Ahoy Pathfinders!

Last week was quite a ride and we would like to thank you all for continuing to sail along with us! It has been about 6 months now since we have renewed the ATLAS journey, and now the last scheduled patch of the year is upon us! 

We have made several fixes to the Ramming Galley, Armored Docks, and more. This includes a fix for Explosive Barrels so they no longer deal damage in Freeports and removing some bad maps from Treasure Map spawning. Christmas Trees and Ship level caps have also been fixed. We have also included a few changes, like the much requested increase in reverse sailing speed, which has now been increased by 200%. The Glider Suit may now only be activated under 100m height as well. As a little bonus, Bears can also now wear hats! For the full list of bug fixes and changes, please see the changelog.

Most importantly, we have also made some server reliability improvements that should also help to reduce incidents of losses. To fully address the issue will be a long-term process, as it is a multifaceted issue and touches many aspects of the code. We are touching on different symptoms of it throughout development as we continue to make our investigations and improve the code. Please continue to report these issues to us as they greatly aid in our efforts to optimize and improve the ATLAS experience. Thanks for your patience, understanding, and support!

Tonight’s patch has quite a few new things in store! First up - we have the Lumberyard, a farmhouse variation that gathers only thatch and wood. All of the systems we have been implementing will continue to see development and improvements as we refine them based on feedback and observation. This is the first step towards the next iteration of the farmhouse system as we introduce specialized variants. Regular farmhouses will still continue to collect Wood and Thatch for now. However, Lumberyards will gather them at a much faster rate.

Aye, and were ye looking for a way to store all yer drinks for the holidays? The new Keg is the perfect way to store and transport your alcohol. Afterall, drinks taste best directly from a Keg, don’t they? The Keg can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Secrets of Cooking skill in the Cooking & Farming tree. For only 30 fiber, 5 metal, 50 thatch, and 60 wood - you can build a Keg and be able to store any alcohol items in stacks of 50. Drinks for everyone!

Having trouble taming some creatures? Might we recommend the new Tranq Arrow? The Tranq Arrow is a new ammo type for the Bow that deals high amounts of Torpor and little physical damage. It can be used to put creatures to sleep, allowing pirates to more easily contain them for taming. Tranq Arrows can be crafted in the Mortar and Pestle after learning the Taming Tier 2 skill in the Beastmastery Tree.

Last week the first of the new ships that can be bought for gold, the Ramming Galley, hit the shores of Atlas. We were excited to see our baby in action and have made a number of changes to help it create more of a splash. We increased its base speed by 40% and have also increased its turn speed while sails are closed. As a ship meant to directly attack and charge into others, it needed more oomph so we increased the damage of all cannons on the Ramming Galley from 100% to 125%. Ramming Galleys will also now deal damage to NPC ships.

To compensate its strength a bit, the Ramming Galley now costs an additional 75 Rhino Horns, a new resource type obtained from defeating Rhinos, to purchase.

In addition to these changes, we also made a number of bug fixes to the Ramming Galley, which can be viewed in the full Changelog that follows.

As with all the features and mechanics we have so far introduced, we will continue to balance and refine the Ramming Galley.

Previously we discussed a rework on the Claim System. Originally, we intended to introduce this by the end of this year. As things move in development and new challenges present themselves, timelines and ideas can often change. We are still working on the new Claim System’s implementation and testing it. It will likely not be introduced until early next year. Many were concerned that a rework of the Claim System would bring about a wipe. Although wipes are inevitable in EA, we also do our best to wipe only when it is absolutely necessary. At this time there is no estimated or set date for a wipe and we will keep the community updated if that changes.

As the last patch of the year, the ATLAS team will be setting sail for a small holiday break. The next scheduled patch will be the week of January 11. However, we will continue to perform daily server restarts and we will have our spyglass handy to watch out for any urgent issues that may require our attention. Otherwise, pass us your Kegs and some glasses please! Happy Holidays!

v519.5

New Structure: Lumberyard
The Lumberyard is a farm that only gathers thatch and wood. It can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Advanced Automation skill in the Construction & Mercantilism Tree.

