ARK Two Year Anniversary & Community Crunch 94!

As of today, Friday the 2nd of June, ARK: Survival Evolved will be celebrating its second birthday. It has been two years since we've entered Early Access and a lot crazy and exciting things have happened since then. We'll be celebrating this event by running a special Evolution Event:

Evolution Event: BIRTHDAY!

Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! It's already live now and will remain active until Monday the 5th at 1PM EST. All Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

2x Harvesting Rate
2x Taming Rate
2x EXP Rate
2x Baby Mature Speed
2x Egg Hatching & Gestation Speed
2x Mating Interval (LESS!)

That isn't all! Survivors will also be able to craft a special piece of cake at a cooking pot, which will grant them the magical Loot Booster buff! It increases the rarity and value of any Supply Crate, or Loot Box you open! (This is currently live on all platforms, so you'll be able to craft the special celebratory cake!).

Year Two of ARK!

So another year has passed and with the help of our lovely community, we've been able to achieve so much! We want to take this post to take a look at what's happened over the past year for ARK, and some of the great community contributions that have been made to the game. We could probably make over 50 threads filling it up with how you guys have inspired us with your creations, but we've got to keep it reasonable for readers so let's go through some of the favorites we've seen over the past year!

For those wondering how much we've achieved in the last 12 months, here's a quick run-down:

Primitive+ became a part of the Official Mods Program and made its debut on console!

The ARK was revamped on multiple occasions to introduce new biomes, or expand old ones (such as the Redwood Biome)

The Survival of the Fittest Summer Cup took place in Shanghai, China at ChinaJoy!

Launching our first expansion pack, Scorched Earth!

Getting in our Explorer Notes and Procedurally Generated Maps System!

Everyone's favourite fearful festivities, Fear Evolved 2!

Getting on the cover of PCGamer and doing our initial TEK Tier Reveal!

RAISING OVER $25,000 for ExtraLife in our 24 HR Charity Stream!

Introduce our CrossARK Cluster System!

Re-doing our cave systems!

Our giant underwater caves!

Sheep Gate!

TEK Tier and Dynamic Hair!

ARK Sponsored Mod Program!

Underwater bases and the mystical Unicorn!

TEK Cave and Ascension System!

Not to mention all our many new creatures (over 40!), their custom variants, skins, weapons, structure pieces, new emotes, hairstyles, and a couple hundred patches with a number of fixes and QOL changes! It has been a very busy year for the ARK team and we've still got more to come! 

Our Community Faves!

Over the past year there have been some amazing creations done by our community. We would be here all day showcasing all of them, so here is a highlight of just a few of our favourites.

ANSEL

BlueDragon - Not today

Morgengrau - Khalasar 2

Wolf Angelus - Rainforest Adventures

Watching The Sun Rise - GravesAJ

Dark Dolphin - Curiosity

RELEASE THE KRAKEN - Seggzy

Artwork

Cyan Rex by esrcee

The timid Warrior by Freyaloi

Redwood by WYF

Babies of Ark! by Silent Echo

Inktober 2016 DAY 2 by Freyaloi

All aboard the Diplodobus by Talenshi!

Builds

Tardis by Valoule

ARK Survival: Wolf's Renaissance Fair & Jousting Arena by Wolf Angelus

GG Fizz - The Jerboa Kingdom

ranger1presents - Village in the Trees!

Scorched Earth Main Base Showcase - ARK: Advanced Building - Molten Iron Server PVE Survival

Ark:SE ARKitect 05 || Modern House || TimmyCarbine

Fan-made Videos

ARK Survival Evolved Song | "Evolve"

ARK SURVIVAL EVOLVED RAP By JT Machinima feat. Dan Bull - "Apex Predator"

Ark Survival Evolved Cartoon - Scorched Earth

The Toilet Scene - A Jurassic ARK Cinematic!

Pokemon Go Evolved (Ark: Survival Evolved Cinematic)

ATTACK OF THE ACHATINA! - ARK Bites

Mod Showcase

It’s been an exciting year for the modding community.  In addition to the modding contest we’ve held, we are now in the midst of a program that compensates modders for doing what they enjoy to do - making mods.  It’s been exciting to see the community grow which includes welcoming people that are new to modding and showing them the ropes.

You may not be aware, but we have an insanely active modding community.  A huge thanks goes out to the admins at the unofficial modding discord.  Don’t let that unofficial word scare you off!  Stop by and you will quickly realize how official it is.  With some of the best modders in our community, it shouldn’t be hard to find answers to the questions you are looking for.  This community is also responsible for creating the ARKModding website.  A place where you can find all sorts of resources if you’re looking to get modding in the ARK Development kit.

The growth we’ve shown over the year keeps me excited for what’s to come. While we’re here, let’s take a look at some of my favorite mods to come across the workshop until now.  Be advised that the majority of these mods may not be functional or no longer updated! 

