ATLAS News

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Hello Pathfinders!

Welcome to Season 4: The Maelstrom! We’re excited to launch The Maelstrom, which was designed to intensify the pirating and seafaring experience! We looked at player habits and reshuffled islands and resources to align the map to encourage more interaction though both conflict and cooperative gameplay. We’ve also made a number of balancing changes to improve the initial gameplay experience and make other strategies for gold more viable.

This is just the first step in the grander scheme of new changes coming to Atlas. There are many under-the-hood (or should we say, under-the-deck) improvements and new features coming down the pipeline. This new patch is just setting up the foundation for it! You can’t build a ship without a proper frame in place after all.

We’d also like to thank the community for all of your support and patience! We are excited to continue on the renewed Atlas journey with all of you!

Below you’ll find detailed Patch Notes for our latest update, v406.7.

⚓



New Map created

• Centralized Golden Age islands for a clearer path to completing the compass.
  
• Centralized high-density servers to reduce the distance/sail time between conflict areas.
  
• Updated mineral foliage on islands so it is no longer tied to plant biomes.
  
• Removed most unique discoveries to reduce the grind of getting to the max level cap.

Economy Balance Updates

• Army of Dead on Golden Age Islands gold drops reduced by 62%
  
• Island Claim upkeep costs reduced by about 75%
  
• NPC Crew upkeep costs reduced by 84% on land
  
• NPC Crew upkeep on sea reduced by about half.

Other changes

• Army of Dead Treasure Guards has been made significantly easier for low-quality treasure maps.
  
• Updated early game XP curve so you don't immediately level.
  
• Moved skill point gains to be more generous in lower levels and level off in later levels.
  
• Army of Dead on Golden Age Islands XP rewards reduced by 60%

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Season 4: The Maelstrom introduces a new map update in which islands have been reshuffled, added, or removed. Server owners, please see the lists below for more details. Custom Servers using any islands that are no longer in the build may see errors and it is recommended that server owners perform a wipe and swap out these islands in the ServerGridEditor.

An updated JSON file for the islands is also available here [http://cdn.atlasdedicated.com/islands.json] for server owners to drop into the ServerGridEditor\Data folder as shown:


[h2]Islands no longer in the build:[/h2]

Cay_C_EE_B
Cay_G_CL_C
Cay_H_WR_E
Cay_I_CL_C
Islet_A_WT
Islet_A_WT_B
Mnt_A_CH
Mnt_A_WU
Mnt_A_WU_B
Mnt_A_WU_C
Mnt_A_WU_D
Mnt_AA_CU
Mnt_AA_EU_B
Mnt_AB_CP
Mnt_AB_EU
Mnt_AC_EU
Mnt_AD_CP
Mnt_AD_EU
Mnt_AE_EU
Mnt_AG_EE
Mnt_AL_CU
Mnt_AM_CU
Mnt_AQ_CU
Mnt_C_CH_B
Mnt_C_CL_B
Mnt_C_EE
Mnt_C_WU
Mnt_D_CL
Mnt_D_CP
Mnt_D_WU
Mnt_E_CH
Mnt_E_CL
Mnt_E_CP_D
Mnt_E_WU
Mnt_F_CL
Mnt_F_EU_E
Mnt_H_CP
Mnt_H_CP_B
Mnt_H_CP_C
Mnt_H_CP_D
Mnt_J_CP_C
Mnt_J_CP_D
Mnt_J_WT_E
Mnt_L_CH_E
Mnt_L_CL
Mnt_O_CH
Mnt_R_WU_B
Mnt_R_WU_C
Mnt_T_CP_B
Mnt_T_CP_D
Mnt_Y_CP
Mnt_Y_CP_B
Mnt_Y_CP_C
Mnt_Y_CP_D
Mnt_Y_EU
Mnt_Y_EU_C

[h2]Islands added to the build:[/h2]

Cay_E_ET
Cay_N_ER
Cay_O_ER
Mnt_AC_EE_B
Mnt_AF_EE_B
Mnt_AF_EU
Mnt_AM_EU
Mnt_AN_EE
Mnt_AN_EU
Mnt_AO_EU
Mnt_AP_EE
Mnt_AP_EU
Mnt_AR_EU
Mnt_AR_EU_B
Mnt_AV_EU_B
Mnt_C_ET_C
Mnt_C_ET_D
Mnt_D_ER
Mnt_F_CP
Mnt_F_ER
Mnt_G_EU
Mnt_K_CP
Mnt_L_CP
Mnt_U_ER_PVE
Mnt_Y_WU_PVE

⚓

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!

