ARK: Survival Evolved - Catch All

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Corporate Marketing Dude wrote:

As a man or woman stranded naked, freezing & starving on a mysterious island, you must hunt, harvest, craft items, grow crops, & build shelters to survive. Use skill and cunning to kill or tame & ride the Dinosaurs & primeval creatures roaming the land, & team up with hundreds of players or play locally!

ARK: Survival Evolved is a "Day Z-a-like" where you face dinosaurs and other pre-historic creatures instead of the usual zombie hordes. It's playable in single player mode as well as online with up to 70 people per server in either PvP or PvE modes.

Currently available in Early Access for PC via Steam, with release dates for Xbox One and Playstation 4 TBD.

The Steam ARK forum is the current "official" forum and has a lot of developer participation.

The ARK Reddit is also a good source of information and has some developer presence.

The Official ARK Wiki is endorsed by the developers but content is user submitted. As with any wiki beware of faulty or outdated information.

I've now spent several hours playing this and decided it needed a thread here so more GWJ would hear about it, because riding dinosaurs into battle is stupidly fun.

This thing is clearly early access, and has the usual warts. Most notably the performance: If you're one of those people who considers something below 60 FPS top be unplayable then do not buy this game! High framerate is not currently possible in this game even with the graphics turned down to full potato mode. Despite that, I'm finding it to be a great amount of fun.

I'd encourage anyone who enjoys the survival genre to give this one a good hard look because it's showing a lot of promise.

I just kind of want to try something called "full potato mode."

IMAGE(http://worldoftanks.com/dcont/fb/image/full-potato-final.png)

cartoonin99 wrote:

IMAGE(http://worldoftanks.com/dcont/fb/image/full-potato-final.png)

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Actually interested in this once it gets to be more playable.

I have about 9 hours in so far. Currently a level 11 or so on Official server #19.

Really enjoying this right now. Featurewise, the game is great thus far, but optimization needs work. I'm impressed with how quickly they're pumping out patches since early access release.

Hey this looks cool...

Ark: Survival Evolved is a "Day Z-a-like"

Okay, nvm

*edit*

To be a bit more useful, why can't I ride dinosaurs without having to deal with persistent human douchebaggery? *sulk voice*

MrDeVil909 wrote:

To be a bit more useful, why can't I ride dinosaurs without having to deal with persistent human douchebaggery? *sulk voice*

Yes, there are Official PvE servers, and lots of unofficial servers with varying rule sets. PvP is in no way necessary for this game to be fun, I personally avoid PvP like the plague in this type of game.

Elycion wrote:
MrDeVil909 wrote:

To be a bit more useful, why can't I ride dinosaurs without having to deal with persistent human douchebaggery? *sulk voice*

Yes, there are Official PvE servers, and lots of unofficial servers with varying rule sets. PvP is in no way necessary for this game to be fun, I personally avoid PvP like the plague in this type of game.

Ah okay, that sounds cool then. I'll have a look.

The good news is, you could try the game for 90 minutes and then use the new no-questions-asked Steam refund option if you don't like it.

I bought into the early access of Track Day Manager, found it to be an hellacious, laggy mess and so asked for a refund. The process took literally four mouseclicks, (the fourth being choosing if I wanted the money to go to my steam wallet or back on my credit card), and about four hours later the request was approved and processed.

I can now take that money and plug it into Ark and see if I like that any better.

I've played enough of this game to know it is very promising. It's flat out gorgeous on Epic quality but even with a high-end rig the frame rate is fairly abysmal. It's selling like hotcakes on steam though and the devs are trying to earn the moneybags they are now sitting on by actually improving the game on a frequent basis so that's good.

I'm going to sit on it awhile until it is better optimized but I will be giving it a good chance. The dinos are amazing and have a real presence. The lush vegetation and beautiful world are easy to lose yourself in. One of the more exciting early access titles to come around recently.

Is there a GWJ server or one we're congregating on? I'd be nice to build a base.

As for the graphics, I heard high end rigs can crank it up to max as long as you turn off ground clutter/scatter. That seems to be the bogging down feature.

