HITMAN™ - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Katharine Castle)

Graphics card HDR header

HDR on PC is a bit of a mess, but provided you haven’t been put off by Windows 10’s hazy support for it or the astronomical prices of the best gaming monitors for HDR, then the next step on your path to high dynamic range glory is to get a graphics card that actually supports it. Below, you’ll find a complete list of all the Nvidia and AMD graphics cards that have built-in support for HDR, as well as everything you need to know about getting one that also supports Nvidia and AMD’s own HDR standards, G-Sync HDR and FreeSync 2.

We’ve also put together a list of all the PC games that support HDR as well. There aren’t many of them, all told, but we’ll be updating this list with more titles as and when they come out so it’s always up to date.

(more…)

Counter-Strike 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (John Walker)

Nothing strange here.

Welcome to my nightmares. As chronicled last week, all human progress is wiped out by a Steam Sale. Where once we were a species that revelled in new, interesting ideas, pursuing our dreams, we are once more wedged neck-deep in the past, doomed to buy the same 40 five-year-old games until we rot and coagulate into a molten horror. Welcome to the Steam Charts! (more…)

Dota 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alec Meer)

biggest-steam-games-2018

We’ve just passed the half-way point of 2018, so Ian Gatekeeper and all his fabulously wealthy chums over at Valve have revealed which hundred games have sold best on Steam over the past six months. It’s a list dominated by pre-2018 names, to be frank, a great many of which you’ll be expected, but there are a few surprises in there.

2018 releases Jurassic World Evolution, Far Cry 5 Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Warhammer: Vermintide II are wearing some spectacular money-hats, for example, while the relatively lesser-known likes of Raft, Eco and Deep Rock Galactic have made themselves heard above the din of triple-A marketing budgets. (more…)

ARK: Survival Evolved - Jen
Mysterious Mysteries: Introducing ???????



What an intriguing discovery survivors, can you guess what this creature is?

New Bug Reporting System!

We are excited to bring to you a beta of our new bug submission process! By visiting the link below you will be brought to a bug submission page where you can send an issue you're experiencing in-game to our team.

https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/pc-bug-reports/

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1429701700
We hope that this new submission process will help us collect information and streamline the process. It is important to read and fill out the form correctly with as much information as possible in order for us to quickly and efficiently address issues. Videos and pictures with exact steps on how to reproduce an issue will help us do that.

- If you are in need of a GM's assistance in-game you will still use the Customer Support ticket system.
- If you want to report abuse/rule breaking happening on your official server, please use the Incident Report system instead.

Upcoming Maintenance - Small Tribes Servers!

After reading feedback about our Small Tribes players one of the concerns we've seen is transfers. While we don't want to disable them all together, we've made the decision to cluster off the Small tribes servers. This means that each server will be on a separate transfer group from the others, with 8-10 other servers and each of the maps represented in each cluster.

In the future these Small Tribes servers will be added into new clusters as to prevent already existing and established tribes from transferring into them immediately when they are released.

This process will take place on July 16th at 1pm EST. Tribes with multiple bases on multiple servers are advised to be aware of which servers they will have access to and move their bases accordingly so that they are all within the same cluster. It is important to also note that anything saved into your cloud MUST be downloaded prior to the servers being taken offline. Anything that is uploaded will be deleted during the clustering process.

* indicates new servers that will be added between 1-2pm EST tomorrow to fill out the separated clusters.

EU-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes5
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes4
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes17
EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes23
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes6
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes18
EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes36
*EU-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes49

EU-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes22
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes10
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes19
EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes29
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes11
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes21
EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes38
*EU-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes51

EU-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes28
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes16
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes34
EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes35
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes12
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes24
EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes47
*EU-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes50

NA-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes25
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes7
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes13
NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes2
NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes1
NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes14
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes41
*NA-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes54

NA-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes42
NA-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes3
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes9
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes27
NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes26
NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes8
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes48
*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes55

EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes37
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes33
NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes32
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes39
NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes45
EU-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes20
*EU-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes53

NA-PVP-Official-Aberration-SmallTribes31
EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes46
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes40
NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter-SmallTribes44
NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes15
EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland-SmallTribes30
NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok-SmallTribes43
*NA-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth-SmallTribes52

Upcoming Maintenance - Fresh Servers Joining Main Cluster!

On July 3rd the first set of Fresh Servers that were released will be joining the main cluster as the 60 period has expired. This will happen during our 1pm EST deployment.

