ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:42 pm

Looks like I can get into Fret's server now. Where did you guys spawn?

FWIW - looks like they released new updates last night - so that's probably what glitched. I may have trying to connect with a newer version or something.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:53 pm

Cylus Maxii wrote:Looks like I can get into Fret's server now. Where did you guys spawn?

FWIW - looks like they released new updates last night - so that's probably what glitched. I may have trying to connect with a newer version or something.

Well, that, or perhaps I'm a moron whose autopay credit card expired. It's almost certainly one of those things.

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:54 pm

Perhaps.. Most certainly one of those..

Its about midnight on the server, so I'm waiting for day to spawn in. I'm going to go for Tropical North unless somebody chimes in where they are located.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 7:02 pm

I started on the South Island, west of the blue obelisk on the beach. I moved inland last night, but you're welcome to squat in the old base and take what you find.

Tao · Post by **Tao** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:16 pm

Checked out Fret's server, ran into Cylus briefly. I am still new to the game and don't think I have the chops to play at that level yet. Lots and lots of aggro dino's, the majority of which were all way over level 100. Just repeatedly died over and over, got to the point I could not even grab a few resources and just started dying from hypothermia. Just out of curiosity what difficulty level is it set at?

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:40 pm

Just got home from bowling night. Ugh, blew the last game, but still shot 676... anyway... about to head in to bang around a little. I am on the South Tropical Island on the southern shore somewhere probably SE of obelisk.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:55 pm

Tao wrote:Checked out Fret's server, ran into Cylus briefly. I am still new to the game and don't think I have the chops to play at that level yet. Lots and lots of aggro dino's, the majority of which were all way over level 100. Just repeatedly died over and over, got to the point I could not even grab a few resources and just started dying from hypothermia. Just out of curiosity what difficulty level is it set at?

I feel like they've changed the parlance, but it's the max, so on the Center that means dinos from 1-150.

[edit] - The view from my sweet lodge:

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:38 am

I started on Jungle South today. Had one bad streak of deaths because I spawned real far away and couldn't figure out which way to go. I'm up to level 15 now. I have only 1 pet dilo so far. I'm wielding stone tools except for a metal pike that I lucked into after watching a scorpion agro a herd of 3 trikes. I waited for them to win and then harvested the scorpion and found the pike. I think I just made my first bow. My only building is a single platform that allows me to place a bed and mortar/pestle. Otherwise, I just have 3 wooden crates (for materials) and a campfire.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 2:42 am

I ran into Kelan tonight and tribed with him. Unfortunately I had a bad setting on the server and it was only local chat, so that was a bummer. When it reboots tomorrow it will be fixed.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:03 am

Fretmute wrote:

That is nice. I've got Primative+ (the native version, not a Workshop item) turned on, as well as a Stack mod... but I don't see that type of structure to build. My options still seem to just be Thatch, Wood, Stone, and Metal and they look like the vanilla versions. They're not terrible, mind you, but what you've got there looks cozy. I really like the smaller planks and more refined look.

I'm up to about 55 with the 4x EXP adjustment and doing well, but did experience the "Spawn and Die" issue where I had done something stupid, respawned, and before I was done loading, I was under attack by a Raptor. It was mighty awesome. I went back later to discover it was a level 40 Raptor and I made it my bestest little friend. Until I get something better, they're awesome high-speed mounts - but I find them to end up somewhat disposable due to low health. So much so that I've started taking my saddle off them when I dismount so I don't have to backtrack and collect the backpack they end up leaving behind.

This is the first one I've caught that's started over level 20, though, so that might make a difference.

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 12:28 pm

PG - it sounds like you may be playing vanilla. Did you select Primitive+ and get a message that the game would have to restart to load the total conversion? Another test may be do you get feathers and raw poultry when you harvest dodos? Is your metal ore called "metal" or "iron" (primitive+). Do you harvest and get seeds for things like tobacco and sugarcane, or maybe get bees?

