While we continue to work on ARK: Survival Ascended, we're enjoying watching how the community creature votes play out along with helping to create those creatures for our players to tame in ASA. There are a few days left to submit and vote for your favorite entries so jump on in if you'd like to contribute and see your favorite come to life in-game!



Our next Community Creature Vote winner will land on the corrupted earth, Extinction. Prepare your submissions for what we expect will bring out the endless creativity of our amazing community and you may find your creature making its debut with the release of the Extinction map on ARK: Survival Ascended!

Please note that this creature will be released for Extinction, so make sure your real-world submissions are in theme with that map! As previously stated, we’ll add an additional real-world creature for each expansion pack map release on ARK: Survival Ascended.

Check out the Creature Submission Guidelines for more information on the submission process, and hop over to the Creature Submission Forum to see the current entries. We are looking forward to seeing your ideas come to life!

• The entry period will end at 1 PM Pacific on September 11th.
  
• The voting will begin immediately after and end on September 18th at 1PM Pacific. 
  
• The winner will be announced in the Crunch of September 22nd.

Make sure to check our Twitter on September 11th for the RankedVote link!

*Note that the proposed features for the creatures from the submission entry are meant to inspire their design, but certain aspects may still be modified.



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 (and final) wipe:

• ARKpocalypse: September 30th 2023
  
• Beginner: September 30th 2023

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




Customer Support for the official ARK: Survival Evolved networks will end on September 29, 2023, at 1:00 PM PST / 4:00 PM EST, in accordance with the scheduled sunsetting of Official Servers. We appreciate your support and engagement throughout the ARK: Survival Evolved journey. Stay tuned because we can't wait to see you surviving and thriving again in ARK: Survival Ascended


To recap previous announcements, we have taken save games from the Official Network and have provided the files to you so that you can host your own server and continue the progress you’ve made on the Official Network.
We have already taken one snapshot and intend to take another during the week of the Official Network Shutdown in September in preparation for ASA’s October release, with more details to come at a later date!
Browse August save games here




Survivors on all platforms will be receiving an EVO Event! It will be active until the sunsetting of the servers on September 30th.
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

Fan Art Gallery | Screenshot Gallery | Artist Feedback Form



Creator: Phlinger Phoo
My ARK Story series explores the world of ARK through the eyes of a survivor. Take a step back and relax as Phlinger and his pet monkey Phoo discover this new world they just stepped into.


Creator: MrMEOLA
MrMeola recaps his four latest unpublished episodes on his highly modded server where he tamed and bred the ultimate Kairuku.




Dodowyvern Icon by BonjiXwX


First thick coating in my life by @tiknreg


𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙍𝙏 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘽𝙀 𝟰𝟬.𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝙃 by @jimi26_gl


Kahuere and her microraptors by @Ampraeh


Sonya Gebashe and Timber ! by @CrimzonCurlz100


Black Snow Owl by @k3zk_627


Astrocetus and Voidwyrm by @Snudoo1




100% best way to travel by @Itsmejustagamer


Untitled by lempicka-4


Ceiling Design by @Songbird_Gamer


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

Threads: threads.net/@survivetheark

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

Hello, aquascapers!

Aquascape Simulator introduces a simulation experience where you can craft a virtual aquarium brimming with diverse hardscape elements, aquatic flora, and aquatic life. At the heart of this game lies the Sandbox Mode, offering you a canvas to arrange your aquascape freely and imaginatively. Dive into this Sandbox Mode for a truly immersive experience in designing your aquascapes.

The Sandbox Mode within Aquascape Simulator offers a range of functions to aid you in composing your ideal aquascape. You have the flexibility to rotate the fish tank, viewing it from different angles. Furthermore, you can employ the zoom-in feature to inspect intricate details of the items within your aquarium, or opt for the zoom-out feature for a comprehensive view of your aquascape.



Within the Sandbox Mode, you can expertly position hardscape items, aquatic plants, and fish within your virtual aquarium. Simply select your preferred items from the inventory panel and place them into the aquarium. As you place items into your aquascape, the inventory stock will adjust according to the quantity of items chosen. Additionally, you have the liberty to rearrange or shift the placement of items within the aquarium to achieve a fresh appearance.



Should you find certain items unsuitable for your envisioned aquascape, the option to remove them is at your disposal. However, it's worth noting that deleted items bid adieu both from your aquarium and inventory. Conversely, you can safeguard hardscape items, aquatic plants, and fish that have graced your aquarium, preserving them within your inventory for potential future deployments.

