Apr 28, 2021

ATLAS - ATLAS Team

Ahoy Pathfinders!

In this latest patch, we’re bringing major changes to sea forts, providing three different options to buff your fleet.

Need a little speed? The Atlantean spire gives you a little extra wind in your sails.

Defenses need a boost? Try the Industrial Generator to fortify your fleet.

Want some more firepower? Check out the Army of the Damned pylon to add some more pop to your arsenal.

We also have the usual bug fixes to help streamline your playing experience. And don’t forget to check out the broadcast contest going on with winners being featured on our Atlas Steam page. Please check out the details here to submit your videos and have the opportunity to win up to a $25 Amazon gift card.
As always, we, the Atlas team, appreciate your support and ‘til next time, may your skies be clear, waters calm, and sails full in whichever way you roam.

Released Patch Notes

v525.06

**Sea Forts: New Towers with Global Buffs**

Three new towers are available for construction on the Sea Fort islands. Each provides a different buff for ships on the same server.

Atlantean Spire
- Provides Buff: Sailing Speed +15%
- Craft Requirements: 500 Crystal, 100 Fibers, 600 Stone, 150 Thatch, 300 Wood
Industrial Generator
- Provides Buff: Ship Damage Resistance +15%
- Craft Requirements: 150 Fibers, 100 Metal, 600 Stone, 100 Thatch, 250 Wood
Army of the Damned Pylon
- Provides Buff: Ship Damage Boost +15%
- Craft Requirements: 150 Fibers, 300 Hide, 200 Stone, 100 Thatch, 600 Wood
The towers can be learned by training in Advanced Automation and built at the Smithy and are powered by using coal as fuel
Only one tower can be built at a Sea Fort island

**Misc:**

Bug Fix: Fixed an issue when grabbing the Yeti with a crab made the Yeti lose collision
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue in which certain weapons could be fired through meshes
Bug Fix: Fixed issues with buffs lingering on unintentional weapon types
Bug Fix: Fixed issues which didn't allow wild seeds to be gathered from vegetables
Bug Fix: Fixed instances in which Yetis couldn't harvest certain resources
Bug Fix: Fixed instances in which certain items could be crafted without the proper cost
Bug Fix: Claim tower decay is now enabled in PvE
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue with platform saddles clipping through structures
Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where creatures with platform saddles could be on top of other platform saddles
Bug Fix: Performance issue related to spyglass and tradewinds
Bug Fix: Fixed some instances of ship building exploits
Bug Fix: Fixed ammo stacks not dropped properly when dropped from munitions box
Peace phase has been removed from Sea Fort Islands

Final Note

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, as well as timing, 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

Mar 11, 2021

Patch 523.8 - Land Claim Changes and Other Improvements

ATLAS - ATLAS Team

Ahoy Pathfinders!

With this patch, we will be altering some mechanics and improving some features in preparation for changes to come in following patches.

Mainly, we are introducing a new claim system for all lawless regions. Find some land, stake your claim tower, and defend your territory.

Also in this patch, a new Seahorse saddle to ease the ride on our spiny friends, buffs to our latest ships, and other QOL adjustments.

Lastly, we felt it best to provide an explanation regarding the latest server outages. Due to a read-only trigger, it seems our databases could no longer store information during the time of the incident and became desynced from the play servers. While our initial fix solved the problem on the master, the issue remained on the secondary and took a bit longer to remedy than anticipated. We apologize for any inconvenience but again, thank you all for your patience and understanding during this time.

To remedy the unfortunate side effects, we have decided that this will be the final patch before the wipe. This will allow us to work out any kinks with the new claim system before wiping.

As always, we appreciate your support and ‘til next time, may your skies be clear, waters calm, and sails full in whichever way you roam.

Released Patch Notes

v523.8

New System: Area Claiming
New Tower types have been added to claim land in lawless regions. Claiming gives ownership over an area, preventing any other companies from building there. A new claim also gives ownership over any buildings in its area. Destroying the tower removes the build prevention and allows anyone else to claim the area and its contents.