• Shares placement restrictions with other Farmhouses
  
• Gathers about 1/3 more wood and thatch than a regular Farmhouse
  
• Crafting Resources: 800 Wood, 600 Thatch, 320 Fiber, 280 Metal, 100 Hide

New Structure: Keg

• The Keg is a new storage container used to store alcohol. It can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Secrets of Cooking skill in the Cooking & Farming Tree.
  
• All alcohol items can be stored in stacks of 50
  
• Crafting Resources: 30 Fiber, 5 Metal, 50 Thatch, 60 Wood

New Bow Ammo Type: Tranq Arrow

• Tranq Arrows are significantly more effective against tameable creatures
  
• Players and NPCs are immune to Tranq Arrows
  
• Crafting Resources: 1 Stone Arrow, 20 Berries
  

New Keratinoid Resource: Rhino Horn

• Rhino Horns can now be obtained by defeating Rhinos

Armored Docks

• Updated UI text on Armored Docks to clarify that only 1 Gold is consumed when the timer expires
  
• Bug Fix: Armored Docks no longer stop working for a period of time after server restarts
  
• Bug Fix: Armored Docks no longer consume all Gold in their inventory after server restarts

Ramming Galley

• Added 75 Rhino Horns to cost
  
• Base speed increased by 40%
  
• Increased turn speed while sails are closed
  
• Increased damage of all cannons on ship from 100% to 125%
  
• Ramming NPC ships with the Ramming Galley now deals damage
  
• Players can now swim through some large holes in the Ramming Galley after it sinks
  
• Bug Fix: Health is no longer displayed for undamageable parts of the ship including weapons
  
• Bug Fix: Demolish option no longer appears for components that have already been demolished after the ship sinks
  
• Bug Fix: Ramming Galley can no longer be crafted in the Large Shipyard
  
• Bug Fix: Forward-facing Large Cannons are now correctly assigned to the Front Station Group
  
• Bug Fix: Oars will now always automatically retract after idling for 10 seconds
  
• Bug Fix: Sail rigging now previews correctly when placing new sails

Ships

• Max reverse speed for all ships increased by 200%
  
• Bug Fix: Level cap for max quality ships restored to 60
  
  • NOTE: The max level of ships built during the previous patch won't change

Winter Event

• Christmas Trees now produce gifts every 12 hours
  
• Bug Fix: Santa Hat skin will no longer disappear from player inventory
  
• Bug Fix: Santa Hat is now properly positioned on Monkeys, Parrots, and Penguins
  
• Bug Fix: Resolved issue where Stockings and Christmas Trees would stop producing coal/gifts after server restarts

Trade

• Fixed some cases where Markets would break
  
• Limited the number of Trade Offers Markets can have to 20.

Misc

• Made some server reliability improvements
  
• Bears can now equip hats
  
• Glider Suit may now only be activated under 110 meters height (about the height of the lighthouse)
  
• Reduced Grill's damage resistance
  
• Sea Fort walls now swap to a damaged mesh when destroyed rather than disappearing
  
• Bug Fix: Explosive Barrels can no longer deal damage in Freeports
  
• Bug Fix: Removed some bad maps from Treasure Map spawning
  

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

517.7 (server)

• Clear unwanted structures on Freeports and GA
  
• Freeports and GA Servers are no longer crashing on startup

We are continuing to work on additional hotfixes for other crashing issues and the map that we hope to push out tomorrow.

V517.6 (server) hotfix:

• Bug Fix: being able to build on Freeports and Golden Age islands.
  
• Freeport Structures that are not normally allowed will be destroyed with the update
  
• Bug Fix: being unable to spawn in beds

We are continuing to investigate the crashing and other issues that have been reported. We hope to have another hotfix out for some of them by the end of the week.

For a workaround (until fix is out), for crashing caused by keybinding issues, please see here: {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/3oQPgUH

If you are continuing to experience any issues or have further details, please report to us here: https://forms.gle/pYZuMuZCuCC2ZHEf6

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

We are looking into the issue where beds that were placed on land before the patch are now out of claim. Thanks for your reports and patience!

----------------------------------------------------------
Ahoy Pathfinders!

