Exciting news Survivors! The Dragon makes its debut in ARK: Survival Evolved on it’s Birthday Week as players can now face off the mighty beast and it's fearsome flyer minions in their epic treacherous volcanic lair! Patch 242 also introduces additional tribe member settings, a training dummy, diseases and cures, interactive baby raising, two new creatures, the Dilplodocus, the Leech and so much more!
On Thursday, the 2nd of June, ARK: Survival Evolved will officially turn One Year Old! Exciting right?! Already a year has gone by and we’d like to celebrate that with you by running a special one-week “ARK Birthday Event” where players can find Candles from Supply crates to craft ARK Birthday Cakes! When each candle is blown out, a special message to the players occur and exclusive items are gifted, including: Player and Dino Party Hats, Fun “Birthday Suits” (censor-pixelization of course ;)), and finally, as everyone knows there’s no party without a cake - a giant ARK Anniversary Birthday Cake which can be consumed for a major XP Buff!
Despite being one of the island’s larger creatures, Diplodocus Insulaprincep is among the Island’s smaller sauropods which allow it to offer maximum speed and greater endurance compared to its giant brethren!
After taming, many tribes equip the beast with a large saddle which allows the Diplodocus to carry as many as 10 passengers! These passengers often use ranged weapons to protect the creature and attack nearby enemies while on the move.
Diplodocus has shown to be a strange creature due to it’s overly trusting nature, which has proven to be quite detrimental to its life. It usually doesn’t flee from predators until after they’ve attacked it repeatedly, preferring instead to make numerous fruitless attempts at friendship. For some strange reason, Diplodocus trust humans so much that it doesn’t seem to fight back against them, ever!
The Leech is one of the more detestable creatures of the island. The disease-carrying blood-sucker, Haementeria Iaetus has practically no intelligence, and merely attaches to any nearby living flesh in an attempt to drain that creature’s blood. Not tamable, the Leech does not provide much of a resource for any tribe, though some have been known to keep them around in order to create antidotes: When process carefully, Haementaria venom can be made into powerful anti-venom!
Removing Haementeria requires precision bladework, or access to an open flame! Both can be nearly as dangerous to the host as to the leech itself. Once the Leech attaches to a host, its drain blood at a rapid pace, and the host will suffer from hunger, loss of health and reduced stamina. Some Haementeria are also carriers for a dangerous disease known as ‘Swamp Fever’, which persists permanently beyond the Leech’s own lifespan.
Alongside the special event and the new creatures, players will be able to take advantage of the new structure: Training Dummy which will display floating Damage Per Second values indicating how strong each dino attack actually is, while the new mechanic, Permanent Diseases & Cures, will enable players to deliberately infect Dodos to use them as Disease Vectors! If you get a permanent disease, it persists even beyond respawn and you will need to cure it with an antidote using the blood of the leeches!
And now for all the juicy details about this week’s special patch!
Dragon Arena & Dragon Boss Fight
Breeding Mechanics Phase 2: Interactive Baby Raising (cuddle with your dino babies, pet, walk, and hand-feed them for extra benefits and greater affinity for whoever raised them once they grow up!)
Optional RPG Stat Mode: Displays floating in-world damage numbers for all Player-Related Damage Events.
Added 'Follow Range' (Low/Medium/Far) Setting Per Tamed Dino
Added option for PvE Servers to disable building around critical resource node regions
Added server option to override per-Item Crafting costs
Added server option to override the loot tables for each kind of supply crate
Added server option to limit number of members in Tribes. Default: no limit.
Multi-Seat Saddles (Galli, Diplodocus, etc). Dinos now have an option to enable public seating. Dino Taxi service, ahoy!
