Kem0sabe
Arcane
DLC for an early access game is worse than anything that those fuckers over at EA, Activision or Paradox have been up to.
-
Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.
"This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.
Anime Ark: Survival Evolved
- Thread starter Kane
- Start date
Been playing this game (single player) for the past week or so. I am amazed and horrified at the same time. It is insane how much time it takes to play this game, you go hunting for a new dinosaur to tame, 30 minute journey on foot, with fights and whatnot, that could be an hour. You find a new dino, and painstakingly tame it which is mostly by exploiting the extremely bad pathing in the game or the bad AI, you need it to get stuck on something or be unable to reach you so you can shoot stuff into its face to stun it. There is no legitimate way to do it. Now you need to travel for another hour to get back to your base. If you die anywhere, that's another hour back to your corpse, then the hour long journey home again. Later it gets a bit better by breeding flying creatures so you can always have one back at your base to help you travel, but even they are slow don't help much because you can't fly them while carrying things and if you are escorting a creature you tamed, you can't fly anyway. You are also supposed to build multiple bases and teleport between them but this is a huge job and requires a massive amount of grind just to get to that point.
The pathing is what kills it for me though. I spent a week dying 10000 times because I tried to explore beyond the newbie area and I kept getting 1 shotted by things. I finally got myself 5 strong dinosaurs that can fight for me, but everywhere I go... they get stuck on a tree. A log. A rock. Something. You can't run anywhere because you will leave your minions behind, so you spend the whole time leading them slowly through gaps in the jungle. And if you try to swim to avoid pathing problems there are killer jellyfish things that can 1 shot you.
Since EverQuest in 1999, I never thought I would see another game as ball busting and tedious as that, but this is pretty close. Only less fun. It is impressive though, it is like a much more grown up Minecraft. You really need to play with friends to reduce the workload of what needs doing, and the scope is far bigger than Minecraft. There is a lot stuff to build to make really elaborate bases and the bases are important. It starts with wooden huts but eventually you can make metal bases with electronic doors and locks, complex irrigation systems to feed to your crops, and areas to hold dinosaurs for them to breed. etc. Pretty impressive how big the game is, but just not really for me. The pathing annoys me too much, and also the combat is mostly just basic FPS or letting your pet dinosaurs fight other dinosaurs. If this had some sort tactical combat and a way to avoid the pathing problem, it would be maybe my favorite game of all time. But those "Ifs" are huge.
The pathing is what kills it for me though. I spent a week dying 10000 times because I tried to explore beyond the newbie area and I kept getting 1 shotted by things. I finally got myself 5 strong dinosaurs that can fight for me, but everywhere I go... they get stuck on a tree. A log. A rock. Something. You can't run anywhere because you will leave your minions behind, so you spend the whole time leading them slowly through gaps in the jungle. And if you try to swim to avoid pathing problems there are killer jellyfish things that can 1 shot you.
Since EverQuest in 1999, I never thought I would see another game as ball busting and tedious as that, but this is pretty close. Only less fun. It is impressive though, it is like a much more grown up Minecraft. You really need to play with friends to reduce the workload of what needs doing, and the scope is far bigger than Minecraft. There is a lot stuff to build to make really elaborate bases and the bases are important. It starts with wooden huts but eventually you can make metal bases with electronic doors and locks, complex irrigation systems to feed to your crops, and areas to hold dinosaurs for them to breed. etc. Pretty impressive how big the game is, but just not really for me. The pathing annoys me too much, and also the combat is mostly just basic FPS or letting your pet dinosaurs fight other dinosaurs. If this had some sort tactical combat and a way to avoid the pathing problem, it would be maybe my favorite game of all time. But those "Ifs" are huge.
I saw this pop up on a steam sale for $9.99 today (and until June 10th).
Pondering adding this to my steam library in case I get an itch to play another survival game. I hear a lot of bad things about the game, and the DLC content sale while in early release tells me where the dev's mind is at.
but, It might be worth $10 if I can get some enjoyment out of it. Is anybody still playing this or have any thoughts on it?
