Community Corner - May 2016

Greetings,

Welcome to our second Community Corner. In this post we'll be taking the time out to look over what's been happening within the Atom Universe community. This month, the community (that's you) have shared a whole wealth of creations.

Let's take a look at some of the things we've enjoyed the most!

Forums: Community member, FlammableAce has been hard at work envisioning how the in-game menus should look. His work has not only caught the eyes of the Community and Atom Universe Community team, but also the eyes of the Development team as well! You'll be able to find FlammableAce's work within this thread.

Blog: Community member and J.F.C & The Virtual Community Editor TrishaBaby, recently took the time out to interview Game Mechanic's very own John Ardussi. Trisha, interview with John is very thorough and must read for all PS Home lovers! You'll be able to read the full interview here.

Facebook: Mid May, we hosted a competition on our Facebook channel, the task was to create a head gear accessory for Adam or Eve. One lucky winner had the possibility to see their accessory get implemented into Atom Universe and the runner ups won access keys to Atom Universe's PS4 Early Access. ICYMI, you'll be able to find the winners of the competition here.

Overall, it's was a very exciting experience seeing everyone's submission and we'd like to say thank you to everyone that took part in the contest. Down below are a couple more pictures from the contests that we wanted to give a little shout out to.  

Joe Murray's Googly Eyed Glasses.

Sam Eeckelaers' Crown of Atom Universe. Fit for a Queen (or a King)

Robery Ernst's Call-A-Dapter, a must have accessory for the secret agents of today.

Twitch: Avid GTA V Streamer and long term PS Home Fan Devil00Angel, recently got her crew together in GTA V and in a pure art attack moment, recreated the Atom Republic logo by using red cars! You'll be able to see Devil00Angel's work come together in this stream.

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YouTube: Community member and YouTuber Fanblade, has been play-testing and logging each version of Atom Universe on his channel. If you're interested in seeing what's new in Atom Universe or you'd like to see Atom Universe evolve over time, Fanblade's YouTube channel is definitely worth subscribing to.

   

DevBlog #21 - Getting the Woodland House ready

Greetings and welcome to this week's DevBlog.

This week we'll be taking a closer look at the Woodland house. Created by Atom Republic Artist, Paul Rance. The Woodland House is a spectacular private space which is located deep inside the forest, overlooking a peaceful lake.

By now, you've all seen the private spaces video on our YouTube Channel. Now it's time to start bringing them into Atom Universe (starting with the Woodland House), but before we can that do we've got make sure a few things work first.

Firstly and probably the most important thing, setting up the collision barrier. By doing this the avatar is free to walk around and isn't going to fall through the floor or wander through the walls. It can be quite a time consuming task as you've not only got the wall and floors to consideration. You've also got to take various pieces of furniture and design features to consider as well. 

Next we've got to the avatar interacting with the environment, as personal space your avatar is going to be living here. They have to be able to sit down and relax, or maybe even sleep in a bed. Afterwards, we've got to into bug fixing mode and need to ensure that there are no game breaking bugs that are going to affect the player experience.

Weekly Developer Activity:

Art;

• Woodland House integration into Atom Universe.
• New Interactions: recline in a deck-chair or lay down in a bed.
• Designing new accessories.

Design;

• Started work on a new travel hub, allowing you to fast travel between areas.
• Squashing various bugs.

Programming; 

• Integrating the Woodland House into Atom Universe.
• Bug fixing.

Community; 

• Drafting up various documents and analysing data.
• Reading up on new trends.
• Discussing future events with the development team.

PC and PlayStation 4 Early Access Patch Notes - v.0.2.4.4112

Greetings all,

Today, we're bringing you a new update to the Early Access version of Atom Universe. With it comes some bugs fixes and addition headgear for your avatar to wear.

This patch will be available to PlayStation 4 players who have got access to the Early Access version of Atom Universe. Steam players will also be able to access this on the main branch of Steam, if you've been testing on the King Pin branch, please revert back to the main branch to enjoy all the cross-play functionality. 

Patch Notes

• The Lost & Found mini-game rewards items should now unlock when requirements have been met.
• Avatars can now wear multiple head accessories, depending what type of accessories they're wearing
• New accessories have been added to the Avatar customisation menu. 
• New dance animations have been added, time to show off your breakdance skill in the Arcade Plaza
• Express yourself, new emojis have been added. 

DevBlog #20 – Atom Universe Subscriptions and Weekly Developer Activity

Greetings and welcome to another edition of the DevBlog, this week we’re going to be taking a look at the Subscription option within Atom Universe, what is it? How much does it cost? Will I still be able to play Atom Universe without a Subscription? And finally, if I activate the Free Trial will I get charged when my Free Trial expires?

Let’s get to it shall we?