Servers can now optionally enable an "offline raiding prevention" mode which will make Dinos/Structures invincible if no owner is logged-in (indicated via the head whether the owner player/tribe is logged-in or not). Recommend that server owners utilize this with care, as it may have undesired side effects in a competitive environment
Tribe Groups Phase 2: Support for Limited Non-Admin Invites and promotions/demotions per group! Also "Prevent Dino Unclaiming" checkbox, and other new per-rank options
Added Alpha Mosasaurus (contains lots of Black Pearls)
Alpha creatures XP reduced by 45%
Auto-Turrets can no longer be built on Quetz/Sauro/Mosa/Plesi/Paracer platforms (Plant turrets can't be grown on them). Any existing turrets on such platforms will no longer fire. Otherwise they're now only allowed on Rafts and non-moving Bases.
Plant Turrets now consume Fertilizer per shot, and also will not shoot if no water is in the crop plot.
Approximate +100% increase to Sauropod and Paraceratherium respective Weight stats.
So it’s a big one guys! We hope you have a fantastic time with the update and enjoy the special event, we are so grateful for all the support you show us and hopefully we’ll be able to celebrate many more special occasions together, in our Birthday Suits! ;)
Exciting news Survivors! The Dragon makes its debut in ARK: Survival Evolved on it’s Birthday Week as players can now face off the mighty beast and it's fearsome flyer minions in their epic treacherous volcanic lair! Patch 242 also introduces additional tribe member settings, a training dummy, diseases and cures, interactive baby raising, two new creatures, the Dilplodocus, the Leech and so much more!
On Thursday, the 2nd of June, ARK: Survival Evolved will officially turn One Year Old! Exciting right?! Already a year has gone by and we’d like to celebrate that with you by running a special one-week “ARK Birthday Event” where players can find Candles from Supply crates to craft ARK Birthday Cakes! When each candle is blown out, a special message to the players occur and exclusive items are gifted, including: Player and Dino Party Hats, Fun “Birthday Suits” (censor-pixelization of course ;)), and finally, as everyone knows there’s no party without a cake - a giant ARK Anniversary Birthday Cake which can be consumed for a major XP Buff!
Despite being one of the island’s larger creatures, Diplodocus Insulaprincep is among the Island’s smaller sauropods which allow it to offer maximum speed and greater endurance compared to its giant brethren!
After taming, many tribes equip the beast with a large saddle which allows the Diplodocus to carry as many as 10 passengers! These passengers often use ranged weapons to protect the creature and attack nearby enemies while on the move.
Diplodocus has shown to be a strange creature due to it’s overly trusting nature, which has proven to be quite detrimental to its life. It usually doesn’t flee from predators until after they’ve attacked it repeatedly, preferring instead to make numerous fruitless attempts at friendship. For some strange reason, Diplodocus trust humans so much that it doesn’t seem to fight back against them, ever!
The Leech is one of the more detestable creatures of the island. The disease-carrying blood-sucker, Haementeria Iaetus has practically no intelligence, and merely attaches to any nearby living flesh in an attempt to drain that creature’s blood. Not tamable, the Leech does not provide much of a resource for any tribe, though some have been known to keep them around in order to create antidotes: When process carefully, Haementaria venom can be made into powerful anti-venom!
Removing Haementeria requires precision bladework, or access to an open flame! Both can be nearly as dangerous to the host as to the leech itself. Once the Leech attaches to a host, its drain blood at a rapid pace, and the host will suffer from hunger, loss of health and reduced stamina. Some Haementeria are also carriers for a dangerous disease known as ‘Swamp Fever’, which persists permanently beyond the Leech’s own lifespan.
Alongside the special event and the new creatures, players will be able to take advantage of the new structure: Training Dummy which will display floating Damage Per Second values indicating how strong each dino attack actually is, while the new mechanic, Permanent Diseases & Cures, will enable players to deliberately infect Dodos to use them as Disease Vectors! If you get a permanent disease, it persists even beyond respawn and you will need to cure it with an antidote using the blood of the leeches!
And now for all the juicy details about this week’s special patch!
Dragon Arena & Dragon Boss Fight
Breeding Mechanics Phase 2: Interactive Baby Raising (cuddle with your dino babies, pet, walk, and hand-feed them for extra benefits and greater affinity for whoever raised them once they grow up!)