The claimed area is visible on the map
Claim Towers may be seen through concealment with the spyglass
Claim Towers cost Island points, starting at 4 and maxing around 8
May claim Armored Docks and the ships inside them

New Structure: Land Claim Tower
This Tower must be placed on land. When first placed, it will start at 10% health, and slowly repairs itself and upon reaching 100% health will lay claim to the surrounding area of land.

Claiming takes about 45 minutes without interference
Enemies may damage the claim tower while it is building to slow its progress or destroy it
Players may "repair" the tower for 2% health every 5 seconds (costs 100g)
If a competing tower is built within the radius before this tower is complete, it is immediately destroyed

New Structure: Water Claim Tower
This Tower must be placed within already-claimed water. It extends the claim radius out to sea to protect your harbors.

Claiming takes about 30 minutes without interference
May be repaired like the Land Claim Tower

New Saddle: Seahorse Saddle
The Seahorse Saddle can be crafted in the Tannery after learning the Underwater Taming skill in the Beastmastery tree.

An equipped Seahorse Saddle is now required to ride a Seahorse
Crafting Resources: 40 Fiber, 75 Hide, 20 Organic Paste

Majestic Kraken

Cannon damage increased from 150% to 160%
Starting crew increased from 14 to 22
Dried Tentacle cost reduced from 75 to 50
Bug Fix: Deck widened on the middle level of the Majestic Kraken to cover the gap between the outer walls and deck
Bug Fix: Cosmetic kraken meshes should no longer disappear

Ramming Galley

Cannon damage increased from 125% to 140%
Starting crew increased from 14 to 18
Front Castle, Rear Castle, and Gunport Railings now appear damaged when at low health
Bug Fix: 'Leaking' HUD text no longer appears when Gunport Railings are heavily damaged

Ships

A Ship Respec option is now available in the ship stat menu
- Ship Respecs costs 2,500 Gold which is consumed from the player's inventory
- Ships can be respec’d once every 48 hours
- A ship must be fully anchored in order to respec
Increased the height of the lowermost deck on the Ramming Galley and Majestic Kraken. This allows taller structures (such as the Food Larder) to be placed
Rope Ladders and Wall Hooks may now be placed on sails on the Ramming Galley and Majestic Kraken

Markets

Trade preferences of other Markets can now be viewed by selecting the 'View Trade Offers' option in the settings dropdown for each available Market
Bug Fix: Markets can no longer be placed on ships

Tames & Creatures

Increased feeding radius for bola entrapped Elephants
Crows can now equip hats
Bug Fix: Heavy Cyclops Helmet is now positioned correctly on Parrots

Misc

NPCs will no longer target Grenades
Some Blueprint Craft Counts increased at higher quality tiers
The Single Player map on PC has been updated to include Sea Forts and Ship Salesman Island
Bug Fix: Army of the Damned Treasure Guards should no longer spawn underneath structures
Bug Fix: Antidote no longer disappears from the Mortar and Pestle
Bug Fix: Crossing grids in Single Player should no longer cause the game to crash
Bug Fix: Resolved issue where properties in GameUserSettings.ini were reverted to their default settings on private servers

Known Issues

Majestic Kraken Ships obtained prior to this patch lost the blue tint on most of their pieces
It can be difficult for colorblind players to differentiate friendly and enemy Claim Tower icons when viewing them through the Spyglass
Flag on top of the Water Claim Tower doesn't raise
The Single Player map on Xbox has not yet been updated with Sea Forts and the Ship Salesman Island

Final Note

Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information

Mar 4, 2021

Q&A with the Devs - Ask a Pirate Day #9

ATLAS - ATLAS Team

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We’re back with another edition of Dev Q&A. We have info on PvE, game balance, and even a few cosmetics in the works. So thanks to all the pathfinders that submitted questions in the Discord.

The Atlas team is dedicated to provide as much transparency as we can since we feel the community is also a part of the team. Often the loudest of the members, you provide us with feedback, suggestions, and even a compliment or two. Therefore, we feel it is necessary to be open with the community in all facets. We hope you will continue to support us through rough (and calm) seas.