Sandbox mode in Aquascape Simulator extends the convenience of saving your meticulously crafted aquarium designs as templates. This means you can preserve your artistic creations for future reference. Rest assured, these saved aquarium templates can be easily reconstructed, provided you possess the required items in your inventory.



If you have any queries regarding the features discussed or any aspect of Aquascape Simulator, we welcome your comments and suggestions on our discussion forum. Your input holds immense value to us.

Don't forget to add Aquascape Simulator to your wishlist. Doing so will ensure you are kept well-informed about the latest news and updates regarding the game. We eagerly anticipate sharing more exciting developments with you in the near future!

Cheers!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/2299400?utm_source=steam_devlog&utm_campaign=devlog&utm_medium=web&utm_content=sandbox_mode_for_designing_aquascape

• Extended the duration of the mini-event commemorating the 600,000 user milestone by one week.

• Fixed a bug in which the game server time was fixed and various functions referring to the date did not work properly.
  
• Fixed a bug that the + and – buttons in the number input dialog (used when leveling up a job, etc.) did not work.
  
• Fixed a bug that prevented some abilities and skills from working properly.
  
  • Shell hardening
    
  • Hemolysis

Patch v0.6.0a is a balance and bug fix patch, which includes balancing of the Elemental and Frenetic, as well as changing the way item tiers work, and increasing general dungeon difficulty.

User Interface
-Adjusted the DPS Meter to display more clearly on the damage being done by comparing heroes to the top dps hero as opposed to displaying each hero’s percent of contribution to the overall total.

Functionality
-Changed the way heroes decide what gear to equip by adding in weighted values for each stat based on their class and spec. This change applies to all AI controlled heroes and Free Roaming officers.
-Changed the way gear tiers work. Now, the stats on higher tier gear will scale higher based on the tier.

Balance Changes
-Elemental Mage Rebalance
-Incinerate’s DoT duration has increased from 6 seconds to 16 seconds and the damage has been greatly increased. The up-front damage has been greatly reduced. These changes reduce their burst damage, but increase their overall damage in longer fights quite substantially.
Developer Note: Elemental fans have been noticing they’re getting a lot of attention recently, but we wanted to assure you that the intention is for Elemental to always remain the top DPS spec in the game where appropriate. This rebalance focuses their attention to really make them shine against high health targets, especially in AoE situations, while opening the floor to allow other DPS classes to have their own specialties in situations where purely high single target DPS may be desired. All classes will see a substantial balance change in the future when we add in Talent Trees and much more abilities for each hero, but for now we still want each class to settle into their expected roles a little more. Elemental is just the first one under the spotlight.
-Dungeons & Raids have all received large changes to their power, which will result in more difficult dungeons overall.
Developer Note: As we work to balance out the games difficulty more, we will soon be bringing in ‘Difficulty’ settings for players who want more of a challenge. How we are balancing the game now without those settings is going to be roughly where the game will be on the ‘Normal’ setting but once we are happy with the balance, we have plans to add in multiple difficulties for those who want an easier time, or those who really want to have to push their realm to the limit. This shouldn’t be too far in the future!
-Frenetic Warrior
-Frenzy is now an AoE buff which will affect the Warrior and up to 4 party members.
-Unjera Keep has specifically been increased in difficulty to make it more of the “crowning achievement” for completing the current portion of Early Access.
-Developer Note: While Unjera is currently going to be quite a bit more difficult than the previous dungeons and raids, that is simply because it is the current “end game”. However, we have massive plans coming for the future of end game which will unlock hundreds of hours of progress to work toward! Keep an eye out for our next State of the Game post coming next week where we will give a little more detail on some endgame plans and other upcoming features!

Bugs
-Fixed an issue with heroes only picking up quests in descending order from your Active Quests.
-Fixed an issue where heroes couldn’t enter Cairnius/Unjera Keep due to pathing outside the entrance.

This past Monday, we were thrilled to get to share one of our new Kinfolk with you as a part of GymLeaderEd’s Monster Taming Direct! Our trailer featured Tadalon (a Water Type Kinfolk), some new abilities, a new song, and a touch of lore we hope you’ll find interesting. It took a lot of hard work to put together, and we really loved getting to share a more extensive look at some of our recent progress! Be sure to check out the full Monster Taming Direct for trailers and updates on 33 other games in the Monster Taming community!