Note - You can still probably convert your current game/survivor to Primitive+, you may just lose some engrams and materials. (Though you should get the Engram Points back). I have used the same character for both, but it was low level and I hadn't built any structure that would have been affected by Primitive+ (only basic thatch/wood that is common to both). You might also get building damage if you lost supports.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:27 pm

I did the Steam song & dance, downloaded the 800MB conversion, and enabled it in the main menu of the game... but my structures are still very vanilla. I do get feathers, poultry, bees, and an assortment of strange seeds ... but I can't remember if I get Iron or Metal (Iron, I think?).

I did completely restart to try out Primitive, so there shouldn't be a conversion issue.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 2:16 pm

Paingod wrote:I did the Steam song & dance, downloaded the 800MB conversion, and enabled it in the main menu of the game... but my structures are still very vanilla. I do get feathers, poultry, bees, and an assortment of strange seeds ... but I can't remember if I get Iron or Metal (Iron, I think?).

I did completely restart to try out Primitive, so there shouldn't be a conversion issue.

That house is from the lumber tier, which maybe you just haven't unlocked yet. If you search for "lumber" you should get a list of stuff.

mori · Post by **mori** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 8:43 pm

Finally got on Fretmute's server. Spawned in at night, quickly died and had to log out. Hopefully I can join in some more during the weekend and get established.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 7:56 am

Research seems to indicate that any other mod can break Primitive+ Engrams... even basic ones. I'm going to be dismayed if I can't use a Stacking mod along with Primitive+...

*Edit: Well that seems to be it. I get to choose between stacking resources neatly and Primitive. I lost hundreds of stacked resources, but at least I get some new stuff.

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:18 am

I have some crops up at my little base on the South Tropical Island down the beach from Fretmute. I have the 4 basic ones for making Kibble and added in some Rice, Barley, Wheat and Cabbage for now. Feel free to grab some if you need and I will try to keep it fertilized.

I didn't think to ask, but would you rather I moved off the island we are on, Fretmute? Some people like to have their own space a bit and I am willing to move soon as soon as I can make a raft if you would like. I could move inland among the ruins in the Jungle

.

I found some beaver dams and stole their goodies earlier today. If you need to know where they are and some good oil in the river near us, give me a shout.

Also, do you know what the save time is on the server, Fretmute? It reboots at 9am in the East it seems, but it doesn't seem to save before it reboots so curious how long of a time gap there is. I will check a bit closer today, but I seem to have lost a bit of time each time it resets.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:35 am

Kelan wrote:I didn't think to ask, but would you rather I moved off the island we are on, Fretmute? Some people like to have their own space a bit and I am willing to move soon as soon as I can make a raft if you would like. I could move inland among the ruins in the Jungle .

I've already done that. My base over there on the island has been empty since you got on the server.

I found some beaver dams and stole their goodies earlier today. If you need to know where they are and some good oil in the river near us, give me a shout.

Kelan wrote:Also, do you know what the save time is on the server, Fretmute? It reboots at 9am in the East it seems, but it doesn't seem to save before it reboots so curious how long of a time gap there is. I will check a bit closer today, but I seem to have lost a bit of time each time it resets.

It saves every fifteen minutes, but I assume that's based on when it finishes booting, so there is going to be up to (15-x) minutes each time. I'll see if I can script a world save right before the reboot. I can also move the time if folks are on then. That was the least likely time for myself to be on.

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:47 am

Ah cool. That works. Yeah 15 minutes is no problem, but was just curious what the time was. I can log out at 8:45 too, but just forgot this morning

.

Just got a nice beacon drop; one blue pike blueprint and a purple chitin chest piece (no blueprint on that one, though).

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 11:26 am

I'm in the OO tribe now too. I across the water from Kelan on the opposite jungle island with the tons of ruins. Theres a good amount of Beaverdamns near me. But I haven't found any oil yet.