*FRESH*EU-PVE-Official-TheIsland395
*FRESH*EU-PVE-Official-TheCenter396
*FRESH*EU-PVE-Official-Ragnarok397
*FRESH*EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland398
*FRESH*EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland399
*FRESH*EU-PVP-Official-Ragnarok400
*FRESH*EU-PVP-Official-TheIsland401
*FRESH*EU-PVP-Official-TheCenter402
*FRESH*EU-PVP-Official-Aberration403
*FRESH*NA-PVE-Official-TheIsland404
*FRESH*NA-PVE-Official-TheIsland405
*FRESH*NA-PVE-Official-TheCenter406
*FRESH*NA-PVE-Official-TheIsland407
*FRESH*NA-PVE-Official-Ragnarok408
*FRESH*NA-PVE-Official-Aberration409
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland410
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland411
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter412
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland413
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland414
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter415
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland416
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheCenter417
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok418
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland419
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok420
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-ScorchedEarth421
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-TheIsland422
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-Ragnarok423
*FRESH*NA-PVP-Official-Aberration424

Community Livestream #5 This Thursday!



This Thursday July 5th the community team will be doing another biweekly livestream!

During these livestreams Zen Rowe, Chris, and Jen bring you ARK news, celebrate modding, and the community as a whole every other week. We mix it up between playing ARK, showing off mods, and showing off your community creations for all to see. Survivors are invited to join us in the chat (and sometimes even in-game) to play and talk with the community team.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1391754339
We are accepting any type of ARK related fanart to be featured in the showcase section of the stream and entries are always open. This can be drawings, videos, builds, ANSEL screenshots, handmade crafts, anything ARK related!

You can submit your ARKwork to our streaming email address: arkfans@studiowildcard.com

Be sure to follow us on our Twitch page so you don't miss a stream! twitch.tv/survivetheark

We'll be hosting our next Community Live Stream on Thursday, July the 5th! We hope to see you there :)

Salien!



The Steam Intergalactic Summer Sale is here! Until July 4th you can collect an ARK-themed outfit for your Salien when participating in the sale, or by playing the Summer Saliens Game to win free games!

http://steamcommunity.com/saliengame/play

ARK'S BIGGEST SALE!

ARK and its expansion packs are currently on sale across all platforms at their lowest prices ever! Check out the image and links below for more details!



ARK: Evolution Event - Fourth of July!



Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this Fourth of July! It will be active from Tuesday the 3rd of July at 2 PM EST until Thursday the 5th of July at 2 PM EST. All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

2x Maturation Rates
2x Mating Rates
2x Egg Hatching Rates

And also...

Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! It will be active from Friday the 6th of July at 1 PM EST until Monday the 9th of July at 3 PM EST. All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

2x Harvesting Rates
2x Taming Rates
2x EXP Rates

That's it for this post guys! As always if you’ve got anything to share please get in touch and be sure to follow us on:

Community Hub: www.survivetheark.com
Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark
Grand Theft Auto V Legacy - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alice O'Connor)

Hallo! Me again, filling in (slightly late) while John is handcuffed to a steering wheel for other duties. The Steam Charts were all shook up (mm mm mmh!) last week by the launch of Steam’s summer sale, including propelling a lump of hardware into the top ten for the first time in ages. A number of older games have rocketed back too, boosted by sale discounts, and displaced several games from their near-permanent spots in the hit parade. Let’s stroll down it and see.

(more…)

ARK: Survival Evolved - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

ARK: Extinction

Sure, you might have tamed yourself an entire stable full of T-Rexes, but humans aren’t the apex predators in ARK: Survival Evolved anymore. At least, that’s the only conclusion I can reach when looking at a beastie with claws as big as your enormous dinosaur steed. Announced just today and due for launch this November is the third (and possibly final) expansion to the game, ARK: Extinction, featuring new environments, new tech and some very> large monsters.

(more…)

ARK: Survival Evolved - Jen


Hello Survivors!

Studio Wildcard is proud to announce ARK’s third expansion pack, “Extinction”!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XYWO64b_xc
By far our most ambitious project yet, we are thrilled to take you back to where it all started. Finish your journey through the worlds of ARK in ‘Extinction’, where the story began and ends: on Earth itself! An Element-infested, ravaged planet filled with fantastical creatures both organic and technological, Earth holds both the secrets of the past and the keys to its salvation.





ARK: Extinction will release worldwide on November 6, 2018, joining the desert-themed Scorched Earth and the underground, derelict biome Aberration, in continuing to unravel the mysteries of ARK!





As a veteran Survivor who has conquered all previous obstacles, the ultimate challenge now awaits you. Can you defeat the gigantic roaming Titans which dominate the planet and complete the ARK cycle to save Earth's future?



Extinction Chronicles I!



In the months leading up to Extinction there will be routine drops of Extinction-related Explorer Notes on The Island, Scorched Earth, and Aberration. Once collected these notes will unlock new Extinction-related skins.