• We’re down to the final handful of animations for North_Star, and those remaining animations are in their final phases! This is the final Kinfolk we need for our current milestone.
  
  
• The high-poly model for an important human NPC was completed this sprint! We’ve also completed more hairstyles and clothing items, and improved the rigging for many of our already-implemented hairstyles. One of the new hats is unique, and will require some extra work to make it fit with the hairstyles. We also made improvements to how human characters sway while walking around, especially on slopes. Previously, they leaned over too far in order to stay more or less perpendicular to a slope, which led to some unnatural results.
  
  
• Concept art for a new major set piece is in the works. This is a larger point of interest that we plan to use in multiple locations in the overworld. Many of the final building models have also been placed in the town! We’re currently experimenting with different colors to create more variety between the houses. The result so far is very charming! In addition to the houses, we’re implementing many of the wall models we’ve shown previously.
  
  
• Most of our cinematic scenes for this milestone have fully completed animations now! Soon we’ll be implementing these in engine. While we currently have some preliminary versions as placeholders, they use outdated models and animations. The other cinematic animations will be finished in the coming weeks, if not sooner. Additionally, we’ve been creating smaller cut scenes using standard animations. All in all, they’re really tying the sequences together!
  
  
• We’ve continued creating VFX for new abilities! We also made a fix to the old VFX that indicates a summoning bell’s location after successfully capturing a new Kinfolk. The old version had a dark outline that didn’t look right, and the new version is much cleaner.
  
  
• Our post processing effects have also been getting some love recently with the reintroduction of volumetric lighting, an effect that many will recognize by the stylish god rays it creates in atmospheric fog. Our original volumetric lighting solution was incompatible with the project after our switch from Unity’s Built-in Rendering Pipeline to the Universal Rendering Pipeline several years ago, but this new method seems to be working very well!
  
  
• We also recently overcame a hurdle that was previously preventing SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) from working properly. The effect adds shading and depth in areas that need it and wouldn’t otherwise have it. However, in our case this also had the unfortunate side effect of shading our grass in a way that looked a bit like TV static. This is thankfully resolved now, but we’ll also need to mask out objects like character’s faces from the effect to prevent it from clashing with their toon shading before we can call it good.

• We’ve made a lot of improvements to character motion this sprint. For starters, we added additional fields to many characters’ locomotion blend trees, which improves how they handle sprinting or walking at slow speeds. We also polished the animation transitions/blends for jumping and dodging so all characters correctly play these animations and properly re-enter the grounded state. We were previously seeing some characters unintentionally entering the falling state when dodging on flat ground, or jump animations being distorted by blending into falling animations too soon.
  
  
• We’ve modified how the NPC "Truce" state is triggered. This state is an alternative to dying in combat, where NPCs display a white flag and flee from the player for a few seconds before fading out. The Truce state now only triggers after an NPC takes fatal damage, and leaves them at 1 hp, with invulnerability for a very brief amount of time. Essentially, it gives the player the choice of allowing the NPC to flee to live another day, or to kill them in cold blood. Either way, the player will receive experience for defeating the NPC. This Truce state only triggers for specific NPCs, while others are committed to fighting to the death. By triggering the Truce state only after the NPC has received fatal damage, we hope players still feel the satisfaction of victory in combat, with the added option of showing mercy to your combatants in certain situations.
  
  
• Adjustments were made to how we handle "teams" with NPCs. Teams are simply a way to categorize groups of NPCs who are affiliated with each other. We now have a way to categorize teams by name and index, and the beginnings of tools for easily modifying the relationships between teams. NPCs may interact with friends or foes in different ways depending on how their team views another, and these relationships can dynamically change in game. This opens up options for the player to talk their way into alliances with certain groups, starting combat via dialogue, etc.
  
  
• We added functionality to force NPCs into interacting with smart objects, as a way for our cut scene and dialog systems to interface with NPC movement and animations via smart objects. We’ve also developed a bunch of nodes for cut scene logic purposes. Work is also being done to ensure that the timing of dialogue text, camera movements, and other cinematic events remain consistent regardless of the game’s frame rate.
  