I've been playing this way too much this weekend, and am loving it.
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/39kbRCf.jpg)
Moonrise from my front porch. The huge tech monolith you can see behind the Bronto is about 2 miles away. It's a device that when provided with the proper items (a huge collection of high level loot) will spawn a raid/world boss to fight. You can see another of the towers with a brown-ish tint much farther away on the right side of the image. The glowing orb with the line extending below it that you see in the middle is an air drop marker. Air drops descend at pretty regular intervals, and come in various colors that indicate what the minimum level to open them is.

Here's a night shot of our humble little home on the beach with the currently tamed group of dino companions hanging out in the front yard.
IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/U5U7DJy.jpg)

Elycion wrote:

I've been playing this way too much this weekend, and am loving it.

Moonrise from my front porch. The huge tech monolith you can see behind the Bronto is about 2 miles away. It's a device that when provided with the proper items (a huge collection of high level loot) will spawn a raid/world boss to fight. You can see another of the towers with a brown-ish tint much farther away on the right side of the image. The glowing orb with the line extending below it that you see in the middle is an air drop marker. Air drops descend at pretty regular intervals, and come in various colors that indicate what the minimum level to open them is.

Here's a night shot of our humble little home on the beach with the currently tamed group of dino companions hanging out in the front yard.

Server?

I would down to play this with some people.

I'm on a server called Panda right now if anyone wants to Join. Look for Shoal

Level 22 on Official Server 19 at the moment. With enough GWJer interest, it would be fun to have our own server, but the numbers would have to be big to be worth it. Otherwise just set up base on a PVE if folks are only looking to craft, farm, and tame.

I watched some streamers getting into a, t-rex on t-rex, high level scuffle on Mr Moon's server today. So many big and small steamers on there pulling long long streams, and so far folks have been pretty neutral just trying to level and tame dinos. This scuffle was started when someone from one tribe killed a dodo belonging to the other tribe. I think final tally was 1 sabertooth, 2 t-rex's, multiple raptors, at least one scorpion dead.

REALLY, Really, really enjoying this one. Hard to step away and study for my finals this week.

Isn't this the game that evolves around poo and the fact that everyone does so, including the dinosaurs? It just seems so...juvenile.

Druidpeak wrote:

Level 22 on Official Server 19 at the moment. With enough GWJer interest, it would be fun to have our own server, but the numbers would have to be big to be worth it. Otherwise just set up base on a PVE if folks are only looking to craft, farm, and tame.

I watched some streamers getting into a, t-rex on t-rex, high level scuffle on Mr Moon's server today. So many big and small steamers on there pulling long long streams, and so far folks have been pretty neutral just trying to level and tame dinos. This scuffle was started when someone from one tribe killed a dodo belonging to the other tribe. I think final tally was 1 sabertooth, 2 t-rex's, multiple raptors, at least one scorpion dead.

REALLY, Really, really enjoying this one. Hard to step away and study for my finals this week. ;)

I do think we need to congregate somewhere and start a tribe. I wouldn't want a closed GWJ server because I think raids in this game is a big part of the fun. Plus, other players is what pushes you to get stronger, so you can defend yourself.

Razgon wrote:

Isn't this the game that evolves around poo and the fact that everyone does so, including the dinosaurs? It just seems so...juvenile.

Didn't you read everybody poops? No, I wouldn't say the game evolves around poop. Everything does poop, and it can be used as fertilizer, but that's about all I've noticed it's for.

Shoal07 wrote:

Server?

I'm on a private server for a TwitchTV community.

Shoal07 wrote:

I wouldn't want a closed GWJ server because I think raids in this game is a big part of the fun. Plus, other players is what pushes you to get stronger, so you can defend yourself.

Except of course that you cannot defend yourself when you're offline, yet all your items, structures, pets, and even your own body stay online and are vulnerable.

I get that some folks are going to find that part to be just the bees knees, but for me it's aintnobodygottimeforthat.gif

So this isn't like 7 days to die where I could just set up a server at no cost for just me and my kid?

I believe you can, but won't be able to host on the same rig due to performance. Options to start a server pop up every time you launch the game.

Kehama wrote:

So this isn't like 7 days to die where I could just set up a server at no cost for just me and my kid?

Technically you can, but the game is very demanding. You'd need a dedicated machine on your LAN with at least 6 GB of RAM available for the server and probably a decent i5 chip or higher equivalent.

Elycion wrote:
Shoal07 wrote:

Server?