Until next time, we appreciate your support and ‘til next time, may your skies be clear, waters calm, and sails full in whichever way you roam.

Without further ado, here’s our Q&A! Hang out at our Discord for a chance to get your questions answered in the next Q&A!

Q&A

Can you confirm if there will still be island claiming system or will it be lawless everywhere after the wipe?

We are still making updates to the area claim system and are going to focus on that. The Island claim system is likely to stick around after the wipe, but the map changes are still being finalized so that is subject to change. Either way the Island Claim System should be available for private servers.

Can we get some details of the theme and vision?

We're not planning to overhaul the game. We are planning to lean into things we have and reinforce them more with new content. So you might see Army of the Damned themed things in the world more, or Atlantis... We're also talking about introducing some pre WW1 dirty industrial content.

How are small companies and solo players going to work into the game?

Just like they do in the real world. Seriously. Large behemoth companies can't do everything on their own, and they can't protect everything at once. As we move towards having Wonders that companies build, it's going to require a massive amount of trade, logistics and war to get one built. This creates opportunities for smaller groups to be part of the wheels of progress or engage in acts of piracy as large amounts of resources need to be shipped on the water.

When can we expect balance changes?

Balance changes are happening continuously in small amounts. We don't have a focus on getting balance "right" because so many things are still getting added to the game. We want to get all of our changes in to get a better understanding of the big picture and then will come back and tighten the balance.

Can we get some form of roadmap even if it has a disclaimer that the plans could change anytime?

Right now we are focused on getting ready for a larger summer release. This will include more ships and some of the ship customization system talked about in another question. In addition to that, we are working on multiple maps that connect different parts of the world, rather than one large, uniform map. We also are laying the foundation for Wonders that players can build in the world by creating a general system for giving buffs to your company based on buildings you've built. The content we are working on generally will support these systems as we move towards a world where companies have more long-term goals and reasons to compete over specific land. That pretty much covers the major things we are working on for the next six months to a year.

We all know the focus is on pvp but PVE players are still generally curious what the long term thoughts and ideas really are while lots of them generally feel marginalized and pushed aside…

We are focused on making Atlas one of the best and most unique pvp games out there. We want to be able to support PVE and Private servers so that other players can also enjoy what we create. Some of our changes are specifically driving PVP goals and do not fit well with PVE. We are looking at ways we can do a better job keeping PVP changes from creating bad experiences in the PVE community without having to spend a lot of time working on it to support two different play styles. In some cases, that means we need to not put those PVP systems on PVE. It also means we need to give unofficial server owners better tools for choosing how they want their world to be configured. Right now we are working on an overhauled configuration system that lets us do this with less disruption to our development cycle. Right now many things are hard-coded to work under certain conditions.

Are the new claim towers going to be modified for PVE? Will the mechanic change at all?

We would like to hear what PVE players think about this. While the disruption of adding the claim towers was painful because of the point in the season it occurred, generally we think it's better to be able to lay claim to an area and not have to build fence posts to prevent anyone else from building there. We do need to figure out some issues like decay times.

Weight Sail buff or changes, when?

All sails are getting updated and a new system is coming for changing the stats on sail blueprints. When is a harder question. We have some larger commitments that take priority right now and are taking a “time out” on some of the smaller things we've been working on to take care of some other business, like updating the mod kit, overhauling configurations, cleaning up a lot of bugs, and growing the team.

What tweaks do the team have for the new claim system, we are testing on Lawless islands?

We're still in the process of seeing how the meta changes from the new claims before making tweaks. As far as in the long term, we're planning to add some unique buildings and locations that must be captured with this system to get the benefit. The intention is for players to have strategic points on islands that give them an offensive or defensive benefit. Capturing an entire island might be a multiple day process as you have to take over these locations, build your own buildings, and wait for the benefits to kick in.

When will you add side quests? Maybe ones that earn players gold, loot, and xp? Other ones aside from the skill tree achievements/ pve bosses?

