• We’ve adjusted the foot IK to allow the human character to look more realistic and dynamic while walking and standing on slopes. When the feet collide with a surface, they'll know to stop and the connected joints will act accordingly. Here’s a before and after comparison:

• The line art and color are finished for North_Star, so now it’s time for personality concepts. Briar_Runner has finished concept art and is ready for modeling. Sunken_Sail and Violet_Fang are rigged, and we’re currently working on standard animations for Briar_Heart and combat animations for Little_Wing. Tide_Walker has been implemented as a playable character. (Pretty soon we’ll have all of the new Kinfolk that we need for our current internal milestone, so there will likely be fewer updates on Kinfolk art in future newsletters.)
  
  
• On the human character side, Mr. Green_Collar has a final 2D portrait. Our character modelers are working on multiple clothing sets for human townsfolk NPCs, and many other clothing sets and hairstyles are currently in the rigging process. We’re also creating unique animations and hairstyles for elderly human NPCs. Without this, we felt like most of them just looked like silver-haired teens from a distance!
  
  
• The player character has a newly polished crouching animation. This allows for a much smoother sneaking mechanic than we had with the old placeholder animations.
  
  
• We’re continuing to make progress on house models for the town, with two new exteriors nearly complete now. We’re also in the process of making adjustments to the model for the boss room.
  
  
• Another big focus this sprint was cooking animations and logic. When the player cooks food at the camp, the pot over the fire will play a short animation. Cooked foods now calculate their flavor based on the ingredients used.
  
  
  • Cooked foods have their own primary effects, but now also take on the effects of any secondary ingredients used. The cooked food also systematically generates minimalist descriptions of all these effects combined together. This allows cooking recipes to be extremely flexible with secondary ingredients, so that food items can be cooked for different desired flavors or effects. Want some soup that heals more? Cook it with potatoes or tonics. Want a baked potato that heals and also cures the burn status, but your Kinfolk only likes sweet foods? Cook it with Aloe and a sweet ingredient.
    
    
  • We’ve added Status Immunity to work as an inventory item effect. You’re welcome!
  
  
• After finishing concept art for the biome we mentioned last time, we’ve started on concept art for a cinematic in the beginning of the game. Earlier this week, we also began the process of creating new animations and VFX specifically for other cinematic scenes toward the beginning of the game.
  
  
• We’ve created VFX for multiple new abilities, and we’re working on special SFX for both retrieving and losing soul flames.
  
  
• On the development side, we’ve largely focused on fixing bugs and adding polish instead of adding new features. The details are pretty minor (and often tedious), so it makes for a shorter newsletter but a much better game! We’re getting close to the end of a long backlog of bugs from our regression testing, and we’ve been making quick progress.
  
  
• We’ve added a few more new abilities (we only have 8 abilities left to code for this milestone!), and we’re working on melee attack tests.
  
  
• We refactored our Items system to greatly reduce code duplication and ease the process of creating new items for gatherables and cooking.

• We’re coming to the end of the submission period for our Kickstarter Tailor Tier reward- 10 more days! Andrew will be reaching out to Tailor backers we haven’t heard from to make sure your clothing items are submitted.

Thanks for stopping by! Our next newsletter will be out on June 2.

• We’ve adjusted the foot IK to allow the human character to look more realistic and dynamic while walking and standing on slopes. When the feet collide with a surface, they'll know to stop and the connected joints will act accordingly. Here’s a before and after comparison:

• The line art and color are finished for North_Star, so now it’s time for personality concepts. Briar_Runner has finished concept art and is ready for modeling. Sunken_Sail and Violet_Fang are rigged, and we’re currently working on standard animations for Briar_Heart and combat animations for Little_Wing. Tide_Walker has been implemented as a playable character. (Pretty soon we’ll have all of the new Kinfolk that we need for our current internal milestone, so there will likely be fewer updates on Kinfolk art in future newsletters.)
  
  
• On the human character side, Mr. Green_Collar has a final 2D portrait. Our character modelers are working on multiple clothing sets for human townsfolk NPCs, and many other clothing sets and hairstyles are currently in the rigging process. We’re also creating unique animations and hairstyles for elderly human NPCs. Without this, we felt like most of them just looked like silver-haired teens from a distance!
  
  
• The player character has a newly polished crouching animation. This allows for a much smoother sneaking mechanic than we had with the old placeholder animations.
  
  
• We’re continuing to make progress on house models for the town, with two new exteriors nearly complete now. We’re also in the process of making adjustments to the model for the boss room.
  
  
• Another big focus this sprint was cooking animations and logic. When the player cooks food at the camp, the pot over the fire will play a short animation. Cooked foods now calculate their flavor based on the ingredients used.
  