The holiday season is here! In the spirit of the Holidays, we set sail for a little trip up to the North Pole to bring back some Holiday loot and festivities to ATLAS! Sail the Seas in a fancy new Santa Hat or Top Hat, and craft festive decorations! Safely have a “Company” Holiday Party here on ATLAS! ;)




Looking for the perfect gift? How about the new Ramming Ship? That’s right, the Ship Salesman is now officially open for business! He can be found selling our latest ship - the Ramming Galley - on his island in the center of Freeport grids. The Ramming Galley features rowers, 20 cannons, and a ram that deals bonus damage when ramming other ships.

Rowers, a new feature currently unique to the Ramming Galley, give a burst of speed to intercept and ram other ships. Using rowers requires use of the ship's Rowing Stamina. Once Rowing Stamina is depleted, rowing will cease and the stamina will regenerate over time.

As the first ship using our new ship system, the Ramming Galley will function a bit differently from previous ships. In addition to HP numbers changing, holes will appear in parts of the ship as they become damaged. As the damage worsens, the holes will grow, giving pirates a better visual indicator to determine how damaged each part of their ship is! Be sure to keep your ship repaired since rowers and weapons will only function if the part of the ship they're on has sufficient health.

Repairing the Ramming Galley will require the use of a new item: the Patch Kit. No longer will you need to haul planks and raw resources to ensure your ship stays in pristine condition!

Since the Ramming Galley already comes equipped with a large arsenal of weapons, players will not be able to build additional weapons on it. Workstations and furniture can be constructed freely, and existing stairs, doors, and sails can be switched out with player-made variants. Although walls and other structures cannot currently be constructed on ships, we would like to iterate on this in the future to allow pirates to customize their ships with a variety of rooms below deck.



We hope you enjoy the new Ramming Galley and Holiday festivities! We are still hard at work continuing to fine-tune the Markets and Trade system, among other optimization and performance improvements. It’s a long-term process, and we want you to know that even if certain changes are not seen right away - we are taking the steps to move these things along. Thanks again for all of your support and feedback!

v517.5

• Cost: 22,000 Gold
  
• Weapons: 18 Standard Cannons, 2 forward-facing Large Cannons
  
• Special Features: Rowers, Ram
  
• Max Level: 60
  
• Sail Points: 4.0
  
• Repair Resource: Patch Kit

The Patch Kit is a new item used for repairing the Ramming Galley. It can be crafted in the Smithy after learning the Shipwright skill in the Seamanship tree. To use, approach a damaged part of the Ramming Galley and use the Repair Hammer. Once the repair is complete, the Patch Kit will be consumed and the repaired component will have 1,000 health restored.

• Healing: 1,000
  
• Crafting Resources: 100 Fiber, 120 Thatch, 200 Wood

The Kiln is a new workstation used for rapidly creating coal out of wood. Add wood to the Kiln inventory and activate it, and it will burn one into coal every second. Kiln crafting is learned in the Secrets of Building skill in the Construction tree, and can be done at the Smithy.

• Crafting Resources: 500 Stone, 200 Flint, 25 Metal

• Two new hat skins are available for purchase from the Freeport's cosmetic vendor for a limited time
  
  • Santa Hat: 200 Gold
    
  • Top Hat: 200 Gold
• Seven new items available for crafting at the Smithy for a limited time
  
  • Christmas Tree: Produces a random gift every 24 hours!
    
    • Crafting Resources: 250 Wood, 200 Fiber, 250 Thatch
  • Festive Lights: A decoration that can be hung on walls
    
    • Crafting Resources: 20 Wood, 10 Thatch, 1 Metal
  • Holiday Gift: A festive variant of the Small Storage Box
    
    • Crafting Resources: 44 Wood, 40 Thatch, 15 Hide
  • Sleigh: A festive variant of the Wooden Chair
    
    • Crafting Resources: 100 Wood, 100 Thatch, 50 Fiber
  • Snowman: A new friend that can be placed on ships or floors
    
    • Crafting Resources: 2 Wood, 12 Coal, 1 Carrot, 50 Fiber, 30 Ice
  • Stocking: A decoration that can be hung on walls. Produces one Coal every five minutes
    