There will also be the appearance of more powerful Tek-themed Dinosaur variants within the ARKs each month! We have already released the first set of these Explorer Notes last Friday which also included the first Extinction related skin ‘Corrupted Helm’ and mighty the Tek Rex.



Mysterious Mysteries: Introducing ???????





What an intriguing discovery survivors, can you guess what these creatures are?

PC Gamer Article!

Be sure to check out the PC Gamer article on ARK: Extinction by clicking the text below for even more news and information about the upcoming expansion.

Ark: Extinction brings pocket dinosaurs, ridable 'gas bags,' and massive titans to Earth
ARK: Survival Evolved

The third expansion for Ark: Survival Evolved, titled Extinction, is arriving on November 6. As hinted at the end of Ark's previous expansion, Aberration, this time players find themselves on planet Earth, though it's a nearly unrecognizable one filled with both dinosaurs and futuristic technology. In the teaser above released today, you can get a few glimpses of a city that appears both advanced and ancient, with towering monolithic structures overgrown by nature. You can also see some teleporting robotic dinos, a player-piloted drone, and at the end, the appearance of a massive creature called a Titan.

Not only are these Titans huge, but players will—somehow—be able to tame them. I spoke with members of Studio Wildcard about the upcoming Extinction expansion and they gave me the lowdown on some of the new dinos, tools, and Titans it's bringing with it. You can find out everything Studio Wildcard told me about Extinction right here.

ARK: Survival Evolved

Note: an earlier version of this story said that items could be frozen in the cryochamber: this is incorrect. Only dinosaurs can be frozen.

Following a countdown on Ark: Survival Evolved's Twitch channel, the teaser trailer for Ark: Extinction was revealed. Extinction, as many players suspected, takes place on Earth, but it's not any kind of earth we recognize. With a mix of dinosaurs and sci-fi technology, is this the earth's past or its future? That's one of the mysteries players will get a chance to unravel this November 6 as Ark: Survival Evolved's third DLC arrives. The trailer above shows off some new creatures and tools coming to Extinction, as well as a Titan: a massive monster that despite its enormous size is being referred to by Studio Wildcard as a 'miniboss'.

If that humongous thing is a miniboss, that would imply there's a final endboss that's even bigger, right? I spoke with Studio Wildcard about Extinction, and here's what they told me.

Concept art of a ridable dino currently called "Gasbags"

First, let's talk about a few new dinos. You can one see in the trailer, called an enforcer: a synthetic dino that can climb walls, strafe, and make short jumps via teleportation. Studio Wildcard isn't sure if players will tame or craft enforcers—they're still working on some of the finer details of Extinction—but either way you'll be able to ride enforcers when you acquire one, which will allow you to make those blink-style teleporting jumps around the landscape.

Another new dino isn't shown in the trailer but you can see its concept art above. It's tentatively being called 'Gasbags' (this may change), and will serve as a pack mule. You can load it up with resources out in the wild, then inflate it like a balloon and float away on its back, piloting it as it expels the air it has sucked in. Bizarre, but kind of cute, I think, and it definitely sounds like a useful creature for getting around with a heavy load of minerals.

As for that immense Titan seen in the trailer? It'll be tamable, too. It serves as what Wildcard amusingly calls a 'miniboss', though there's nothing particularly mini about it, except perhaps in comparison to the as-yet unseen endboss of the expansion, which is even bigger than the Titans. To confront Ark's final boss, players will first have to best all the different Titans in Extinction.

If you're not into endgame stuff, don't worry: Titans won't be freely roaming the map and smashing your base at will. Players will have to seek them out through dungeon levels before they'll appear, and while Studio Wildcard didn't reveal much in the way of specifics, or even how many Titans there are, each Titan will be a little different and it'll require more than just damage-dealing to defeat them.

Several new items will arrive with Extinction, including drones called scouts that can be remotely piloted by players. You'll be able to peer through special binoculars to see through your scout's camera as you send them out for recon (the trailer shows a few seconds of footage from the perspective of a scout), allowing you to tag enemies and explore without putting yourself in danger. You may even be able to rig your scout with explosives should you want to send one into an enemy camp on a mission that involves more than just spying.

There's also a tool that is temporarily being called an 'item balloon'. If you're out gathering resources you can load it up and float it back to your base or the location of your choice, or perhaps do the reverse: use it to airlift a supply of resources to your location. Sounds like a nice option if you haven't managed to tame a gasbag. Other players may be able to shoot your balloon down and help themselves to your goods, however.

Want to get weird? Or at least, weirder? Extinction will introduce a cryochamber that will allow you to freeze creatures into "ice cube form," and then carry them around in your pocket. Sort of a pocket monster that you can then deploy as needed (though these ice cubes will slowly degrade in your pocket). The cubes are still heavy, but make for an easier way to transport dinos than having to lead them through the world (and while frozen, they won't need to be fed). Studio Wildcard suggests this will also make for a good way to trade dinosaurs with other players, as anyone collecting a cube can claim its contents (which also means if another player kills you, they can take your cubes).