I finally got fliying mount last night. Took an hour to tame her, even with contribution of kibble from the gracious Fretmute. But she started a 100 and was 150 with taming bonus. So yay! Fret aldo made me a saddle, which saved me spending the EP (I'm high enough level).

I'd be happy to help anybody who starts nearby.

mori · Post by **mori** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 5:09 pm

Thanks to everyone that helped me get started. Cylus was a gracious host to let me use his base and materials. I tried to contribute in any little way I could. Lost everything that Fretmute and Cylus gave me , and from what I helped myself from Fretmute's base, so I need to replace that stuff as soon as I am able so anyone else to join will have something in the cupboard.

It was funny that I spawned in again approaching nighttime. But I had enough time to craft cloth clothing and build a small thatch structure that kept me alive until daybreak when I was able to meet up and join the tribe. Interesting what different server settings have on the game. Fretmute's is far different from what I run on my personal save and preferences. I also have to report that game performance is vastly improved on a dedicated server. PITA to join, but it runs nicely with high detail.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 5:33 pm

It seems like everyone plays with mods. Are there any standouts that improve (and de-frustrate) the experience without changing the core experience too much?

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 8:22 pm

Blackhawk wrote:It seems like everyone plays with mods. Are there any standouts that improve (and de-frustrate) the experience without changing the core experience too much?

A stack mod (I use StackMeMore usually) helps a bunch, but it does change the experience in that almost everything loses weight, and perishables effectively get longer lives. Then again, it's the ultimate de-frustrator, so it all depends on what you want your experience to be.

There are a couple of finder mods (pet, corpse) that make it dramatically easier to find your corpse and the animal you were riding when you died. Again, that's another mechanic change, but it's entirely for convenience.

Structures Plus is my personal favorite. It generates duplicates of basically everything for no engrams points (you have to know the vanilla engram to learn them), and makes building better by fixing some snapping issues. Everything that you place from structures plus can also be picked up, so it eliminates the frustration of a wall suddenly snapping to the wrong spot inexplicably. There are also other quality of life changes (generator doesn't make noise, certain things that normally run on gas can be optionally changed to run on electricity.) The main issue with a mod like that is that if you ever disable it your entire base disappears.

Of course none of these work with Primitive Plus, so I had to quit cold turkey.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:31 pm

Thanks. Those are the kinds of things I was talking about. I don't want a total conversion without having tried the base game, but tedious inventory management (for instance) makes for less fun. So does searching for corpses ("Any necros? Can anyone cast Locate Corpse?")

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 1:22 pm

I couldn't connect to the server last night even though it was listed as online. It is doing the same thing today. Do you know if there is anything wrong, Fretmute?

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 2:47 pm

I was on until 1am last night and also in a little while ago but kept crashing. I even had issues starting the game. I verified game cache and 3 files bad. But it wouldn't re-acquire them even though it said it would. So I have de-selected all mods (I only had one) and deleted the local content. I even blew away the folder with saves and configs, because I don't have a local game I wanted to save.

It's downloading now - but its very slow. I tested my broadband speed and its great. So its the Steam end. I wonder if a lot of folks are re-installing..

mori · Post by **mori** » Sun Oct 16, 2016 7:49 pm

Earlier in the day it seemed there was no server, I figured scheduled server reboot. But once I was able to chose the server I had a timeout error. After that I was able to join but got disco after enough time to craft a bunch of stuff and set sail on a raft. But luckily I was at least able to retrieve the raft even though I lost all the gear. After that I was able to play for a couple hours without problem.

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 6:39 am

I was able to get in last night. I just kept trying to connect when I was getting the timeouts and eventually it let me in. Once I got in, I had no issues.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 7:57 am

I find that I'm largely ambivalent about Primitive+ ... It's nice in that it limits your technology to "True Survival" but as a Single Player person it's massively irrelevant; I can do that all by myself. That aside, it frustrates me that I can either use other quality of life mods OR Primitive+ and not both. It's also got a couple glaring bugs I ran into that put me off it so much that I'm probably going to dump it.