The Grapeshot Crew is excited to announce the date and time of:
[h2]Season 4: The Maelstrom![/h2]

This Friday, July 3rd at 8 pm PDT (11 pm EDT), ATLAS' new World Map: The Maelstrom, will be replacing our original world map on both PC and Xbox. Everyone has worked hard to streamline player progression in The Maelstrom - players at lower levels will find it easier to focus on getting set up for their journey, and more experienced players will see new levels o' fun with a focus on player encounters.



[h3]Please Note:[/h3]

• Since The Maelstrom is a new journey, server wipes will be necessary for a fresh new start.
  
• As a reminder, while we focus on PVP gameplay, there will be one global PVE server for the time being. PVP servers will remain region-specific.
  
• Avast Ye! Servers may be down for around 45 minutes while we deploy the new map this Friday at 8 pm PDT.
  

[h3]Expect full patch notes to be available upon the update.[/h3]

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
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Greetin's Pathfinders!



In this Captain’s Log, your new Community Team will be emerging from below deck to introduce themselves and also to touch on exciting new developments for ATLAS. We look forward to sharing further details on our roadmap with players in the near future, but for now, whet ye appetites on these tasty morsels!

⚓

First up! I'm Chismebeard (Ye can jus' call me Chisme, which is Gossip in Spanish, pronounced chees-meh) yer new Senior Community Manager o'er at Grapeshot Games! As we ramp up the crew for the new content we plan to bring you in the coming months, you can expect Nami and me to communicate your feedback and excitement back to main base.

Here's a wee bit o’ background about me: I've been working in the gaming industry for over 5 years and have experience in building up nonprofits. When I'm not working, you'll most likely find me playing monster-catching games, farming games, and first-person shooters. I've been playing ATLAS with the development crew over the last few months and can say it's a game I'll be sinking many hours into. I'm excited to get to know this awesome community of scallywags!

I can be reached directly on our Forums as Chismebeard & Discord as Chismebeard#4432.

⚓

Ahoy Pathfinders~!

Nami here sailing in on the waves and happy to be a part of the ATLAS crew! I'll be on deck with ChismeBeard as another Community Manager. First-mate, doctor, shipwright, archaeologist, musician, sniper, cook, navigator... whatever we need, I'm here to help! Okay, maybe not navigator... unlike my namesake, I'm directionally challenged. But you know, as I like to quote, "there is little difference between being lost and exploring" and we're excited to be exploring all the new things coming to ATLAS with all of you! :)

When I'm not getting lost at sea or trying to outdo Chisme's “chees-eh” puns, you can find me watching anime (You can probably guess one of them, shishishi), working out (manning the sails is great for the arms!), and of course, playing games! I love platinuming RPGs, supporting feeders on MOBAs, being bad at matchmaking shooters, dungeon running in MMOs, and living out my own version of Groundhog's Day in survival games lol. Fun fact: I drew a life-size Jack Sparrow for my art final back in high school. I'm sure that qualifies me as a pirate.

Please feel free to reach out to me at Nami#6151 on Discord, as long as you're not also reaching out for our treasure

⚓

Yo ho! Primus here -- I recently joined the Grapeshot team as the lead designer for ATLAS. My focus is to steer the new vision for the game (more below), creating a busy roadmap of content as we steer it towards 1.0. Prior to working on ATLAS, I led the player experience, economy, and crafting efforts for the fantasy game Wildstar. At Riot Games, I was a game designer working on new player experience, matchmaking, and the ranking system. Much of my career has been spent developing gameplay that enhances how people competitively work together and against each other in a simulated world. During my free time, I play a myriad of game genres, including strategy, shooters, co-op survivals, and more! You can find me commenting in the Forums as Gortok - feel free to say Hi!

As mentioned on Monday, we’ve redesigned the whole World Map and today, we wanted to give Pathfinders more insight on some of the upcoming changes. The new map was designed with the goal to drive more interactions between players -- both competitive and cooperative!




The Golden Age islands are moving to the map center, surrounding it with a high-density ring of lawless territory, and adding sparse island outskirts where players can claim island territory to have a lower-risk experience. This will reduce the amount of sailing between core islands, incite more conflict, and give more opportunity for Companies to capture and control water lanes for the upcoming Trade Route system -- but we’re getting ahead of ourselves on that new system -- we’ll reveal details in the weeks ahead!!

