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[ARK: Survival Evolved] All hail the gunasaurus

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Posts

  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • Dr. Phibbs McAtheyDr. Phibbs McAthey Registered User regular
    Lo, they do call me, they bid me take my place among them, in the halls of Ragnarok, where the brave may live forever.

    giphy.gif

  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    MuddBudd wrote: »

    Hopefully these will stay up a while. My computer got fucked by the latest Windows update.

    I make art things! deviantART: Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    They'll be up for ages.

    Here's a forum thread about converting server files into singleplayer that hopefully should help people who want to load it up.

    https://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/0/353915309349734415/

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    edited May 2018
    I'm going to chime in and say thanks for hosting too, even though I haven't played since before the first DLC. I started back when the Dino level cap was in double digits.

    I had fun on the original island with my giant thatch lighthouse. I set out to make it as a local navigation landmark for new players, but was foiled by structures de-rendering sooner than I thought that they would.

    Fun memories include completing the search light on top of the lighthouse and celebrating with a night time display of colored flares that were observed by some players who were half the map away while they were taming birds on the mountaintop. I remember ignoring Dino-OSHA guidelines by using the big machine shop workbench as a bed to avoid the problem of clipping through the floor and falling to my doom while I was logged out.

    I also remember the destruction of the lighthouse when I bid the server farewell. The predominantly thatch structure was stronger than I knew. After destroying the first floor, the rest of the structure stubbornly refused to acknowledge the laws of gravity. A server moderator assisted me in its destruction by spawning a bunch of rocket launchers for us to tear it down, and even then it still took a few minutes of bombardment to make it finally fall.


    Thanks for hosting, and thanks for everyone who assisted me back when I was starting out. Shout out to the denizens of that pyramid that was on the north western side of the island. You guys were helpful, although you were downright vampiric in your thirst for blood.

    General_Armchair on
    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
  • MudzgutMudzgut OhioRegistered User regular
    Muddbudd, while I never did get back into ARK while you were hosting, I checked in on the thread once in awhile. Your dedication to hosting a fun server with the changing variants from time to time and mini-events was awesome and commendable. Nice work!

    Thanks for hosting, and thanks for everyone who assisted me back when I was starting out. Shout out to the denizens of that pyramid that was on the north western side of the island. You guys were helpful, although you were downright vampiric in your thirst for blood.

    The Zig!

    We of the Cult of La Magra are still proud to state that no one died under our protection...although they may have felt a little light headed.

    steam_sig.png

    Twitch/Mudzgut
    Fall down seven times. Stand up eight.
  • WIckedkarmaWIckedkarma AustinRegistered User regular
    The Cult of La Magra thanks you for .. donations.. over the years ^_^.
    @MuddBudd Thanks for hosting and to everyone from the old salute your shorts server thank you all so much for the amazing memories, and the new friendships that came out of it=)

    camo_sig2.png
  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    Well, I guess this is goodbye until Extinction . . .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsM_VmN6ytk

    I make art things! deviantART: Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • DacDac Registered User regular
    Fuck yea, Kaiju

    Steam: catseye543
    PSN: ShogunGunshow
    Origin: ShogunGunshow
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    Dac wrote: »
    Fuck yea, Kaiju

    dkyhife.jpg

    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    Going to go through this trailer and note what I see:

    - Opening shot is some sort of ruined Tek facility or city. the streetlamp is notable. Broken hologlobe.
    - More city views, with someone exploring on a T-Rex. In the distance is a shield bubble around an obelisk
    - Oh... urban giga... and then... some sort of robo-mantis/lizard? And some tek things flying around in the background
    - This implies this tek stuff is enough to take out a giga. Also, it teleports.
    - Close up of a digital viewer, showing a Element structure of some kind, looks a lot like parts of Aberration
    - Implications the drone was controlled by the tek binoculars we see. Also, is it not safe to go near that thing?
    - Another obelisk, with no obvious corruption. Snow biome
    - Compass is useless, some ruined structures off to the right
    - Kaiju

    I am guessing the general layout will be safe/safe-ish zones around obelisks, with destroyed earth cities between them.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    So we're just about a month out from Extinction. Here's everything we know so far.

