Atlas (video game)

Last updated
Atlas
Developer(s) Grapeshot Games
Additional work by:
  • Instinct Games [1]
Publisher(s) Snail Games USA
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
ReleaseDecember 13, 2018 (early access)
Genre(s) MMO
Mode(s) Multiplayer

Atlas is a survival MMO video game developed by Grapeshot Games and published by Snail Games USA for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One, available in early access. Set in a pirate world, the players need to satisfy needs and fight against enemies while hunting for treasures and exploring.

Contents

Gameplay

In Atlas, people can create their own pirates, with adjustable settings such as skin color. [2] Before entering, the game gives a choice between a PvE or PvP server, whereas PvP allows the other players to attack at any time. Similar to Ark: Survival Evolved , it is a survival game where the goal is to live as long as possible. [3] The survival gameplay, in part, requires the player to manage four "vitamin" levels. Vitamin levels decrease over time. Levels increase when the character eats foods with various nutritional contents: meat, vegetables, fruit and fish. Vitamin levels have minimum and maximum limits; levels outside of limits apply status effects like blurry screen or decreasing health bar to the player. [2] Other character states have to be managed, like hydration/water needs; neglect of which may result in dehydration. [4] [5] In order to build something, enough resources must be gathered by cutting trees and smashing rocks, which uses up some health. [2] Building a ship is possible by constructing its parts, and filling its reserves with food and weapons. They can be navigated while travelling between the lands. [5]

The islands contain a world full of creatures, some being predators (bear, lion, tiger), giving the resources after the defeat. [4] However, everyone has an ability to tame some animals, which involves trapping them and feeding to win their trust. [6]

Atlas encourages the players to connect in groups named companies. In any server, a land has to be claimed in order to use it as a base, either as a battle challenge or stolen from an offline user. Designed to be around 1,200 times larger than in Ark, the game world is able to handle 40,000 players at once. The map is separated into a grid, where each segment can contain either land or ocean, and hold only a fixed amount of pirates. [7]

Development

The game was initially announced at The Game Awards 2018. [8] The surprise reveal was done to give the players a complete attention to Atlas, rather than spreading it throughout the year. That also forced the launch to happen without running an actual open beta test. [9] The game is developed by Grapeshot Games, a spin-off team of Studio Wildcard, led by Jeremy Stieglitz and Jesse Rapczak. [10]

At the end of January 2019, Atlas's servers went offline with a rollback, in order to investigate the issue of a certain number of cheaters using forbidden creations and exploits. In a statement, Grapeshot Games revealed that the spawns were made possible, because of a compromised Steam account belonging to one of the game's administrators. [11] The hacker used that to log into the server and change the settings. Three days later, several players misused a technical fault and kept adding animals with a repeatable message that said "Subscribe to PewDiePie", forcing the developers to undo the errors and ban multiple accounts. [12]

In April 2019, a 1.5 update was launched. It brought stability server improvements, and added new content, such as new quests, and a Colonies mode. Colonies was invented to solve the issue of Atlas being unapproachable to casual players participating in smaller groups. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Counter-Strike</i> (video game) 2000 first-person shooter video game

Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter game developed by Valve. It was initially developed and released as a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess Cliffe in 1999, before Le and Cliffe were hired and the game's intellectual property acquired. Counter-Strike was released by Valve for Microsoft Windows in November 2000, and is the first installment in the Counter-Strike series. Several remakes and ports were released on Xbox, as well as OS X and Linux.

RuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, released in January 2001. RuneScape was originally a browser game built with the Java programming language; it was largely replaced by a standalone C++ client in 2016. The game has had over 300 million accounts created and was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the largest and most-updated free MMORPG.

Twinking is a type of behavior in role-playing games that is disapproved of by other players. A player who engages in such behavior is known as a twink. The precise definition of twinking varies depending on the variety of role-playing game:

Tibia is a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 1997, developed and published by CipSoft. It is one of the earliest and longest-running MMORPGs, reaching its peak popularity in 2007. The game is free to play but players may pay to upgrade to a premium account. Tibia is a two-dimensional tile-based game set in a fantasy world with pixel art graphics and a top-down perspective.