What is the Subscription?

By becoming an Atom Universe Subscriber, you’ll essentially become a season ticket-holder for the theme park. In return, you will gain access to all exclusive Atom Republic content at no extra cost and you will receive in-game bonuses.

Atom Universe Subscription Benefits

• Full access to all exclusive Atom Republic content
• Greater daily bonuses more Atomz to spend in the park
• Thrilling Dance moves
• Unique Emojis
• Stylish Accessories

How much does it cost?

At this point in time, it’s absolutely free! We’re currently in the process of testing this mechanic out and making sure everything is working as it’s supposed to be. During this period of time, we’re giving you a little insight of how the Subscription will work.

Can I play Atom Universe without a Subscription?

Of course you can! You’ll still be able to explore all the public spaces, take part in the mini-games and customise your avatar with free-to-use content.

If I activate the Free Trial, will get charged with my Free Trial expires?

No, once your Free Trial has ended, your account will revert back to the standard version. If you would like to continue using the Subscription content, you will need to re-activate it from the ‘User’ panel in the main menu.

Atom Universe Block Party this weekend! If you have access to Atom Universe, come join us in the Hub this Saturday at 12:00PM CST / 10AM PST / 1:00PM EST / 6PM GMT.

Weekly Developer Activity

Art;

• Currently in the process of creating hairstyles
• Tweaking and polishing the Woodlands House

Design;

• Improvements to customisation and UI

Programming;

• Server scalability
• Automated testing

Community;

• Gathering Analytics and monitoring growth

PlayStation 4 and Steam Patch Notes v0.2.3.4112

Patch v0.2.3.4112 is now live for PlayStation 4 and Steam Early Access players. 

Additional Steam Information

Steam Players, you'll be able to access the latest version on our main branch. If you've been testing on our King Pin branch you will need to default back to the main branch. You'll be able to achieve this by doing the following:

• Open your Steam Client.
• Right Click on Atom Universe.
• Go to Properties.
• Head over the 'BETAS' Tab.
• Click on the drop-down menu.
• Select 'NONE - Opt out of all beta programs'.

Patch notes follow as:

• Travel to The Hub (work in progress) with the portal from the Arcade Plaza. 
• Help the Lost and Found department to find missing items around The Hub and in return you'll be rewarded with exclusive items. 
• Additional head gear items are now available within the Avatar Customisation menu. 
• You can now mute the audio from the option menu. 
• Increased server capacity from 12 to 16.
• Import steam/PSN friends in the social menu.
• Find and add friends by the name (name is unique and initialised by the steam/PSN name).
• Interactive dance floor in Arcade Plaza: leaving a red trail when walking on it.
• In the Hub there are two screens playing streaming videos. Courtesy of PS Talent.

DevBlog #19 – The Return of The Hub

Hello there and welcome back to Atom Republic’s DevBlog. During last week's entry we got a first look at the newer, revamped Hub. The week, the AR team has been in full swing continuing the momentum working on The Hub, so much so, that Steam players can now test and explore The Hub on the King Pin Branch (click here to find out how access this update on Steam).

What’s New?

While exploring The Hub you quickly learn that this area is very much under construction! The work force have left certain rides and attractions fenced off and if you look to the sky, you can see cranes going about their business. Lucky, the new area that is available is safe enough for your Avatar to explore.

The Lost & Found Minigame

During the excitement of The Hub re-opening, it seems that some unfortunate visitors to the park have lost some of their property…Keep a watchful eye out for these missing items and return them to the Lost and Found Kiosk to receive a reward. Keep bringing back lost items every day and you will receive a reward each day. 

What's Next?

• Bug Fixing - With new updates comes new bugs, the development team have a list of known bugs from what they've discovered in the studio, but keep your bug reports coming in on the Atom Universe and Steam forums. 
• Steam & PlayStation 4 Early Access - Once Atom Universe is in a solid position and the development team are happy, we'll be looking to push this update out live for all Early Access members, allowing the cross-play functionality to once more be resumed by both platforms. Keep an eye on our social media channels, forums and blog. We'll be making a big splashy announcement a little bit closer to the time. 

Weekly Developer Activity:

Art;

• Breakdance animations.
• More head accessories for your avatar to wear.

Design;

• Improving Avatar socket system to attach accessories.
• In the process of adding UI sound manager component into the menu options.

Programming;

• Server Performance.
• Various bug fixes.

Community; 

• Gathering Analytics and making pretty charts.
• In the process of creating an updated version of the Private Spaces video.

DevBlog #18 - Atom Republic Block Party and The Hub Screenshots

Greetings to all,

Welcome back to the Atom Republic DevBlog!

