5, Windows PC, and Cloud. It's also available with Game Pass. And with Xbox Play Anywhere, play on Xbox consoles, Windows PC, and cloud with full cross-entitlements and cross-saves.

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[Dahita]

One of the shortcomings of games like Fallout 4 IMO is the constant need to check every drawer or locker to get little artifacts you need to craft your camp or fix/improve your equipment. Yet you also need to manage your inventory and what you can carry, so the game quickly became an inventory management game with back and forth trips just to make sure you wouldn't leave anything behind. It ruined the experience for me. My only solace was using cheating codes to get unlimited crafting material and be able to focus on the story instead. The fact they offer different gameplay experiences is a really smart option!

 

[Space Lynx]

One of the shortcomings of games like Fallout 4 IMO is the constant need to check every drawer or locker to get little artifacts you need to craft your camp or fix/improve your equipment. Yet you also need to manage your inventory and what you can carry, so the game quickly became an inventory management game with back and forth trips just to make sure you wouldn't leave anything behind. It ruined the experience for me. My only solace was using cheating codes to get unlimited crafting material and be able to focus on the story instead. The fact they offer different gameplay experiences is a really smart option!

are the cheat codes easy to use or do you have to do special crap like cheat engine to use them?

 

[Hyderz]

One of the shortcomings of games like Fallout 4 IMO is the constant need to check every drawer or locker to get little artifacts you need to craft your camp or fix/improve your equipment. Yet you also need to manage your inventory and what you can carry, so the game quickly became an inventory management game with back and forth trips just to make sure you wouldn't leave anything behind. It ruined the experience for me. My only solace was using cheating codes to get unlimited crafting material and be able to focus on the story instead. The fact they offer different gameplay experiences is a really smart option!

there is a perk in strength that allows you to overburden and still fast travel.. but it takes a while to get but i understand for the builds you wanna do not being able to put into specific perks

 

[Apocalypsee]

are the cheat codes easy to use or do you have to do special crap like cheat engine to use them?

For Fallout 4 you need to know the item ID if you wanted to spawn stuff, like for example if you wanted to spawn 10mm ammo, the item ID is 0001f276, open up console by pressing tilde ~ key and press 'player.additem <itemID> <amount>', you can remove the 000 in front of item ID. Or if you like me, you have at least two of the same things that you need for crafting, you can use trainer that have 'Item don't decrease' and drop some of the on the other container till you get the desired amount

 

[Space Lynx]

For Fallout 4 you need to know the item ID if you wanted to spawn stuff, like for example if you wanted to spawn 10mm ammo, the item ID is 0001f276, open up console by pressing tilde ~ key and press 'player.additem <itemID> <amount>', you can remove the 000 in front of item ID. Or if you like me, you have at least two of the same things that you need for crafting, you can use trainer that have 'Item don't decrease' and drop some of the on the other container till you get the desired amount

i'm a fps whore, so i tend to avoid bethesda games as 60 fps just doesn't work for me anymore

i specifically was asking him about atomfall cheat codes

 

[Apocalypsee]

i'm a fps whore, so i tend to avoid bethesda games as 60 fps just doesn't work for me anymore

i specifically was asking him about atomfall cheat codes

Oh lol sorry for misunderstanding

 

[Space Lynx]

Oh lol sorry for misunderstanding

no worries, speaking of which im playing crysis 3 remastered right now, max settings, 240 fps 240hz. 1440p, its sick.

 

[Dahita]

are the cheat codes easy to use or do you have to do special crap like cheat engine to use them?

I don't remember so it must be easy. I'm surprised you find those games demanding; I've always found them to be quite easy to run. Anyway, with today's computer, you couldn't be below 300fps.

 

[Kohl Baas]

One of the shortcomings of games like Fallout 4 IMO is the constant need to check every drawer or locker to get little artifacts you need to craft your camp or fix/improve your equipment. Yet you also need to manage your inventory and what you can carry, so the game quickly became an inventory management game with back and forth trips just to make sure you wouldn't leave anything behind. It ruined the experience for me. My only solace was using cheating codes to get unlimited crafting material and be able to focus on the story instead. The fact they offer different gameplay experiences is a really smart option!

My biggest problem with the whole Fallout series (and Bethesda games in general to be frank... Khm... Starfield...) is the utter bullcrap stealth mechanic. There were pretty reasonable applications and solutions to that yet they're stubbornly forcing their useless approach... I'm a sneaky f*cker and this literally killing the games for me...