From the few reviews I've read so far, my impression is this sounds like a buggier version of rust. It might be worthwhile to avoid building anything and just pvp/pillage if that's the case.
Pondering adding this to my steam library in case I get an itch to play another survival game. I hear a lot of bad things about the game, and the DLC content sale while in early release tells me where the dev's mind is at.
but, It might be worth $10 if I can get some enjoyment out of it. Is anybody still playing this or have any thoughts on it?
From the few reviews I've read so far, my impression is this sounds like a buggier version of rust. It might be worthwhile to avoid building anything and just pvp/pillage if that's the case.
I played in co-op with buddies, and had fun building stuff and fighting dinos until I realized there was nothing else to do. Once you have a mansion with running water and inexhaustible food supplies, the motivation to do more drains out.
We were excited to see what that high tech glowing sky laser was, until we finally got there and it turned out to be a portal to an arena to fight an even bigger dinosaur.
I understand that there are several maps, and some of those have better content, but I just moved to other games.
PvP would completely change the landscape of activity of course. Personally I'm not interested in games that require you to become a tiny cog following orders in a huge clan, which is how open world PvP always seems to end up. But hey, maybe there are small population servers or whatever.
Worth a try for $10 to get a few hours fun going from starving to stable. Better with friends.
Yah, I was thinking about trying it out by focusing completely on pvp and ignoring base building.
If I play it like a pure pvp game it might be ok. I'd be pissed off if I built a ton of shit and it got destroyed while I was offline, so I just won't build a ton of shit.
If I play it like a pure pvp game it might be ok. I'd be pissed off if I built a ton of shit and it got destroyed while I was offline, so I just won't build a ton of shit.
I got it when it was cheap and have been playing it way too much since then. Here are my thoughts:
I'm playing PvE because I don't see the appeal of having other people destroy what you've invested in building. The most important thing to know is, don't play on an official server. Unplayable amounts of lag, every part of the world claimed by other players building pillars on it (stopping you from building near them), and default taming and raising rates that do not respect your time at all. Unofficial server clusters (groups of servers running multiple maps) can be found through Ark's discord, I've tried a few before settling on one that has massively boosted rates and some good mods (Epicucks can't play modded servers because they're all through Steam Workshop though, lol). These mods include Death Recovery (build a structure that saves you from having to do corpse runs), Structures Plus (essential new structures, such as the one that imprints dinos for you), Dino Storage (a better "Pokeball" system) and Super Spyglass (highlights dinos and shows you their stats, very useful for deciding what to capture).
With the boosted rates and mods, the game is...still a massive pile of jank, but a lot less painful to play. Enough that I'm enjoying it a lot despite its flaws. It's a shame that this seems to be a game that most people just played in Early Access and dropped before it was released, because there's been a lot added over the years; there are ten maps now - the original, four free DLC ones and five paid DLC - and you can transfer your character and tamed dinos between them. There is a goal to the game beyond building a better house, though it may not be immediately apparent: you fight the bosses to "ascend" (gaining an increased level cap) and advance through the story. I haven't done any boss fights yet but I plan to soon, I've been breeding an army of super-dinos to take with me since that seems to be the real path to power in this game. The breeding system is pretty cool when the rates are boosted enough that you don't have to completely no-life it; you go out and catch the best dinos you can, then breed them to combine their best stats, as well as potentially interesting color combinations, and being able to create more dinos really eases the stress of putting them at risk by actually using them.
Ultimately I recommend the game with some heavy caveats. Find a server cluster that won't be a completely miserable experience, be prepared to use the wiki and guides to manage the steep learning curve, and be willing to tolerate extreme jankiness, and you might get a lot out of it.
