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ATLAS

Patch Preview: Setting up the Sea Forts!

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First of all

Thanks for taking up the burden of fixing this game.
Many of us are aware of the hurdles you're facing. But just as many are not.
Please don't take all the non-constructive criticisms as a personal slight, most of us appreciate the work you've done.

Some (hopefully) constructive feedback

  • Sea Forts
    • Tower
      The biggest remark I have on the fort model is the fact that it looks like a structure that would topple over easily.
      Perhaps remove the lower section, or make it wider, so it doesn't look like it would topple over in a storm 😉
    • Floor level
      I would also recommend adding a wall around the whole structure, that way the floor will look more in-place on the rock.
  • Trade system
    • I love the idea of a trading system, but please make the world map a bit more sensible again.
      Surely it's possible to balance a world with somewhat realistic biomes (hot at equator, cold at poles)?
  • Ships & gold
    • Please don't make shipyard ships cost gold unless gold can realistically be gotten by smaller companies.
    • Make shipyards require a paid crew in order to build the bigger ship frames.
      While this doesn't do anything mechanically, the gold cost would make more sense and the world would feel a bit more alive.
  • Wipes
    • I'm glad you decided that wipes aren't a major issue during an early-access phase.
      This is what testing is for after all. People seem to forget that the game isn't released yet.

Again, big thanks to all staff working on Atlas, not just the devs.
The transparant communication is appreciated!

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If it’s going to cost gold to build a ship, then EVERYTHING should cost gold. Why stop with ships? Walls, ceilings and items should need gold. We should have to really work hard to build anything and have it all cost money like in real life. No more spam, giant pyramids or useless gates because no one will have the gold to do anything except build ships. Heck we should be able to buy XP too!

On that note, the best idea I read was a point system for construction. Apply that idea to every company based on members and the lag will be better and the spam will be gone. No more endless, pointless construction in PVE. 

Lastly, I have decided I don’t need a trade route. All I need to do is gather every map full time and sell them. 
 

 

 

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okay you want some feedback? barrels shouldnt be able to be shot out of cannons i mean its no fun losing your boat to one cannon shot... literally 90% of your pvp player base doesnt want it but your not listening. also increase catapult barrel reload time. BUT i think the ship for gold system is good for lower levels, its not that hard to get a sextant and grab a few sunken treasures for a brig or schooner, looking at the other option for them hiding in lawless on land trying to farm enough to make one before they get robbed, so i dont see why people wouldnt like the ship for gold system.  also being able to steal the gold from the new defense tower with the tax bank on it seems like a bad idea, what if someone doesnt catch it within 30 mins they just lose all their island gold? 

Edited by Akajerry

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Alright here is the questions.

1) - Are there treasure maps, sunken treasure will still contain a gold?

Because if not - all solo/duo/few companies will have to set their trade routes.

2) - Are there solo/duo/few companies will be able to set their trade routes? 

------------------

The current situation is bad for our company. Because we were able to place a 0.25% rate windmill (0.25 because it's on the sharp slope, and we had to put huge 5x7 foundation underneath). But we are not able to place a warehouse. Because few companies in my island already place theirs and there is just no place to set my warehouse due to radius restrictions (+ addition windmill also unavailable, all my island covered by those as well). So no possible trade routes for us.

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Maybe it's just me, but I feel like you've completely forgotten that you even have players who play solo...?  Unless I've misread something, removing the gold rewards from everything but trade routes doesn't make any sense.  Some of this also goes for new players and small companies, but the immediate problems I see are:

1. you need gold to build anything larger than a sloop, but you can only get gold through trade routes...that basically means you can't get any ship larger than a sloop until you find an island you want to build on, which can't be a freeport.  As a solo player, I kind of just want to build a single nice base and be done with it, so I sail around a lot until I find a spot I like, but sailing is kind of boring without stopping to fight ships of the damned.  Now you're telling me I can't fight until I find a home, not just ships of the damned but ANYthing, might as well not bother with treasure maps because where am I even going to keep the loot in a tiny ship that can't hold much and needs to be fast to escape all the things I can't fight...basically there is no game until I find a home...?  Is that essentially what you're saying here?  Because that's pretty unpleasant whether you're playing solo or not.

2. you can't crew a ship without gold, but you can't get gold outside of the trade routes, and for that you need at least two markets.  Can you build two markets in SP and trade with yourself?  Is there actually any point to trading with yourself?  If the trade happened across grids, it would actually be a good way to shift resources from different biomes without weighing down your ships, but as it seems to be restricted to a single grid, it seems kind of pointless.  But the bottom line is if you can't trade with yourself, playing solo means you can't crew your ships.  And if you can't crew your ships, you're basically locked out of most of the game.