 

[Vayra86]

One of the shortcomings of games like Fallout 4 IMO is the constant need to check every drawer or locker to get little artifacts you need to craft your camp or fix/improve your equipment. Yet you also need to manage your inventory and what you can carry, so the game quickly became an inventory management game with back and forth trips just to make sure you wouldn't leave anything behind. It ruined the experience for me. My only solace was using cheating codes to get unlimited crafting material and be able to focus on the story instead. The fact they offer different gameplay experiences is a really smart option!

Yeah... the odd thing was, in Fallout 3 that inventory management actually came with a constant lack of ammunition so there was this squeeze between carrying lots of different guns and overburdening yourself with them so you always had something on hand, versus praying you won't run out of .whatevercaliberyouwanted to actually use all the time. So you didn't take the rocket launcher. And then you really did need it while on a quest - that kind of stuff. It really added a survival-ish element to it, perfect fit.

There was gameplay in there. Fallout 4 and its crafting kinda killed that, but kept the inventory limits for no real reason. Its one of the many examples of Bethesda's descent into ever poorer titles.

As for Atomfall... I still can't quite get to grips with the whole Dr Who vibe in my post apocalyptic setting, it doesn't work for me just yet. Maybe its an acquired taste.

 

[Space Lynx]

I don't remember so it must be easy. I'm surprised you find those games demanding; I've always found them to be quite easy to run. Anyway, with today's computer, you couldn't be below 300fps.

bethesda games demanding? no, but they are capped at 60 fps.

 

[razaron]

My biggest problem with the whole Fallout series (and Bethesda games in general to be frank... Khm... Starfield...) is the utter bullcrap stealth mechanic. There were pretty reasonable applications and solutions to that yet they're stubbornly forcing their useless approach... I'm a sneaky f*cker and this literally killing the games for me...

Also a sucker for stealth in non-stealth games. If I know a game has stealth before I play it, I'll always google "is stealth viable in x".

Too easy or too hard? Requiem fixes too easy for Skyrim. Makes sound and ambient light matter more, in turn making gear, perks, spells etc. matter more. You can't just be a heavy armoured Orc with zero stealth investment stealing the Jarls underwear off of his (living) body in broad daylight.

Thieves guild playthough feels amazing, it legit feels like a new game. I did it mostly non-violent, only doing combat in thieves guild quests where it's mandatory or too fun not to go full silent assassin. Bethesda put a lot of work into level design, patrol routes (I didn't even realise the game had these...), dark hiding spots etc. all made pointless by how OP vanilla stealth is. You'll legit be surprised by the thieves guild quests. Played a stealth archer (unsurprisingly lol) specialising in illusion magic and alchemy. The progression from struggling to stay hidden even in darkness, to reliably sneaking up on people feels great and more importantly, earned.

Example sneak build progression is:
- Unperked: If you stay crouched, completely still, out of sight and in the dark someone might walk past you giving you a chance to sneak stab if they're close enough. Fine for non-stealth builds trying to avoid combat or get one initial shot off (bowstrings make noise now) , while requiring stealth builds to actually invest of the bat.
- 25 skill: You'll be a jack of all trades stealth dabbler build. You can start to stutter step or slow crawl behind people depending on gear. So pickpocketing, stealing while avoiding combat and backstabbing (silent if you kill or very small noise radius, can't remember) become options. Muffle from gear and spells matters now, which is really cool. You can fire arrows from slightly closer (still too far for most indoors) and still scurry away for hit and run. You feel like a novice but in a good way. Like your starting to dabble and get your feet wet.
- 50 skill: You'll be a stealth build that also dabbles in other things. You can reliably sneak up on or past people from behind. At this point in a playthough, the combination of IRL skill improvements and some relevant enchants/spells will make stealth less stressful, more like a well oiled machine. You'll start specialising more in pure stealth (heavier investment in muffle and Sneak skill buffs) or assassin (lighter, but still needed, investment in muffle and focus on sneak attack damage/armour piercing). Depending on investment you could be full speed crawling behind people by this point (so no more toggling walk).
- 75 skill: You'll be a true hybrid stealth-other things build. You can definitely full speed crawl behind people now. You'll be sneak attacking undead and machines (requires perks for the damage multiplier, x1 by default in Requiem). Can reliably stealth archer indoors without having the entire garrison swarm you.
- 100 skill: You'll be whatever build you want. You feel amazing. Still not vanilla "crouch in front of an enemy in broad daylight in heavy armour for instant de-aggro" level but you can get close by combining potions, spells and enchants if you feel like it. Which you won't feel like too often (unless there's a fun situation ), since 75 is enough. 100 gives you the leeway to move more of your build investment (enchants, buff spells, gear etc.) to non-stealth without compromising stealth. Essentially a "win more" state.

