Ark's next patch, v257, was due at the end of April, but it's been pushed back to May 3 both to give Studio Wildcard time to finish their work and so players can move any bases or structures they've built inside the dormant volcano. The volcano, see, is going to receive "an active remodeling" which I presume means a bunch of lava is going to start flowing.
Any player-made structure within the highlighted borders (see image below) is toast, so grab the nearest Quetz and get packing. A small client-side patch was pushed out today that displays the borders in-game as well, so you'll be able to tell which structures are in the danger zone.
The patch, when it does arrive, will also bring four new dinos (including a giant bee), new Tek features (including a cloning chamber) more UI changes, hairstyles, and new music tracks.
Also coming: "Ascension" game progression, which sound like end-game systems and bosses. This post by Jat on the Steam forums sums up the Ascension process rather succinctly:
"It involves beating all the bosses, going into the volcano, completing an uber-hard dungeon and travelling through a stargate, beating a final fourth boss and discovering the true nature of the ARK, sacrificing your character and resurrecting as a new character containing a soul cube with a progressively level cap (and if done again, taking on bosses that are scaled even more difficult and have some changes each time). That about cover it? ;-)"
If you're not hip to the whole Ark scene, here's a quick catch-up: the latest patch to the dino survival game included some pretty drastic changes to flying dinosaurs, and many players aren't too happy about it. In particular, the winged dinos' flying speed was greatly reduced and capped. There were also reductions to stamina and carry weight. Birds got nerfed, in other words.
For example, my own personal Argy—Argentavis, basically an enormous eagle I can ride—had its pre-patch speed leveled up to about 250%, meaning it was a swift beast to get around on. Post-patch, its speed is not only reduced to 100%, but capped there. The big bird, now none-too-fast, won't ever get any faster, even upon leveling it up. (Note: those points I put into speed have been refunded, and I can use them for other attributes.)
This is going to be a real adjustment for me, and all I use my flyers for is transport: many of those who take great pains to breed their birds into powerful super-beasts are now staring glumly at a stable of greatly lessened creatures. Flying dinos are also a major factor on PvP servers (I don't play PvP), so entire tribe wars are going to have to be rethought.
Well, there's a beacon of hope for those of you who are miserable with the nerfs and don't want to wait to see if they get recalculated in your favor (which they probably will, somewhat). The Classic Flyers mod claims to undo the patch completely. Quoth the mod page:
"Brings back the classic flyers we've all known and loved! This mod gives flyer species back all of their pre-nerf'd stats. Yes, that means they can level speed again."
The mod has some instructions you should read before installing, and it sounds like there may be a few bugs here and there: read all about it, and happy flying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz7YM5vu-_4 Patch v256 comes to you today crammed with new content, including vacuum-sealed underwater bases and aquatic creature breeding, TEK teleporter pads and wireless generators, and four new creatures. It also brings the first major menu redesign of ARK, as the Inventory UI receives a complete visual and functional overhaul for a streamlined new look. This is a huge upgrade that means easier access to everything in the player’s inventory.
The TEK Tier for ARK is being implemented in multiple phases, with today’s update including awesome new element powered gear like:
TEK Underwater Bases! This allows fully-enclosed structures to be created underwater, with ventilators to allow oxygen filled room. Air-locks allow players to enter and exit without flooding their base.
TEK Power Generator! This wireless generators power TEK structures and any Tribe electrical structures in adjustable range.
TEK Teleporter! Easily and quickly move around the expansive open-world island, but very challenging and expensive to obtain!
TEK Mosa Saddle! Once placed on the Mosasaur it equips the beast with lasers and more.
TEK Tier content is a wave of sci-fi-themed, end-game features that reward hard-working Survivors with awesomely futuristic gear and guns. Players wanting TEK Tier loot will need to gather the newly introduced Element resource, which is granted after successfully completing Boss Arenas. Each Boss has three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) and after defeating the respective Boss are awarded with unique TEK Knowledge engrams, element and other general Boss Rewards. Collect the Element, then use the TEK Replicator to craft all TEK items!
Likely an ancestor to the modern horse, Equus Magnus is a much larger steed, and when tamed, can be used in much the same way - riding, herding, and used as pack animals. Equus is so large, in fact, tribes have been known to not only ride them, but attach extra large saddlebags to them, essentially making them into mobile research and crafting stations.
Craftable within the Equus' saddle inventory, the new Lasso item can be used to wrangle creatures and players while riding. Now you can live out your cowboy dreams in ARK!
If Survivors are lucky, they may come across a majestic sight. The Unicorn is the rarest creature on the Island, with it's white coat and horn protruding from its' forehead. It can be tamed just like the normal Equus. However, only one of these magical creatures naturally exists on the map at a time, so treat it with the utmost care!