    Trailers/Video:
    Photos:
    https://i.imgur.com/AtpFm3e.jpg
    https://i.imgur.com/ydSrFc9.jpg

    Interviews:
    https://www.pcgamer.com/ark-extinction/

    Highlights...
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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).
    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.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    As per usual, I will be hosting an Extinction server. Here's my rough plan.
    • A single Extinction server, brand new for everyone.
    • Initial level cap for creatures will be 150 or lower, I believe hosthavoc has updated the way their settings work. I might be able to scale it up from lower this time.
    • Boosted XP, taming, etc... about the usual for our servers. So boosted enough to be less grindy without making tames instant.
    • Weekly randomized stat boosts, in the same style as last server.
    • Potential for a cluster, but I think its more fun when we're all on the same place.
    • Depending on the various creatures (and the map), potentially disabling some flyers initially. There seem to be a lot of cool options these days for movement. Between gliding, ziplines, teleporters, and gasbag bouncing, etc...

    Mods:
    • Most if not all of our previous mods.
    • S+ of course, plus the gravestone and taming sedative.
    • Decor mods... probably. I know people love them despite the extra load times.
    • CKF might not make it this time. I like it but the aesthetic of Extinction is very definitely 'high-tec'.

    I have also begun browsing new mods for potential. The current front runner is Immersive Taming. It adds in a new taming method where you feed and interact with creatures instead of just knocking them out. I am playing with the settings on single-player to see how it feels. So far its pretty cool. Cool enough, that I might just make it the ONLY way to tame some things, if I can.

    Here's a video of it in action:

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    Now is the time for feedback. What worked well with the previous servers? What didn't? What mods are you interested in? That sort of thing.

    -edit-

    Also we have a Discord

    https://discord.gg/jrUGGvM

    MuddBudd on
    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    How did Aberration end up being? I never picked it up.

  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    How did Aberration end up being? I never picked it up.

    I enjoyed it, but it was definitely a challenge. Had some really cool stuff in it. The various glow pets were awesome. Drakes were neat if a bit dangerous to get an egg. Gliders and ziplines were fun as heck.

    Was a maze though, very tricky to navigate for me. Teleporters helped a lot.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • DacDac Registered User regular
    Maybe on this one I'll actually reach max level and be able to do an underwater base.

    Steam: catseye543
    PSN: ShogunGunshow
    Origin: ShogunGunshow
  • General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    That looks awesome. If I were to join in, would I need to purchase all of the other ark expansions or will I just need to grab extinction when it releases?

    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    That looks awesome. If I were to join in, would I need to purchase all of the other ark expansions or will I just need to grab extinction when it releases?

    You would just need the base game plus Extinction

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • VicVic Registered User regular
    edited October 2018
    New ARK expansion? Heck yeah, I'm in!

    This may be a naive dream, but man... if one of those behemoths has a platform saddle...

    They might, actually, but if so I'd expect it to demand a high enough level that I'd never reach it.

    Vic on
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    Vic wrote: »
    New ARK expansion? Heck yeah, I'm in!

    This may be a naive dream, but man... if one of those behemoths has a platform saddle...

    They might, actually, but if so I'd expect it to demand a high enough level that I'd never reach it.

    The are tameable apparently. We might need them to beat whatever the final beast is.

    Also they claim it will actually not be just straight up damage to beat them. Special mechanics of some kind.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    MuddBudd wrote: »
    That looks awesome. If I were to join in, would I need to purchase all of the other ark expansions or will I just need to grab extinction when it releases?

    You would just need the base game plus Extinction

    You mentioned cool stuff like zip lines and gliders earlier. Are the DLCs where those items were introduced necessary for acquiring those items?

    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
  • NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    Possibly? The DLC maps have thus far had the engrams for their unique items only unlockable while on that map (or a community map that has them enabled). I have the season pass so I have no clue if they're still DLC locked on a community map.

    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    In the case of Aberration, some of the Engrams are specific to that map. I think they can only be crafted there too, due to requiring some map specific resources that are not available on other maps. So you can build on Aberration and then server hop to a different map and bring the stuff with you, but you can't get more. Obviously this only works on official servers where server hopping is allowed (and encouraged).

