Infinite atlas improvement ideas [please case study: Against the Storm]

Patch 0.3.1 made me think that this is something that the GGG team might be working on currently. I decided to write this post so that maybe the game design team will have some use of it.

Screenshots attached below - and that should be pretty self-explanatory, why I think this is worth looking into...

I think spending some time playing Against the Storm may spark very interesting discussions and bring some good inspiration to the team.





Against the Storm has some kind of "(infinite) atlas" built in.
It's a very pleasant rogue-like city builder, and despite a very different genre, the game cycle behind it consists of a similar mechanic that could bring some inspiration for GGG's Atlas team.

Short description below.

Against the Storm features a gameplay cycle centered on establishing multiple settlements within a limited time frame before a destructive event called the Blightstorm arrives.

Each cycle's length is measured in in-game years, and this duration increases whenever you beat a "seal map" for the first time, allowing you to explore farther and tackle more challenging maps.

Each Blightstorm resets the atlas to the beginning state
(which would probably also be very good server/performance/storage-wise for PoE2... and bandaid fixes like "pins" in the infinite atlas would be no longer required).

I'd say a Blightstorm appears every 7-13 maps of length of approx. 25-70min, depending on your preferred gameplay pace.
That would probably have to translate to 25-40 maps of PoE2 gameplay time.

You also have a bit of progression with your Citadel unlocks ('atlas passive tree?'); your Citadel is the node that's always in the center of the 'atlas', so thematically it affects your settlements.
Those Citadel unlocks allow for meta-progression, like greater density of interesting nodes, or for interesting nodes to appear closer.
It does also affect what the settlements contain (f.x. guaranteed resources you can explore for in the main gameplay loop of building your settlements - much like "each map contains an additional essence" in PoE).

It is overall very similar to the current existing PoE/PoE2 atlas...
and... screenshot below; it's also a tree, obviously:



So basically: you're alternating between a very similar loop despite quite different genre:

1) main screen with settlement placement - screenshot #1/#2
Maps will widely differ based both on biome and location / other nearby nodes !
You're deciding between which way to go, whether to sidetrack for a bonus, or sidetrack to avoid a certain biome you don't like.
---> very similar to: picking which map to run from the PoE2 atlas

2) settlement development - main gameplay, with top-down view similar to an RTS game, like Warcraft 3, and with gameplay related to Cities Skylines or similar;
---> very similar to: playing the actual map, despite the genre difference!

3) from time to time, when enough resources are gathered / certain objectives are completed, you enter the Citadel for upgrades
---> very similar to: assigning atlas passive skill points

4) at some point, you get to go to the "seal map" which is like a boss-fight map, for your single Blightstorm cycle.
As long as you're good enough to keep beating the "seal maps", with increasing difficulty (green seal -> blue seal -> purple seal... also visible in the screenshot #1 as icons), you're allowed to explore further, for greater rewards.
The farther away from the center, the more difficulty and rewards (more "?" signs, but also more scaling of difficulty).
---> very similar to: finding and defeating bosses, eventually leading to a pinnacle boss.
Scaling map mods on the way. More content in harder maps.
PoE usually handles that boss loop through fragments/encounter keys etc. though.



Difference is, the atlas is finite, but with lots of agency and 'infinite' feel.
But on the other hand, the resets, complete a game cycle, so the 'infinity' is achieved in that aspect.

I know from all the interviews and everything that sometimes some things like a board game session between game designers might inspire even an entire league mechanic (like it was the case for Synthesis league f.x.).
Perhaps this is helpful if the team played AtS for a bit, just to spark some discussion on atlas improvements.

Best regards!