Leedsichthys Conviviumbrosia is the largest fish in the waters around the island. Its meat is also extremely succulent which is unusual given its size. It is often traded with the same value as Prime Meat, and colloquially called 'Prime Fish'. Of little taming value, tribes do keep schools of Leedsichthys in pens for meat, as it is so huge, chunks of meat can be cut from it without causing it death or permanent injury.
While Leeds is normally passive towards humans, it is extremely aggressive towards boats on the open water. Rafts that enter its' territory will quickly find themselves in grave trouble and will be forced to fight or flee, or lose their home.
The alpha Leedsichthys, which is somehow even larger than the average Leeds, is massive and white in colour. If a Survivor manages to kill the beast, they will be rewarded with lots of fish meat and a special cosmetic skin hidden within it's belly.
Iguanodon Vicissitudinisis a large herbivorous dinosaur that bears a strong resemblance to the Parasaurolophus but without the distinct head crest. Iguanodon has two spike-like thumbs for prying fruits open to pick out the seeds and for stabbing would-be predators. They are as capable of walking on all fours as they are on just their hind legs. Combined with its highly effective fruit harvesting and substantial carry weight, the Iguanodon's excellent mobility in bipedal stance makes it an ideal field-hand that can also pull off a quick get-away, or an agile defense, when needed.
Considered just a "plain old" normal seagull, Ichthyornis Piscoquus lives near beaches, surviving off of native fish. While timid by nature, if tamed, they become partners for their tamer, riding their shoulders. Survivors can send their tamed Ichthy to attack small prey such as fish, dodos, and compys. The fish it brings back are rich in meat and far better than a Survivor would be able to catch by hand, making the gull very useful.
A long time coming, Patch 256 finally brings breeding to the aquatic and amphibious creatures of the ARK. Underwater eggs cannot be picked up by players as they cannot survive out of water, so plan ahead carefully! Underwater eggs will incubate in water at all times so there is no need to monitor their temperature. These adorable little ones will certainly steal their way into your heart.
In addition to all of the above (it's a lot!), this patch also includes the following:
- Lots of new in-game sounds - 1 New Hairstyle and 1 New Facial hairstyle (Growable ponytails with full physics and mutton chops!) - 30+ new Explorer Notes
From today through to April 3rd, ARK is 67% off and Scorched Earth is 51% off! If you or your friends haven't picked up a copy, now is definitely the time to do so!
Evolution Event!
Survivors will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! The Evolution Event will be active until Monday the 3rd at 12PM EST. All Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz7YM5vu-_4 Patch v256 comes to you today crammed with new content, including vacuum-sealed underwater bases and aquatic creature breeding, TEK teleporter pads and wireless generators, and four new creatures. It also brings the first major menu redesign of ARK, as the Inventory UI receives a complete visual and functional overhaul for a streamlined new look. This is a huge upgrade that means easier access to everything in the player’s inventory.
The TEK Tier for ARK is being implemented in multiple phases, with today’s update including awesome new element powered gear like:
TEK Underwater Bases! This allows fully-enclosed structures to be created underwater, with ventilators to allow oxygen filled room. Air-locks allow players to enter and exit without flooding their base.
TEK Power Generator! This wireless generators power TEK structures and any Tribe electrical structures in adjustable range.
TEK Teleporter! Easily and quickly move around the expansive open-world island, but very challenging and expensive to obtain!
TEK Mosa Saddle! Once placed on the Mosasaur it equips the beast with lasers and more.
TEK Tier content is a wave of sci-fi-themed, end-game features that reward hard-working Survivors with awesomely futuristic gear and guns. Players wanting TEK Tier loot will need to gather the newly introduced Element resource, which is granted after successfully completing Boss Arenas. Each Boss has three difficulty levels (easy, medium, hard) and after defeating the respective Boss are awarded with unique TEK Knowledge engrams, element and other general Boss Rewards. Collect the Element, then use the TEK Replicator to craft all TEK items!
Likely an ancestor to the modern horse, Equus Magnus is a much larger steed, and when tamed, can be used in much the same way - riding, herding, and used as pack animals. Equus is so large, in fact, tribes have been known to not only ride them, but attach extra large saddlebags to them, essentially making them into mobile research and crafting stations.
Craftable within the Equus' saddle inventory, the new Lasso item can be used to wrangle creatures and players while riding. Now you can live out your cowboy dreams in ARK!
If Survivors are lucky, they may come across a majestic sight. The Unicorn is the rarest creature on the Island, with it's white coat and horn protruding from its' forehead. It can be tamed just like the normal Equus. However, only one of these magical creatures naturally exists on the map at a time, so treat it with the utmost care!