A griefer or bad-faith player is a player in a multiplayer video game who deliberately and intentionally irritates and harasses and annoys other players within the game (trolling), by using aspects of the game in unintended ways in order to destroy something another player made or built, or stealing something, such as items or loot, when that is not the primary objective. A griefer derives pleasure primarily, or exclusively, from the act of annoying other users, and as such, is a particular nuisance in online gaming communities. If a bad-faith player is attempting to gain a strategic advantage, it could be considered cheating.

Player versus environment is a term used for both single player and online games, particularly MMORPGs, CORPGs, MUDs, other online role-playing video games and survival games to refer to fighting computer-controlled enemies - in contrast to PvP. In survival games a large part may be fighting the elements, controlling hunger and thirst, learning to adapt to the environment and exploration.

<i>Age of Conan</i> 2008 fantasy-themed MMORPG

Age of Conan: Unchained is a fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Funcom and published by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows in 2008. Age of Conan is the first installment in the planned Age of Conan series. Age of Conan takes place within the continent of the Hyborian kingdoms, a year after the events depicted in Robert E. Howard's Conan novel The Hour of the Dragon.

<i>Pirates of the Burning Sea</i> 2008 video game

Pirates of the Burning Sea is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) previously developed by Flying Lab Software and Portalus Games, and currently supported by Vision Online Games. The game is set in the Caribbean in an anachronistic 1720 and combines tactical ship battles and swashbuckling combat with a player-driven economy and open-ended gameplay. In the game, players can choose from four nations; Great Britain, Spain, France and the generically named 'Pirates'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle.net</span> Online gaming platform by Blizzard Entertainment

Battle.net is an Internet-based online game, social networking service, digital distribution, and digital rights management platform developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The service was launched on December 31, 1996, followed a few days later with the release of Blizzard's action-role-playing video game Diablo on January 3, 1997. Battle.net was officially renamed to "Blizzard Battle.net" in August 2017, with the change being reverted in January 2021.

Infestation: Survivor Stories was an open world zombie video game developed by Hammerpoint Interactive and published by OP Productions. Infestation: Survivor Stories features both first-person and third-person shooting perspectives. The game offers players the option of killing zombies or playing against other users (PvP).

Always-on DRM or always-online DRM is a form of DRM that requires a consumer to remain connected to a server, especially through an internet connection, to use a particular product. The practice is also referred to as persistent online authentication. The technique is meant to prevent copyright infringement of software. Like other DRM methods, always-on DRM has proven controversial, mainly because it has failed to stop pirates from illegally using the product, while causing severe inconvenience to people who bought the product legally due to the single point of failure it inherently introduces.

Rust is a multiplayer survival video game developed by Facepunch Studios. It was first released in early access in December 2013 and received its full release in February 2018. Rust is available on Windows and macOS. Console versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One developed in conjunction with Double Eleven were released in May 2021. Rust was initially created as a clone of DayZ, a popular mod for ARMA 2, with crafting elements akin to those in Minecraft.

This is a non-comprehensive list that includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players.

<i>Ark: Survival Evolved</i> 2017 video game

Ark: Survival Evolved is a 2015 action-adventure survival video game developed by Studio Wildcard. In the game, players must survive being stranded on one of several maps filled with roaming dinosaurs, fictional fantasy monsters, and other prehistoric animals, natural hazards, and potentially hostile human players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studio Wildcard</span> American video game developer

Wildcard Properties, LLC is an American video game developer with offices in Redmond, Washington, and Gainesville, Florida. The company was founded in October 2014 by Doug Kennedy, Jesse Rapczak, Jeremy Stieglitz, and Susan Browning Stieglitz. Stieglitz had previously left his position at Trendy Entertainment in August 2014 under a one-year non-compete agreement. The company sued him and Studio Wildcard in December 2015 for breach of contract, among other allegations, and the parties settled in April 2016. Studio Wildcard's debut game, Ark: Survival Evolved, was released in August 2017. In 2018, it set up Grapeshot Games to develop Atlas. A sequel, Ark II, was announced in December 2020.