    • Crafting Resources: 40 Fiber, 30 Hide
  • Wreath: A decoration that can be hung on walls
    
    • Crafting Resources: 20 Fiber, 10 Wood, 20 Thatch

• Bug Fix: Gold upkeep status now only shown for the owning company
  
• Bug Fix: Upkeep timer now correctly updated on the UI
  
• Bug Fix: Ships in Armored Docks no longer stay protected after the owner of the Armored Dock or the ship changes

• Market Logs now have paging, allowing all logs to be displayed for each Market
  
• Bug Fix: Suspend and Unsuspend Market are now working correctly

• The Ramming Galley's Railing Gunports and Castles can be damaged, but don't update their meshes to reflect this damage (their HP updates accordingly and they can be repaired)
  
• The Ramming Galley's forward-facing Large Cannons are in the Right Station Group by default
  
• HP for undamageable parts of the Ramming Galley can be viewed and will always display as 100/100
  
• Cannons on top of the Ramming Galley's Front Castle clip through the castle when aiming left and right (this doesn't prevent them from firing)
  
• Sail Rigging does not preview correctly when placing sails on the Ramming Galley
  
• Many map tiles are black when viewing the map through the Atlas or when spawning

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

We issued a fix earlier this morning for the armored dock crashing issues. If you are still experiencing any further issues or bugs, please report them to us in the bug report form here: {LINK REMOVED}http://bit.ly/36zPZmJ

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you!

We issued a fix earlier this morning for the armored dock crashing issues. If you are still experiencing any further issues or bugs, please report them to us in the bug report form here: {LINK REMOVED}http://bit.ly/36zPZmJ

We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you!

The team is currently investigating the crashing issues with armored docks and the potential data loss from the related crashing. We will update again when we have more info.

Please send further bug reports or details of any issues here: {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/36zPZmJ

Thank you!

------------------------------------------------------------------
Ahoy Pathfinders!

We hope you’ve all enjoyed the 2x event over the Thanksgiving Weekend! This week, we have a bit of a smaller maintenance patch, with the Small Armored Dock now available!

Small Armored Docks, for Schooners and Sloops, will have 20,000,000 health. We are also beefing up the Large Armored Dock to 30,000,000 health. Gold upkeep has been lowered to 150 a day, while Small Armored Docks will have an upkeep of 50 a day. We have also made a number of changes and bug fixes to balance and improve the Armored Docks. Rest easy knowing yer furry companions are safe onboard your protected Ships!

Development and optimization work for the Trade System continues! We have made improvements to the Market UI for Market Searching. Most importantly, we have addressed several server issues to improve performance and latency. Thank you for your feedback and bug reporting as the Trade System continues to undergo development. Again, not all features of the Trade System, including the NPC Ships, are out yet. Subsequent patches will continue to see more and more improvements and fixes. Missing resources and new items are now available for Trade as well! Anyone got any Ale or Grog? We’re stockin’ up fer a new adventure as the Ramming Ship is getting closer to making its debut on the ATLAS seas! Look out for it in the nearby future ;)

Please see the Full Patch notes below!

v516.2

The Small Armored Dock is suitable for protecting Schooners and Sloops. It can be crafted at a Smithy after learning the Intermediate Shipwright Skill in the Seamanship tree.

• Health: 20,000,000
  
• Upkeep Cost: 50 Gold every 24 hours
  
• Crafting resources required:
  
  • 700 Alloy
    
  • 900 Fiber
    
  • 4,000 Stone
    
  • 1,000 Thatch
    
  • 1,250 Wood
    
  • 10,000 Gold

• Increased health from 300,000 to 30,000,000
  
• Decreased upkeep cost from 500 to 150 Gold every 24 hours
  
• Added 50,000 Gold cost for crafting

• NPCs and Tames on protected ships can no longer be damaged
  
• Added a new protected icon that replaces the anchor icon above protected ships
  
• Ships can now anchor inside an Armored Dock even if the Dock is placed in deep water
  