Before we move on to the new stuff, let's have a little recap of what happened last week. CEO Tanguy Dewavrin sat down in front of camera to answer some of your burning questions and there was some chit-chatter about The Hub making a return and that we would share some more information over the course of this month (what a tease!).

Just a quick reminder that the Atom Universe Block Party is this weekend. Come join Tanguy and the Atom Universe Community Manager in the Arcade Plaza this Saturday at 12:00 CST (10AM PST/1:00PM EST/6PM GMT). Who knows, maybe there will be some surprises during the party...

The Hub

Building on from last week's DevBlog, three new images have surfaced this week. In the first you can can see the entrance of the Arcade Plaza leading underground.

The second showing the The Hub from behind the Arcade Plaza Entrance, one of the more notable things in these pictures is the addition of the platforms, Kickstarter backers may remember that these were not place around The Hub before the Early Access phase. 

And Finally, Adam is trying out his new Teddy Bear mask (such a show off). 

Weekly Developer Activity 

Art;

• Creating new Daily Bonus Artwork
• Creating even more head gear accessories

Design;

• Linking the Arcade Plaza to The Hub

Programming;

• Getting the performance metric from the server
• Updating the Front-end menu to all access to The Hub

Community;

• Maintaining the flow of content across our social channels
• Reviewing older videos and seeing which content needs updating.

Community Corner - April 2016

Greetings and welcome to the first Community Corner (and hopefully, the first of many). Within the Community Corner, we’re hoping to highlight various activities, content, communities and members that pop-up within and around the Atom Universe community.

3rd Party Communities to explore and join:

“AviLife is a community that is designed to collate the latest news, information, events and virtual groups/clubs from multiple virtual worlds in one place.

We first came up with the idea of AviLife not long after the announcement of Atom Universe. Currently we're a relatively small community but we hope to grow alongside the next generation of virtual worlds.”

We’re all about the community.

“Other community websites often forbid you to talk about any other groups or clubs you may be a part of, but not us. Our recently launched club board, a place where club leaders can create discussion posts for their club is an example of how open we are to other communities and groups. Other boards on our forum include an events board, a place where you can organize and post about upcoming events, a general discussion board and a sub forum for each virtual world.

You may have seen one of our Atom Universe video tours on YouTube or read one of our Q&A sessions with virtual world developers, something that is going to continue as the next generation of virtual worlds launch.

We hope you stop by to read the latest news, take part in upcoming events and get involved with the community.”

Where to find us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | AviLife

“J.F.C & The Virtual Community is an adult based social club, Soon to be on Atom Universe. We will be hosting & streaming club/community parties & already have events planned that are on the back burner for now with some amazing artists. We will also be doing photo shoots & contests. Making club/community videos, which we will upload to our YouTube channel regularly, & so much more.

We welcome everyone 18+ to come check us out. Regardless of what other club/community you may be a member of.

J.F.C & The Virtual Community will be filled with diversity, and welcomes everyone to join us.

We encourage everyone to be themselves, & also respectful of other members. We all are on the same team.

We currently have over 500+ community members in our community on the PlayStation 4, (Search us). As well as 500+ members on our Facebook group. Our Facebook Page is also growing as well.

We are all just waiting for Atom Universe to go public so together we can all make it happen cap'n. All we need is you, so we'll see you there, on Atom Universe.”

Where to find us: Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Twitter | YouTube |

“When PsHome closed people started to look for other places to go, but not everyone knew where to look and what options they had…Mizukikioko and Peerhoofd decided to make a Facebook group where they could all meet, share and talk about the virtual worlds they joined or already "live" in.

The Virtual Future! Is a Facebook group for all ages and all virtual worlds. We share or bring news as soon as it is out. Our members can post all they want as long as it has to do with virtual worlds. Do you play a virtual world? You are more than welcome to join us!

The Virtual Future! Where we bring the news of tomorrow today.”

Where to find us: Facebook

YouTube:

KaptinFathead has been doing an amazing job bringing you the latest news of Atom Universe. You can check out his Official YouTube Channel.

Forums:

Towards the end of April, we hosted our first video Q&A! You'll be able to both parts of this video series on our Official YouTube Channel, but we couldn't have done it without you guys and gals. Here's a big thank you from Atom Republic to you: 

Atom Angel, Bestscreenname, Fanblade, Greenlanter360, MidNight, Muir, Mumbles and ♥So♥Pixelicious  

Future Community Corner Posts:

Here's a question to the community, is this something you'd like to see again? Maintaining posts like this would require your help and assistance too! Have you created some fan art, wrote a blog or maybe you've made a YouTube video that includes Atom Universe? 

Reach out to us on Facebook, Include the #AtomUniverse hashtag in your tweets or share your posts on the Atom Universe Community. And who knows, maybe you'll see your work appear in the next Community Corner.