I'm playing PvE because I don't see the appeal of having other people destroy what you've invested in building. The most important thing to know is, don't play on an official server. Unplayable amounts of lag, every part of the world claimed by other players building pillars on it (stopping you from building near them), and default taming and raising rates that do not respect your time at all. Unofficial server clusters (groups of servers running multiple maps) can be found through Ark's discord, I've tried a few before settling on one that has massively boosted rates and some good mods (Epicucks can't play modded servers because they're all through Steam Workshop though, lol). These mods include Death Recovery (build a structure that saves you from having to do corpse runs), Structures Plus (essential new structures, such as the one that imprints dinos for you), Dino Storage (a better "Pokeball" system) and Super Spyglass (highlights dinos and shows you their stats, very useful for deciding what to capture).
With the boosted rates and mods, the game is...still a massive pile of jank, but a lot less painful to play. Enough that I'm enjoying it a lot despite its flaws. It's a shame that this seems to be a game that most people just played in Early Access and dropped before it was released, because there's been a lot added over the years; there are ten maps now - the original, four free DLC ones and five paid DLC - and you can transfer your character and tamed dinos between them. There is a goal to the game beyond building a better house, though it may not be immediately apparent: you fight the bosses to "ascend" (gaining an increased level cap) and advance through the story. I haven't done any boss fights yet but I plan to soon, I've been breeding an army of super-dinos to take with me since that seems to be the real path to power in this game. The breeding system is pretty cool when the rates are boosted enough that you don't have to completely no-life it; you go out and catch the best dinos you can, then breed them to combine their best stats, as well as potentially interesting color combinations, and being able to create more dinos really eases the stress of putting them at risk by actually using them.
Ultimately I recommend the game with some heavy caveats. Find a server cluster that won't be a completely miserable experience, be prepared to use the wiki and guides to manage the steep learning curve, and be willing to tolerate extreme jankiness, and you might get a lot out of it.
Interesting way of spinning official Survivial Evolved clusters shutting down and releasing a paid engine upgrade. $50 but it includes a pre-order for Ark II which is going third person only with souls combat and no sci-fi garbage in late 2024.
Opinions on this will vary but I was already going to spend $50-$70 on Ark 2 so I personally don't give a shit and the UE5 engine upgrade might lead to significantly less jank.
Today, Studio WildCard announced that Ark 2, the sequel to 2017's Ark: Survival Evolved, is getting delayed a second time into 2024 - but in the meantime, a next-gen version of the original game is coming out in August to keep us busy.
In a community blogpost offering a development roadmap, Studio WildCard explained that the reason for Ark 2's delay to next year was due to challenges working with Unreal Engine 5:
"Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio Wildcard. As we learn more about the engine and develop the sequel, we have adapted our workflows and adjusted our pipelines to accommodate this new next-generation paradigm, and because of everything that involves, we need more time for development."
Additionally, Studio WildCard acknowledged that these challenges also mean that Ark 2 will not be backward compatible. So that means no release of Ark 2 on Xbox One or PS4.
But there's some good news for Ark 1 fans. Because Ark 2 has "some pretty significant design changes from the original game" and may not appeal to those who prefer "Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, and strict third-person mechanics – and an overall “very serious” tone," Studio WildCard is releasing a current-gen version of Ark 1 on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5 in August of 2023 "to ensure that fans can continue to enjoy the ARK they know for years to come."
When ARK: Survival Ascended is released, it’ll boast:
We can’t possibly list every improvement that’s coming in ARK: Survival Ascended because the list was so long that Studio Wildcard couldn’t even note it down. But here are some snapshot examples of some of the most impactful changes coming to Survival Ascended:
- Cross-platform Multiplayer, which includes cross-platform accounts and cross-progression, uniting the platforms and bolstering the community.
- Cross-platform modding, featuring a reported ‘industry-first cross-platform modding experience’, with PC-based mods being delivered to consoles.
- Cross-platform anti-cheat functions, to alleviate any worries that console-based players may have.
- Survival of the Fittest being integrated as a new, fully-supported game mode
- Hundreds of improvements, fixes, and upgrades (see below)
And that’s a non-exhaustive list.