  
• Shrines now exhibit a special behavior when you first discover a new one! Undiscovered shrines won’t have the blue flame until you interact with them for the first time. The first interaction will also display a special dialogue and heal you and your team fully. Previously, the player would have to interact with the shrine twice in order to heal in this case, so the new method is more streamlined.
  
  
• Our grass color tool needed a touch up to be more reliable when water was nearby. The color mapping tool we use to make the grass blend into the textures beneath used to reference the water layer as well as land textures. The result was some cartoonishly blue grass along the edges of lakes and rivers. This fix means we will no longer be importing any of the game’s grass from Kentucky, so it’s all that good green Hinterlock grain.

Thanks for checking in! We’ll see you for our next newsletter on September 22.

This past Monday, we were thrilled to get to share one of our new Kinfolk with you as a part of GymLeaderEd’s Monster Taming Direct! Our trailer featured Tadalon (a Water Type Kinfolk), some new abilities, a new song, and a touch of lore we hope you’ll find interesting. It took a lot of hard work to put together, and we really loved getting to share a more extensive look at some of our recent progress! Be sure to check out the full Monster Taming Direct for trailers and updates on 33 other games in the Monster Taming community!

• We’re down to the final handful of animations for North_Star, and those remaining animations are in their final phases! This is the final Kinfolk we need for our current milestone.
  
  
• The high-poly model for an important human NPC was completed this sprint! We’ve also completed more hairstyles and clothing items, and improved the rigging for many of our already-implemented hairstyles. One of the new hats is unique, and will require some extra work to make it fit with the hairstyles. We also made improvements to how human characters sway while walking around, especially on slopes. Previously, they leaned over too far in order to stay more or less perpendicular to a slope, which led to some unnatural results.
  
  
• Concept art for a new major set piece is in the works. This is a larger point of interest that we plan to use in multiple locations in the overworld. Many of the final building models have also been placed in the town! We’re currently experimenting with different colors to create more variety between the houses. The result so far is very charming! In addition to the houses, we’re implementing many of the wall models we’ve shown previously.
  
  
• Most of our cinematic scenes for this milestone have fully completed animations now! Soon we’ll be implementing these in engine. While we currently have some preliminary versions as placeholders, they use outdated models and animations. The other cinematic animations will be finished in the coming weeks, if not sooner. Additionally, we’ve been creating smaller cut scenes using standard animations. All in all, they’re really tying the sequences together!
  
  
• We’ve continued creating VFX for new abilities! We also made a fix to the old VFX that indicates a summoning bell’s location after successfully capturing a new Kinfolk. The old version had a dark outline that didn’t look right, and the new version is much cleaner.
  
  
• Our post processing effects have also been getting some love recently with the reintroduction of volumetric lighting, an effect that many will recognize by the stylish god rays it creates in atmospheric fog. Our original volumetric lighting solution was incompatible with the project after our switch from Unity’s Built-in Rendering Pipeline to the Universal Rendering Pipeline several years ago, but this new method seems to be working very well!
  
  
• We also recently overcame a hurdle that was previously preventing SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion) from working properly. The effect adds shading and depth in areas that need it and wouldn’t otherwise have it. However, in our case this also had the unfortunate side effect of shading our grass in a way that looked a bit like TV static. This is thankfully resolved now, but we’ll also need to mask out objects like character’s faces from the effect to prevent it from clashing with their toon shading before we can call it good.

• We’ve made a lot of improvements to character motion this sprint. For starters, we added additional fields to many characters’ locomotion blend trees, which improves how they handle sprinting or walking at slow speeds. We also polished the animation transitions/blends for jumping and dodging so all characters correctly play these animations and properly re-enter the grounded state. We were previously seeing some characters unintentionally entering the falling state when dodging on flat ground, or jump animations being distorted by blending into falling animations too soon.
  
  
• We’ve modified how the NPC "Truce" state is triggered. This state is an alternative to dying in combat, where NPCs display a white flag and flee from the player for a few seconds before fading out. The Truce state now only triggers after an NPC takes fatal damage, and leaves them at 1 hp, with invulnerability for a very brief amount of time. Essentially, it gives the player the choice of allowing the NPC to flee to live another day, or to kill them in cold blood. Either way, the player will receive experience for defeating the NPC. This Truce state only triggers for specific NPCs, while others are committed to fighting to the death. By triggering the Truce state only after the NPC has received fatal damage, we hope players still feel the satisfaction of victory in combat, with the added option of showing mercy to your combatants in certain situations.
  