In the past there have been some MMORPG elements added to the game and we have decided this is not the best use of our time because this does not fit the kind of game we are making. Atlas is a sandbox survival game and we are fully committed to spending our dev effort on making tools for players to create their own interesting stories.

Are you guys gonna make more tames/bosses?

More tames are in the works! Our current focus (within the taming system) is making more existing creatures tameable. Crocodiles are next on the list and will be released soon. We don't plan to add new bosses. Our current boss fights didn't work well and were easily exploited, so we'd like to clean those up, and ultimately we want to focus on player stories rather than PVE content.

When will we see further information about the new ship system and further adjustments?

We are continuously making balance changes to the new ship system and the customization features described in this post are currently in development. The first customization feature will be released soon and will allow players to craft and swap a variety of railing types. The railings available with the launch of this feature will include Standard Railings, Cannon Railings, Cargo Rack Railings, Diving Attachment Railings, and Dinghy Hangar Railings. We know everyone loves the ability to paint their ships and we are also working to make the new ship system compatible with the painting system.

Will the current ship system still be available to build next season or is it just going to be these new modular ships?

There is no plan to remove the original ship system. That wouldn't even be a possibility until the other system is fully implemented. We would like the two systems to exist side by side unless something changes that makes this no longer possible. This poses some balance issues that we are going to have to address at some point.

Will there be a new map implemented?

Some changes to the map layout will be coming with the wipe in order to support Tradewinds. Later this year, you'll see a much larger overhaul of the map with portals to new areas.

Is there any plan to add a farmhouse-like structure that could also feed tames? Or the ability for tames on wandering to feed themselves from wild berries/ food?

We would like to eventually introduce a Stable structure where players can store their tames. We plan to add a similar module for the new ship system that allows easier tame transport.

When will we get cosmetic hat microtransactions/vendor?

We don't currently plan to add microtransactions for cosmetics or anything else even. Most of our art effort is focused on making new ships right now, but we do have one new hat coming soon!

Final Note

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, as well as timing, 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

Feb 26, 2021

Q&A with the Devs - Ask a Pirate Day #7

ATLAS - ATLAS Team

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We’ve got a pretty jam-packed post for you today! Because of your amazing participation, providing tons of questions for our team, we’ve decided to split responses into two posts. Since we received a large amount of inquiries regarding PvP balances, we’ll be discussing those questions separately in a later post.

Because today, we have a few special topics we’ll be addressing first. Our first entry is a reply from the dev team regarding the inclusion of a new ship building system. Next, we have a new survey for you all to provide feedback on Ships and we can’t wait to hear your responses. Finally, we finish up with Q&A, excluding PVP questions previously mentioned.

In an effort to provide more transparency between the team and the community, we continue to look for more ways to blend the goals of the two entities to make Atlas as great as we both know it can be. We appreciate your support and ‘til next time, may your skies be clear, waters calm, and sails full in whichever way you roam.

From the Captain's Quarters

We have heard your concerns regarding the new ship system and we would like to discuss our goals for it to help set expectations. We love the level of customization the original ship system provides and we will continue to support it for as long as possible. Currently, there are no plans to remove the original ship system.

Early Access gives us the unique opportunity to share new systems while they are still early in development. The modular ship system is one of these new systems, and it will be released in three main stages, the first of which has already begun. In the first stage, we used the new system to create pre-built ships, like the Ramming Galley and the Majestic Kraken. Our goal with this stage is to give players a sneak peek of the system while also providing a quicker option for obtaining new ships. While the ability to purchase pre-built ships isn’t going anywhere, it’s not the end goal for the new system.

The next stage of the modular ship system is coming soon and will introduce customization options to pre-built ships through module swapping. We will be introducing a system similar to ‘Sail Points’ called ‘Module Points.’ Each ship will have a pool of Module Points, and every module placed on the ship’s ribbing will cost a set number of points. Higher impact modules will cost more points. As a simple example, a Midship Gunport Module with two Gunports will cost more than a Midship Gunport Module with one Gunport. We will be rolling this system out piece by piece, starting with the ability to craft and swap Railing Modules.