Pro's:

Tech limited to "survival" and not "futuristic"
Additional building styles, which are awesome
Lots of new recipes, resources, and crops
Antiquated weapons are neat
I am oddly enamored with dried firewood

Cons:

Absolutely no other mods, not even a Stacking mod - take it or leave it
Buggy mounts
- Pelagornis won't eat Primitive+ Fish Fillet, need to tame and feed with Compy Egg Kibble
- Tapejara saddle & icon missing
- Probably more I haven't run into yet
It's got a long-ish (45 seconds?) load time

I was so psyched to finally capture a Tapejara, even a low level one, because every attempt up to then had failed and they're amazingly skittish. Then I bring it home and discover I'll never be able to actually fly off into the sunset on it. Same for a Pelagornis - I stalked a higher-level one and brought it down with a couple perfect headshots, and was dismayed to discover that it won't eat anything except kibble because no one thought to change it's food requirement to match the mod.

In the short time that I used a Stacking Mod, I found it massively helpful as a single player, and it made managing the inventory mess at crafting stations sane. Now I'm back to arbitrarily small piles of goods, and wasting a lot of time sifting through it trying to figure out how much of any one thing I really have - but I have a more visually and survivally appealing game. I'm uncertain...

Oh, and a big

for finding improved tools. Finding a better crossbow, pickaxe, and hatchet inside the belly of an Alpha Raptor made my day. It damn near killed my upgraded super-Carnotaurus (over level 80 with 1700HP), but I won with 10% of his life left.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:40 am

I'm still 'grudgingly' on Primitive+ but mostly because I do like the aesthetics. I'm still really disappointed in the bugs. Unusable Tapejara & Allosaurus, unreasonable Pelagornis - and lots of other lesser bugs that don't bother me too much.

Last night I discovered the island of insane carnivores in The Center, also called "Half Burnt Island". It's nuts. Just Sabertooth Tigers, Scorpions, Raptors, Carnos, Rexes, Giganotosaurus, Argentavis, and Quetzal as far as the eye can see. The Carnos, Rexes, and Giganotosaurus didn't kill each other, but killed everything else. Lots of little backpacks laying around to scavenge after fights for free arrows. I caught a level 56 Argentavis (after taming). Crazy Stamina, and the ability to carry larger animals is awesome. So awesome that I decided it was time - I scouted the island, killing anything I could pick up and maul mid-air - gaining several levels in Speed. When I snagged a level 40 Scorpion, I set him down gently, captured him, and then tried the "Attack My Target" fly-bys on a level 2 Quetzal I had discovered earlier. It took 45 minutes of flying, landing, chasing, and poking the Quetzal until it collapsed in the middle of a dense jungle - thankfully clear of all predators as far as I could see. I had to sleep IRL though, so I'm 30% done taming her!

I look forward to mounting the platform and using it to build a trap structure to catch a second, higher level Quetzal.

It's such a shame that I almost gave up on this game, believing the game was completely broken when I really had bad RAM causing constant crashing. I've been loving the animal collection and riding different pets.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:27 am

If you're playing by yourself, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to spawn in the saddles that don't exist (or spawn in Compy kibble) to work around the bugs. It's also currently impossible to craft the viking axe (which is amazing) so I just spawn them in for whomever wants one.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 11:43 am

Hm. I normally don't go in for using console commands to accomplish things in games, but may make that exception. I really want to fly my Tapejara around. I guess I figured that if I couldn't craft it, it wouldn't work.

As soon as I have the illusive Quetzal at my command, I'm going to bump up the difficulty to 0.6 and explore some more. I was mostly afraid I'd have a massively difficult time finding one that was low enough level to knock out in the couple hours I may have to play. I imagine anything under level 10 gets mighty scarce when you're at 1.0 difficulty.

Playing on The Center, I kept pushing south into the Redwood Forest over and over, like there was something grand there. It's no wonder I was so confused by the lack of interesting things going on. Everything that's happening there is elsewhere, and the Redwoods are where you go for a vacation.