I highly recommend Noxcrabs Requiem mods or a modlist based on them. For stealth playthroughs, adds spells for making noise and actual illusions (Illusion magic having illusions, shocking), legit feels like a proper stealth game like. Also reworks Alchemy to be more interesting and less win more, including Witcher style mutagens (well balanced). I've played Requiem+Noxcrab via the "Do Not Go Gently" and "Lorerim" modlists before. I'd highly recommend Lorerim. It's newer so still actively supported, very polished with only high quality mods (plus lots of custom mods to rebalance them/make them fit together, feels seamless), lore friendly (hence "Lore"rim) so no weird shit ruining the immersion.

A bit of a rant (above and below lol) but Skyrim with Requiem, Noxcrabs tweaks for Requiem and "modern combat" (Precision for accurate hitboxes, MCO for animation sets/combos, TK Dodge and parry/perfect block mods) is hands down my favourite gaming experience. Not just for stealth but in general. Requiem refers to itself as "Requiem - The Roleplaying Overhaul". I'm not really one for roleplay, I like RPGs for the numbers but Requiem achieves it's mission statement through those numbers making it the holy grail for me. Skyrim has an amazingly detailed open world with great environmental story telling, a variety of RPG playstyles and mechanics (stealth, magic, crafting, alchemy etc.) and surprisingly good level design. All let down by health sponge enemies, every player being a master of all trades, not all skills being even close to equal. You end up going through the motions without smelling the roses, so to speak.

Requiem does several things to make you feel your characters roleplay fantasy through the numbers:
- Entire world is now static, no longer dynamically leveled. Entire overhaul is balanced around this, including rebalancing entire game (enemies, quest rewards, items placed in world etc.). Generally lower level near the main cities and higher the further from civilisation, with exceptions here and there.
- Rebalances combat to be higher damage on both sides. As a lowly horse thief, 2 wolves early game are a (fun) challenge. Higher level enemies still have more health but nowhere near as much as vanilla. Difficulty increase mainly comes from resists and regen, so requires more DPS or more "tools" (lightning arrow for machines, fire sword for vampires etc.). Dragons are a threat now, you'll work your way to that first kill not bumble into it like vanilla.
- Makes stamina an actual resource. Lower stamina bar equals lower damage/damage resistance and higher spell costs. Most actions use a bit use/drain a bit and heavy attacks use a lot. Perks, enchants etc. can reduce costs (on top of just getting more regen or flat stamina). Gives non-mages something to think about but also affects mages to a lesser degree. Controversial but I like it, not a fan of pointless mechanics in games, could just save harddrive space by removing them if they do nothing.
- Makes skill levels matter less and perks matter much more. Most skills are pretty much useless with zero perk investment. You start the game with 3 perk points to spend and you will definitely feel them.
- Makes armour type (cloth/light/heavy) actually matter. Weight affects noise, stamina costs and magicka costs. Reaching armour cap without heavy armour significantly harder. Early game, a 100hp warrior with iron armour will feel much tankier than a 100hp thief in leather (arrows might one shot cloth mages lol)
- Makes stealth require more than 2 brain cells. See rant at beginning.
- Rebalances skills so all can be viable as a "main" skill. Restoration is now a perfectly valid school a magic.

There's quite a few changes, hence why it feels like a new game, but all these mechanics and systems already exist in vanilla Skyrim. It just makes them shine and integrate better with each other. Net result is characters actually having builds, there being multiple avenues for investment into builds (choice of perks, enchants, spells, potions, dragon shouts, potions etc.) and a variety of viable builds (some are still stronger but no more dead skills, like Restoration).

A bit of a rant but I plan to use this as a copy pasta in future lol. Also UE5 bad, Creation engine good.

 

[Dahita]

bethesda games demanding? no, but they are capped at 60 fps.

lol, no they aren't, what gave you that idea?!

 

[Space Lynx]

lol, no they aren't, what gave you that idea?!

i guess i misunderstood your comment, nm