I'm on a private server for a TwitchTV community.

Shoal07 wrote:

I wouldn't want a closed GWJ server because I think raids in this game is a big part of the fun. Plus, other players is what pushes you to get stronger, so you can defend yourself.

Except of course that you cannot defend yourself when you're offline, yet all your items, structures, pets, and even your own body stay online and are vulnerable.

I get that some folks are going to find that part to be just the bees knees, but for me it's aintnobodygottimeforthat.gif

Well, a big enough tribe will have people on and off. Plus you can build steel structures, have guard t-rexs, and sentry guns. I think once you have a site worth saving it will be pretty hard to demolish.

Also, I am NOT typically a fan of those types of "PVP adventures" but for some reason this game fits it well. Plus it really adds to the survivor aspect.

Progress so far has been my shack and small pen to hold critters. Finished up a pen that was 2 walls high(I'll be pushing it to 3 soon) and proceeded to tame a Triceratops. Now, with the triceratops, I can harvest narcoberries in mass quantities and much more easily produce narcotics to help in taming critters.

Tonights mission, after I turned in my last homework assignment for the term(yippee!), was to acquire a Raptor. Found some on an island a small distance away from my base and returned home to grab gear for an extended stay out and about while trying to tame. Surprise surprise, there was a Raptor right next to my base. Knocked it out, and decided to try out a technique where you let the critter stay passed out, without feeding it, until it wakes up then knocking it out again. Once it's down the 2nd time, it will be more hungry and the taming process will go much more quickly. I gathered some meat from nearby critters, then camped next to the sleeping raptor until it woke up. I proceeded to melee it with my bow, not realizing that that would be too much damage, and killed it.

Not enough time to try another tonight, but I'll give it another go tomorrow. Gotta get that raptor.

Druidpeak wrote:

Progress so far has been my shack and small pen to hold critters. Finished up a pen that was 2 walls high(I'll be pushing it to 3 soon) and proceeded to tame a Triceratops. Now, with the triceratops, I can harvest narcoberries in mass quantities and much more easily produce narcotics to help in taming critters.

Tonights mission, after I turned in my last homework assignment for the term(yippee!), was to acquire a Raptor. Found some on an island a small distance away from my base and returned home to grab gear for an extended stay out and about while trying to tame. Surprise surprise, there was a Raptor right next to my base. Knocked it out, and decided to try out a technique where you let the critter stay passed out, without feeding it, until it wakes up then knocking it out again. Once it's down the 2nd time, it will be more hungry and the taming process will go much more quickly. I gathered some meat from nearby critters, then camped next to the sleeping raptor until it woke up. I proceeded to melee it with my bow, not realizing that that would be too much damage, and killed it.

Not enough time to try another tonight, but I'll give it another go tomorrow. Gotta get that raptor. ;)

Heard some guys saying the starving technique isn't worth the time.

Raptor acquired! Skipped the starving technique this time, and really only ended up using 15 or so narcotics to keep it under. Had to venture a bit from home to find it, but didn't see anyone around while I was taming. Enjoyed my ride home on my new mount, and found a raptor hanging out right outside my base again when I came back. No time to tame another, so I let it be.

Progress so far.

IMAGE(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/27366287314608026/BC1B7D5089F8D1F2C7410943E396BA4E7AB790DD/)

IMAGE(http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/27366287314625970/3C4BFDFDCAC35D29350A44ED461CB189C3273632/)

Do you use the wall adapters on the ground or just place walls?

The walls need something to snap to, so you place fence bases down then put the wall on top of them. I find them hard to work with since they're totally free placement and don't snap against one another.

They will snap in line, or at a 45 degree angle, with the end of an already placed base, with auto adjusted elevation. They will not snap nicely to structure foundations though. It took some fiddling to get a fence butting up against my house. Also, depending on what way you're facing when you place the fence base down determines where the "outside" face of a fence will be. In my experience, the fence base gets laid parallel to the direction your facing, and the "outside" face of the fence would be on the left side of what you're facing(This is all based on the initial fence that the others will snap to). When constructing a fence, construct it in a counterclockwise fashion, and the "outside" face will be facing out. Don't do what I did, start in a clockwise direction, then place the dino gate and discover it won't place facing outward.

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