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 3:18 pm

As much as I like the aesthetics, I think I'll hold off on building much with Primitive+ building parts. It looks like the next major patch will address a bunch of the clipping/snapping issues and will include a lot of updated meshes. I bet a lot of stuff will break.

Note - I tried to build an elaborate houseboat last night and ended up demolishing much of it due to bad parts snapping. I just couldn't get a doorway that would actually take a door and let me walk through it.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Tue Oct 18, 2016 3:30 pm

Cylus Maxii wrote:Note - I tried to build an elaborate houseboat last night and ended up demolishing much of it due to bad parts snapping. I just couldn't get a doorway that would actually take a door and let me walk through it.

Did you try stacking two doors on top of each other? I know it looks dopey, but I had the same issue with adobe doors on ceilings in Scorched Earth and that was the easiest solution.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 1:26 pm

Fretmute wrote:
Cylus Maxii wrote:Note - I tried to build an elaborate houseboat last night and ended up demolishing much of it due to bad parts snapping. I just couldn't get a doorway that would actually take a door and let me walk through it.
Did you try stacking two doors on top of each other? I know it looks dopey, but I had the same issue with adobe doors on ceilings in Scorched Earth and that was the easiest solution.

That kind of statement really seems to tell me it's not ready for prime-time, or maybe people should stop trying to build houses on rafts! I didn't even try to, but I did add a camp fire, a bed, and storage. It's all I need to go out in the field and set up a new base. I suppose if you're doing PvP, you'd want to go out in grand style with all the guns and accessories you need and never leave anything behind.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 2:09 pm

The dried firewood mechanic really is the single greatest victory of P+. The burn time for things in vanilla is just absurd. The expanded consumable situation and new building skins are also pretty nice.

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 2:46 pm

I keep forgetting to try out the dried firewood. What can you use it in?

I also really like the new fertilizer and organic oil. The fertilizer especially was a pain in the rear to keep up with before getting a greenhouse and dung beetles, and even then it will probably be easier to just make some up in the mill.

Fretmute · Post by **Fretmute** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 2:57 pm

Forges and campfires are the two big ones. A stack of dried firewood in the big bonfire will burn for in-game days.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:36 pm

I mentioned it in a previous post, but I do love the firewood as well. It's a perfect, and much needed, rational addition. Resources are wildly overused and numbers could be cut to 1/10 of what they are and it would make more sense.

The Dried Firewood falls into that category. You toss a single log into the fire and you can cook 10+ raw meat with it before it goes out, instead of an almost 1:1 ratio like it was. Given the relative value of wood (used everywhere), I had started using Thatch as a cooking material when I could.

If I go back to vanilla so I can use a Stacking mod, I'll hunt and hunt for a Firewood mod

Cylus Maxii · Post by **Cylus Maxii** » Wed Oct 19, 2016 3:58 pm

Kelan wrote:I keep forgetting to try out the dried firewood. What can you use it in?

I also really like the new fertilizer and organic oil. The fertilizer especially was a pain in the rear to keep up with before getting a greenhouse and dung beetles, and even then it will probably be easier to just make some up in the mill.

Have you tried taming a Phiomia and feeding it stimberries? Its humorous..

Kelan · Post by **Kelan** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:42 am

Cylus Maxii wrote: Have you tried taming a Phiomia and feeding it stimberries? Its humorous..

Heh, nope. I will have to try that sometime.

I was able to tame a couple Anky last night, mated pair, and a mate for my Scorp so hopefully she will start laying some eggs so I can get a Rex sometime. I have most crops growing on the shoreline, but need a few more to have them all, I believe. Feel free to grab some out of there if you need any in a pinch.

I hope to find a place to settle and work on a more permanent base soon. The one place I was considering along the cliff face will probably not work too well as dinos fall off that ledge all the time and would be dropping right into my base if I build there. I may go inland and check out the area south where there are more sabers and argents around although not sure I want argents dropping in my base either

.