Leedsichthys Conviviumbrosia is the largest fish in the waters around the island. Its meat is also extremely succulent which is unusual given its size. It is often traded with the same value as Prime Meat, and colloquially called 'Prime Fish'. Of little taming value, tribes do keep schools of Leedsichthys in pens for meat, as it is so huge, chunks of meat can be cut from it without causing it death or permanent injury.
While Leeds is normally passive towards humans, it is extremely aggressive towards boats on the open water. Rafts that enter its' territory will quickly find themselves in grave trouble and will be forced to fight or flee, or lose their home.
The alpha Leedsichthys, which is somehow even larger than the average Leeds, is massive and white in colour. If a Survivor manages to kill the beast, they will be rewarded with lots of fish meat and a special cosmetic skin hidden within it's belly.
Iguanodon Vicissitudinisis a large herbivorous dinosaur that bears a strong resemblance to the Parasaurolophus but without the distinct head crest. Iguanodon has two spike-like thumbs for prying fruits open to pick out the seeds and for stabbing would-be predators. They are as capable of walking on all fours as they are on just their hind legs. Combined with its highly effective fruit harvesting and substantial carry weight, the Iguanodon's excellent mobility in bipedal stance makes it an ideal field-hand that can also pull off a quick get-away, or an agile defense, when needed.
Considered just a "plain old" normal seagull, Ichthyornis Piscoquus lives near beaches, surviving off of native fish. While timid by nature, if tamed, they become partners for their tamer, riding their shoulders. Survivors can send their tamed Ichthy to attack small prey such as fish, dodos, and compys. The fish it brings back are rich in meat and far better than a Survivor would be able to catch by hand, making the gull very useful.
A long time coming, Patch 256 finally brings breeding to the aquatic and amphibious creatures of the ARK. Underwater eggs cannot be picked up by players as they cannot survive out of water, so plan ahead carefully! Underwater eggs will incubate in water at all times so there is no need to monitor their temperature. These adorable little ones will certainly steal their way into your heart.
In addition to all of the above (it's a lot!), this patch also includes the following:
- Lots of new in-game sounds - 1 New Hairstyle and 1 New Facial hairstyle (Growable ponytails with full physics and mutton chops!) - 30+ new Explorer Notes
From today through to April 3rd, ARK is 67% off and Scorched Earth is 51% off! If you or your friends haven't picked up a copy, now is definitely the time to do so!
Evolution Event!
Survivors will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! The Evolution Event will be active until Monday the 3rd at 12PM EST. All Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:
ARK: Survival Evolved's v256 update is bursting with major new features including vacuum-sealed Underwater Bases & Aquatic Breeding, Tek Teleporter Pads & Wireless Generators, 4 powerful new creatures, and ARK's first Inventory Menu overall for a streamlined new look!
Second update: The patch has been delayed one day, and is now scheduled for Friday, March 31.
Update: Here's a peek at the new menu, via Jeremy Stieglitz on Twitter (you can enlarge the image by clicking the top right corner for a better look):
Original story: I've chosen a picture of one of Ark: Survival Evolved's giant snails for this particular news story. That's because Ark's next patch, v256, will among other things apparently provide a long, long, long overdue 'total inventory menu redesign' according to recently added notes to the Steam discussion post and this tweet from Studio Wildcard's Jeremy Stieglitz:
Seriously, Ark's menus and UI are kind of the pits, and while I understand Early Access provides games in an unfinished state and while I'm sure there were bigger coelacanth to fry during the development process, a redesign of the menu is quite welcome, late as it may be. Hence, the snail. Snails are slow.
For the record, here's a list of what else planned for the update, which is (now) estimated to reach us on Friday, March 31:
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Total Inventory Menu redesign
Ho ho.
Just kidding. Here's the real list:
New Mechanic: Aquatic & Amphibious Creature Breeding
New Dino: Equus!
New Dino: Leedsichthys!
New Dino: Ichthyornis!
New Dino: Iguanodon!
New Structures & Mechanic: Tek Underwater Bases
New Structure: TEK Teleporter
New Structure: TEK Mosa Saddle
New Structure: Tek Power Generator
Total Inventory Menu redesign (other UI's coming soon!)
