Atlas overhauls and adds a fair bit in today's "mega-update"

Oceanic trenches, new lands, a new land claim system aimed at supporting smaller groups, a rideable giant crab, a submarine, new quests, and more arrived in Atlas today with an update developers Grapeshot Games insist is no mere update but a "mega-update". The piratical survival sandbox was the talk of the port and cock of the coast when it first entered early access in December but its popularity was fleeting partially cos it's been much ropier than Ark: Survival Evolved, the game it's heavily based on. That's no surprise for a game early along an early access journey, of course, I'm just pointing this out in case you've been waiting for a sizeable update before setting sail.

Grapeshot also say they've improved performance for both servers and clients, though they don't explain much or say how big an improvement to expect. See the Atlas version 1.5 patch notes for the full list of changes, or don't because these are surely the most important parts:

• Redesign: Atlas World - 40% more islands/landmass & new world map layout.
• New Environment: Deep Ocean Trench. A new area to explore, guarded by powerful underwater creatures and home to the new Giant Crab.
• New Item: "Guillotine".
• New Creature: Giant Crab. It can carry heavy loads, along with players, tames and wild creatures.
• New Feature: Human Catapult. Player characters can now be deployed into battle using a catapult.
• More realistic old age wrinkles

 

If you've been playing Atlas, mind, you'll probably have different priorities to a casual observer such as myself. I'm all about giant crustaceans. You may be more about war systems and land claims and such. Is that enough to regain your interest? You tell me.

To celebrate this update's launch, Atlas is half-price until Monday, down to £12/$15 on Steam. I myself would wait for it to shape up more but I'll not presume to tell would-be pirates what to do.