    If you play on a dedicated server with only one map, you pretty much have to play on Aberration in order to get some of the sweet stuff.

  • General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    So a subset of the toys added since vanilla are effectively exclusive to their DLC's?

    A couple of more quick questions.

    *Did they ever fix falling through floors while your character sleeps?
    *there was originally a rustic stone fireplace model that was used as a placeholder model for the industrial gas stove. Was this model ever re-used for another item? It was really comfy and I'd like it as the centerpiece of a living room.

    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    I don't recall falling through floors while sleeping, so I'll say yes.

    There's definitely a stone fireplace you can use to cook food and warm a room. I don't know if it's specific to S+, but you should be using that anyway.

  • General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    There was a huge problem early on in the game where sleeping players would slowly creep downwards until they clipped through the floor. It could be lethal for elevated homes or those built over water. The work around was sleeping on the fabricator machine.

    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    So a subset of the toys added since vanilla are effectively exclusive to their DLC's?

    Each DLC map does have a bit of unique stuff. The exclusivity all depends on if you play on a dedicated server with a single map, or if you are playing on a server cluster with access to multiple maps and server teleports through the obelisks.

    Scorched Earth has the Mantis creatures, the original drakes (fire and poison), and a couple exclusive engrams. Ragnarok has the snow griffons, the ice drakes, and I think a couple unique engrams also, but I've never played Ragnarok so I could be wrong there. Aberration has the zipline stuff, the glow sticks, and a few other fun engrams. And also some unique tames as well.

  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    So from everything I remember on our recent servers, the "fall through floors" thing stopped being a problem (though I still stripped myself of all belongings and stuffed them in a chest next to me before logging out as force of habit).

    The "fireplace as grill" item that Sir Carcass might be talking about is in CKF, in that it cooked and provided warmth provided you both learned the fireplace engram AND the rotisserie. It could also be an industrial cookpot, which was sweet, though it never was updated to include Abberation items. CKF had been a sponsored mod, but the mod maker had gone through some personal stuff and because they were basically the only one working on it, it's been more or less abandoned. Still, I do love CKF for the appearances it gives and the space saving items it contains.

    I will see what I can do about playing, but I am much more limited in unfettered playtime now that the kid is two; I don't really want to use all my wife's off time to just play ARK.

    I make art things! deviantART: Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
  • Sir CarcassSir Carcass I have been shown the end of my world Round Rock, TXRegistered User regular
    Kalnaur wrote: »
    So from everything I remember on our recent servers, the "fall through floors" thing stopped being a problem (though I still stripped myself of all belongings and stuffed them in a chest next to me before logging out as force of habit).

    The "fireplace as grill" item that Sir Carcass might be talking about is in CKF, in that it cooked and provided warmth provided you both learned the fireplace engram AND the rotisserie. It could also be an industrial cookpot, which was sweet, though it never was updated to include Abberation items. CKF had been a sponsored mod, but the mod maker had gone through some personal stuff and because they were basically the only one working on it, it's been more or less abandoned. Still, I do love CKF for the appearances it gives and the space saving items it contains.

    I'm talking about the Stone Fireplace+, but I am probably misremembering that you could cook with it. Actually now thinking about, I don't think you could, but it still looked nice and warmed the room.

    Also, the whole time I played on MuddBudd's Ragnarok server, I always went to sleep in my second floor bedroom and I never woke up anywhere but there.

  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    Re: Floors

    On Ragnarok I would occasionally log in to find myself on the floor below for a second, but I would quickly rubberband back up. YMMV on platforms or rafts though.

    Re: xpac items

    I think its up to Wildcard if stuff like ziplines etc.. can also be made on Extinction, but in the past, that limitation has only applied to CRAFTING that item. Using it should work for anyone. So we can always have people who own Aberration make that kind of stuff, or I can put it on a vendor somewhere.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • DacDac Registered User regular
    Aberration has glider wings and climbing tools.

    Combined with the CKF grapple gun you feel like Batman.

    Steam: catseye543
    PSN: ShogunGunshow
    Origin: ShogunGunshow
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    I'll make sure everything is useable, one way or another. Especially if I decide to limit fliers in any way. Gasbags look fun as heck though, those are totally in.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • LucascraftLucascraft Registered User regular
    So reading through this thread recently, and also being a frequent Reader/Poster in the Conan Exiles thread, I've been thinking about the Build/Craft/Survive genre lately.