Optional RPG Stat Mode: Displays floating in-world damage numbers for all Player-Related Damage Events.
Added 'Follow Range' (Low/Medium/Far) Setting Per Tamed Dino
Added option for PvE Servers to disable building around critical resource node regions
Added server option to override per-Item Crafting costs
Added server option to override the loot tables for each kind of supply crate
Added server option to limit number of members in Tribes. Default: no limit.
Multi-Seat Saddles (Galli, Diplodocus, etc). Dinos now have an option to enable public seating. Dino Taxi service, ahoy!
Servers can now optionally enable an "offline raiding prevention" mode which will make Dinos/Structures invincible if no owner is logged-in (indicated via the head whether the owner player/tribe is logged-in or not). Recommend that server owners utilize this with care, as it may have undesired side effects in a competitive environment
Tribe Groups Phase 2: Support for Limited Non-Admin Invites and promotions/demotions per group! Also "Prevent Dino Unclaiming" checkbox, and other new per-rank options
Added Alpha Mosasaurus (contains lots of Black Pearls)
Alpha creatures XP reduced by 45%
Auto-Turrets can no longer be built on Quetz/Sauro/Mosa/Plesi/Paracer platforms (Plant turrets can't be grown on them). Any existing turrets on such platforms will no longer fire. Otherwise they're now only allowed on Rafts and non-moving Bases.
Plant Turrets now consume Fertilizer per shot, and also will not shoot if no water is in the crop plot.
Approximate +100% increase to Sauropod and Paraceratherium respective Weight stats.
So it’s a big one guys! We hope you have a fantastic time with the update and enjoy the special event, we are so grateful for all the support you show us and hopefully we’ll be able to celebrate many more special occasions together, in our Birthday Suits! ;)
A new Dino Dossier has been revealed, this one is everyone’s favourite protean prodigious paddler, the Pelagornis!
Patch 242!
Just an update on 242 guys! We’re still working on it, it’s a pretty large patch as you can imagine from checking out the notes, which we’re constantly updating:
A new Dino Dossier has been revealed, this one is everyone’s favourite protean prodigious paddler, the Pelagornis!
Patch 242!
Just an update on 242 guys! We’re still working on it, it’s a pretty large patch as you can imagine from checking out the notes, which we’re constantly updating:
Earlier this month in a Community Crunch we announced that later on we would be making some very large biome changes to The Island. Part of this change would be introducing a new zone, known as the Redwood Forest and also slightly expanding the size of the Snow Biome.
This is a map you can use to help identify the areas where The Island will receive some changes and it’s makeover.
The blue area represents the new size of the Snow Biome. The orange area represents the location of the new Redwood Biome and the green-area represents part of the Swamp that is also being turned into Redwood.
Something we will always try to avoid is making drastic map changes as we know it can be unsettling for players to have to be concerned about relocating their base, however in some cases we have to go ahead and make those changes for the development of the game. We apologize if this does cause any inconvenience and we really hope you enjoy the upcoming biome changes!
Whilst we prepare for launching the new biomes we said we’d be updating the in-game environment with 3D Markers to help indicate areas that will be undergoing change. These markers will be brought into the game on Wednesday and here’s what you can expect them to look like!
That’ll give you an idea of whether you need to make any plans to move or not :)
CONTEST: The Center Boss Challenge!
For Official server The Center players, we're giving away $500 cash in a special contest! It will be awarded to the first PC tribe to beat both bosses on an Official PVP server!
Screenshot proof of the pause menu in the boss arena including server name, as well as the items received from defeating the bosses must be provided! You can upload your images to our forums, and write a comment down below, in the survivetheark thread, with the screenshots. Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NuBc7MkqVI The awesome dudes over at Nerd Out made this fantastic song and video about ARK! We’re absolutely in love with it - check it out!
That’s all for today guys! We’ve got a big patch to prepare for now!
Earlier this month in a Community Crunch we announced that later on we would be making some very large biome changes to The Island. Part of this change would be introducing a new zone, known as the Redwood Forest and also slightly expanding the size of the Snow Biome.
