With no patch for Atlas arriving this week, the devs at Grapeshot Games have taken the opportunity to answer some player questions about what’s next, calling out the game’s trade system, claim system, and ships in specific.
In regards to trading, the devs recognize that it’s currently not friendly to small groups or solo players but will make adjustments going forward. For now, trading is in an “alpha stage” and is still locked to a single grid after its initial bellyflop of a launch, but future iterations should open up more routes and eventually NPC trade ships. And while the trade system is meant to be one of the core systems of Atlas, the devs also promise that there will be other means of earning in-game cash.
As for ships, the devs are planning to move away from releasing ship parts to releasing complete ships instead, each with their own specialized roles. All of these ships will cost gold and will be primitive class and up, while ramshackle ships will be available at Freeports. And speaking of sea content, the post admits that the game needs more reasons for players to be out on the ocean and make ship-to-ship combat more fun.
Finally, the post points out that the claim system is due for a rework, with claims instead involving the placement of a claim structure that takes longer to build but is more robust than a claim flag.
These are just a few of the specific focus points that Atlas plans to address in the immediate future, with other player questions regarding “sea highways,” Freeport changes, optimization improvements, and the games admitted lack of a strong theme among the game’s update plans going forward. You can read up the full post for more details.