  
• Adjustments were made to how we handle "teams" with NPCs. Teams are simply a way to categorize groups of NPCs who are affiliated with each other. We now have a way to categorize teams by name and index, and the beginnings of tools for easily modifying the relationships between teams. NPCs may interact with friends or foes in different ways depending on how their team views another, and these relationships can dynamically change in game. This opens up options for the player to talk their way into alliances with certain groups, starting combat via dialogue, etc.
  
  
• We added functionality to force NPCs into interacting with smart objects, as a way for our cut scene and dialog systems to interface with NPC movement and animations via smart objects. We’ve also developed a bunch of nodes for cut scene logic purposes. Work is also being done to ensure that the timing of dialogue text, camera movements, and other cinematic events remain consistent regardless of the game’s frame rate.
  
  
• Shrines now exhibit a special behavior when you first discover a new one! Undiscovered shrines won’t have the blue flame until you interact with them for the first time. The first interaction will also display a special dialogue and heal you and your team fully. Previously, the player would have to interact with the shrine twice in order to heal in this case, so the new method is more streamlined.
  
  
• Our grass color tool needed a touch up to be more reliable when water was nearby. The color mapping tool we use to make the grass blend into the textures beneath used to reference the water layer as well as land textures. The result was some cartoonishly blue grass along the edges of lakes and rivers. This fix means we will no longer be importing any of the game’s grass from Kentucky, so it’s all that good green Hinterlock grain.

Thanks for checking in! We’ll see you for our next newsletter on September 22.

Major Update 0.8.7.7
Let us know what you are thinking about in Discord: http://discord.gg/WSwEQyx


Features:
New economy for all units
All units got reduced hp by 30%
Huge AI improvements
New Loadout feature
Game modes are now divided by Arcade and Simulator
Optimization for low-end PC

Bugs:
General UI fixes and improvements
Fixing units UI
AI general improvements
Endless camera shake effect

Hello heroes, 🤗

1. Completed basic navigation 🧭 showing relevant content when in city/district views 🌆 and when an empty stand spot is selected 📍.
   
2. Added "buy stand" view 🚚
   
3. Implemented some subsections in product management:
   - Recipe management 📝
   - Normal and cold storage ❄️
   
4. Implemented UI for recipe view and added inventory-related components 📦
   
5. Added auto-repeat function for stock order 🔁
   
6. Implemented new stock ordering function 📥
   
7. Overstock cost 💲 and order stock cost 💲 are now visible 👀
   
8. Added temporary unlock feature 🔓 to toggle unlockable features until research tree 🌳 is ready
   
9. Implemented base panel for new inventory calculator 🧮
   
10. Added resize function for inventory calculator 🧮 based on presence/absence of cold storage ❄️.

Looking for a unique blend of intricate strategy and classic tycoon gaming? 🎮Join our community and dive into a world where every burger flipped is a step towards your tycoon dream. 🍔👑

• Added chat channels for Korean - this was an oversight. You can select what language chat channels you connect to on the Login screen.
  
• Various logging improvements to aid troubleshooting.

We’re actively monitoring bug reports from you all and the health of our infrastructure. We plan for our next patch to be next week, focused on fixing bugs. We’ll be on the lookout for any critical issues this weekend though.

Here are some things we’re currently investigating:

• Transition times between scenes can be quite long.
  
• Rarely disconnecting immediately after connecting to a new server.
  
• Sometimes, your player model is duplicated after entering a new scene and the camera gets stuck. Portaling out to another server usually fixes this.
  
• Rune Prisons can rarely fail to spawn an Exiled Mage.
  
• Enemies in Arena and Monolith often do not animate properly.
  
• Certain abilities failing to hit enemies correctly.
  
• Swapping loot filters can cause the loot filter interface to bug out.
  
• Submitting a bug report with a log file thats too large can crash the client.
  
• Textures can pile up on the ground as you load more monolith echoes, causing strange visuals and increased memory usage.
  
• Item name lengths are now “Long” when they should be “Normal”.
  
• The Rogue’s visuals look incorrect when making a new character.
  
• Certain skills cause the player to not properly return to their idle animation.

• New Props
  • Golf Cart
    
  • ATV
    
  • Green 5x2 cloth wall
    
  • Bike stand
    
  • Metal Fence w stand
    
  • Fence Stands