Dino Racing:Evolved
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=626642159

Maybe you’ve never wanted to race your dino’s but I know a lot of people, myself included, that have.  It’s very common to see new structures and maps in the workshop, but this was something completely new.  Something that showed a high level of understanding the development kit.  It placed 4th in our International Modding Contest, and rightfully so.  Mezzo, the creator, is also in our Sponsored Mod Program.

Carts & Wagons
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=695990475

This is one of those ideas that makes so much sense, you wonder why it hadn’t been done before.  This mod allows you to attach wagons that act as storage to dinos.  This is no easy feat to pull off and from what I understand, MechanizedIT had some issues when working on his prototype.  No worries, looks like he is back at it!

Pocket Cages
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=709237905

Pocket Cages was a pretty cool take on a fairly popular game.  It allowed you to toss a ball out that would capture a wild dino.  You could then, pick up the ball, and release it wherever you wanted.  I’m pretty sure some of the major kinks never got worked out but there’s always someone who could pick up the ball where he left it!

Tribe Wars
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=547753876

Tribe wars is a PvP-based game that has some capture the flag and team deathmatch elements to it.  Instead of capturing the flag, you are essentially trying to destroy it.  The developer of the mod has moved on and now works at DICE, but it is an amazing example of what can be done in the development kit.

Mad Mars

What an amazing concept!  This looked like it would be a Total Conversion, similar to Ark: Moon Survival.  Sadly, this one never came to life.  One can always dream!

These are just a few of the amazing mods that have caught my eye over the past year.  I have no doubts that next year's list will be just as impressive!  Until next time!

- Wildcard Ced

ARK's Biggest Ever Steam Sale!

From now until June the 5th at 1PM EST, Survivors can purchase both ARK: Survival Evolved and Scorched Earth at their largest discounted price ever, for 68% off! Hurry and grab it whilst you can!

Your ARK Stories!

We're still collecting stories, everyone! Let us know about your player experiences with ARK  How do you play ARK? Do you think you have a unique experience with the game? Please check out the post below and share your experiences with us.

Community Contests!

Player Procedurally Generated Maps!

The Procedurally Generated Map system allows players to make their own ARK maps by determining a myriad of landscape options from the heights of mountains, depths of valleys, and the number of lakes, rivers or oceans, to the kinds of each biome they want, and more! Let's check out the entries for this weeks contest! This week's contest winner is... roguewolf!

If you'd like to try the map out yourself, we'll be featuring it on one of our Extinction Servers next month, or you can get a head start and set up the settings yourself!