• Ships must not have received or dealt damage for at least five minutes before receiving protection from an Armored Dock
  
• Bug Fix: Armored Docks can now only protect one ship at a time
  
• Bug Fix: Ships are no longer protected after an Armored Dock is destroyed
  
• Bug Fix: Protected ships will no longer decay. This prevents an issue where protected ships instantly sink when raising their anchor after a long period of time

• Brigantine price decreased from 25,000 to 18,000 Gold
  
• Increased max level of common ships from 42 to 50
  
  • NOTE: This change only applies to ships built after the patch

• Markets Searching now returns a paged list instead of all Markets. This should clear up the performance hit on the server when someone opens a Market
  
• Added new resource types for Trading:
  
  • Rushes (missing from Thatch)
    
  • Oil Category and variants
    
  • Salt Category and variants
    
  • Consumables:
    
    • Wheat
      
    • Maize
      
    • Ale
      
    • Grog
  • Others
    
    • Cannon Balls
      
    • Large Cannon Balls
      
    • Gunpowder
      
    • Fire Gel
      
    • Blasting Powder
      
    • Organic Paste
      
    • Fertilizer
• Bug Fix: Addressed several server issues that led to increased latency
  
• Bug Fix: Trade Routes are now correctly calculating distance when the shortest path wraps around the map border
  
• Bug Fix: Disconnected Markets are no longer shown as candidates in the Market List

• Warehouses and Farmhouses can now only be enabled or disabled by players within the same company
  
• Restored XP reward to standard Golden Age Army of the Damned Soldiers
  
  • NOTE: Golden Age Army of the Damned Soldiers in caves still don't reward XP
• Bug Fix: Treasure will no longer spawn on Sea Forts

• Not all available Markets are showing up from every other Market during search
  
• Upkeep Cost on Armored Docks does not properly show the next time. Upkeep is still taken on skill
  
• Crashing Issues with Armored Docks - Please see edited note at very top of the post.

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders! ⚓

To thank everyone sailing along the EA journey with us through thick and thin, whether yer a new shipmate or a seasoned Captain, we're activating 2x Gold, Taming, and Harvesting now until 11/30 11:59 PM PT.

🍁 Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! 🦃

Ahoy Pathfinders!

There will be no patch this week, so instead we’re delivering some information based on some questions we have collected and seen around the community!

Since we announced the renewed ATLAS journey last Summer, a lot of things have changed in the development cycle, and we are still working on improving our processes and the feedback loop with the community as well. Like in any adventure, some parts of the journey can be rough but as we overcome them, we continue to move forward and build on our experiences. Whether we are making small steps or revisiting old ideas, it is important to remember that we are still sailing forward! Development is very often not linear, and understandably things can get confusing for the community - even for those seasoned Pathfinders who have been sailing the seas of ATLAS since the very beginning. We hope that today’s discussion and some of the answers to your questions will help the community understand our vision for ATLAS and where we are currently at.

ATLAS, in general, is lacking a strong theme. Yes, we are a Pirate game, but it's currently a mishmash of a bunch of different stuff and we are looking to address that post the release of the current feature slate (Trade System, New Ships, and Claim System). Right now the idea we are liking most is something we're calling "Stormpunk" which centers around that idea that there are more resources to capture on the water (like harnessing lightning). We are going to maintain an element of fantasy moving forward, but it may not be so openly Dungeons and Dragons (although we love this game!) or high fantasy feeling. As with all things, everything will remain as we introduce new things, and we will fade things that people lose interest in.

What is the long term plan or overall vision? It'd help explain a lot of these changes if we were also privy to just a rough idea what the long term will look like, because right now it seems things are going a bit backward in regards to accessibility, especially for small groups and solo players.
At the highest level, the goals are as follows:

1. Get players out on the ocean - there are lots of things we're doing to encourage this but it basically means that we want players spending more time at sea and less time on land. In order to do that we really have to blow out all the things you can do at sea so that they are as fun and interesting as what you do on land.
   
2. Make ship-to-ship combat fun. There is so much to this, but we really want PVP interactions on the water to be richly rewarding.
   