    And I keep coming back to this thought - both of these games, ARK and Conan, seem very cyclical in the community interest. With ARK, a new map comes out, it has a few new critters to tame, buildings to build, and equipment to craft. And interest wanes after probably 1-2 months at most. The same is true in Conan. A big new feature comes in (such as the pet taming, or the jungle biome) and people come back and play for a while, but then interest wanes again.

    Is that just the nature of this genre? People come and go? What can be done to improve the longevity of these games? What can ARK (or Conan) do to try to hold on to its players for longer than a month or two to check out new features and then leave?

  • NEO|PhyteNEO|Phyte They follow the stars, bound together. Strands in a braid till the end.Registered User regular
    It's the nature of the genre. After moment-to-moment survival stops being a concern, your only objective is what you set for yourself, especially if there isn't a notable gear/skill progression to dangle in front of you.

    It was that somehow, from within the derelict-horror, they had learned a way to see inside an ugly, broken thing... And take away its pain.
    Warframe/Steam: NFyt
  • MuddBuddMuddBudd Registered User regular
    I think it's the nature of the genre. The amount of content needed to keep a survival game active super long term is a bit much. It's the same problem MMOs have. Without an offical 'ending', there's not a goal driving people.

    A lot of it is Balance. I always tried to make sure that in ARK, for example, the amount of time you invested in taming something didn't take your whole day, but still took long enough that the tame wasn't something you'd throw away.

    But you'd need an escalating story, not unlike xpacs in WOW. This is why games like this love to focus on PVP. Because it means other people create the content FOR them.

    There's no plan, there's no race to be run
    The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
  • KalnaurKalnaur I See Rain . . . Centralia, WARegistered User regular
    Yeah, I've gotten to the point in SP of Conan that I'm almost done with all the stuff necessary to "escape", but doing so deletes your save, so not doing that. I hate PvP, and while the intermittent attacks by npcs in Conan is fun PvE for a bit, there's just not enough content to keep me there for years at a time. And honestly, I've never actually played any game for years at a time other than ARK. I'm usually one of the first on the new servers, and last to leave. However, that's more due to how much I like to build in these games rather than any content keeping me around.

    Honestly, I can't think of any usual game that takes more than 100ish hours max. I mean, even Elder Scrolls games only take around 300-400 hours max to get everything, and then you're done. I mean, you could go back, but I don't really see the point.

    More or less what the other two say is the point, in that the survive and craft style game is much like the MMO genre, relying on constant updates to keep and bring back players. The problem being that here, the content is also largely player driven and directed. There's also the few players that stay constantly because of PvP, but the average player isn't really going to invest long term.

    I make art things! deviantART: Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
  • Dr. Phibbs McAtheyDr. Phibbs McAthey Registered User regular
    I don't know if I'm going to be joining this go-round, at least at first when hype is at its peak. I'm one of the weirdos that's actually super looking forward to Fallout 76 and will likely be armpit deep into that, kids allowing. Unless it really does suck then yeah I'm in for Extinction.

  • General_ArmchairGeneral_Armchair Registered User regular
    Ok, so one more question. Back in vanilla when I last played, one of the big problems that I had was that I was pretty much shackled to the game. I had to log in ever other day or so to make sure that all of my animals were fed. If I were to go out of town for a week, then I would either need to lead an exodus to an obelisk to upload my dinos or rely upon the good graces of another player to feed my dinos. The feeding trough did a lot to help alleviate the chore of feeding the dinos, but things still spoiled relatively fast.

    Did they make any changes to the metabolism of dinos to help keep them from starving if you aren't able to log on for a few days? The description of this cryo-chamber sounds like it will solve the problem by giving you the option to mothball your dinos. Just freeze them into an "icecube" and then presumably stuff them in a freezer that's hooked up to a well supplied generator. However the cryo-chamber also sounds like it's pretty far down the tech tree, and I hope that I can reach it before life calls me away from the game for any extended period of time.

    3DS Friend Code:
    Armchair: 4098-3704-2012
This discussion has been closed.