[/Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameMode]
PGMapName=ProcdeuralARK20170526124623
PGTerrainPropertiesString=MapSeed=8675309;LandscapeRadius=1.0;Water Frequency=4.259775;Mountains Frequency=13.943296;Mountains Slope=2.051149;MountainsHeight=1.096463;Turbulence Power=0.0125;Shore Slope=1.0;WaterLevel=-0.72;GrassDensity=1.0;JungleGrassDensity=0.02;ErosionSteps=4;TreesGroundSlopeAccuracy=0.5;DepositionStrength=0.5;ErosionStrength=0.75;OceanFloorLevel=-1.0;SnowBiomeSize=0.350026;RWBiomeSize=0.248695;MountainBiomeStart=-0.65239;MountainsTreeDensity=0.01;JungleBiomeStart=-0.600038;IslandBorderCurveExp=4.0;MaxSawnPointHeight=0.1;SnowGrassDensity=0.257;MountainGrassDensity=0.052;SnowMountainGrassDensity=0.15;UnderwaterObjectsDensity=0.5;SnowMountainsTreeDensity=0.01;TreeDensity=0.0027;JungleTreeDensity=0.66;RedWoodTreeDensity=0.15;SnowTreeDensity=1.0;RedwoodGrassDensity=0.12;ShoreTreeDensity=0.05;SnowShoreTreeDensity=0.025;DeepWaterBiomesDepth=-0.24;InlandWaterObjectsDensity=0.5;ShorelineStartOffset=0.015;ShorelineThickness=0.0015;MountainGeneralTreesPercent=0.1;TerrainScaleMultiplier=(X=1.0f,Y=1.0f,Z=1.0f);SnowBiomeLocation=(X=0.2f,Y=0.2f);RWForestBiomeLocation=(X=0.5f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion1Start=(X=0.25f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion1End=(X=0.416f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion2Start=(X=0.416f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion2End=(X=0.582f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion3Start=(X=0.582f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion3End=(X=0.75f,Y=0.0f);SouthRegion1Start=(X=0.25f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion1End=(X=0.416f,Y=1.0f);SouthRegion2Start=(X=0.416f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion2End=(X=0.582f,Y=1.0f);SouthRegion3Start=(X=0.582f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion3End=(X=0.75f,Y=1.0f);EastRegion1Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.0f);EastRegion1End=(X=1.0f,Y=0.333f);EastRegion2Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.333f);EastRegion2End=(X=1.0f,Y=0.666f);EastRegion3Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.666f);EastRegion3End=(X=1.0f,Y=1.0f);WestRegion1Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.0f);WestRegion1End=(X=0.25f,Y=0.333f);WestRegion2Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.333f);WestRegion2End=(X=0.25f,Y=0.666f);WestRegion3Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.666f);WestRegion3End=(X=0.25f,Y=1.0f)
PGLastPreset=0
PGFavorites=UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;UNUSED;
PGLastUsedSettings_v2=MapSeed=8675309;LandscapeRadius=1.0;Water Frequency=4.259775;Mountains Frequency=13.943296;Mountains Slope=2.051149;MountainsHeight=1.096463;Turbulence Power=0.0125;Shore Slope=1.0;WaterLevel=-0.72;GrassDensity=1.0;JungleGrassDensity=0.02;ErosionSteps=4;TreesGroundSlopeAccuracy=0.5;DepositionStrength=0.5;ErosionStrength=0.75;OceanFloorLevel=-1.0;SnowBiomeSize=0.350026;RWBiomeSize=0.248695;MountainBiomeStart=-0.65239;MountainsTreeDensity=0.01;JungleBiomeStart=-0.600038;IslandBorderCurveExp=4.0;MaxSawnPointHeight=0.1;SnowGrassDensity=0.257;MountainGrassDensity=0.052;SnowMountainGrassDensity=0.15;UnderwaterObjectsDensity=0.5;SnowMountainsTreeDensity=0.01;TreeDensity=0.0027;JungleTreeDensity=0.66;RedWoodTreeDensity=0.15;SnowTreeDensity=1.0;RedwoodGrassDensity=0.12;ShoreTreeDensity=0.05;SnowShoreTreeDensity=0.025;DeepWaterBiomesDepth=-0.24;InlandWaterObjectsDensity=0.5;ShorelineStartOffset=0.015;ShorelineThickness=0.0015;MountainGeneralTreesPercent=0.1;TerrainScaleMultiplier=(X=1.0f,Y=1.0f,Z=1.0f);SnowBiomeLocation=(X=0.2f,Y=0.2f);RWForestBiomeLocation=(X=0.5f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion1Start=(X=0.25f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion1End=(X=0.416f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion2Start=(X=0.416f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion2End=(X=0.582f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion3Start=(X=0.582f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion3End=(X=0.75f,Y=0.0f);SouthRegion1Start=(X=0.25f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion1End=(X=0.416f,Y=1.0f);SouthRegion2Start=(X=0.416f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion2End=(X=0.582f,Y=1.0f);SouthRegion3Start=(X=0.582f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion3End=(X=0.75f,Y=1.0f);EastRegion1Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.0f);EastRegion1End=(X=1.0f,Y=0.333f);EastRegion2Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.333f);EastRegion2End=(X=1.0f,Y=0.666f);EastRegion3Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.666f);EastRegion3End=(X=1.0f,Y=1.0f);WestRegion1Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.0f);WestRegion1End=(X=0.25f,Y=0.333f);WestRegion2Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.333f);WestRegion2End=(X=0.25f,Y=0.666f);WestRegion3Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.666f);WestRegion3End=(X=0.25f,Y=1.0f)

For those wanting to make their own PGM, here's a quick start guide, as well as a very informative video from ThickFreedom!

NVidia Ansel Photography Contest

ARK: Survival Evolved and the Scorched Earth Expansion Pack now include support for NVIDIA Ansel -- a revolutionary new way to capture in-game shots.  Compose shots from any position, adjust with post-process filters, capture HDR images in high-fidelity formats, and share the screenshots in 360 via a smartphone, PC or VR headset. 

Learn more about these features from the NVIDIA blog.

Now let’s get to the contest!

There were 3 potential categories for survivors to enter their shots into and they were the following:

Three Categories

Super Resolution: These should be taken at 8x Super Resolution. Players can optionally use Depth of Field effects accessible in Spectator mode by pressing the [Delete] key.

Panoramic 360 Stereoscopic 3D: These should be taken at 4x Super Resolution,  in 360 Stereoscopic 3D mode. We will crop them to 2D for web display, while also providing the 3D version for viewing within VR display.

Freeform: Any settings, whacky and creative use of Ansel filters are encouraged. Adding humorous titles/captions in Photoshop is also acceptable for this category!

And now without further ado, here are your entries!

You’ll want to click on the image title to be able to download the maximum size image, we’ve resized them for display purposes 

Super Resolution!

Winner!

Ego - It seems today is not my day

Runners-up!

