ARK: Survival Evolved

Ark: Survival Evolved is a survival game set on an island filled with creatures that are now extinct, so it makes sense that the developers would add a mesopithecus, a breed of monkey ("pithecus" means ape) that's no longer around.

In the game, these monkeys are useful for throwing poo at people, which is apparently harmful, or even attacking them more directly. You can also throw them over walls, which they don't seem to mind as much as they probably should, so that they can open doors for you. And they can ride around on your shoulder. All while wearing a fetching hat! I kind of wish I had one in real life. I predict they'd be much easier to train than a dinosaur.

Those who've been watching the "Survival of the Fittest" tournament would probably also like to know that the final takes place today. You can watch that on Twitch.

Thanks, RPS.

ARK: Survival Evolved - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Graham Smith)

Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] has been gradually adding animals specifically designed> to appeal to RPS writers. First the Tusoteuthis vampyrus romanced Pip, then Alice doted upon the armadillo you can travel inside. That means that it’s my turn now to tell you about the latest addition.

It’s a monkey who can throw poop.

… [visit site to read more]

ARK: Survival Evolved - Jat


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTyA7zl0hVs

Survival of the Fittest: Unnatural Selection

Survivors!

Yesterday we held the finale of the Unnatural Selection tournament! It brought together the top 160 players throughout the preliminaries to duke it out in an epic 4 and a half hour fight to the death! Finalists went head to head to take home the grand prize of $20,000!

If you haven’t had a chance to catch the game yet, you can do so here!

http://www.twitch.tv/survivetheark/v/14104672
http://www.twitch.tv/survivetheark/v/14107676
http://www.twitch.tv/survivetheark/v/14112096

Pardon the technical difficulties at the beginning guys!

Spoilers beyond this point

For those not familiar with Survival of the Fittest, you may want to check out the last tournament held where we detailed what went the game-mode was about and how that general tournament faired:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/346110/announcements/detail/111814120376147147

http://steamcommunity.com/games/346110/announcements/detail/111814120376149584

However Survival of the Fittest: Unnatural Selection features some modifications to the traditional gamemode including;

The Dragon - At mid-way through the match, The Dragon becomes available for taming at the central platform! And boy is this guy a beast, survivors who successfully tame him can be sure to leave their footprint on the match.

Four Player Tribes! - We increased the default maximum size for tribes so players can stay in the competition longer as their skilled team will have more shots at making it to the big-times!

and the Gamemaker’s favourite… SIX NEW EVOLUTION EVENTS!

The Beast Within - A Red mist permeates the ARK, driving its creatures insane. Even Herbivores become rabid and aggressive.

Predator’s Night - Carnivore targeting ranges and aggro towards Survivors have been doubled! Better watch out ;)

Supply Overload - Supply crates are spawned at every potential location!

Double Taming - The ARK’s many creatures are cowed at the sight of the mighty Survivors! Taming speed is temporarily doubled!

Harvesting Bounty - Better stock up as it’s been a good year! Harvesting rates are doubled temporarily!

Harvesting Famine - Harvesting will barely yield anything. Hopefully you’ve got some reserves ;) - Harvesting rates are reduced temporarily.

and the introduction of two new creatures, the Gigantopithecus! and Doedicurus!

The tournament was definitely very entertaining to watch, a wide range of strategy and tactics were deployed by all participants to help ensure that they could compete for first! We hadn’t known what to expect with numbers like this, this would be the largest played game of Survival of the Fittest ever! And it was very fitting that it would hold the biggest creature ever!

And without further ado, our winners!

Third Place

Tribe: Paeness
Members: 187Ghost187 & Nero
Prize: $4,000


Second Place

Tribe: Coconut Bandits
Members: Fatty, Swift, Tribe & Futur
Prize: $10,000


First Place

Tribe: Hero’s
Members: Savior, PsYkO & IceBox
Prize: $20,000


MVP: Savior aka BOXGUY!



This game mode is pure chaos and survival. It just wants to see people perish. Your job as a participant? To survive - and you do whatever it takes!



You want to tame an army of Dinosaurs? You do that.



