How to Make an Atomic Bomb in Your Garden Settings Guide

Accessing the Settings Menu

Before you start gathering rare parts or dodging suspicious neighbors, it's wise to configure your game. The settings menu in How to Make an Atomic Bomb in Your Garden is your control center for tailoring the experience. You can access it from the main menu or pause the game at any time by pressing the Escape key.

The menu is divided into several tabs: Graphics, Audio, Controls, and Gameplay. Each tab contains specific options that affect how the game looks, sounds, and plays. For a complete overview of all key bindings, see our controls guide.

Graphics Settings

Getting the right visual balance is crucial for spotting rare components or noticing a federal agent approaching your fence. The graphics tab offers several key options.

• Resolution: Set this to your monitor's native resolution for the sharpest image. Lower resolutions can boost performance on older PCs.
• Display Mode: Choose between Fullscreen, Windowed, and Borderless Windowed. Borderless is recommended for multitasking.
• Quality Presets: Options range from Low to Ultra. The "Medium" preset is a good starting point for most systems.
• Shadow Quality: Higher settings make shadows more realistic, helping you identify hiding spots for your parts.
• Texture Quality: Controls the detail on items like uranium ore and control rods. High textures require more VRAM.
• View Distance: A higher setting lets you see neighbors and patrol cars from farther away, giving you more time to hide your project.

Audio Settings

Sound design is key to immersion in this game. The hum of a centrifuge or the distant chatter of a suspicious neighbor can provide critical gameplay cues.

• Master Volume: Controls the overall game sound.
• Music Volume: Adjust the background soundtrack. The music intensifies as you get closer to completing your device.
• SFX Volume: Sound effects include the clicking of tools, the rumble of machinery, and the footsteps of agents.
• Voice Volume: This controls the occasional radio broadcasts and neighbor comments.
• Subtitles: Enable this if you have trouble hearing dialogue or prefer reading.

Controls Settings

The controls tab allows you to remap every action. The default layout is designed for keyboard and mouse, but you can adjust it to your preference.

• Key Bindings: Click on any action (e.g., "Interact", "Crouch", "Open Inventory") and press a new key to rebind it.
• Mouse Sensitivity: Adjust the speed of your camera movement. Lower sensitivity helps with precise aiming when using tools.
• Invert Y-Axis: Toggle this option if you prefer inverted mouse controls for looking up and down.

For a full list of default controls and advanced techniques, check the controls guide.

Gameplay Settings

This tab adjusts the core game rules and difficulty. These settings can make your playthrough easier or more challenging.

• Difficulty: Choose from Easy, Normal, and Hard. Easy mode gives you more time before suspicion rises. Hard mode makes agents more perceptive.
• Autosave Interval: Set how often the game saves automatically. Options are every 5, 10, or 15 minutes. We recommend 5 minutes for safety.
• Tooltip Duration: Control how long on-screen hints and item descriptions stay visible.
• Show Enemy Indicators: When enabled, a subtle icon appears near the edge of the screen when a threat is nearby. Disable for a more immersive experience.
• Tutorial Prompts: Toggle the initial tutorial messages. If you are starting over, you might want to turn these off.

Optimizing for Performance

If your PC struggles to run the game smoothly, use these steps to improve performance.

1. Lower the Resolution

   Reducing your resolution to 720p or 900p provides the biggest performance gain.

2. Set Preset to Low

   Select the "Low" quality preset. This disables most intensive effects.

3. Disable Shadows

   Set Shadow Quality to "Off" or "Low". This frees up significant GPU resources.

4. Reduce View Distance

   Lowering this setting reduces the number of objects rendered at once, helping with CPU load.

Common Questions About Settings

Can I change settings while the game is paused? Yes, you can access the full settings menu from the pause screen. Changes apply immediately.

Will changing graphics settings affect my game save? No. Graphics, audio, and controls settings are saved separately from your game progress. You can alter them freely without losing your atomic bomb project.

What is the best setting for spotting hidden parts? Set your Texture Quality to High and View Distance to at least Medium. This makes small items like screws and wires more visible against the ground.

I changed a setting and now the game looks wrong. What do I do? Go to the Graphics tab and click the "Reset to Default" button. This will revert all graphics options to their original values.

For more tips on getting started, see our beginner guide. If you are having technical issues, our troubleshooting guide may help.