As we expand the customization system, our goal is to introduce a variety of modules that provide meaningful choices when building ships. Players will need to decide which pieces are most valuable to their strategy and budget their points accordingly. We feel that the original ship system had little room for choice and expression because the meta was so defined. Our goal is to expand the meta to include a variety of different builds and strategies supported by the new system. Initially, we will be releasing tactically-focused modules, but eventually we will also release cosmetically-focused modules. These could include things like different Railing types or a Midship Module with windows. Cosmetic modules provide no advantage in combat but would allow players to make their ship their own. (Cosmetic modules won’t cost additional Module Points.)

The final stage of the system will allow players to build modular ships from the ground up. After choosing a ship hull size, players will be able to plug in modules from a variety of available choices. (As long as they have enough Module Points!) Our goal is to eventually have enough modules that the new system will have the same level of customization as the original system. This final stage of development won’t be complete for a while, but we hope you’ll stick with us for this journey!

New Survey - Ships

We're back with another Community Survey! Remember, surveys will cover a specific topic, so if we haven't pushed out a survey relevant to your interests yet, please know that there will be more! If there are any topics or changes you would like to see from us in future surveys, please let us know! We're only beginning this initiative, and hope to improve our process as we continue to develop ATLAS hand in hand with the community!

This month's survey is focused on collecting early feedback to our New Ship System / Ships for Gold System. So far, we currently have the Ramming Galley and the Majestic Kraken out, with plans for many new and unique ships on the way. The goal is to create a highly customizable and modular ship system where players can make meaningful choices when building their ships.
Before you complete the survey - if you haven't already, please make sure you have read the latest about our goal for this new Ships system in the Captain’s Quarters section above, as it will provide more details.

Please find the link to the survey here

Although we cannot promise to commit any specific change, we would want to be able to quantify which issues players care about most by using this survey to reach as broad an audience as possible.

We appreciate your support! Thank you!

Without further ado, here’s our Q&A! Hang out at our Discord for a chance to get your questions answered in the next Q&A!

Q&A

Will the new claim system address the long-standing problems many islands have of "lawless" areas in what should be Island-owned territory?
We have been getting a lot of great data about claiming since Early Access started. Each system has had some good aspects and bad aspects. Every player has different needs and ideas about what they want. The new Area Claim system is meant to fill in some gaps and for now will live side by side with the existing island claim system. The island system still has some flaws and bugs and will be looking to address that in the future when we decide how it fits into the big picture.

With the new theme and vision, will single player still be part of that?
While PvP is our primary focus when designing content, we want to ensure new features are also supported in our other game modes. (Including Single Player!)

Are patches being tested in single player or are they only tested for multiplayer purposes?
Recent patches have addressed some Single Player specific bugs and we plan to continue this in future patches. Your reports speed up the bug squishing process, so please continue reporting any bugs you come across.

Can you enable the market system on single player?
The Trade System runs on a separate server from the game to allow Markets on different servers to talk to each other. When it comes to single player, it will have to be same-server trading only. This change will require some engineering work and we do not know yet when we are going to make that happen.

Will there be factions or AI? It would make PVE more interesting. What do you think of having PVP only at sea while land is PVE?
Our direction for Atlas is to make rich player interactions, whether that is through conflict or cooperation, and that is where we will spend most of our development effort. We have talked about factions and think those fit better with an MMORPG style game rather than a massively multiplayer sandbox game focused on PVP.

When will there be a massive Structure limit for land bases? How do you intend to prevent massive Structure spam that was used in PVP as defense meta on any island and in PVE to claim land on lawless?
Spamming structures is not fun gameplay and we would like to get it out of the game. We have some tools available, such as restricting the number of structures that can be built. Each of those options come with drawbacks. We'd like to find a solution that feels good within the world, is good for performance, and isn't so ugly. One of the things we are working on is giving players more choices when building. For example, rather than having to spam 100 walls, we are adopting some of the modding community's solutions and making large stone blocks so that larger defensive structures can be made with fewer pieces. We are also looking at making more automated structures that are designed specifically for defense.