<i>New World</i> (video game) 2021 video game

New World is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Amazon Games Orange County and published by Amazon Games released on September 28, 2021. The game was previously scheduled to release in May 2020 and subsequently August 2021, but was delayed until its worldwide release on September 28, 2021. Set in the mid-seventeenth century, players colonize a fictional land modeled after the Americas.

<i>Fallout 76</i> 2018 online action multiplayer role-playing game

Fallout 76 is a 2018 action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the Fallout series and a prequel to previous entries. Set in the year 2102, players control a resident of Vault 76 who must venture out into the dilapidated open world known as "Appalachia" in order to re-colonize the region, and uncover a mysterious plague that has killed off its inhabitants. Fallout 76 is Bethesda Game Studios's first multiplayer game; Bethesda developed the game using a modified version of its Creation Engine, which allowed the accommodation of multiplayer gameplay and a more detailed game world than in previous games.

2b2t (2builders2tools) is a Minecraft server founded in December 2010. 2b2t has essentially no rules and players are not permanently banned, known within Minecraft as an "anarchy server". As a result, players commonly engage in harassment, colloquially called "griefing", as well as hacking using modified software to gain an advantage. 2b2t is the oldest anarchy server in Minecraft, as well as one of the few running 2010 Minecraft servers of any variety. The server is permanently set to hard difficulty and player versus player combat is enabled. It has seen over 780,000 players explore its procedurally generated map, increasing its file size to over 20 terabytes. 2b2t has been described in news media as the worst Minecraft server due to its toxic playerbase and culture.

<i>Lost Ark</i> (video game) 2019 video game

Lost Ark is a 2019 MMO action role-playing game co-developed by Tripod Studio and Smilegate. It was released in South Korea in December 2019 by Smilegate and in Europe, North America, and South America in February 2022 by Amazon Games. Lost Ark cost around US$85 million to develop. The game received generally favorable reviews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BattlEye</span> Anti-cheat software

BattlEye is a proprietary anti-cheat software designed to detect players that hack or abusively use exploits in an online game. It was initially released as a third-party anti-cheat for Battlefield Vietnam in 2004 and has since been officially implemented in numerous video games, primarily shooter games such as PUBG: Battlegrounds, Arma 3, Destiny 2, and DayZ.

References

  1. ↑ "Atlas". instinctgames.com. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Hogarty, Steve (January 22, 2019). "Premature Evaluation: Atlas". Rock, Paper, Shotgun . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  3. ↑ meteora2060 (February 10, 2019). "Test : Atlas : Le MMORPG qui prend l'eau". Jeuxvideo.com . Retrieved April 29, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. 1 2 Bradford, Joseph (January 18, 2019). "Atlas Early Access Review". IGN . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Johnson, Leif (January 4, 2019). "Atlas is a disheartening MMO shipwreck that plunders your time". PC World . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  6. ↑ Weber, Rachel (January 7, 2019). "Everything you need to know about that new Atlas game, from punching trees to parrots". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  7. ↑ Marshal, Cass (March 5, 2019). "Betrayal, empires, and MAGA: Inside the brutality of Atlas". Polygon . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  8. ↑ Minotti, Mike (December 6, 2018). "Atlas is a new game of sailing and monsters from Ark: Survival Evolved studio". VentureBeat . Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  9. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (December 17, 2018). "Why go for a surprise launch?". Gamesindustry.biz . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  10. ↑ Hornshaw, Phil (December 14, 2018). "Atlas: Wildly Ambitious Pirate Game About Everything From Building Ships To Governing Territory". GameSpot . Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  11. ↑ Wales, Matt (January 21, 2019). "Ark dev's pirate MMO Atlas goes offline after cheaters spawn in WW2 tanks, aeroplanes". Eurogamer . Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  12. ↑ Cimpanu, Catalin (January 22, 2019). "ATLAS game taken offline twice after users hack admin account, find server exploit". ZDNet . Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  13. ↑ Lanier, Liz (April 11, 2019). "'Atlas' Mega Update Brings New Land, Quests, Game Mode to Explore". Variety . Retrieved April 28, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.