3. you need gold to do basically everything mid-game or higher, but you can't do that without a base...what happens to nomadic players who want to live off their ships, players who can't establish a base for one reason or another, or players who just want to explore?  You're basically tying us down to a single grid to pay our crew or upgrade our ships, or else forcing us to build markets wherever we go.  I get that you're trying to make your new mechanic look attractive, but quite frankly, I hate building.  I like taming and sailing and fighting.  Up until now, I could play the parts of the game I enjoy while largely bypassing the bits that I don't, but now it sounds like I'm going to have a recurring slog to look forward to or a pointless waiting game to collect pay to keep my crew happy.  So basically I'm either bored or AFK--and again, that's assuming I can trade with myself.

4. I've been sailing schooners and above for a while, so I may be misremembering this, but solo or multi--I have at least one friend who has motion sickness bad enough that she can't play the game until she gets a ship large enough (and crewed enough) to sail in zoomed-out third person mode, when the ship becomes "stable" instead of the camera rocking constantly.  (Until then I literally just build her a chair on deck and tell her to sit her character down and close her eyes when we travel, lol.)  With this system, it might become pretty uncomfortable if not outright impossible for some people to advance, but admittedly I don't remember how sloops handle while uncrewed.

Can we please get some more clarification on what your plan is for solo?  Or at least one way (that doesn't involve sea battles, as we're barred from that in the proposed system) for nomadic players to still farm gold?  Even if it's just flotsam recovery, which I don't see listed--you'd be forcing us to sail still, encouraging exploration, without completely putting out of reach basically everything that makes the game fun.

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With each new patch, more and more I want to play the very first version of the game, with one condition 1 player - 1 flag

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Well there is the simple fact that if everything starts costing gold, then they could start selling gold for real game cash on their website. I'm old enough to remember when game developers helped us escape from the real world, for a few hours at least. 

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So my takeaway is:

- Trade System will cause severe lag, and although there's some method of curtailing it, just look at PvE. When things got bad, you have done nothing but looked away. The same will happen here.

- I guarantee sea forts will be blockaded 24/7 or someone will find a way to cheese-claim them and ruin their whole purpose within days.

- Why bother giving us lip service about wipes when you gave PvE NA less than 24 hours before closing it last season? No one should trust you.

Edited by Xantria
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Everything only gets worse, worse and worse ..... Developers, what are you smoking there, what shit ??! Each time you give us more and more idiotic ideas! Estimate the number of votes that approve of all your nonsense and you will understand that you it's time to dump !!!
 

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Stop barrels from being shot from cannons. How hard is it for you guys to understand that this implementation pretty much single handily killed the game. Yet its still in.

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You did a map far less than, closing access and inflow of new players! A map needs to be extended, but not diminish! Или on your opinion, in a game 100 players suffice and all ??? Begin already to think only a head !!!

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I think we just need some clarification about how players can earn gold. You did not mention that gold would be removed as rewards for maps, sunken treasure or SODs, just the soldiers (I assumed you meant the ones that spawn on GA ruins) a few of the boss creatures (you did not say monstrous whales) fishing, and digging (I assume you meant the random gold you can get from using the shovel and not from digging up treasure from maps). I also see no mention of flotsam gold. You then stated that trade routes would be *THE* way to earn gold, not A way to earn gold or even the primary way to earn gold. I think we all just need some clarifying statements on how players will be able to earn gold.

To me it just sounds like you are removing the gold that drops from the random little things and adding in a new way to make gold on top of the primary ways companies make gold now (Maps, high level SODs, monstrous whales). There is just concern over how smaller companies will be able to participate in this new system and build their own ships.

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23 hours ago, esditas said:

You break the game...bit by bit

I liked it when the in game font was olde timey

 

11 hours ago, Strider said:

Stop barrels from being shot from cannons. How hard is it for you guys to understand that this implementation pretty much single handily killed the game. Yet its still in.

Here's a ramming ship!!

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On 10/23/2020 at 9:00 PM, ATLAS said:

:anchor: Ships :anchor:

We also discussed the upcoming Ships for Gold system. At this time the plan is to have it exist alongside the current Ship system. The next patch will see a few changes to Ships to balance it out with the changes that the Trade system and Ships for Gold system will bring. Maximum level has been increased to 60 for ships and the exp curve has been adjusted accordingly. Schooner, Brigantine, and Galleon will now additionally cost Gold to build, and this amount will increase once the Trade System has been fully implemented. The new Ship Salesman has also settled into the Freeports, so you can pay him a visit although no ships will be available for purchase yet.

Are you fools TRYING to kill your game??? Being able to buy a ship for gold at a freeport makes sense (implementing a shipwright building or something similar would actually be pretty cool for this). However making players pay gold in any amount, especially after grinding for HOURS to gather the resources needed to build a ship in their OWN shipyard is nothing short of assanine! Who exactly is this gold suppose to be going to anyhow? It's my shipyard, I built it and I own it, but I have to feed it gold to build anything bigger than a sloop? If this is some haphazard attempt at staunching the growth of the overpowering mega-companies I fear you are morbidly mistaken. This will in fact only give those oppressive bastards an even greater advantage over we smaller groups even moreso over solo players, and lessening the number of ways to procure gold only threatens to exacerbate the issue. Mark my words, if you do indeed implement this "fix" this game will be dead (or very nearly so) within weeks.

Edited by Cap'n Skitzo
Inclusion of solo players
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On 10/23/2020 at 8:00 PM, ATLAS said:

Ahoy Pathfinders!

The new patch is getting really close! We’re still doing some final work and checks on the build. We don’t have an exact time and date on when it’ll be out yet, but here’s a quick heads up that it’ll likely be out early next week! Please keep your eye on this post and our social channels for any updates as to when this patch will release. 🙂 Now, let’s take a closer look at what’s coming and the tentative changelog.

:anchor: Sea Forts & Trading :anchor:

Earlier this week, one of the major items we discussed was the upcoming Trade System! A lot of you were curious about what the Towers on the island Control Points, now called Sea Forts, would look like! Trade Routes won’t be available yet in this next patch, but you will be able to at least check out these Sea Forts and battle it out! Here’s an early sneak peek: 
20201023_Preview_SeaFort-min.jpg

*** Please note that the above reflects a work in progress. The Sea Fort tower structures are still undergoing some work and adjustments will be made in subsequent updates.

We received a few questions as well about how the actual exchange of goods happens and how trade can be disrupted. When shipments for trade are generated, both parties will only receive the goods and generated gold if both Trading Ships successfully make it to the other Market. On PVP, a Shipment will not start if all Sea Forts on a grid that is a part of the Trade Ship’s route have blocked it from usage. Once a shipment starts, it will follow its intended path and pay taxes based on the conditions of its route at inception. Blockading will only stop new shipments or force it into another route if it’s not completely blocked. Trade ships can also be attacked directly, and although players will be able to steal resources from the Trade Ship, this functionality is still a work in progress.

We have seen concerns about how these Trade Ships may affect server load. Optimization and server stability are ongoing issues that involve the continual work we are doing to update the back-end code. Improvements are going to be a gradual process. However, we do have a mechanic in place to prevent an overload of Trade Ships. Once generated Trade Ships have reached a certain threshold, any shipments that should have been generated thereafter will be virtual. Virtual shipments do not generate a Trade Ship and cannot be attacked or stopped once it has met the conditions to start.

:anchor: Ships :anchor:

We also discussed the upcoming Ships for Gold system. At this time the plan is to have it exist alongside the current Ship system. The next patch will see a few changes to Ships to balance it out with the changes that the Trade system and Ships for Gold system will bring. Maximum level has been increased to 60 for ships and the exp curve has been adjusted accordingly. Schooner, Brigantine, and Galleon will now additionally cost Gold to build, and this amount will increase once the Trade System has been fully implemented. The new Ship Salesman has also settled into the Freeports, so you can pay him a visit although no ships will be available for purchase yet.
 

:anchor: Re: Wipes :anchor:

Many players were also concerned upon hearing about “more wipes.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s going to suddenly be wipes left and right, only that instead of hesitating to wipe or waiting until a new “season,” we will perform the wipe if a situation calls for it. However, it does mean that a wipe can happen at any time, but only when necessary. We're going to do our best to minimize the possibility, but the possibility is always there. We'll announce wipes when we're sure, although how much of a heads up we can give is going to depend on the situation.

Understandably, many of you were also anticipating a wipe after hearing this news. This next patch will NOT include a wipe. However, as we continue to implement the Trade System, a wipe will be a necessary part of the process. We do not have a date for this yet, and will make an announcement once we do. We apologize for this inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. 

For our Pathfinders sailing the seas of Private Servers, we will also let Private Server owners know if we recommend to follow suit when we announce a wipe.


ujA5glLFIwiaCk29Co5M54L8en_Hq27JrYEL58K4 ujA5glLFIwiaCk29Co5M54L8en_Hq27JrYEL58K4 ujA5glLFIwiaCk29Co5M54L8en_Hq27JrYEL58K4

In addition to the pieces we are setting in place for the Trade system and Ships for Gold, are a few changes and bug fixes as well. We’d also like to remind everyone that we are indeed working on bug fixes and other issues in tandem with the new content. Some patches may see more content, and other patches may see more tweaks or fixes. While certain patches may focus more in one area than another, it does not mean that we are not working on other things. We are a small team doing our best to balance all sides, and we appreciate all of your support and understanding as we continue to shape ATLAS’ gameplay.

See the tentative patch notes below:
 

:anchor: Tentative Changelog :anchor:

***Please note that this is only a preview of the next patch. Final Patch Notes for the Live build may differ and will be reposted once it goes live.
 

New Feature: Sea Forts
Sea Forts are a form of Control Points that give Companies control over trading in an area. This system is foundational for the upcoming Trade System.

  • Sea Forts have automated defenses that will respawn over time when neutral
    • Players have a limited number of build points (100) to spend on a Sea Fort they own
    • Currently only Defense Towers may be built (15 pts each)
  • On PVP Servers, they may be captured and controlled!
    • To capture them, destroy the defenses and plant a flag inside the central tower
    • The flag takes 25 minutes to force an owned Fort return to neutral
    • The flag takes 10 minutes to capture on a neutral Fort
    • Sea Forts in Freeport Servers may not be captured
  • In an upcoming patch, Sea Forts will allow access through a server for Trading
    • You will be able to grant or restrict access to Allies or other Companies
    • Access to a Sea Fort is required for you to have trade routes that travel through a server!
  • Sea Forts may have a Tax Bank built on them
    • The Tax Bank can be raided for gold. Neutral points have the Tax Bank as well
    • NOTE: Until trading starts, they aren't actually earning any gold, so the Bank is empty
    • Tax Banks will allow companies to tax Trade Routes that use their Fort for access
    • Neutral Forts will have a high tax rate and allow everyone access to a server

Map

  • Added the Ship Salesman's Island to the center of each Freeport Grid
    • NOTE: Ships are not yet available for purchase. They will be added in a future update
  • Added Sea Fort Islands to the map. 1-4 exist on every server except the center

Ships

  • Increased maximum Ship level from 52 to 60
  • Adjusted Ship XP curve to increase the amount of XP required for early levels and greatly reduce the amount of XP required for later levels
    • Overall, this change reduces the total amount of XP required to reach max level
  • Added Gold cost for crafting Ships in a Shipyard
    • Schooner: 50 Gold
    • Brigantine: 250 Gold
    • Galleon: 500 Gold
    • NOTE: These costs will increase when the trade system has been fully implemented

Structures

  • Defense Towers may be built at the Smithy
    • May only be placed at Sea Forts
    • Requires Advanced Automation Skill from the Construction Tree
  • Added Fuel Slot to Farmhouse and Warehouse
    • Dedicated slot holds up to 1,000 units of Fuel
    • This slot is separate from the main inventory
    • Burns a unit of fuel at the following intervals:
      • Oil: 350 seconds
      • Coal: 200 seconds
      • Wood: 100 seconds
      • Thatch: 40 seconds

Weapons

  • Changed delay before using newly placed land artillery to 10 minutes
    • This affects Cannons, Large Cannons, Catapults, Puckles, Ballistas, Mortars, and Swivel Guns
  • Bug Fix: Cannons can no longer be fired underwater

Misc

  • Removed XP reward from all bosses including the Abominable Snowman, Kraken, Hydra, Drake, Ghost Ship, and Blackwood's Queen Cobra
  • Removed Gold drops from Kraken, Squids, Army of the Damned Soldiers, fishing, and digging. The trade system will become the way to earn gold
  • Bug Fix: Driving a Cargo Cart over a Pillar will no longer cause the rider to dismount
  • Bug Fix: If a Ceiling Tile is placed on top of a Pillar and then destroyed, any object built on the Ceiling Tile will also be destroyed

:anchor: Final Note :anchor:

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! 🙂

 

:wheel:

Happy Sailing,

- ATLAS Crew

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

Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitterhttps://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

 

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While I like the idea of being able to straight up buy a ship for gold, most of these changes read like you're deliberately trying to kill off your solo player base. Charging gold for ships in your own shipyard is absolute nonsense. Now, if you want to make it an option to spend gold and get a basic prebuilt ship instead of having to go to the Freeport that's something else. But make it an option. You're making gold harder to get and a new player is going to be SoL trying to get anything other than a sloop which has extremely limited utility. Think this through, devs.  

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