  
  • Cooked foods have their own primary effects, but now also take on the effects of any secondary ingredients used. The cooked food also systematically generates minimalist descriptions of all these effects combined together. This allows cooking recipes to be extremely flexible with secondary ingredients, so that food items can be cooked for different desired flavors or effects. Want some soup that heals more? Cook it with potatoes or tonics. Want a baked potato that heals and also cures the burn status, but your Kinfolk only likes sweet foods? Cook it with Aloe and a sweet ingredient.
    
    
  • We’ve added Status Immunity to work as an inventory item effect. You’re welcome!
  
  
• After finishing concept art for the biome we mentioned last time, we’ve started on concept art for a cinematic in the beginning of the game. Earlier this week, we also began the process of creating new animations and VFX specifically for other cinematic scenes toward the beginning of the game.
  
  
• We’ve created VFX for multiple new abilities, and we’re working on special SFX for both retrieving and losing soul flames.
  
  
• On the development side, we’ve largely focused on fixing bugs and adding polish instead of adding new features. The details are pretty minor (and often tedious), so it makes for a shorter newsletter but a much better game! We’re getting close to the end of a long backlog of bugs from our regression testing, and we’ve been making quick progress.
  
  
• We’ve added a few more new abilities (we only have 8 abilities left to code for this milestone!), and we’re working on melee attack tests.
  
  
• We refactored our Items system to greatly reduce code duplication and ease the process of creating new items for gatherables and cooking.

• We’re coming to the end of the submission period for our Kickstarter Tailor Tier reward- 10 more days! Andrew will be reaching out to Tailor backers we haven’t heard from to make sure your clothing items are submitted.

Thanks for stopping by! Our next newsletter will be out on June 2.

Maximum Action version 0.92 has just been released! This action-packed update features a new western-level "town" packed with new props and destructibles
as well as numerous updates to the work-in-progress replay system!
More patches coming soon!



Both of the scenes "Saloon" and "Town" are now featured on the new tape "High Noon To Yuma"







"Town" is an all-new level built from the ground up by Andy (aka OptionalSpace) and I to be a rootin tootin and hollerin good time!
Destructible fences, boxes, windows, bottles, pillars, tombstones, water towers, and balconies all added as new props! Soon to be added to the editor.
We wanted to include all of our favorite western shootouts in this level, from an old Mexico-style courtyard to a cemetery full of tombstones. As well as a full-fledged town complete with a two-story hotel and gun store!



You'll find a new weapon added to this level as well,


As well as an alternate version of the Single Action, a




On top of all this, a brand-new track by Daniel J. Stimac "Wild Wild Western" featuring professional whistling for a truly authentic soundtrack for this western showdown!


you'll also find other fun details added to both western levels, such as first aid kits being replaced with old timey medicine bottles! Glug glug glug!



There are still many bugs to be ironed out with this system, you have been warned!



The Maximum Action Replay System is still a major work-in-progress, but you'll find lots of changes made in this update to improve the experience.


A new AI director system has been implemented that recuts your gameplay into a cinematic experience! From close-ups to long shots, the system is completely dynamic and has lots of versatility





If you don't like the AI director's choice of angles, you now have the option to change to a free camera photo mode to capture your own view of your kick-ass gameplay! Choose between different filters, image effects, and camera settings to capture the perfect shot of your action hero!
The player animations for the replay have been massively updated to be more detailed, grounded, and cinematic. Watch your hero do a slow-motion dive onto his back and he mows down all the baddies in the room! Experience a true action movie recut of your gameplay!



Please share any screenshots you take with the photo mode in the Maximum Action Discord or on Twitter! Tag me in them! @BalloonMoose
Andy and I would love to see all the creative ways you capture your bad-assery!

Thank you all so much for your continued support, and I really hope you enjoy this new update!
-George Mandell

• Reduced camera shake dramatically
  
• Fixed issues that were causing the player to bounce off the stairs in the Railway level
  
• Optimizations

Showcase your architectural prowess in a whole new light! This preview of the wooden tier set offers a glimpse into a collection of actual player builds, showcasing just a few of the myriad ways you can put your creativity to the test in ARK 2's new building system.







Survivors on all platforms will be receiving an EVO Event! It will be active until Monday, May 22nd.
All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

*Note that these bonuses are multiplicative of the game's standard 1x rates.

• Official Servers: 2x XP, Harvesting, Taming and Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 2x hexagon
  
• Small Tribe Servers: 4.5x XP, Harvesting, Taming and Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 2x hexagon
  
• ARKPocalypse: 5x XP, Harvesting, Taming and Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 2x hexagon
  
• Conquest: 5x XP, Harvesting, Taming and Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 2x hexagon

ARKpocalypse servers have been wiped today!

What are ARKpocalypse and Beginner Servers?