This is a map you can use to help identify the areas where The Island will receive some changes and it’s makeover.
The blue area represents the new size of the Snow Biome. The orange area represents the location of the new Redwood Biome and the green-area represents part of the Swamp that is also being turned into Redwood.
Something we will always try to avoid is making drastic map changes as we know it can be unsettling for players to have to be concerned about relocating their base, however in some cases we have to go ahead and make those changes for the development of the game. We apologize if this does cause any inconvenience and we really hope you enjoy the upcoming biome changes!
Whilst we prepare for launching the new biomes we said we’d be updating the in-game environment with 3D Markers to help indicate areas that will be undergoing change. These markers will be brought into the game on Wednesday and here’s what you can expect them to look like!
That’ll give you an idea of whether you need to make any plans to move or not :)
CONTEST: The Center Boss Challenge!
For Official server The Center players, we're giving away $500 cash in a special contest! It will be awarded to the first PC tribe to beat both bosses on an Official PVP server!
Screenshot proof of the pause menu in the boss arena including server name, as well as the items received from defeating the bosses must be provided! You can upload your images to our forums, and write a comment down below, in the survivetheark thread, with the screenshots. Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NuBc7MkqVI The awesome dudes over at Nerd Out made this fantastic song and video about ARK! We’re absolutely in love with it - check it out!
That’s all for today guys! We’ve got a big patch to prepare for now!
It’s Ced here, and it’s been an exciting few months as we’ve been amazed by the sheer creativity and ingenuity of the modding community. We’ve had the pleasure of experiencing survival on the moon, building massive race tracks, having epic battles in tribe warfare, and enjoying some fantastic views on many of the breath-taking maps that were submitted to our second mod contest. We are blown away by the talent of the modding community and are forever grateful for the efforts of those who bring these custom experiences to all ARK players worldwide - and soon Xbox.
It was no easy feat to pick the winning entries for this mod contest due to growth of the talent level and understanding of the development kit. We are excited for the future of modding and look forward to seeing what the community has in store for the future!
Instead of the traditional workshop spotlight this week, I will be doing a video review of each of the winners in preparation for next week’s community crunch. Subscribe to our YouTube workshop channel if you’d rather not wait to see all of the finished videos in next week’s community crunch. Without further ado, here are the winners!
PRIZES: Seventeen (17) prizes will be awarded. 1st thru 5th, places for each category and honorable mention for the mods and maps category:
1st Place: $10,000 in each category 2nd Place: $5,000 in each category 3rd Place: $3,000 in each category 4th Place: $2,000 in each category 5th Place: $1,000 in each category 6th Place Honorable Mention: $750 in each category $64,500 TOTAL PRIZE POOL!
You wouldn’t be able to tell the map is only 80% complete if you’ve ever had the pleasure of exploring Valhalla. With land mass and water area 6 times that of the normal island, it’s enough to keep you exploring for days. The amount of work that went into creating this map is nothing to underestimate. Beautiful vistas and abundant areas of exploration makes this a community and dev favorite!
Although Roraima doesn’t have the following of some of the other maps in the workshop, it absolutely blew us away! The naturalistic land formations and the strategic layout of this map makes it a standout entry in the category. While it isn’t as big as some of the other maps, it is clearly a map that makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a real-life area in the world. The team were literally shocked at the natural beauty in this map.
Ummassoura is another massive map that is a truly unique entry in the map category. We were taken back by the massive caves, breathtaking waterfalls, and diversity in the creatures that live in each of the uniquely placed biomes. The level of detail and care that was taken in creating this map was evident and greatly acknowledged by the team.
There aren’t many maps that make you feel as if you are in a specific place in the world. We fell in love with Madagascar Evolved and its ability to accomplish this with its stylistic approach in its level design. Immediately we felt as if we were flown to a safari in the middle of Africa and left to survive with the vicious animals that call it home. We see a very bright future for Madagascar Evolved!