You want to camp the supply-drops and get the best loot to kill your opponents? You do that.



You want to parachute down from the mountains and snipe your opponents? You do that.



You want to tame the mighty Dragon and burn your enemies alive? You do that.



YOU WANT TO BUILD A 1 BY 1 STONE HOUSE AND COOK SOME MEAT AT A CAMP FIRE TIL THE VERY END? YOU VERY WELL CAN DO THAT!



Savior aka BoxGuy deployed a strategy (..which funnily enough also won the first ever play-test of SotF internally ;)..) where he avoided combat and focused purely on ensuring that he would survive until the very end. Doing so allowed him the opportunity to fight his injured opponent in many different skirmishes, despite his level disadvantage he was able to come out on top as he had the means he needed to survive! Congratulations Savior and to tribe Hero’s, great showing!

We’d like to give a huge shout out to everyone who tuned into and helped organize the event! It’s been a pretty busy period and we’re super thankful for all the support you’ve shown! It was a lot of fun and congratulations to everyone who made it to the finals and of course our 3-victorious tribes!

All the best,

Wildcard Jat and the ARK Survival Evolved Team
ARK: Survival Evolved - TheRightHand


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTyA7zl0hVs

Survival of the Fittest: Unnatural Selection

Survivors!

Yesterday we held the finale of the Unnatural Selection tournament! It brought together the top 160 players throughout the preliminaries to duke it out in an epic 4 and a half hour fight to the death! Finalists went head to head to take home the grand prize of $20,000!

If you haven’t had a chance to catch the game yet, you can do so here!

http://www.twitch.tv/survivetheark/v/14104672
http://www.twitch.tv/survivetheark/v/14107676
http://www.twitch.tv/survivetheark/v/14112096

Pardon the technical difficulties at the beginning guys!

Spoilers beyond this point

For those not familiar with Survival of the Fittest, you may want to check out the last tournament held where we detailed what went the game-mode was about and how that general tournament faired:

http://steamcommunity.com/games/346110/announcements/detail/111814120376147147

http://steamcommunity.com/games/346110/announcements/detail/111814120376149584

However Survival of the Fittest: Unnatural Selection features some modifications to the traditional gamemode including;

The Dragon - At mid-way through the match, The Dragon becomes available for taming at the central platform! And boy is this guy a beast, survivors who successfully tame him can be sure to leave their footprint on the match.

Four Player Tribes! - We increased the default maximum size for tribes so players can stay in the competition longer as their skilled team will have more shots at making it to the big-times!

and the Gamemaker’s favourite… SIX NEW EVOLUTION EVENTS!

The Beast Within - A Red mist permeates the ARK, driving its creatures insane. Even Herbivores become rabid and aggressive.

Predator’s Night - Carnivore targeting ranges and aggro towards Survivors have been doubled! Better watch out ;)

Supply Overload - Supply crates are spawned at every potential location!

Double Taming - The ARK’s many creatures are cowed at the sight of the mighty Survivors! Taming speed is temporarily doubled!

Harvesting Bounty - Better stock up as it’s been a good year! Harvesting rates are doubled temporarily!

Harvesting Famine - Harvesting will barely yield anything. Hopefully you’ve got some reserves ;) - Harvesting rates are reduced temporarily.

and the introduction of two new creatures, the Gigantopithecus! and Doedicurus!

The tournament was definitely very entertaining to watch, a wide range of strategy and tactics were deployed by all participants to help ensure that they could compete for first! We hadn’t known what to expect with numbers like this, this would be the largest played game of Survival of the Fittest ever! And it was very fitting that it would hold the biggest creature ever!

And without further ado, our winners!

Third Place

Tribe: Paeness
Members: 187Ghost187 & Nero
Prize: $4,000


Second Place

Tribe: Coconut Bandits
Members: Fatty, Swift, Tribe & Futur
Prize: $10,000


First Place

Tribe: Hero’s
Members: Savior, PsYkO & IceBox
Prize: $20,000


MVP: Savior aka BOXGUY!