⚓

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,



Major news! We have been working on our plans for some time and getting ready to give all you Pathfinders the details of our new ATLAS journey. We’re growing the development team and we’ll be starting to introduce those team members to you next week!

Updates! Our first major change to the ATLAS will be a whole new World Map which is designed to intensify the fun at higher levels and make it a bit safer for lower level players. This is just the first step in the greater plan to shift gameplay from the land out on to the open seas! This new World Map drops in the first half of July for both PC and Xbox.

Another piece of ATLAS’ grander plan is to focus on PVP play with an eye towards breaking out PVE play into something else.   As part of this plan, we’ll be taking NA PVE offline and leaving the EU PVE server as the official PVE world for the time being.  

Bringing a new World Map online will require a complete reset of the system, something we don’t take lightly.  We wouldn’t do it if we didn’t feel that it was vital to the new experience we want to create for you all.

We have new goals for supporting the game and delivering regular (dare we say monthly!) content updates that will bring joy and piracy back to the open seas, with plans for Trade Winds, Farms, Warehouses, and more! Stick with us on this ride and we’ll sail the high seas together!

⚓

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,


First and foremost, we’d like to thank you all for your continued support of the game. We know it’s been an arduous journey and we’re very grateful to you for sticking through us through all the storms and chaos. It’s been a while since our last post and today we’d like to give you a brief update. The future of ATLAS is packed full of adventure! Our plan is to continue to update the game with many patches, varying from; massive new features, new items, bug fixes, balance changes, and quality of life improvements.

Today we’ll be rolling out a new major version. This will include a new item for ship combat, some balance changes, quality of life improvements, as well as miscellaneous bug fixes and updates.



NEW Item: Ballista Flame bolt

- Sets fire to sails
- Can hit a sail with multiple bolts and add multiple fire buffs
- Fire can be extinguished by Olfend (or a bucket if you can get one up there)
- Fire can be extinguished by fully closing the sail
- Fire buff will not stick during rain or snow
- Fire bolts can also set fires on other structures, creatures, and the ground (and will damage the mast if hit there instead of the sail)

Balance Changes

- Decreased oil jar weight
- Increased torch damage
- Increased flame arrow damage

Quality of Life Changes

- Added Ship Heading indicator on the map when on captain's wheel
- Improved skill tree search UI when using a gamepad
- Skill tree: When searching for craftables, you now see ALL results, even if you have not unlocked a craftable. Double-click to go to the skill in the tree
- Olfend: added water capacity numbers over droplets icon for extended HUD info, so the rider can see water quantity
- Added item descriptions with helpful gameplay-relevant info (the first batch includes 80 items, more to come in future patches)

Bug Fixes & Misc

- Main menu exit highlight now works on mouseover
- Removed marine sublevels from server cook, so players stop bashing their ships into invisible underwater rocks near the shore
- Bottom rows on server grid select UI are now properly clickable
- Scaled-down seagull slightly when carried (was too big) and removed takeoff particles when tossed from shoulder
- Fixed bug where flame arrow flame buff would desync when shot at a moving ship and be visually "left behind"
- Fixed bug where oil slick from tossed oil jar would desync when hitting a moving ship and be visually "left behind"
- Olfend: fixed issue where if you break out of the drink animation by moving around, the drink "ripple" vfx stays active on its snout
- Olfend: tweaked water amounts when adding to or drinking from a water barrel
- Olfend: improved trace when rider sprays water, so it can hit fires above it easier (needed to fight those ballista flame bolts
- Bird taming improvements, including preventing them from immediately fleeing after bola release when they should attack instead
- Fixed bug where in-progress sail canvas repairs do not continue after transitioning
- Fixed bug in crop plots where fertilizer amount shows 0 after save/load
- Resized large crop plot mesh so it is actually larger than the small crop plot (visual update only, no changes to footprint/collision)
- Tutorial UI: fixed button label text not clipping when scrolling
- Changed tribe member offline duration string to better fit the UI
- Ammo container HUD tooltip displays ammo types only if amount > 0 in the container
- Fixed a bug where water barrel was always being placed with 3000 water
- Re-added missing Tools folder to Steam PC client (LocalizationManager)
- Fix: Ammo container HUD shows text "Press [LeftShift] to switch between ammo types" when looking at an ammo container on a ship after getting on/off a turret

⚓

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