Wick Willow gave us an unforgettable experience when exploring its unique set of biomes. Each biome is distinctly different from the next which provides for an interesting set of challenges and gameplay experiences. We walked away with an appreciation for the strategic vision that went into the creation of this stunning map.
We couldn't think of a better name to describe this map. It’s vast landmass provides the perfect opportunity for exploring and building an epic base. Although it’s still a work in progress, one can’t help but to imagine what this map will look like once it’s complete. I know we’ll be keeping our eye out!
Tribe wars is a thrilling game mode that offers a PVP-based experience that stays true to the core of what ARK is. The objective is simple; defend your flag while trying to destroy your enemies flag. The comprehensiveness of this total conversion and the talent that went into creating it did not go unnoticed. It is tons of fun and we had the pleasure of taking it for a spin!
There isn’t enough that can be said about the creativity and talent that went into creating this Total Conversion. It’s an unbelievable entry and we were amazed by the user interface and subtle touches that were put into this experience. Although it’s an astonishing feat in its current state, we look forward to what other experiences that will be created while trying to survive on the Moon.
This total conversion pits you against waves of terrifying creatures as you try to escape what is known as the Otherworld. It’s always nice to play a different game mode for ARK and Otherworld is one of the few that are available in the workshop. We loved the style of this entry with its distinct and unique level design.
It’s always fun to see how modders use existing content and modify it to create new experiences. Cool 13 New Creatures gives an exciting new way to look at some of the ARK creatures you’ve grown to know and love!
Taking the top vote in the category, the Advanced Architecture mod is one of the most popular builder based mods in the workshop. We had a blast building castles and experiencing a royal setting while reviewing it!
This was, hands down, one of our favorite mods to review. NPC Bush Peoples allows you to spawn a collection of humans to enhance your current ARK experience. We were impressed with the level of talent that it takes to pull this off and are looking forward to the exciting future of this mod.
There are enough balance changes and additions in this mod to make you think it were a Total Conversion. The support from the community is undeniable and after reviewing this mod we understand why. There aren’t really words to describe the experience this mod gives so we suggest you go check it out for yourself!
I think all of us at one point thought of reliving our Mario Kart racing adventures. Dino Racing: Evolved, is a completely customizable way of creating a race track that’s perfect for server events. This entry definitely lets us know that someone knows there way around the development kit.
With a lot of competition in the structure/building types of mods, it’s hard to stand out in the crowd. Well, MRRadTools.INC Content Pack is clearly one of the standouts! Each asset displays his amazing artistry and level of detail he takes in his work. It blends very well with the current game and deserves a place in the winner's circle.
ARK Futurism explores the advanced and futuristic side of survival on the island. With tons of unique and beautifully made assets, we had to make sure that the work of this modder did not go unnoticed.
It’s Ced here, and it’s been an exciting few months as we’ve been amazed by the sheer creativity and ingenuity of the modding community. We’ve had the pleasure of experiencing survival on the moon, building massive race tracks, having epic battles in tribe warfare, and enjoying some fantastic views on many of the breath-taking maps that were submitted to our second mod contest. We are blown away by the talent of the modding community and are forever grateful for the efforts of those who bring these custom experiences to all ARK players worldwide - and soon Xbox.
It was no easy feat to pick the winning entries for this mod contest due to growth of the talent level and understanding of the development kit. We are excited for the future of modding and look forward to seeing what the community has in store for the future!
Instead of the traditional workshop spotlight this week, I will be doing a video review of each of the winners in preparation for next week’s community crunch. Subscribe to our YouTube workshop channel if you’d rather not wait to see all of the finished videos in next week’s community crunch. Without further ado, here are the winners!
PRIZES: Seventeen (17) prizes will be awarded. 1st thru 5th, places for each category and honorable mention for the mods and maps category:
1st Place: $10,000 in each category 2nd Place: $5,000 in each category 3rd Place: $3,000 in each category 4th Place: $2,000 in each category 5th Place: $1,000 in each category 6th Place Honorable Mention: $750 in each category $64,500 TOTAL PRIZE POOL!