• ARKpocalypse are monthly-wipe servers with higher than usual rates.
  
• Beginner servers are wiped periodically to help provide a fresh beginner experience for new players.

Next wipe:

• ARKpocalypse: June 16th 2023
  
• Beginner: June 16th 2023

You can join them by searching in the server browser! Happy Surviving!




Fan Art Gallery | Screenshot Gallery | Artist Feedback Form



We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Holger "Hulk" Geissler, a remarkable modder whose creations under the HG Mods banner left an indelible mark on the community. Hulk's mods reached far and wide, touching the hearts of players and transforming their gameplay experiences.
We would like to extend our most sincere condolences to his loved ones.

As we bid farewell, we celebrate his ascension as a true survivor, forever inspiring us to reach new heights.



Creator: Jimbob
DESCRIPTION




Running out of time by @TekARK3


Scenery by @k3zk_627


Three Elements by Acodan


Kieran Ark by Rtappart


Fjordhawk sketch by LycaosX


Therizinosaurus! by Alona103Z


Tail Ride by StephDragonness





Rock Drake by Jacob


Lanovia the Unicorn by Lark


Tropeognathus by Homelander



Enjoy your weekend!
Studio Wildcard

Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark

Discord: discord.com/invite/playark

Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark

Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark

Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark

Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110

Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark

Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark

Official Wiki: https://ark.wiki.gg/wiki/ARK_Survival_Evolved_Wiki

A couple of hotfixes for the demo:

• Fixed bug where defeating the final area boss didn't earn the area gem.
  
• Fixed bug with HUD music player crashing if navigating to a song outside of the current disc's index.

🌟 Republic of Jungle Takes the Stage at INDIE Live Expo 2023! 🌟

Join us for an electrifying showcase of indie gaming at INDIE Live Expo 2023, where Republic of Jungle, our thrilling game of political intrigue and social deduction, will take centre stage! Immerse yourself in a world where tensions run high, as the Loyalists and the Leakers engage in an intense battle filled with betrayal, deception, and treason. In this politically charged environment, one team strives to leak sensitive information to the press, while the other fights tooth and nail to protect President Puma's secrets.



Make sure to mark your calendars for Saturday, May 20th and be ready to be captivated at 7 PM JST | 11 AM BST | 3 AM PST as INDIE Live Expo unfolds. You won't want to miss this exciting event, which can be watched at:
.

While you're there, dive deep into the thrilling gameplay of Republic of Jungle. Experience the exhilaration as you navigate a web of deceit, strategize your moves, and uncover the truth amidst a world teeming with political turmoil. Will you side with the Loyalists, striving to complete secret missions and protect the agent's identity? Or will you join the Leakers, aiming to leak classified information and expose the agent? The choice is yours!

Discover more about Republic of Jungle and indulge in the indie gaming extravaganza by visiting https://indie.live-expo.games/en/. This is your chance to join a passionate community of gamers, explore diverse titles, and celebrate the power of indie games.

Prepare for an unforgettable experience as Republic of Jungle shines bright at INDIE Live Expo 2023. Save the date, gather your fellow gamers, and get ready to immerse yourself in the world of intense social deduction and political intrigue!

Don't miss the chance to be part of the indie gaming revolution at INDIE Live Expo 2023!


Note: For further details about Republic of Jungle and to stay updated on the latest news, join our Discord and make sure you wishlist the game.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1413250/Republic_of_Jungle/

Thanks for your ongoing support.

Team Gerdoo Games

**Hello East Side High!**

Today I want to announce our first Balance update, and walk through some of the decision making. Our goal was to bring some of the overtuned damage elements down, and make CC more of a skilled use scenario. The goal is to bring a smoother balance between roles for the game, and we’ll be monitoring and adjusting as we go.

**Medic** has been changed to heal 3hp, 0.5 second to use the charge, 1 sec to recharge medkit charges, and maximum charges reduced to 6.

**Giant**: throw damage has been smoothed out to a minimum of 30 at short range and a maximum of 60 at furthest range. On top of that, his base attack damage has been dropped to 15 from 25, as he was dealing far too much damage in conjunction with his other abilities. Finally, we’ve added a 8 second cooldown to his missed throw ability, and a 15 second cooldown when it hits.

**Strangler**: this was a tricky killer to balance and realistically we know that a rework in the future is probably needed. However, we’ve done some changes in the short term to make him feel better to play. His chain speed was sped up to 3200, twice as fast. His chain now deals 18 damage on a hit with the chain, and its min damage total from short distance is 20 more, and 36 damage for max distance. This should make the chain a key element in his damaging output, more akin to a hit and run style. His base movement speed is now 270, which is faster than before but still below classmates speed. Lastly, his stranglehold now holds for the full duration of time regardless of chain distance pull.
All killer resistances/weaknesses were set to a miniscule value as to not be noticeable in gameplay. This should make Slasher easier to harm, and Spider able to live longer in a fight.