When can we take exact amounts of resources out of a resource box? Can we please have a keybind to pull one single stack of something from a ship resources chest?
Thank you for the suggestion! We'll look into this. We love hearing ideas that make Atlas a smoother experience.

What Holidays are to be recognized going forward? So far with the new team we've enjoyed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s and then skipped over Valentine’s. Is there a list, or is it just if there's time given the more frequent Updates?
We don't have a formal list of events, but we like to celebrate as many holidays as our development schedule allows. Our primary focus is on new features, quality of life changes, balance, and bug fixes, so most holidays will be celebrated with rate up events. However, the Winter Event was a lot of fun to prepare, so you may see something similar in the future. (Anyone want a pair of Bunny Ears?)

Do you plan to make any changes to the current economic system? Gold is pretty abundant on PVP, and absurdly worthless on PVE due to the lack of any major goldsinks. Do you have any plans to change gold cost settings between PVP and PVE? PVP sinks gold into war-dec tokens, drakes, and 1000s of defensive npcs. PVE has none of this and island costs are minimal - there is little chance of islands changing ownership on PVE until the owner doesn't log in for 10 days.
This is one of our core focuses on the game right now. We definitely have some more gold sinks in mind and would love to hear your ideas. Please note that with our small team, at this stage in development, we are focused on balancing PVP first. Gold is only one aspect of the economy. We would also like to see a thriving and competitive resource economy. Right now it's very hard for small companies to get a variety of resources, and very easy for large companies to get nearly all of the resources. Since this is tied so closely to competitive balance, it accentuates the gaps between these player groups. We have started working on the next map, and it will give you more reasons to value different islands for the unique characteristics they contain. This is something we’ll talk more about in the future.

Question, will more gear for the players (like new swords, guns, and armor) be added as time goes on?
Atlas is a game about telling player stories. Custom gear or content is one of the places we would like to reinforce that. Rather than take the standard RPG approach where the devs craft thousands of items, we'd rather give the tools to players to let them craft unique and interesting items within the game, so we will be working on those sorts of systems instead. That said, most of our art effort in the next year is focused on creating awesome new ships, so new visuals for player gear are not likely to be added soon.

Does the team envision that it could be viable to just sail 24-7 and totally avoid land from the beginning of the game?
With the introduction of new ships, Sea Forts, and water tames, the ocean is more alive than ever before and we will continue developing content that pulls people towards the sea. We have a variety of features in development including physical trade ships that can be intercepted to steal resources. We are moving towards a world in which a strong navy will be required even if you have a base on land. That said, land will always have a place in Atlas and the majority of players will want to explore both the land and the sea.

We would like to hear more about direction on loot. The loot in this game is so bad right now we are seeing no crafts on bps, and are not seeing more of those bps dropping. We would just like a long write up of what direction you would like to take loot. Also why was loot changed mid season, crippling companies who now do not have the bps to replace boats? What data has been collected on the loot change? Most of us are still seeing low % items at the MW and above scale. Is there more loot balance coming this season?
We have started making changes to loot focused on blueprints and will continue to do so. We are making multiple changes simultaneously to support some transformative changes and that means sometimes things will get out of balance for a while. Recently with blueprint crafts there were some errors in the math which made the number of crafts significantly lower than was intended, and we'll be fixing that. To be clear on the intention - we are moving BP drops to happen in higher frequency with lower craft counts. This means you will see interesting and unique BPs more often, and will not be able to sustain as long on a single good find. Regarding our long term plans, rather than make this a strict RNG loot experience, we're also working on a set of blueprint crafting, merging, and upgrading systems. This will be initially focused on sails as we prototype the system. This should allow you to get closer to the sort of customized, hand-crafted blueprints you want while still providing an element of skill and luck for getting there. We will reveal more on that system as it comes along, but look for sail BP crafting in the coming months.