3. Increase player recuperation. Survival games can be tough and we want to make sure that players can be devastating to one another, but that the losing side player doesn't have to feel like they are starting over each time. We also want to make small companies and lone wolves more viable.

We still have a ways to go before we reach these goals. We know that we are not there yet and that the current state of ATLAS does not reflect what we envision. Most of what we have implemented so far is still in its beginning stages, and are only just setting the foundation for how the gameplay is going to evolve.

For instance, one of the main goals of the Trade System is to increase play at the smaller group and solo level. We recognize that right now the system is not very friendly to these players - There's a lot of balance to be done there and a number of missing elements, like the upcoming Tradewinds feature, but we are working on it. Ultimately, when all pieces are in place, we are planning for a system where large companies will actually be incentivized on a different scale for helping small companies and solos.

The Trade System is still in its alpha stage, and as of build 515.17, all Trade Shipments are virtual and locked to a single grid. We are continuously working on Market optimizations as well as bug fixes and server side improvements to bring the system to full functionality. Subsequent patches should see more refinement to the Trade System, opening up more routes and eventually the NPC Trade Ships. Please note that at this stage, we may have to disable and re-enable Trades sometimes to work out and troubleshoot any issues that may potentially arise.

What about the players that do not wish to utilize the market system? Asides from the market, are there any other big gold "earners" in the planning besides maps and whales/sunken treasures?
Although the Trade System is meant to be one of the core pillars of gameplay, our main goal is that "gold comes from the sea". So yes, you'll see some additions and refinements to life on the ocean which should make getting gold easier for non-marketplace participants.

We are looking into rebooting the original claim system that allowed players to take over a section of the island. This is done by placing down a claim structure that takes longer to build and is more robust than a claim flag. It may also have its own defenses. Once fully built, it will have to be destroyed for you to lose your claim and everything that goes along with it. We are not completely reverting back to the old claim system, but will be taking the original idea and building off of it. We are currently still testing some ideas.

Getting a new ship system into the game that can support future expansions does take a bit more time than just putting out a "new" one on the existing system, and we are excited to be getting closer to it!

We teased the first one, the Ramming Ship, a few weeks ago and we have a number of other ideas for these unique and specialized ships, but we don't want to spoil the surprise completely. The important note here is that we are moving from releasing ship parts to releasing complete ships that have special roles in the game and thus begin to grow the strategy of managing a fleet.

All of the upcoming Ships that can be bought with gold will be primitive class and up. Ramshackles will still be available at Freeports for now, but when you buy things with gold they will be good ships. 🙂

In regards to the existing Ship system, can we get tokens as random loot drops from bosses to craft schooners/brigs/galleons please? So there is a route for smaller groups to get boats?
This probably won't happen. Right now we're really happy with how hard it is to get bigger ships. Many players have reported having more fun than ever with "Sloop Wars". Dropping tokens would benefit large companies more and go against what we are trying to do, which is to fundamentally change how ships are currently perceived. Right now, ship progression is linear. Once you can build a Schooner, you never build a Sloop again and so on up the ladder. We are more focussed on giving every ship type a viable role on the ocean and introducing strategy and reasons for each ship type to exist.

Post integration of the claim system we'll be going back through all the content that is currently in the game and be making quality of life improvement and balance adjustments. We aren't very interested in nerfing things so much as bringing their fun factor way up.

How far out are we from super wind sea-highways that make traveling around the map faster and consolidate content?
We're trying to get it by the end of the year. A lot depends on how long it takes to balance the Trade System, new Ship System, and new Claim System.

Any plans for expanding fishing so it doesn't suck so much? Like better random loot tables from fishing, maybe getting maps randomly from fishing. higher quality fishing pole=better maps/blueprints/gold etc.
We can answer this by saying that we don't think there is nearly enough fun stuff to do on the water and we are looking to blow that out significantly. This will include water creature taming, better fishing, ocean resource gathering, and better diving.

Any planned changes for freeports? Exponential decay or something to prevent freeport living?
Not yet. We have to put in all the systems that allow lone wolves and small groups to survive elsewhere first. Long term, we envision settlements of any kind to be more friendly or hostile to you depending on how you've treated them in the past.