The **Scout** tracker flash duration was reduced to 2.5 seconds, from 3.5, and it’s recharge rate reduced to 20s from 25s. The idea here was to make flash an available tool for CC but minimize it’s length so that it’s still a skill shot. Smoke duration was reduced to 4 seconds as well, to make it more of a decision when to use it. The shotgun scrap cost was increased to 32, and it’s overall damage per charge reduced to 70. This was done as it’s a ranged weapon and thus less risk involved in using it.

For **Assaults**, the Molotov scrap cost was increased to 22 from it’s low 18 cost. Baseball bat scrap cost was reduced to 30, as it’s a melee weapon and thus presents more danger in using it.

**Technicians** only real change was the flamethrower. It’s damage was increased from 6.2 per proc to 9 for a larger potential damage boost. However as it’s a ranged weapon, we’ve upped it’s scrap cost to 34.

We’ve finally tuned some of the more overperforming spells. Pent Up maximum damage reduced to 25, Healing Hands bonus reduced to 25%, The Wall bonus reduced to 15% and Human Tank spell reduced to 30% bonus. These are sharp drops, we know, but the core mechanics come first and spells are the cherry on top in terms of power. In the future we’ll be redesigning spells entirely.

Now, the future. We love the reception everyone has had and we’re aware of the desire to see more. Our next step is getting the store properly relaunched, and new cosmetics made to come out periodically. We’ve also began work on the game engine updates and code cleanup, so that we can make the game run smoother and look nicer! Finally, Chapter 2. Yes it’s coming, after we do the hard work we’ll have more to share in later months, including the newest Fiend!

Hope to see you in the Nightmare!*

Hanging around the stacks has had a bit more work.

Fixed Crashed adrenals also giving Comedown/Amphetamines.
Fixed some minor bugs and typos; thanks for the reports!

Welcome back to the weekly dev log for the Lost Isle. Getting everything set up the way we wanted to earlier this week didn’t work out, but I’m here regardless with a breakdown on how you can survive the Lost Isle during our upcoming closed beta.

A fairly big part of the human experience involves taking care of the human part of that experience. As part of crafting the Lost Isle, we wanted to take the mundanity of staying alive and turn it into interesting choices, challenges, and motivations. We obviously aren’t the first to do this. There are quite a few excellent and gritty survival games. On the opposite end of the gaming spectrum are many fantastic RPGs where your character has access to so many godlike powers that it just doesn’t make sense to worry about eating.

We’ve played these games. We’ve loved these games. But, we believe that there shouldn’t be any reason why you can’t be a paranoid packrat AND an unstoppable killing machine.

In the Lost Isle, you’ll be taking your frail mortality to an old and dangerous world. The same mind worrying about its next meal will also need to grapple with the hungering madness of an eldritch void. You’ll be building a new little home for yourself on the grave of one god and the deathbed of another.

Each player will start on the shores of the Lost Isle with very little in the way of equipment or resources. Like many other survival games, you’ll have to craft tools and equipment to protect and feed yourself. There’s plenty out there that wants to eat you, make sure that you don’t end up on the menu. Your character’s interactions with the world will be based on their stamina and health. Cut down a tree? Lose stamina. Get stabbed? Lose health. Simple enough so far I hope. How do you get health and stamina back? Medical supplies, spells, and (most importantly for this dev log) food.



It couldn’t be a survival game without food, but we wanted there to be more than just a hunger meter. Instead, each character will have three item slots for consumables. When you eat a food item it will fill one of the three slots and give you a temporary buff to your stamina or health recovery AS WELL AS buffs to other skills and aspects of your character. As long as one of those three slots has an item in it, your character won’t take damage from being hungry.



You can, of course, eat things straight off the ground for small buffs. Totally allowed. Not every member of the team will judge you for living that way. I will, but I’m just the writer. I’m not the one who’ll be tearing apart your homes and looting every little thing you managed to gather. If you dare to take an extra second, however, you can cook the food you gather, hunt, and grow into meals that give stronger and longer lasting buffs.



Again most of us won’t judge you for eating off the ground, but there isn’t a single one of us that will complain about you trying to turn your campfire into the Lost Isle’s first restaurant. Either way, we want you to be able to plan meals that will help you survive the darker side of the Lost Isle.

Got questions so far? Post them below. We didn’t want to go in too deep and ruin the experience of mixing foods and herbs, but let us know if you feel more confused than informed. Next week, we’ll jump into the fantasy side of the Lost Isle and talk about the dungeons we’ve scattered around for you to loot and explore.

Thanks for reading!

- Patchwork from Wunder Entertainment