Will we see increased reasons to sail in our home grids? Currently the only place to sail for content is GA. Is there talk of making more local grid content that would incentivize players to sail to other grids other than GA?
Our goal is to get more player interaction, especially on the water. Adding in Sea Forts is an example of an objective you need to sail to and compete over. Sailing can be obnoxious if you have to go long distances and that's why we're addressing that problem with the upcoming Tradewinds and after that we plan to introduce a portal system. Tradewinds is in final testing, and the portal system is still being worked out in design. Atlas is primarily a game about interactions with other players, so new water objectives we create are not going to be single-player experiences, but rather ways of drawing players together in conflict.

What are your long-term game performance optimization strategies (realistic ones)? It seems pretty clear that from a technology perspective, it's not possible to support islands with 100s of thousands of structures on them and maintain enjoyable gameplay. How is this being addressed and how can players provide detailed feedback as you discuss potential strategies for dealing with this?
We're looking to consolidate some larger multi-piece structures into chunkier single-piece structures. The overall structure count has a huge impact on performance. We don't want to remove the customization that is a hallmark of Atlas, so we're looking for ways to add new options rather than cull existing choices.

Are there any plans to rework the chat system to give players a better method of communication?
Not for a while. We'd love to eventually implement a mail system that allows players to communicate across servers.

Would the ability to salvage ship parts of sunken enemy ships be possible? A skill with a chance on salvage to get the item at a low percentage. This will help provide an incentive for players to pvp for loot in ship combat.
We're definitely looking at ways to bring more conflict to the ocean. Winning a difficult battle only to receive some resources can certainly be frustrating and we'd love to implement a system that allows you to receive a greater reward for your efforts.

Will players who have been playing since Early Access be rewarded with something special when the game goes to Full Release?
We will be looking for some ways to reward our long time loyal fans as we leave early access. It is a bit too early to commit to anything specific.

What are some immersion goals on the horizon? While performance-related, it's currently boring/problematic to have ships rendering when they are almost within firing distance (versus spotting sails far into the distance).
This is on our radar. We agree that the render distance should be increased to prevent ships popping in and out of view during combat, but we want to ensure any changes we make won't come at the cost of performance.

Weather mechanics are currently very one dimensional and don't offer any actual strategic value (you can't choose to head into a storm to lose chasers, for example).
We're planning to flesh out the weather system in the future. Some early ideas include allowing players to control the weather to make certain islands more inhabitable (or uninhabitable if you're an attacker). We'd also like to make storms more interesting by adding new encounters and resources inside them.

Also, smaller things like allowing lanterns to burn indefinitely and automatically turn on/off at dusk/dawn.
We always love hearing quality of life suggestions! Keep them coming!

Final Note

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, as well as timing, 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

Feb 10, 2021

Patch 522.3 - The Majestic Kraken hits the Shores!

ATLAS - ATLAS Team

2/10/21 8PM - We are aware of some server issues with the latest update and are actively working on a fix. We appreciate your patience as we troubleshoot this incident.

2/11/21 1AM PST - The fix for the servers has been released and after a couple hours of careful monitoring, we have determined the servers are operating normally. Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

Ahoy Pathfinders!

A new ship will be sailing into harbor with the new patch.The “Majestic Kraken” will be available from the ship salesman, it's a streamlined vessel that not only looks deadly but packs quite the punch if she gets her tentacles on you. That's because she's touting 24 cannons that provide 50% more damage. The Kraken will be similar to the previous Ramming Galley, with custom ship compartment load outs and repairable via the Patch Kit. So gather up your doubloons and release the… you know the rest.

In other highlights of the patch, along with a few more bug fixes, we've also taken another pass at the glider suit so you can sail the skies, for a reasonable amount of time.

You get a blueprint, you get a blueprint, you get a blueprint... You guessed it, blueprint drops will be doubling and counts required are going down. So, go get your craft on.

Lastly, accordion music will wake creatures up faster after being tranquilized. Lederhosen and polka dancing are not required, but it couldn't hurt.

Community Surveys

Last patch, we asked our fellow pathfinders to take part in a community survey that would help the Atlas team gain better insight on the wants and needs of our community. Needless to say, we were overwhelmed by your participation and feedback and will be taking a lot of it into consideration. We would like to genuinely thank all who participated. To continue this series of engagement, we will have another community survey in the near future, this one will address recent concerns around ship construction and customization. We look forward to hearing more of your input and appreciate your support.