Along with these new items and systems, I'm told movement features from the last expansion, Aberration, will be present in Extinction, including the climbing system, gliding, and ziplines, so you'll have plenty of ways to get around the world.

Players will also have to contend with untamable 'corrupt' dinosaurs. There are areas of the world where corrupted Element appears (seen in the trailer as a spiky black spire growing from the ground), and that corruption has spread to some dinos. This corruption has made these infected dinosaurs hyper-aggressive and given them a hive-mind mentality, and even species that normally flee from players will now attack if they're corrupted. New PvE events will occur in the world where the players can attempt to collect large amounts of Element while fending off wave-based attacks of corrupted dinos attempting to consume it. Studio Wildcard described it as almost a tower defense-style event, with the potential for some simultaneous PvP if an competing clan shows up to claim the Element for themselves.

There's more to be revealed, and leading up to Extinction's release on November 6, new Explorer Notes will be dropped into Ark and its expansions which will shed more light on Extinction and unlock new skins for players. Extinction is included in Ark's Season Pass, and can be purchased separately on Steam.

ARK: Survival Evolved - Jen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKPoBhLC6fU
A short while ago we announced a special countdown timer that was featured on the front page of our forums counting down to a reveal, and today is that day. We are very excited to announce we are launching a new in-game event: ARKaeology!



The event will run beginning today on all platforms until July 15th. As you traverse along the ground on any of the maps (the Island, The Center, Ragnarok, Aberration or Scorched Earth) you will come across fossil mounds which you are able to excavate. Inside the mounds, you'll find a few bones and if you're lucky you'll even find extra loot inside of one (signified by a special particle effect)! After you collect enough bones you’ll be able to craft several skins with the use of a Cooking Pot.

There are four brand new skins to collect:

Brachiosaurus (Brontosaurus Costume)



Stygimoloch (Pachycephalosaurus Costume)



Styracosaurus (Triceratops Costume)



Dilophosaurus Mask (Hat Skin)



There are returning skins, the skeleton bone dino costumes:
  • Rex Bone Costume
  • Carno Bone Costume
  • Raptor Bone Costume
  • Bronto Bone Costume
  • Stego Bone Costume
  • Trike Bone Costume
  • Giganotosaurus Bone Costume
  • Quetzalcoatlus Bone Costume
  • Jerboa Bone Costume
  • Wyvern Bone Costume
The ARKaeology event also brings with it a bionic battle beast - the Tek Rex - for survivors to tame, ride and breed!



The Tek Rex is, as the name implies, a rare, specially armored wild T-Rex that can achieve a higher level than its standard brethren. Previously isolated to just a cosmetic skin, these wild creatures will be roaming the ARKs (on maps where normal Rexes are present) and are yours for the taming, if you can handle it!

ARK'S BIGGEST SALE!

ARK and its expansion packs are currently on sale across all platforms at their lowest prices ever! Check out the image and links below for more details!



Patch Notes for Current Version: v280.114

ARKaeology Event
Scavenge fossils from the various mounds that spawn on every map, be on the lookout for special mounds that contain items and use fossils to craft special skins!

The event will run automatically from 15th of June to 15th of July on Multiplayer and Single Player. If you're using a non coredata mods, or a custom map, you can activate the event with the following commandline:

-ActiveEvent=ARKaeology

you can also run that commandline after the designated period to have the event continue, or opt-out using:

-ActiveEvent=None

The skins added to the event, are the following:
- Brachiosaurus (Brontosaurus Skin)
- Stygimoloch (Pachycephalosaurus Skin)
- Styracosaurus (Triceratops Skin)
- Dilophosaurus Mask (Hat Skin)

Bone Skins!
- Rex
- Carno
- Raptor
- Bronto
- Stego
- Trike
- Giganotosaurus
- Quetzalcoatlus
- Jerboa
- Wyvern

Fortitude rework
- The threshold for being knocked out increases with fortitude increases
- Increased natural insulation from fortitude by 8%

Small Tribe Server rule changes
- 24 hr cooldown on tribe slot reuse
- Disabled dino unclaiming
- Disabled non-tribe pin code access to structures

Tek Rex
- 5% of wild Rex spawns are tex
- 20% higher wild level
- New breeding line

Miscellaneous
- Tek Tapajara saddle range reduced by 75%
- Fix for server performance in certain situations
- Many hole fixes across all maps
- Ragnarok optimizations
- Rendering fixes
- Fix emissive when moving the camera
- Fix for ambient occlusion rendering issue
- Max level increased by 1 to 131

Be on the lookout for hidden mysteries!
...