You wouldn’t be able to tell the map is only 80% complete if you’ve ever had the pleasure of exploring Valhalla. With land mass and water area 6 times that of the normal island, it’s enough to keep you exploring for days. The amount of work that went into creating this map is nothing to underestimate. Beautiful vistas and abundant areas of exploration makes this a community and dev favorite!
Although Roraima doesn’t have the following of some of the other maps in the workshop, it absolutely blew us away! The naturalistic land formations and the strategic layout of this map makes it a standout entry in the category. While it isn’t as big as some of the other maps, it is clearly a map that makes you feel like you’ve been transported to a real-life area in the world. The team were literally shocked at the natural beauty in this map.
Ummassoura is another massive map that is a truly unique entry in the map category. We were taken back by the massive caves, breathtaking waterfalls, and diversity in the creatures that live in each of the uniquely placed biomes. The level of detail and care that was taken in creating this map was evident and greatly acknowledged by the team.
There aren’t many maps that make you feel as if you are in a specific place in the world. We fell in love with Madagascar Evolved and its ability to accomplish this with its stylistic approach in its level design. Immediately we felt as if we were flown to a safari in the middle of Africa and left to survive with the vicious animals that call it home. We see a very bright future for Madagascar Evolved!
Wick Willow gave us an unforgettable experience when exploring its unique set of biomes. Each biome is distinctly different from the next which provides for an interesting set of challenges and gameplay experiences. We walked away with an appreciation for the strategic vision that went into the creation of this stunning map.
We couldn't think of a better name to describe this map. It’s vast landmass provides the perfect opportunity for exploring and building an epic base. Although it’s still a work in progress, one can’t help but to imagine what this map will look like once it’s complete. I know we’ll be keeping our eye out!
Tribe wars is a thrilling game mode that offers a PVP-based experience that stays true to the core of what ARK is. The objective is simple; defend your flag while trying to destroy your enemies flag. The comprehensiveness of this total conversion and the talent that went into creating it did not go unnoticed. It is tons of fun and we had the pleasure of taking it for a spin!
There isn’t enough that can be said about the creativity and talent that went into creating this Total Conversion. It’s an unbelievable entry and we were amazed by the user interface and subtle touches that were put into this experience. Although it’s an astonishing feat in its current state, we look forward to what other experiences that will be created while trying to survive on the Moon.
This total conversion pits you against waves of terrifying creatures as you try to escape what is known as the Otherworld. It’s always nice to play a different game mode for ARK and Otherworld is one of the few that are available in the workshop. We loved the style of this entry with its distinct and unique level design.
It’s always fun to see how modders use existing content and modify it to create new experiences. Cool 13 New Creatures gives an exciting new way to look at some of the ARK creatures you’ve grown to know and love!
Taking the top vote in the category, the Advanced Architecture mod is one of the most popular builder based mods in the workshop. We had a blast building castles and experiencing a royal setting while reviewing it!
This was, hands down, one of our favorite mods to review. NPC Bush Peoples allows you to spawn a collection of humans to enhance your current ARK experience. We were impressed with the level of talent that it takes to pull this off and are looking forward to the exciting future of this mod.
There are enough balance changes and additions in this mod to make you think it were a Total Conversion. The support from the community is undeniable and after reviewing this mod we understand why. There aren’t really words to describe the experience this mod gives so we suggest you go check it out for yourself!
I think all of us at one point thought of reliving our Mario Kart racing adventures. Dino Racing: Evolved, is a completely customizable way of creating a race track that’s perfect for server events. This entry definitely lets us know that someone knows there way around the development kit.
With a lot of competition in the structure/building types of mods, it’s hard to stand out in the crowd. Well, MRRadTools.INC Content Pack is clearly one of the standouts! Each asset displays his amazing artistry and level of detail he takes in his work. It blends very well with the current game and deserves a place in the winner's circle.
ARK Futurism explores the advanced and futuristic side of survival on the island. With tons of unique and beautifully made assets, we had to make sure that the work of this modder did not go unnoticed.