The makers of dinosaur-y sandbox survival game Ark: Survival Evolved [official site] have launched a scheme sponsoring mod development with actual real cash money. Every month they’ll pay fifteen modders (and teams) $4,000 ( 3.2k), with a view to potentially including their finished mods in the full game – as they have with others before. The first round includes everything from moonbases to islands inspired by albums. Mods can be huge for the long-term health of games, benefitting players and developers, so slinging them a big bag of bucks is a pretty great move. … [visit site to read more]
Paid mods was one of 2015's most contentious issues, with Valve and Bethesda abruptly introducing, and just as quickly dissolving, a system in which modders could sell their Skyrim mods to players through the Steam Workshop. While this paid mods system was a failure for a number of reasons, Valve recently stated that it may reintroduce a paid mods system in the future, with Valve's Gabe Newell saying of modders, "...absolutely they need to be compensated."
Studio Wildcard, developer of Early Access dino-survival game Ark: Survival Evolved, is in agreement with Newell's sentiment about modders being paid, and are launching their own program that will allow Ark modders to earn some money. Not by allowing the sale of mods to players, but instead by paying modders directly on a monthly basis to work on and complete their mods.
In a call with Ark's lead designer, lead programmer, and co-creative director Jeremy Stieglitz last Friday, he explained how the new sponsored mod program will work. Each month, Studio Wildcard will select 15 modders and pay them each a stipend of $4,000 to work on their mods. Each month, the mods will be evaluated and it will be determined if those modders will continue to be paid for the next month, or if a mod will be dropped from the program and a new one added. There's also the potential to expand the number of modders being paid this monthly stipend.
"If we have to expand the program because the 15 mods are all doing so well that we don't want to cut any of them," Stieglitz said, "then we'll expand the program to more mods every month.
"The hope is that with this kind of stipend, these authors, who really are hobbyists and have day jobs so they can't really afford to spend as much time as they'd like on modding, that this will let them spend more time on modding, and ideally, hopefully, take some of these mods to completion."
Cedric Burkes of Studio Wildcard, whose own mod, Primitive Plus, was adopted into Ark as official DLC, will be deciding which mods make it into the new sponsored program, and determining each month if the mods will remain sponsored or be dropped and replaced by others. This could change down the line as a community feedback element may be added, which would have some influence on which mods become or remain sponsored.
"Once we get this kind of process going, we're almost certainly going to work out a community-driven aspect to is it as well," said Stieglitz, "where the community maybe even ultimately can vote, along with some discretion, maybe, on Cedric's part on who goes into that voting pool."
Naturally, there's the potential for complications with this type of paid sponsorship. Modders often work in teams, large or small, official or casual, to develop their mods. These teams often collaborate online, sometimes completing a project without ever meeting in person. They also borrow models, skins, textures, code, and ideas from one another, and many mods rely on other mods not just for inspiration but to actually function. While this type of sharing is what makes modding communities great, it sometimes leads to conflicts, infighting, and accusations of theft between modders.
One recent example: two Ark modders clashed over Pokémon mods they were each developing, leading to one modder filing a DMCA notice against the other. And, one of the immediate issues with Valve's failed system was that a modder started selling a mod that used animations from another mod without permission. This mod had to be removed from the paid mod program as a result. I asked Studio Wildcard about these types of complications, and how they planned to resolve issues if or when they arise.
"We ultimately feel that at the end of the day the modders that enter this program are kind of, you might say they're making a commitment, I guess, to handle that, to some extent," said Stieglitz. "When they sign up for this we do have them represent that they have the rights to all the work. They don't have to be closed source, but they have at least open source rights to the work. So, if there's some dispute, technically it's up to the modder to deal with that, at that point."
Considering games, even after launch, continue to receive patches, updates, and new content, and those patches often break or disable mods, I wondered how Studio Wildcard would insure sponsored mods will continue to work even after a modder has completed their work and is no longer part of the sponsored program.
"We don't expect anything of them after that, if they are no longer in the program, or if they quit, they have no obligation to us, it really is no strings attached. We're not looking to run their lives or anything like that," said Stieglitz. "But we do have an insurance policy."
That policy: when entering the sponsored mod program, modders will have to upload their source assets to the Ark devs. So, if the mod needs to be updated in the future to be compatible with a new version of Ark, and the modder is unavailable to do the work (or is uninterested in doing so), the developers at Studio Wildcard will be able to make fixes themselves and push out a patch for the mod.
"We hope to not have to do that," Stieglitz said. "That's kind of a safety net."
The official announcement from Studio Wildcard about this new sponsored mod program will take place this week at GDC. That same day a small update to Ark will be applied that adds a menu to the game allowing players to access the list of the current month's sponsored mods and easily download them. We'll update our story once Studio Wildcard has made their announcement and the patch arrives.
"Really," said Stieglitz of the sponsored mod program, "this speaks more generally to something that I think is kind of lacking in the industry which is a midway point between hobbyist modders, who are just really dabbling, and professional game developers."
Below is a list of the initial 15 modders who have been selected for the sponsored mod program. You can visit the official sponsored mods site here.
