-insecure
-insecure
There’s something so straightforward about the populist appeal of Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] that I find it charming. “Hey, what if we made a dinosaur game that wasn’t broken?” Alright. “Hey, what if you could ride the dinosaurs?” Sure, whatever. “What if there was a dinosaur that could roll around like Sonic?” Uh-huh, cool.
The latest update seems designed in a similar fashion, answering “OK yes” to questions like “What if there was a snow setting?” and “What if you could ride direwolves like those in that fantasy series everyone likes so much?” You’ll find a video of that and more below.
The lost world of Ark: Survival Evolved is growing a little bit bigger today with the addition of two new biomes: snow and swamps. Given the intricate nature of Ark's survival simulation, I'm sure that the snowy biome in particular will require extra thick furs and heavy dino-skin boots. Swamps might not mess with your body temperature, but they're smash-full of venomous creepy crawly things. Personally, I'd pick the snow every day of the week.
These biomes come with their own cadre of creatures to hunt, eat, and run from. Giant frogs and snakes guard rare plants in the swamps, so adventurous herbalists might want to pack an escort if they're looking for powerful ingredients. In the snowy mountains, Dire Wolves can be tamed and used to hunt other, weaker animals; if they didn't want to be eaten, they should have figured out how to ride a Dire Wolf.
All of this is rolling out today. If you haven't tried pooping on command in Ark yet, see Chris's playthrough diary, starting here. Evan caught up with the developers at PAX Prime this year, and they had a lot to say about building a competitive, yet cooperative, community.