Can you tell us more about the ideas behind how breeding is envisioned by the Dev team for beginner breeders through the most advanced breeders? Right now it takes too much time to do, unless an entire weekend day is devoted to it. Perhaps more difficulties while raising babies through their infant stages, but have it be for a much shorter duration so that it is more practical and enjoyable for a wider audience.
One of our designers has taken the breeding and taming of creatures under her wing. In the background she is working on a completely revamped system that should be more of what you want to see. Can't tell you when it will ship, but I can tell you that we are working on it.

Treasure Maps need a lot of work. Are big changes planned for the hunts to be more engaging? The distance requirement is also a negative map factor. It's not enjoyable to sail 7 grids out, 7 grids back to run a Masterwork map. Could maps that are of any qualities spawn on an island that are closer?
Yes, a rework of this is planned, but it's down the road. It's not where we want it either and for sure we are looking at the treasure spawning closer.

What is some of the work that is currently being done to help with optimization and performance issues?
About half our engineering staff is on performance and optimization. We know it's a problem and are working to fix it. The issue is that we also want to continue to put the rest of the planned features in the game to see if they are viable. We want a high performance game as much as you do. Remember, optimization isn’t going to suddenly happen in one patch. Some improvements may happen in small steps over time, while other improvements are a bigger engineering endeavor and may not be seen until we are further along.

Is the team still looking at ways for players to keep some progress through wipes?
Yes. We haven't figured out a balanced and scalable method yet, but we do want that. Adding a new global server structure with the Trade System was the first step on this and we'll keep working towards it. The challenge here is that the funnest part of a wipe for most people, is that they are all on an even footing again. Allowing players to retain progression may also allow them to maintain oppression.

Can we please get a HUD indicator once a ship is protected by the new shiphouse structure? The green text popping up once the anchor is down is not such a great indicator.
Totally agree that this is a bit confusing. A complete UI revamp is on the schedule and this item is part of that.

This is nitpicking, but can handling sails trim opposite to how they do now? It is backwards to real world physics
Ok. We'll look into it.🙂

Teleporting bed to bed, and killing yourself to respawn on lawless islands for discovery points is one of the lamest things I have to do in this game. Will other features be looked at for discovery points that are more interesting?
In short, yes. We agree that killing yourself and bed teleporting is lame. We all want to fix that and give you more ways to travel the world more quickly.

Will we be able to have the fog of war back? We had it early in the game, but it could be cheated by sharing game files and so was removed. The thrill of exploration was exciting for many players. As things stand at the moment, you just always have the full map explored.
It's something we hadn't thought about. We’ll look into this idea.


Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We are working on the Trade Functionality issues and the ping spike issues related to Markets. Trades are not working at this time.

We hope to have a fix by the end of the week with Trades enabled again soon. If anything changes, we will let you guys know.

Thank you!

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We want to start off by expressing our gratitude to the community throughout the launch of the Trade System. As we sail along the development journey, some seas may be rougher than others, but we are still making progress and we would like to extend our thanks to the community for their patience in joining us on this ride. Although we had to consequently disable Trades last week while we worked on a solution, we will be enabling them again with tonight’s patch.

Patch 515.17 is scheduled for tonight, 11/18 at 7:00 PM PST.

Harvest Rates will also be returning to normal.

The ATLAS Trade System is an ambitious undertaking that we want to make into one of the core pillars of ATLAS gameplay. Even with the initial iteration of Trade Functionality introduced, it is still very early in the development phase. We are continuing to develop the system in a step-by-step process. Early Access gives us the unique opportunity to roll out the system in phases to see how it performs live, allowing us to also make changes and improvements based on community feedback. It is to be expected that while the Trade System is still in its early development phases, we may have to regularly enable/disable Trading as required to fix any bugs that may occur - although we will do our best to minimize this possibility. For players wondering if this means we will have to perform a wipe, the last wipe was necessary for us to clear any withstanding issues from a previous implementation of the Sea Forts. The Trade System was implemented in a way so that we can disable/enable Trade Functionality server side without requiring a client update or a wipe. With that being said, depending on the issue and how it affects gameplay, sometimes it can be necessary.