- Better mini-map
- All-new structures and building mode improvements
- Queueing system for servers
- New third-person camera mode
- Pinging system for multiplayer
- Gamepad cursor for ease of accessibility
- Chibi slot and Skins tab in the menu
That's a lot of content, but the purchasing scheme is a bit confusing. Xbox Series X, S, and PC players can only get it by purchasing the Ark Respawned Bundle for $49.99, which includes both Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark 2, and will grant access to an exclusive one-month closed beta of Ark 2 in 2024. The bundle will only be available for the first year after launch of Survival Ascended, after which both games will be available separately.
https://survivetheark.com/index.php...nch-355-ark-roadmap-evo-event-and-more-r2075/
I'd be fine with it if they'd just include the DLCs. Even if I justify it to myself as a discounted pre-order on Ark 2 with a remaster included, an additional $40 in DLC sours the deal.
Jew me once, shame on you.
To get you to pay for the first game twice, of course. And then, delay Ark 2 further on purpose to force all hardcore fans to get the remaster first.
Ark: Monetization Evolved
Iucounu
Educated
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2023
- Messages
- 983
Has anyone here tried playing ARK without taming any dinosaurs? I thought riding on dinos was too stupid, and refused to do it. At the most I might consider taming a hyena...
Playing alone (PvE) on foot way makes the game pretty brutal. I soon realized that the only way I could get around safely was on a raft, so I used that to explore the coastline and all the streams. Meanwhile I built bases ashore where it seemed safe, thus advancing further inland painstakingly slow until an update suddenly added invisible gates in the streams, forcing me to use console commands to get past every time. :-/
I wish I could disable the Alpha creatures though (can you?), they are way too powerful for this playingstyle. Last time I played ARK an Alpha Rex forced me to evacuate three bases in a row as it roamed around way too close.
Playing alone (PvE) on foot way makes the game pretty brutal. I soon realized that the only way I could get around safely was on a raft, so I used that to explore the coastline and all the streams. Meanwhile I built bases ashore where it seemed safe, thus advancing further inland painstakingly slow until an update suddenly added invisible gates in the streams, forcing me to use console commands to get past every time. :-/
I wish I could disable the Alpha creatures though (can you?), they are way too powerful for this playingstyle. Last time I played ARK an Alpha Rex forced me to evacuate three bases in a row as it roamed around way too close.
Myobi
Liturgist
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2016
- Messages
- 1,504
sounds like a fucking nightmare considering many of them serve as gathering tools.
I tamed some but they kept getting stuck on things and the pathing was terrible. So they never followed me anyway... Also there is nothing to really explore, the world is pretty empty. Not much content besides building stuff. You can use cheats to move fast and give yourself resources to reduce the grind, but it just reveals how little else there is.
Iucounu
Educated
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2023
- Messages
- 983
No the grinding wasn't so bad, but you have to plan your crafting so you're not wasting too much resources. The big problem is that can't see far on foot, with all the trees and cliffs blocking your view (as opposed to flying safely above, or sitting high up on a T-Rex), and dangerous critters may appear around any corner.
Iucounu
Educated
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2023
- Messages
- 983
I liked exploring to find rare resources (like polymer or obsidian) so I could craft better gear. But once you got that there's little motivation to continue, except perhaps looking for nice scenery. A waste on those large maps, I barely explored 10% of the Island.
Iucounu
Educated
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2023
- Messages
- 983
Sounds like ARK: Survival Descended will be a way of practicing on using the UE5 engine, and testing it on players. If they at least fix the dinosaur heads clipping through walls I might pay for it.
Iucounu
Educated
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2023
- Messages
- 983
What made me stop playing ARK was not boredom actually, but stress. An Alpha Rex had somehow stopped not far from my main base, and didn't move. I'm pretty sure the base is strong enough to protect me if I started shooting, but who knows with janky ARK? From previous experience I know that even a vanilla Rex can make a base shake so much that your body armor breaks just from you bouncing against the walls inside, so maybe my character would die of bouncing before I managed to put enough bullets into the creature? So I kept procrastinating while thinking about what to do, and finally just left it "for the time being" (that's a couple of years ago now).
As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.