Released Patch Notes

v522.3

New Ship: The Majestic Kraken
The Ship Salesman's inventory is expanding! His latest offering, the Majestic Kraken, features two rows of Gunports armed with 150% damage Cannons.

Cost: 22,000 Gold, 75 Dried Squid Tentacles
Weapons: 24 Standard Cannons (150% Damage)
Max Level: 60
Sail Points: 6.0
Repair Resource: Patch Kit

Accordion

Playing the Accordion in Free Play Mode quickly reduces the torpidity of nearby wild creatures, allowing them to wake up much faster after being tranquilized
- The radius of effect can be increased by unlocking the Inspiring Music skills in the Music and Dance tree

Armored Docks

Quality Blueprints for Small and Large Armored Docks have been added to loot drops
- These have two stats: Durability (Total Health) and Effectiveness (Damage Resistance)
Decreased stack size from 100 to 1

Blueprints

Increased the drop rate of Blueprints about double across all sources
Blueprints for Sails, Cannons, Planks, Decks, and Gunports now have much lower craft counts
Updated how quality is derived on Cannons
- Quality is determined primarily based on Damage Percent
- Durability contributes to quality at a much lower ratio
- Stat values rolled are unchanged (same values should be generated, but quality of BP may be different)

Glider Suit

Added a Stamina Drain Debuff
Max Pitch is now limited by stamina. At low stamina the glider can only go down
Camera Angle has been altered downward
Bug Fix: Dive functionality via the run button has now been fully removed

Harvesting

Stone Harvesting nodes in the the remaining regions have been rebalanced to match the Copper Regions changed last patch
- Iron is the most common metal now, and may be found in rocks
- Other metals are no longer found in stone but may still be mined from metal nodes
- Geodes may now drop from rock in all areas. Using a Geode will destroy it and may give some limestone, rock salt, and/or a small amount of different gems and crystals. Geodes may only be gathered by hand or with Tames, not with the Quarry or Farmhouse
Bug Fix: An icon for the Geode has been added

Ships

Patch Kit repair time reduced from 5 to 3 seconds
Projectiles fired from Cannons in Gunports no longer explode if they hit the water's surface immediately after firing
Enlarged Gunports on the upper level of the Ramming Galley's front castle to prevent clipping
Bug Fix: Cannons in Gunports now correctly deal damage when ships are near one another
Bug Fix: Ship components can be demolished after crossing grids
Bug Fix: Resolved issue where all of the Ramming Galley's components were sometimes marked as Demolished
Bug Fix: Ship wake effects are now positioned correctly for the Ramming Galley

Tames and Creatures

Added Enable/Disable Breeding option to tame command wheel
- Breeding must be enabled to allow creatures to mate
- Wandering is no longer required for mating
- Following must still be disabled for mating
Unconscious or dead Horses and Bears can now be dragged
Bug Fix: A tamed Dolphin's rider now always receives the Dolphin Intellect buff when jumping
Bug Fix: Tamed Dolphins are now always able to jump after crossing grids
Bug Fix: Removed option to move NPCs onto Cargo Saddles

Trade

Increased the Warehouse inventory cap to 120 stacks
Trades of the same resources may no longer occur (e.g. iron for iron)
Bug Fix: Agate (Flint) added to the Market so it may now be traded
Bug Fix: Resources tradeable in the Market should all now be able to be placed in the Warehouse

Misc

Tranq Arrow torpor damage increased by 50%
Sea Fort walls no longer give resources when demolished
Updated the drop tables of a few sea creatures to give more stuff
Bug Fix: The Seed Vendor's inventory is now accessible in Single Player
Bug Fix: Resolved issue where some Warehouses and Markets would cause crashes

Known Issues

Cannon wheels clip through the floor on the Majestic Kraken's lowermost deck
Painting has not been implemented for the Ramming Galley and Majestic Kraken and attempting to do so will result in some cosmetic errors.

Final Note

Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

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