Trade Shipments will remain virtual for the time being until the system is more stable, and testing on the tangible NPC Shipments continues.

As a survival sandbox, the gameplay surrounding the risk of losing your stuff is part of the appeal. However, there is a balance to it and we recognize the need to introduce some elements to help with survivability. One of the first things we’ll be introducing are Armored Docks, as seen in the preview image, to protect your hard earned ships!

With tonight’s update, players will be able to build the first one - the Large Armored Dock, which can be found in the Seamanship Tree under the Expert Shipwright skill. For 1200 Alloy, 1800 Fiber, 6000 Stone, 2000 Thatch, and 2500 Wood and a daily upkeep cost, players will be able to build a Large Armored Dock to park and protect their ship in this 300,000 hp Armored Structure.

At this time, the Large Armored Dock can protect all ships. However, this large version is intended to store Brigs and Galleons, with smaller version(s) to come out later. The long term goal is that larger ships will need a lot more support than smaller ships.

Please know that this is still the Alpha version of the Armored Dock. Future Patches will see bug fixes, balance changes, and more polish to the Armored Docks. We are not quite there yet, but with further balance and changes, we hope to see this as one of the first of many changes that will also help solo Pirates and Small Companies.

We would like to thank the Community again for their continued feedback and support throughout the ATLAS development journey. The reintroduction of Explosive Barrels was meant to bring back an old mechanic and create a space and balance for it. We have spent a lot of time observing the gameplay surrounding it and we have been paying attention to your feedback. While we are still going to be introducing changes with Barrel gameplay in mind, we do hear you!

In 515.17, Explosive Barrels can no longer be fired from Cannons or Large Cannons. We have also added an 80 Gold cost for crafting Explosive Barrels. Thank you to the Community for your part in helping us to shape and define ATLAS gameplay.

v515.17

The Armored Dock is a structure built in shallow water to dock a ship inside of. It must be destroyed before the ship can be damaged. This Alpha version of the Armored Dock is still in progress and not fully functional! Be warned!

Smaller Armored Docks are coming in future patches along with bug fixes, balance changes, and polish.

• Added Large Armored Dock to the Seamanship Tree under the Expert Shipwright skill
  
• Has 300,000 health and is an Armored Structure, giving it increased resistance to explosive damage
  
• Costs 500 Gold upkeep per day (This will be reduced to 150 gold in the next patch)

• Explosive Barrels can no longer be fired from Cannons or Large Cannons (may still be fired from Catapults)
  
• Added 80 Gold cost for crafting Explosive Barrels

• Duplicated some flag interactions onto the Sea Fort Tax Bank
  
• Fixed some stuck interactions with the Sea Fort Tax Bank

• Increased resistance to explosive damage by 40% for Large Stone Walls, Large Stone Gateways, and Large Stone Gates
  
• Weight of placed Catapults increased from 120 to 150

• Fixed issues where Trade Log incorrectly reflects what was sent and received
  
• Fixed an issue where sender and receiver were swapped in Trade Log
  
• Added resources received from Trade Events to Trade Log
  
• Fixed some scrolling issues with Trade Log

• Fixed an issue where resources were received twice from one trade
  
• Fixed multiple issues where incorrect amounts of resources were received
  
• Fixed multiple issues with Shipments getting stuck, eventually causing performance issues
  
• Fixed the amount of Income (Gold) generated by Trade routes. It should now correctly reflect the route's length
  
• Updated some virtual shipment server settings

Market

• Markets must now be within 22m of a Warehouse to connect
  
• Fixed an issue where Markets and Warehouses could not connect
  
• Fixed some issues where editing Trade Offers would create mismatched information between the server and the client and break those offers
  
• Added new Trade Route statuses to replace PENDING:
  
  • SENT: Trade Route requests you have made that are pending
    
  • RECEIVED: Trade Route requests other Markets have made to you
• Cleaned up some Market interface interactions

• Removed XP reward from all Golden Age Army of the Damned Soldiers
  
• Added 10 second cooldown to gliding after crossing server borders

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame