Dollie

Apologies in advance as I don't currently have the time to read all of the posts in this thread and respond to each but I'd like to share my related post from the Discord to give you all some clarity on this issue sooner rather than later, and, hopefully put you at ease.  

@foulblade We hear you on the piracy aspects. We had a discussion regarding ship stealing timers just recently and some changes are in the short term pipeline (we're focusing bugs today though). 

 SHOW 'N TELL 

Avast, Pathfinders it be time for a new Show 'n Tell Showcase!

 

Hear ye, hear ye! We be treasure huntin' fer the finest of ATLAS community creations! Show us yer mighty fleets, paint pieces, flags & sails, impenetrable forts, hellish tats, scenic screenshots, 'n entertainin' videos!

Each fortnight, we'll be runnin' a contest where we'll select th' best o' th' bunch 'n award tha winners wit' a cash prize! Submit your entries in this 'ere thread for us to be viewin'. 

 

We’ve created this dedicated thread for submissions. Don’t hesitate to show us what you’ve got. The last two week's entries were amazing and we look forward to what you have for us this fortnight! 

 

Eastern Tundra

 

This is a friendly contest and not intended as something highly competitive. We'd like to showcase your creations in their many varied shapes and forms.

 

Submit your entries by Tuesday 7th of May for a chance to fill your chests with some cash booty!

 

@boomervoncannon feelsbadman

Martyn, I don't see a ticket related to this. I understand your frustration but I'm not going to chastise our GM's for not being psychic  

Please submit a player report and include the relevant info and screeshots/video so it can be investigated and action taken if we deem it appropriate. Thanks.

13 minutes ago, photek said:

YOU RUINED THE START OF A LOT OF PLAYERS BY NOT LETTING THEM KNOW TO NOT UNCHECK THE BETA OPTION, 9,7 gig, WE ALL COULD PREDOWNLOAD THIS SHIT INSTEAD OF 400 MB WE NOW HAVE TO DL 9,7 GIG ARE YOU KIDDING ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THANK YOU FOR A GOOD START

Advice on that was posted four hours ago. Sorry you missed it. 

 

Ahoy Pathfinders!

ATLAS 1.5 has arrived! ATLAS has been revised and re-envisioned in this Mega-Update 1.5, which is the culmination of 3 months of live feedback from players since launch! We know that this update has taken quite some time and we really appreciate everyone’s patience as we get our feet wet redesigning the claiming system, expanding the map, and getting all the content ready. As a team, this has been one of the largest updates we have ever worked on and we’re incredibly excited to get it out to you. We believe with these changes, ATLAS has come a long way and we’re going to continue to remain dedicated to the game, bringing you more major updates a monthly basis, which will include more content such as new items, weapons, creatures and new areas for players to check out!

And now here’s what you can expect with ATLAS 1.5!

 official servers & claim changes 

With this update, we’ll be launching 4 fresh Official Networks to represent 3 different game modes, each with a unique claim system. We want to give you the choice to choose the mode which best represents your playstyle. 

Colonies PvP: Freeform building, with more progress-protecting and time-enforced PvP rules creating a cooperative atmosphere, and limits to ensure the game is more oriented towards single players and small to mid-sized groups. We’ll have two official networks available for this mode, one in Europe and one in North America. 

Empires PvP: This is our previous PvP mode. There are no limits on claim flags, and company sizes are at a maximum. We’ll have one Official Network in North America where players can fight it out to determine which Empire holds control of the ATLAS.

PvE: This will be based on our Colonies mode, with the PvP specific elements disabled. There will also be additional limits on companies in terms of how many islands they can own based on how large they are. We’ll initially be launching one network hosted in Europe, with another North American network to follow in a few weeks (the hardware is currently being prepared!).

Jump aboard and explore a greatly expanded World Map with new islands and regions ready to be plundered! With this update, The ATLAS world now has 40% more islands and unique land masses to grab as your own, along with a new biome and world map layout to explore.

Take an explosive foray into new missions and quest lines and uncover the depths of ATLAS with new mechanics and items!

Take a deep dive into new underwater content and explore the depths of the deepest ocean trenches in the brand-new Submarine, but be on the lookout as the ruins are guarded by powerful underwater creatures and are home to the Giant Crab!

Construct towering monuments that will stand the test of time! With a revamped building system, you can be more creative than ever in the world of ATLAS.

Immortalise your enemies via the thoughtful process of converting their heads into mementos to adorn the perimeters of your Company's lands.

Catapult yourself into new raiding strategies and let loose the savage in you (and perhaps the contents of your stomach as you become airborne).

Form a fleet and traverse vast expanses of ocean beneath the guiding light of the Aurora Borealis dancing on the horizon and reap the extra bounties she grants.

Try your hand swinging across mountains with the new physical grappling mechanics. A whole new world of adventure awaits you!

 patch notes 

New Features and Content

- Redesign: ATLAS World - 40% more islands/landmass & new world map layout.
- Redesign: Claim System - Colonies: Freeform building, with more progress-protecting and time-enforced PvP rules creating a cooperative atmosphere, and limits to ensure the game is more oriented towards single players or smaller groups. Previous mode now known as Empires and PvE will be a modified version of colonies.
- New Environment: Deep Ocean Trench. A new area to explore, guarded by powerful underwater creatures and home to the new Giant Crab
- New Environment: Eastern Tundra now has its own visual design, no longer using the Western Tundra style
- New Weather: 'Snow' weather systems for Polar and Tundra
- New World Phenomenon: Aurora Borealis light display which will result in a harvesting bonus, visible in particular regions.
- New Vehicle: Submarine. Explore the depths of the ocean in this small scouting submarine. Use the claw arms to help harvest the ocean floor and explore (demolish) player shipwrecks. Also equipped with a harpoon (uses ballista bolts) as a new underwater weapon which will ramp up oceanic combat.
- New Creature: Giant Crab. It can carry heavy loads, along with players, tames and wild creatures
- New Item: "Guillotine". Hanging your foes in a noose taking too long? Off with their heads! 
- New Item: "Large Wall". Equipped with parapets and ladder snaps so you can now build a proper defensive perimeter!
- New Item: "Small Gates". 2-wall high gate structures for wood and stone.
- New Item: "Player Shops". Players can set up automated shops, listing loot for sale and naming their own gold coin prices.
- New Item: "Settlement War Declaration". Tied to the War System. Drag over a settlement on the ATLAS map to declare war on them!
- New Item: More tame tokens for more mythical creatures! Allowing players to have limited-time tames of the Fire Elemental, Rock Elemental and Cyclops. BONUS: Rock Elemental and Cyclops are rideable!
- New Feature: War System - Declare war on your enemies!
- New Feature: 1 'Mainline Quest' involving gathering 9 trench stones and defeating the hardmode Kraken!
- New Feature: 7 more ‘Quests’ which upon successful completion will provide their own unique Skill unlock
- New Feature: Curses. Tied to the execution of players
- New Feature: Player-to-Player secure trading system
- New Feature: Procedurally Generated Shipwrecks which players can explore for items and blueprints. They can be found by diving deep into the ocean, or looking out for their visual indicator on the surface of the water, or successfully completing the sextant mini-game which will point you in the direction of nearby shipwrecks.
- New Feature: Human Catapult. Player characters can now be deployed into battle using a catapult.
- New Cosmetics: Peg Legs, Hook Hands, and Multiple Armor sets to customize the look of your company and crew! Can be purchased at the cosmetics vendor.
- Redesign: Squads (Ship) of the Damned will now come in multiple size variations with different stats and difficulty levels.
- Redesign: Grappling Hook has been revamped, better physics & rappelling mechanics, and players will be able to realistically swing using them.
- Redesign: Explosive Barrels. Can now be carried in hand, thrown overboard to sink and will explode when they collide with anything underwater (Depth Charge!).

Balance Changes

- The higher quality shipyard used when building a ship, the more level ups a ship will be able to obtain.
- Ships can now level up their total damage output (which effects all cannons on a ship) and their total resistance, as new upgradable stats.
- All tamable creatures made breedable, with no exceptions except for Mythical Creatures.
- Various spawner adjustments & fixes across all islands
- Reloading now changed to have the mini-game appear back to back, rather than through various points of the animation.
- Vitamin debuffs have been removed and will only cause health loss when a player has a vitamin surplus or deficiency.
- Increased smithy inventory slots to 150.
- Increased weight of catapult from 12 to 84.
- Adjusted the crafting quantities on higher tier blueprints so they don't require as many resources as before.

QOL Changes

- Territory map will now display allies as teal-coloured
- Character creator now has a Height slider to make it easier to set your character's desired height
- Any dead ships (shipwrecks) from your Company appear with a unique icon on your map now, so you can find the wrecks
- Global territory message updating
- Currently contested claims will be indicated on the minimap
- Players can now mount a sail to directly control the sail's open/close amount and rotation settings in a more intuitive way.
- Toggle ladders button for ship captain, defaults to L key. 
- Company Groups have been increased to 10
- Players cannot accept alliance invites unless they're an admin
- Company Log can now be sorted
- New group permission which acts as an effective 'company owner'. Only the true company owner can set/unset that specific group rank.

Misc

- Improved Server and Client performance
- Visual feedback for players being unable to board unallied boats on PvE
- Full body animations for harvesting
- More realistic old age wrinkles
- Additional face sliders for character customization
- Dive suit overlay has been adjusted so it's easier to see when underwater
- Commodities trader can only be found on the Merchant Ship on PvP servers
- Respec potion has been moved to the Crew Recruiter on Freeports

 Unofficial server settings 

With this update, we have a treasure trove of settings for unofficial server admins!

Game.ini:
[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
bUseSettlementClaims=true

Set this to true to use the new "Colonies" island settlement system

bDontRequireClaimFlagsForBuilding=false

If true, you can place all structures without claim flags. We strongly recommend setting this to true if you're using the settlement mode

bForceRequireClaimFlagsForBuildingCannons=false

If true, you are still required to have a claim flag to place cannons even if bDontRequireClaimFlagsForBuilding is true. We strongly recommend setting this to true if you're using the settlement mode

SettlementCombatPhaseLengthSeconds=32400

The length of the settlement mode's combat phase

TreasureGoldMultiplier=1.0

Scales how much gold you get from treasure maps

MinPointsPerDiscoveryZone=1.0

Acts as a minimum value for how many points you'll get from any single discovery zone

EnemyBuildPreventionRadiusMultiplier=1.0

Scales the enemy build prevention radius

NonShipTurretInitializationTimeScale=0.0

Scales how long before newly-placed land cannons are allowed to fire. set it to zero to remove this feature.

bPvEAllowNonAlignedShipBasing=false

If true, 'enemies' will be allowed to stand on your ship in PvE

bPvEDontReplicateLoggedOutPlayers=false

If true and the server is in PvE configuration, player characters will disappear when logged out

bHomeServerDontReplicateLoggedOutPlayers=false

If true, player characters on homeservers will disappear when logged out

DestroyUntaggedShipsInterval=0

If greater than zero, ships that have not had any of that team logged-in nearby will be destroyed after that amount of time

bDisplayTopCompanies=true

If true and NOT playing settlement mode, the list of top 10 companies will be displayed on the map

CompanySoloIslandPointsAmount=0
CompanyMinIslandPointsPlayers=0
CompanyMaxIslandPointsPlayer=0
CompanyMinIslandPointsAmounts=0
CompanyMaxIslandPointsAmounts=0

For these, if non-zero they will scale-limit how many 'island points' a company is allowed to claim with claimflags. In non-settlement "Empires" mode that is simply the total number of claim flags.

Here are the values we use for PvE as an example:
CompanySoloIslandPointsAmount = 30;
CompanyMinIslandPointsPlayers = 1;
CompanyMaxIslandPointsPlayers = 50;
CompanyMinIslandPointsAmounts = 30;
CompanyMaxIslandPointsAmounts = 150;

And for PvP:
CompanySoloIslandPointsAmount=250;
CompanyMinIslandPointsPlayers=1;
CompanyMaxIslandPointsPlayers=1;
CompanyMinIslandPointsAmounts = 250;
CompanyMaxIslandPointsAmounts = 250;

SettlementFlagResourceUpkeepMultiplier=2.0

For settlement mode, this will scale the amount of upkeep resources necessary in the claim flags. you can set it to 0 to remove the upkeep entirely.

AllowedCombatPhaseStartAdjustmentInterval=604800

For settlement mode, this is how often (in seconds) players are allowed to adjust the combat schedule for a settlement (edited) 

SettlementWarInterval=86400

For settlement mode, this is how long a war lasts

MinSettlementWarTimeOffset = 172800

For settlement mode, this is the minimum amount of time in the future that a war can be scheduled

MaxSettlementWarTimeOffset = 345600

For settlement mode, this is the maximum amount of time in the future that a war can be scheduled

MinimumSettlementWarCooldownInterval = 432000

For settlement mode, this is the amount of time after a war ends before a new war can be declared

bDisableFogOfWar=false

If you set this to true, the fog & shrowd of war will be disabled

bUseNewStructureFoundationSupportChecks=false

If you set this to true, foundation/supports will be more correctly required for horizontal structure building, improving server performance but consequently limiting certain kinds of architectural builds.

bAutoCalculateIslandPoints = true;

If true, for settlement mode, the island points will automatically be calculated by the island's size on the map, for any islands that are set to 1 point

AutoIslandPointSizePower = 0.6f //a power to apply to this calculation
AutoIslandPointSizeScale=0.000015f //a scale to this calculation
AutoIslandPointsMin=1 //a minimum clamp on this calculation
AutoIslandPointsMax=100 //a maximum clamp on this calculation

SettlementOwnerAllowForceDemolishStructureInterval=8640

For settlement mode, the period of time that a settlement owner is able to instantly demolish any other settler team's structures during peacetime

WaterClaimsMaximumDistanceFromShore=0

For non-settlement mode, the distance away from shore that water claims are allowed to be placed (0 means no limit)

AutoDestroyWildDinosInterval = 259200

If greater than zero, wild dinos will be automatically destroyed and respawned at this interval if the server has been live this long, to help keep wild dino populations correct. Only recommend using this if bAllowSavingWildDinos=false from the ServerSettings section

[ServerSettings]
bAutoGenerateIslandSpawnRegions=true

When true, players will be automatically given the option to select any of the islands on a homeserver as a spawn point

bAllowSavingWildDinos=false

By default now, wild dinos are not saved in order to increase server savegame speed. set this back to true if you want to have wild dinos save.

We have also updated our ServerGridEditor and island jsons, which can be found on our github. They have been updated for this major release, including some fixes that have occurred over the past few days since the PTR went live. You can grab them here: ServerGridEditor & Fixes.

 steam sale 

ATLAS is now available on Steam Early Access for the weekend promotional price of $14.99!

 

Alrighty, that’s it for this log! We hope you enjoy the update, and you can look forward to the DevKit later this weekend!

Thank you so much for becoming a part of our crew and we can't wait to show all you scallywags, landlubbers, captains, and seadogs what lies ahead!

Happy Sailing,

Grapeshot Games

 

‍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
Navigate ye olde Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/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

View full article

Check out this post explaining how to join the Public Testing realm: 

 

Ahoy Pathfinders!

It’s here! Our Public Test Realm is now live and ready for all of you to dive into. This Captain’s Log will cut straight to it and provide more detail on our new claiming systems along with some information on our PTR. 

We appreciate your patience as we prepared this megapatch to go out on the PTR: ATLAS 1.5 is an ambitious new chapter and we recognize that it has taken us some time, but as we’ve said before, we’re hardened adventurers and we’re looking forward to the fun and challenges that we’ll experience alongside you!

      Claim Systems Overview 

First we will revisit the three modes which will be implemented for ATLAS 1.5 and their respective claim systems in a brief overview:

Colonies PvP: Freeform building, with more progress-protecting and time-enforced PvP rules creating a cooperative atmosphere, and limits to ensure the game is more oriented towards single players and small to mid-sized groups.

Empires PvP: This is our previous PvP mode with which our PvP players are familiar. Some changes have been made to the declaim timers to mitigate griefing and water claims have been eliminated. Companies have a high member limit of 250 members. Alliances are limited to four. 

PvE: A modified version of our Colonies system. There will be a limit on the amount of Islands one Company can claim via a points system. 

 

      Public Test Realm 

Our Public Test Realm will run the Colonies system on a full 15x15 grid. This is the most important mode for us to have players test currently and we’re excited to see how players interact with it.

THE COLONIES SYSTEM

Please bear in mind that the values described below may be subject to change pending our observations and player feedback during the PTR. We've implemented some test values which we'll be using for the Settlement system throughout the PTR.

• Islands will be delineated and ranked through a points system predominantly based on size. A Company will have a total of 200 accumulative points to “spend” on claiming and settling islands. 
• One claim flag per island (claim flag owner is the Owner of the island)
• An owned island is called a Settlement
• An Island can be claimed by placing the claim flag skill which has a cost equal to the island's initial base upkeep.
• Claim flags are no longer mergeable
• There will be no sea claims.
• Upkeep scales based on: 
  • Size of island and its rank (summarised by an Island’s point value)
  • How many different Companies are on the island (more Companies = lower cost)
• To steal an Island, you must unclaim an enemies’ flag by placing your own flag within range of theirs. It is a smaller radius that can be visualized by pressing the “H” key.
• A Settlement’s upkeep cost will scale in relation to its points ie: the upkeep cost of a 30 point island will be significantly less than that of a 100 point island.
• Upkeep costs will be deposited in the island’s Claim Flag.
• Tax rates and taxes themselves will be collected within the Claim Flag.
• The tax bank is utilized to transport resources that will be used in the Claim Flag from different locations on the same Island.
• Other companies may build on a Settlement. The company holding ownership of the island can attack others built upon their island at all times. The Settlement owner can only be attacked during combat or war.
• A claimed Island/Settlement can be in one of three different states: Peace, Combat and At War.
• The World Map will display an Islands: point value, current ownership, the tax rate on the island, and its current war status along with its raidable hours. An Island’s standing will also be displayed ie: Own/Ally/Enemy.
• The Settlement Owner can select building options as follows:
  • Cannons can only be built during combat/war phase
  • Allies can build cannons freely
  • Everyone can build cannons
• Other companies can build defense structures (puckle) any time.
• Ships will now receive invulnerability when docked at their companies’ settlement for 15 minutes during peace phase.
• The Settlement owner chooses a non-optional 9-hour window of vulnerability from a 24-hour cycle in which their Island is raidable. This window can be changed once a week, but for PTR will be able to be changed once every 2 days. 
• A War Declaration can be purchased during PTR for 50k gold (100k when ATLAS 1.5 releases) plus some uncommon items in order to circumvent raiding windows altogether. An item is given upon purchase. To declare war this item is dragged from the hotbar onto the island upon which you want to declare war.
• Once a War Declaration is made against an enemy Island, the attacker must set a time that is at least 2 days (12 hours on PTR) and as far as 4 days (24 hours in PTR) to commence the war and the duration of the war period is 24 hours, but for the duration of PTR will be 12 hours.
• Cannons now have an initializing timer which will vary dependent on the cannon type. 
• An island has a 5 day (1 day for PTR) cooldown before another War Declaration can be made on it. 
• A War Declaration is per-island, so it is possible to declare war against multiple Settlements simultaneously.

      Joining the PTR 

The ATLAS Public Test Realm is available to all players by opting into the Steam Beta branch. You can join the PTR by following these steps: 

1) Right click on the ATLAS game in your steam library and select "properties"

2) Select the "Beta" tab on the popup as indicated below: 

3) Locate publictestrealm in the drop down menu and select that.

4) Select close then launch ATLAS.

You may need to restart your Steam Clients to make sure you see the publictestrealm branch as a beta option.

 

Server Grid Editor 

New Server Grid Editor, JSON, and Unofficial Servers are already available on GitHub. Unofficial Server files will be made available later this weekend once we've confirmed there are no critical issues we need to deal with. Linux hosts will have to wait until early next week. We'd recommend folks play on our test servers as we won't be providing direct support to any servers hosting their own version of the branch, though we'll look into issues you report.

 

      Upcoming Patch Notes 

If you haven’t checked out all of the content, features and QoL changes we have coming to the PTR (and the ATLAS 1.5 launch) jump into the patch notes below:

New Features and Content

- Redesign: ATLAS World - 40% more islands/landmass & new world map layout.
- Redesign: Claim System - Colonies: Freeform building, with more progress-protecting and time-enforced PvP rules creating a cooperative atmosphere, and limits to ensure the game is more oriented towards single players or smaller groups. Previous mode now known as Empires and PvE will be a modified version of colonies.
- New Environment: Deep Ocean Trench. A new area to explore, guarded by powerful underwater creatures and home to the new Giant Crab
- New Environment: Eastern Tundra now has its own visual design, no longer using the Western Tundra style
- New Weather: 'Snow' weather systems for Polar and Tundra
- New World Phenomenon: Aurora Borealis light display which will result in a harvesting bonus, visible in particular regions.
- New Vehicle: Submarine. Explore the depths of the ocean in this small scouting submarine. Use the claw arms to help harvest the ocean floor and explore (demolish) player shipwrecks. Also equipped with a harpoon (uses ballista bolts) as a new underwater weapon which will ramp up oceanic combat.
- New Creature: Giant Crab. It can carry heavy loads, along with players, tames and wild creatures
- New Item: "Guillotine". Hanging your foes in a noose taking too long? Off with their heads! 
- New Item: "Large Wall". Equipped with parapets and ladder snaps so you can now build a proper defensive perimeter!
- New Item: "Small Gates". 2-wall high gate structures for wood and stone.
- New Item: "Player Shops". Players can set up automated shops, listing loot for sale and naming their own gold coin prices.
- New Item: "Settlement War Declaration". Tied to the War System. Drag over a settlement on the ATLAS map to declare war on them!
- New Item: More tame tokens for more mythical creatures! Allowing players to have limited-time tames of the Fire Elemental, Rock Elemental, and Gorgon. BONUS: Rock Elemental and Cyclops are rideable!
- New Feature: War System - Declare war on your enemies!
- New Feature: 1 'Mainline Quest' involving gathering 9 trench stones and defeating the hardmode Kraken!
- New Feature: 7 more ‘Quests’ which upon successful completion will provide their own unique Skill unlock
- New Feature: Curses. Tied to the execution of players
- New Feature: Player-to-Player secure trading system
- New Feature: Procedurally Generated Shipwrecks which players can explore for items and blueprints. They can be found by diving deep into the ocean, or looking out for their visual indicator on the surface of the water, or successfully completing the sextant mini-game which will point you in the direction of nearby shipwrecks.
- New Feature: Human Catapult. Player characters can now be deployed into battle using a catapult.
- New Cosmetics: Peg Legs, Hook Hands, and Multiple Armor sets to customize the look of your company and crew! Can be purchased at the cosmetics vendor.
- Redesign: Squads (Ship) of the Damned will now come in multiple size variations with different stats and difficulty levels.
- Redesign: Grappling Hook has been revamped, better physics & rappelling mechanics, and players will be able to realistically swing using them.
- Redesign: Explosive Barrels. Can now be carried in hand, thrown overboard to sink and will explode when they collide with anything underwater (Depth Charge!).

Balance Changes

- The higher quality shipyard used when building a ship, the more level ups a ship will be able to obtain.
- Ships can now level up their total damage output (which effects all cannons on a ship) and their total resistance, as new upgradable stats.
- All tamable creatures made breedable, with no exceptions except for Mythical Creatures.
- Various spawner adjustments & fixes across all islands
- Reloading now changed to have the mini-game appear back to back, rather than through various points of the animation.
- Vitamin debuffs have been removed and will only cause health loss when a player has a vitamin surplus or deficiency.
- Increased smithy inventory slots to 130.
- Increased weight of catapult from 12 to 84.
- Adjusted the crafting quantities on higher tier blueprints so they don't require as many resources as before.

QOL Changes

- Territory map will now display allies as teal-coloured
- Character creator now has a Height slider to make it easier to set your character's desired height
- Any dead ships (shipwrecks) from your Company appear with a unique icon on your map now, so you can find the wrecks
- Global territory message updating
- Currently contested claims will be indicated on the minimap
- Players can now mount a sail to directly control the sail's open/close amount and rotation settings in a more intuitive way.
- Toggle ladders button for ship captain, defaults to L key. 
- Company Groups have been increased to 10
- Players cannot accept alliance invites unless they're an admin
- Company Log can now be sorted
- New group permission which acts as an effective 'company owner'. Only the true company owner can set/unset that specific group rank.

Misc

- Improved Server and Client performance
- Visual feedback for players being unable to board unallied boats on PvE
- Full body animations for harvesting
- More realistic old age wrinkles
- Additional face sliders for character customization
- Dive suit overlay has been adjusted so it's easier to see when underwater
- Commodities trader can only be found on the Merchant Ship on PvP servers
- Respec potion has been moved to the Crew Recruiter on Freeports

 

        Discord Webhook Notifications 

This update comes with Discord Notifcations which you can set up pretty easily! All you have to do is grab your webhook URL and copy it into your Company's Manage Notifications UI. For more info on how to get your webhook URL, check out Discord's how to guide here: https://support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/228383668-Intro-to-Webhooks

 

Please note that we have opened Public Test Realm-related subforums here on the playATLAS forums along with new specific channels on the Discord. We look forward to your thoughts, experiences and feedback. The Discord channels can be accessed by assigning yourself the PTR role in the #role-assignment channel and links to the PTR subforums are below.

General Public Test Realm Subforum

PTR Bug report Forum

 

Alrighty, that ’s it for this log! Thank you so much for becoming a part of our crew and we can't wait to show all you scallywags, landlubbers, captains, and seadogs what lies ahead!

Happy Sailing,

Grapeshot Games

‍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
Navigate ye olde Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/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

View full article

The ATLAS Public Test Realm is available to all players via the Steam Beta branch. You can join the PTR by following these steps: 

1) Right click on the ATLAS game in your steam library and select "properties"

2) Select the "Beta" tab on the popup as indicated below: 

3) Locate publictestrealm in the drop down menu and select that.

4) Select close then launch ATLAS.

I can see how this may be interpreted due to the wording. The new claiming system will not be on Empires. 

@Ixel The grid editor should be available when the PTR goes up on the 3rd. 

@photek ah I can see how it might be interpreted that way. No, the new claiming system will definitely be on the PTR!

@Raysix Thank you. We're excited to get it out too! The new Eastern Tundra biome and the underwater trench look amazing and I'm very interested to see how players interact with the new claiming system.

@Korak91 I understand. We're planning a breeding/creature pass after the megapatch. v18.9 fixed an issue with babies not eating from inventory/troughs when in stasis. That said, breeding temperature requirements may remain; we don't intend for breeding and creatures to be the pinnacle of the meta.

 

 

This thread has been derailed by a flame war. Going to lock it now. 

Ahoy Pathfinders!

This will be a rather compact Captain’s Log focused around updating you all on our progress as we work towards the upcoming megapatch -- which we’re going to designate “ATLAS 1.5” so that we don’t have to keep calling it megapatch! It will include information on some changes along with further details related to our Public Testing Realm.

      public testing realm Ahoy 

A submarine is used to salvage a treasure chest on a new procedurally generated shipwreck. 

PvP Networks

We have made a decision in regards to our PvP networks for ATLAS 1.5 based upon taking your feedback into consideration along with our own development pipelines and vision for the game. We feel our players are interested in, primarily, two distinctly different styles and scopes of gameplay. One group of players is interested in design focused on small to mid-sized companies (2-50 players) and another has a preference for large company-centric design (200+ players). Rather than aiming to strike a middle ground between the two groups, which might end up diminishing the experience for either style of gameplay, we wanted to support two modes separately to see how that plays out. We’re going to be running 2 uniquely configured PvP networks, to allow players to choose the game mode which best represents your playstyle. To be clear, while we hope both of these networks prove permanently successful for their specific purposes, we’ll continue to iterate on their rules if necessary.

 

ATLAS 1.5 will feature three unique game modes:

Large-scale PvP Mode:
ATLAS: Empires

ATLAS: Empires will honor the original ATLAS system with which players are familiar whilst incorporating some small adjustments to the claiming system to address issues players were experiencing. To clarify, ATLAS: Empires’ claiming system will be very similar to the traditional claiming system, but adjusted for maximum speed (increased rates) and no “anti-size” scaling. This will be the go-to hardcore mode for those looking for sandboxy high risk and high reward on a grand scale. We will not be limiting large companies, there will be no scaling based on members and there will be no pvp windows or war system.

Mid/Small-Scale PvP Mode:
ATLAS: Colonies

ATLAS: Colonies will be more structured and will utilise the new claim system we’ve announced. It will include hard company and alliance limits, the war system, and raiding hours. This game mode will be survive-and-thrive, targeted towards smaller and medium sized groups. We will be seeking to incentivise players to fight in the open world and on the sea whilst maintaining the options to raid bases and seize territory from enemies for those dedicated to doing so.

PvE Mode:
ATLAS: PvE

This game mode will be spooling up with changes and the system will be based upon details discussed in the last Captain’s Log. We will monitor our PvE mode in the PTR and beyond and continue to iterate on it as we move forward.

 

The submarine harpoon is a new underwater weapon which will ramp up oceanic combat.

 

Public Testing Realm

Work is still continuing on the upcoming game systems changes and, to ensure we put out the most quality and complete patch possible, we will be delaying the release schedule. As such, the PTR will be released late March / early April and we expect the test realm will run for approximately 1 week. Please bear in mind the run time may be adjusted after players get a feel for the changes, and, if any critical issues arise. We know that players are keen to get back into ATLAS, we are excited for you to do so as well! We’re committed to a quality ATLAS 1.5 launch though and it will take a little more time.

In relation to our Public Testing Realm overall, we’re planning to get multiple smaller clusters online which will incorporate the three game modes as well as everything else listed in the patch notes. Players can expect higher rates to facilitate fast progression and testing of the new systems along with the fact these servers are likely to wipe as needed.

Various armor skins to help you personalise your character will be included in ATLAS 1.5!

 

Kraken Bowl

Various Companies organised and participated in an entertaining FFA Kraken Bowl on NA PvP on the 3/6/2019. OwO emerged victorious after various rounds of ship on ship combat. You can check out some highlights from their event here: 

 

 

 

 released patch notes 

 up to v22.21 

v22.21

Fixed a bug where tamed creatures, boats, and NPC Crew stats didn't replicate properly.

v22.1

- Fixed a case where players would disconnect on certain servers when loading into large bases. We advise setting your "Client Network Bandwidth" Option value back to Epic if you had previously changed it, to deal with the disconnections.
- Fixed a case which would cause creatures to flash or flicker.
- Fixed a case where players on saddled creatures would teleport back to the server's origin if the creature they were mounted on had been killed by another creature.
- Sail canvas now takes twice as long to repair. Repair hammer can no longer be used to repair a canvas. A canvas must be repaired using the pinwheel option on the mast, which can be accessed by holding down E.
- Target Soft Spots will no longer add torpor to other player teams in PvE.
- Camera no longer interpolates to origin when destroyed.
- Glider will no longer activate when encumbered.
- Buoy signs remain attached after server restart (retroactive).
- Server and client performance optimizations.
- Fixed an exploit which allowed players to stall and potentially disconnect other clients.
- No longer able to turn off cannons that do not belong to your team.

v21.43

- Fixed some server side crashes and added additional server performance optimizations for NPC Crew

v21.1 (client)

- Fixed choppy claim flag physics

21.42

- Further optimizations to NPC crew

21.41

- Optimized replication and ticking of NPC crew on turrets, for significantly improved server performance.

v21.31

- Improved Structure replication rate from servers, though this may increase client stalls slightly. Clients can reduce their "Client Network Bandwidth" Option value if they are experiencing too many stalls with this change (we do recommend the default, 60 KB/s).

v21

- Optimized how items are networked resulting in significantly higher performance and less bandwidth usage
- Added the Hook Hand and the Peg Leg to the Freeport cosmetic vendor

v20.1

With our planned changes for March, the game will be heading into a more rule based system, so for the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes to experience what it would be like if we took an alternative route. 

We’ll be releasing an update tomorrow which includes the following changes:

- 6x Rates - Harvesting, Taming, Experience, Gold, Farming, and Breeding.
- Claim flags will no longer prevent enemy building. You can now build anywhere, and only structure build radius will prevent it. This does not apply to cannons and mortars, which will still require a claim flag. This is a non-default, which will be enabled on our PvP Networks. Unofficials can also use this as a custom server-side config.
- All servers, other than Golden Age Ruin servers, can be set to home servers, allowing players to respawn at them. (PvP only)

Game.ini:
[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
bDontRequireClaimFlagsForBuilding=1
bIsLawlessHomeServer=1
bForceRequireClaimFlagsForBuildingCannons=true
This is what we’re enabling on all our non-Golden Age ruin servers, but please note that you must also flag the corresponding grids as homeservers on the servergrid.json

This patch will also include:

- Whispering voice hotkey [* [numpad] key]
- Server side config that allows you to alter the distance for the 3 voice modes: Whispering, Normal, and Yelling.

Game.ini:
[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
ProximityRadius = 8500
YellingRadius = 22000
WhisperRadius = 2000
- Removing the Destruction Mesh on Lighthouses
- Increased the limit of folders in inventories from 20 to 40, and 80 in Bookshelves
- Treasure Map names now includes the grid for easy filtering
- Explosive Barrels can no longer be used as an ammo type for cannons. Any loaded ones will just fire regular cannons. They'll be receiving a large redesign in the major update coming in March.
- Fixed chat scrolling, so it now works again with Page Up and Page Down
- Fixed an edge case where voice chat would stop working unless the client relogged

These changes will allow us to see how the game would pan out if we didn’t have the claim system affect build rules, which helps us collect more feedback on playstyles.

 

     SHOW 'N' TELL #6 

Continue to show us yer mighty fleets, paint pieces, flags & sails, impenetrable forts, hellish tats, scenic screenshots, 'n entertainin' videos! The Show n’ Tell deadline is the 28th of March. 

 

Alrighty, that ’s it for this log! Thank you so much for becoming a part of our crew and we can't wait to show all you scallywags, landlubbers, captains, and seadogs what lies ahead!

Happy Sailing,

Grapeshot Games

‍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
Navigate ye olde Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/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

View full article

Thanks, we're looking into it.

You should see an improvement once we push this patch live, guys. 

 SHOW 'N TELL 

Avast, Pathfinders it be time for a new Show 'n Tell Showcase!\

 

Hear ye, hear ye! We be treasure huntin' fer the finest of ATLAS community creations! Show us yer mighty fleets, paint pieces, flags & sails, impenetrable forts, hellish tats, scenic screenshots, 'n entertainin' videos!

Each fortnight, we'll be runnin' a contest where we'll select th' best o' th' bunch 'n award tha winners wit' a cash prize! Submit your entries in this 'ere thread for us to be viewin'. 

 

We’ve created this dedicated thread for submissions. Don’t hesitate to show us what you’ve got. The last two week's entries were amazing and we look forward to what you have for us this fortnight! 

 

Boom! OTAWA72

 

This is a friendly contest and not intended as something highly competitive. We'd like to showcase your creations in their many varied shapes and forms.

 

Submit your entries by Thursday 28th March for a chance to fill your chests with some booty!

 

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We’ve seen some interesting action over the past week whilst Anarchy rules! Players have found imaginative ways to entertain themselves within this no holds barred meta whilst we gather useful data for the future. Meanwhile, the team has had in-depth discussions regarding the upcoming patch, with some specific focus on claim and war systems. There will be some adjustments to our previously announced plans and this Captain’s Log will outline the details that have emerged during this process.The specifics will be honed and adapted as we approach the PTR as well as the launch of these new systems.

      Setting a course 

March Mega Patch Update!

If you didn't have a chance to read our previous Captain's Log, please do so as it covers a lot of information regarding our massive update coming later this month, and will add some clarity to the changes we discuss below.

 

General Claim Changes

We’ll be making some general changes to the system which will impact both PvE and PvP servers: 

• The boat decay system will be enabled. This means that there will be a tagging system attached to boats which will cause them to self destruct after multiple weeks of inactivity on PvE, Golden Age Ruin, and Freeport servers. To tag a boat, the owner of that boat (single player or company) will just need to enter its stasis/render distance.
• Claim owners will be able to demolish structures (via the pinwheel) on their settlements temporarily as long as the structure has been placed within the last 12 hours. After the 12 hour period has passed, they will not be able to demolish the structures using the pinwheel, and must manually destroy it. Claim owners can do this outside of raid hours or warlike. This exists as an anti-griefing mechanism. On PvE servers, we may extend the time beyond 12 hours as players will not have the option to destroy via PVP.
• There will be a notice sent to the Settlement Owner’s Company and also via a cross-server notification pop-up when new players/companies are building on their territory. Players will have the option to subscribe to this Company Log via email or Discord, similarly to other Company Log messages.

PvE Claim Changes

We received an extensive amount of feedback from the PvE community regarding our upcoming changes. The overwhelmingly clear message was a desire to retain some form of a claiming system.

One aspect of the design we intend to stick to is the fact we want players to always have an option to build, otherwise, the game cannot be truly experienced in its current state.We understand that there are some concerns regarding how that could potentially be exploited in a PvE environment, and we’ll be working on designs and systems to ensure that isn’t the case from a technical point of view, as well as through GM involvement.

With the Mega March update, the claim systems on PvE will change from being lawless-esque servers to the following:

Use the same claim system as PvP, but remove the raidable hours and war aspect. This means that players will be able to claim islands, and anyone can build on those settlements. Each settlement will have an upkeep cost which is based on a variety of factors such as the islands ranking, the number of settlements that company has, and how many different companies are building on the settlement. Settlement owners will be able to set a tax rate, and also players will be able to place their player run shops on the claimed land.

However, we are planning some PvE specific changes

• We’ll be imposing a hard limit of Claim Points equivalent to one small island for single players. 
• Companies will be able to own multiple settlements, but there will be a hard limit (lower than PvP) and it will be based on Island Points and the number of players who are currently in that company. This means that larger companies will have access to more ‘Claim Points’ and are therefore able to settle on more islands with higher rankings, however, we will still be imposing a relatively low cap.
• Company alliances will no longer be enabled on PvE servers. We understand that there are some legitimate use cases, however, in this sandbox environment, we believe they will primarily be used to game the system and get past company rules/limitations. We recognize that this may impact how trading communication takes place on PvE servers and we are looking into an alternative option for players.

PvP Claim Changes

We’ll also be adding some new options along with changing how cannons are used during raidable/wartime hours.

• Give claim owners the option to enable allied companies to build cannons on their lands
• Give company owners the option to allow allies to use their cannon (governance setting)
• Enable an activation timer on cannon structures placed by non-allied companies during wartime and raidable hours to prevent instant FoBs. Similarly to battery-powered heavy turret activation timer on ARK.
• Delay on joining a new company or alliance after leaving one (24 hours)
• Company owners and admins can now set other companies as neutral. This is done via the in-game pinwheel, similarly to alliances when targeting another company’s structure or player. Companies which are marked as neutral will have a different colour display HUD, as a way for players to indicate they are non-hostile, however, they will not have other benefits which the alliance system would provide. In summary, there will now be three states in which other companies can appear: ally/neutral/enemy.

We acknowledge that there has been a lot of feedback regarding alliance limitations and how they impact mid-sized companies along with the role they play when sharing territory. This is something we are currently discussing and we may have an update for you closer to the time of the patch. 

Player to Player Secure Trading System

This update will also include our first phase of the Player to Player secure trading system! We regard this is an important aspect of the game, alongside our Player ran shops, which you’ll be able to experience later this month on the PTR!

Procedurally Generated Shipwrecks

The March Mega update will also be introducing a new environment objective for players to explore whilst out at sea! Procedurally generated shipwrecks exist as a new source to loot for items and blueprints. You’ll be able to find them randomly populating throughout the sea floor, with a higher density present around the underwater trench. You can find them by diving deep into the ocean or looking out for their visual indicator on the surface of the water, or successfully completing the sextant mini-game which will point you in the direction of nearby shipwrecks (procedurally generated or player-made).

We’ll have various types with their own unique looks. Players will need to swim into them to locate the chest to loot, which will vary based on the shipwreck.

The structural pieces (planks) will not be able to be harvested, and the submarine can just directly attack the shipwreck to harvest the loot. Once the chest inside the wreck has been activated, it will begin a timer which will destroy the wreck, additionally, looting it entirely will also cause the wreck to be destroyed.

Please keep in mind that this will be our initial implementation for these procedurally generated shipwrecks and we’ll be expanding on them in a future update, as well as introducing more PvE content for players to explore and experience. 

Public Test Realm (Test Live)

This update, including the war system and claim changes, will be making its way to our Public Test Realm before it hits the entire Official Network and will be accessible for all players for both PvP and PvE. It is anticipated that Test Live will be available to play around the 20th of March and we will keep you posted should there be any more updates as the time approaches. 

We appreciate all of the feedback you’ve shared regarding the update and will continue to work on improving the systems, and the game by incorporating aspects of that feedback into our existing developmental pipelines as well as our vision for the game!

Upcoming Major Version

We’ll also be releasing a major version update on the 8th of March, which will contain a massive overhaul to the way items are replicated on our networks. This should result in a considerable performance gain and reduction in bandwidth on servers, and due to the scale and necessity of the changes, a major update will be required.

 

Additionally, we will be rolling out the Peg Leg and Hook Hand cosmetics which can be acquired at your nearest Freeport!

 

 

Dynamic ATLAS Maps

Our roundup of the Dynamic ATLAS Maps will be on a temporary hiatus due to the current Anarchy patch and the fact we have announced the wipe. It will be making a return when the ATLAS relaunches with the new claim and war system.

 

 

     SHOW 'N' TELL #5 

We enjoyed the variety of creative submissions in this fortnight's Show 'n Tell. It's awesome to see all of your originality and talent. Feast yer eyes on  th' best o' th' bunch below! Congratulations to our winners who have scored themselves cash prizes!

 

WINNERS

PCHELA LESNAYA

We were stunned by this beautiful piece with its skilled use of light and shadow displaying the artist's impressive talent and attention to detail. This art both formally and conceptually points to being awarded first place! 

PRINCESS SUGAR

If joining this Company means we get an adorable map like this in order to learn locations on the Island for clear comms during defense, we're in! 

MARNII

A well situated and architecturally impressive offering from an imaginative builder who is obviously honed at their craft. 

 

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

OTAWA72

ARGH!

GLOBYTHEOLDPIRATE

STRITE

ABYSIAN

Congratulations to the winners and runners up and thank you to all of the entrants; we love looking through everything you guys send in! 

 

 

Alrighty, that wraps up this log! Thank you so much for becoming a part of our crew and we can't wait to show all you scallywags, landlubbers, captains, and seadogs what lies ahead!

Happy Sailing,

Grapeshot Games

‍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
Navigate ye olde Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/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

View full article

We're certainly reading the threads here and taking notes. I've been predominantly communicating through our Official Discord as we gather feedback from players as it's more of a "live" environment where there's a natural flow of conversation. That's not to imply that feedback via Discord is taking priority over feedback posted here, just that I'm less likely to post conversationally here as I read. 

Thank you for all of your input, guys. 

 

Whilst the majority of our resources are directed towards prioritising fixing exploits etc we certainly do take action against griefing and exploiting and this doesn't only occur on our PvP network. Numerous players on our PvE network have been banned and devwipes of entire Companies for extreme cases are not uncommon. 

In regards to the claiming issues, we're pretty confident our rework is a better system and everyone will have the opportunity to give feedback on that once it goes live on our Public Test Realm.

In relation to our Discord, it's true that we're often interacting more frequently over there; that type of "live" environment lends itself to a natural back and forth in communication that I personally prefer. Jat and I are stepping up our activity here on the forums though   

21 minutes ago, CazzT said:

Is it still planned to release details of the claim revamp in this Friday's Captain's Log?  Kinda eager to devour the info.

We'll be sharing the full details in this Thursday's upcoming Livesteam (2pm Pacific) then we will also break that down in the Captain's Log we'll be posting afterwards on the same day. 

I'm a little confused as to what your complaint is based upon considering we haven't announced the details of our claiming system rework yet. Some players have speculated on what it may entail but it's just that at this stage, speculation. 

There will be time for everyone to give their feedback on the system as we’ll be deploying the changes in advance on a publicly accessible test network before it hits the Official Network.