BlueDragon - A Mothers Love

Pollti - Leedsichthys kills a raft

Jamie Weaver - Dawn Rider

Honourable Mentions!

Kovko - Pillars

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port 3

Mr Dolphin - Majestic

roguewolf91 - So Close You Can Taste It

EXFIB0 - Paradise

Valoule - Ice Cave Discovery

EXFIB0 - Swarmed

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port Night 2

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port Tavern

GG Fizz - Dwarven Mining Outpost Back

Onet Teo - Kentos_03

GG Fizz - Dwarven Mining Outpost Front

Kovko - Gone Fishing

Domino - What Lies Ahead

BlueDragon - Spiders Tomb

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port

BlueDragon - Defend

Valoule - Thawing

BlueDragon - Blending in

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port Night

Onet Teo - Kento_03

Onet Teo - Lurking Liopleurodon

Onet Teo - Lurking Liopleurodon

Ego - Hunting in the fog

Kovko - Perfect Morning

Kovko - Proud

Panoramic 360 Stereoscopic 3D!

Winners!

BlueDragon - 360 Flight

Runner Up!

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port Market Night 2

EXFIB0 - Biomes

Honourable Mentions!

Valoule - Colosseum

BlueDragon - Oasis

BlueDragon - The land of milk and honey

BlueDragon - Threshold

EXFIB0 - Snow

EXFIB0 - The Island

Kovko - Black River

Kovko - Cloudy

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port Tavern

Wolf Angelus - Sea-Port Tavern Night

Freeform!

Winner!

F1r3fly - Thief

Runner-up!

BlueDragon - Winter is Coming

Honourable Mentions!

F1r3fly - Squished!

Valoule - Prey ARK

Wolf Angelus - Questionable Idol Comic Strip

ARKVideo!

This contest is open to all types of video be they funny, epic, scenic, stories, whatever inspires you. Just a general reminder that they should remain safe for work, think of the children!

And without further ado, the ARKVideo for Community Crunch 94 is...

The new VOLCANO (Update v257) | Epic Cinematic Video | ARK: Survival Evolved by MAVE!

ARKitect!

This is an award given to Survivors to celebrate the amazing structures you build. These bases are judged based upon a number of different factors such as their creativity, uniqueness, how fun of a base it is, the difficulty of building it, the functionality it provides and much more!

The ARKitect for Community Crunch 94 is… 

and...

SEAVIEW BASE - ARK: Survival Evolved!

If you'd like to check out the submissions from the rest of the entrants, you can do so here:

Fan Feature!

Birthday Raptor by https://twitter.com/Kuroryushin

Equus with natural colors by Akhoris

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=933030292

Cover Blown by Dead Nitr0th3Edg3l0rd

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=929863915

Leopard Thylacoleo by Sharkcat

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=937669214

CAST IT INTO THE FIRE! - ARK Cinematic Skits

GGFizz - Jerboa Kingdom (SparcMX ReVisit)

STEAMPUNK MOD (Update v1.6) | Epic Cinematic Video | ARK: Survival Evolved

Pikachu - by Wolf Angelus

Northern Coastal Town! by Ventures

ARK Survival: Overwatch Lootbox 3D Sculpture/Base

TUSCAN VILLA!!- Ark Building Montage Monday EP 30

LOG CABIN MANOR!!- Ark Building Montage Monday EP 31

NEW CASTLE BUILD!!- Ark Montage Monday Build EP 32

Four Kingdoms RP: Join our server!

Building the Silo! : Ep12 : Exploring Ragnarok : IronMine

Thievery at Casterly Rock! :: ARK Seven Kingdoms Roleplay :: SKRP Thief Ep. 2

Ark Elevator Workshop Build Guide :: Elevator Base Building Tutorial :: How To Build - UniteTheClans

ARK DON’T BRING A QUETZAL WHEN TAMING GIANT BEES! w/THE AXEMAN! HOW TO TAME GIANT BEES AND GET HONEY

Modded Ark Survival Evolved Tek Tower!!!

Reincarnation! | Pooptopia Shigo Islands S4E9 | Ark Survival Evolved

ARK: Survival Evolved How To Make All Recipes - Mindwipe Medical Brew Lazarus Chowder

ARK Tutorial - How To Use The New UI - Controller ShortCuts Tips XBOX/PS4

Ark Center Update - Artifact Of The Brute - New Sea Caves - Megalodon Tek Saddle

Ark Survival Evolved - To bee continued

Ark: Survival Evolved - Hairy adventure ( PART 50 )

The Voras Maze by WillieDNuts

As always if you’ve got anything to share please let us know, we love to see all the awesome content you've created and would be happy to share it! You can tag us, share posts, follow, and get in touch in the following places:

Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark

Thank you all so much for your ongoing support the last two years and making ARK such an awesome game!

We love you and are looking forward to the good times ahead, together!

All the best,

Studio Wildcard