This game mode is pure chaos and survival. It just wants to see people perish. Your job as a participant? To survive - and you do whatever it takes!



You want to tame an army of Dinosaurs? You do that.



You want to camp the supply-drops and get the best loot to kill your opponents? You do that.



You want to parachute down from the mountains and snipe your opponents? You do that.



You want to tame the mighty Dragon and burn your enemies alive? You do that.



YOU WANT TO BUILD A 1 BY 1 STONE HOUSE AND COOK SOME MEAT AT A CAMP FIRE TIL THE VERY END? YOU VERY WELL CAN DO THAT!



Savior aka BoxGuy deployed a strategy (..which funnily enough also won the first ever play-test of SotF internally ;)..) where he avoided combat and focused purely on ensuring that he would survive until the very end. Doing so allowed him the opportunity to fight his injured opponent in many different skirmishes, despite his level disadvantage he was able to come out on top as he had the means he needed to survive! Congratulations Savior and to tribe Hero’s, great showing!

We’d like to give a huge shout out to everyone who tuned into and helped organize the event! It’s been a pretty busy period and we’re super thankful for all the support you’ve shown! It was a lot of fun and congratulations to everyone who made it to the finals and of course our 3-victorious tribes!

All the best,

Wildcard Jat and the ARK Survival Evolved Team
ARK: Survival Evolved - Jat


A new Dino Dossier has been revealed! Introducing everyone's favorite carnivorous lurker, the Kaprosuchus!
ARK: Survival Evolved - Jat


A new Dino Dossier has been revealed! Introducing everyone's favorite carnivorous lurker, the Kaprosuchus!
ARK: Survival Evolved

ARK is one of a handful of survival games to rise above the fray of competition on Steam, partly thanks to its novel mixture of prehistoric wildlife and modern weapons. ARK isn't exempt to the issue many players experience in sandbox survival games, however: the perpetuation of an in-game culture that encourages many players, even peaceful ones, to fight whenever they encounter someone else. During our time at PAX this week I found a moment to speak with Jesse Rapczak, co-founder at Studio Wildcard, about the ARK team's attitude about kill-on-sight.

You can find all of our coverage from PAX Prime 2015 right here.

Steam Community Items - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Emily Gera)

ARK: Survival Evolved [official site] features a brontosaurus wearing a giant riding saddle. For that reason alone, it seems like good news that from now until Sunday, the open-world nude dinosaur fighting game is free on Steam

… [visit site to read more]

ARK: Survival Evolved - Jat


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHX7jiB9OkI

Spotlight: Mesopithecus!

The Mesopithecus Amicufur is an omnivorous monkey species, primarily inhabiting the island’s jungles. It is smaller than a human, but can move at about the same speed! It is not normally aggressive, but small groups of Mesopithecus can be troublesome.

The tiny, nimble Mesopithecus is a cute and useful creature to bring into your home or carry on your shoulder, since it can act as a mobile feces-flinging turret. You can also toss him over enemy walls and it will open small locked doors for you. The Mesopithecus also will automatically harvest nearby plants on its own initiative, and you can dress it up in your hat collection to create a monkey mini-you!

Additionally in this patch we've now introduced primitive smoke grenades to obscure your Tribe’s assaults, along with angled rooftop tilesets to create those natural-looking houses!
ARK: Survival Evolved - Jat


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHX7jiB9OkI

Spotlight: Mesopithecus!

The Mesopithecus Amicufur is an omnivorous monkey species, primarily inhabiting the island’s jungles. It is smaller than a human, but can move at about the same speed! It is not normally aggressive, but small groups of Mesopithecus can be troublesome.

The tiny, nimble Mesopithecus is a cute and useful creature to bring into your home or carry on your shoulder, since it can act as a mobile feces-flinging turret. You can also toss him over enemy walls and it will open small locked doors for you. The Mesopithecus also will automatically harvest nearby plants on its own initiative, and you can dress it up in your hat collection to create a monkey mini-you!

Additionally in this patch we've now introduced primitive smoke grenades to obscure your Tribe’s assaults, along with angled rooftop tilesets to create those natural-looking houses!
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