Community Crunch 101 & ARK Digest 48: Introducing the Phoenix!
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- By Jen
- 84 comments
- 51,307 views
Hey Survivors! Welcome to the latest edition of the Community Crunch! 
The Community Crunch is where we share important things going on with ARK, as well as host contests and showcase creations made by the community! Let's get started with some news.
Introducing the Phoenix!
A new Dino Dossier has been revealed, this one is everyone’s flaming fire flyer, the Phoenix!
Common name: Phoenix
Species: Unknown
Time: Unknown
Diet: Flame Eater
Temperament: Elusive
Wild
Among the most mysterious of all flying creatures, much of what is known about the Phoenix exists in legends which have been told through generations. These myths have often changed through the passing of time, but one constant is the belief that fire represents cleansing and renewal. The Phoenix embodies this process through its everlasting cycle of death and renewal.
Extreme heat-waves in the desert seem to initiate the rise of the Phoenix, while the end of this so-called "Super Heat" precipitates the creature's reversion into ashes. While the Phoenix seems ambivalent to most wildlife, if provoked, its ferocity is evident in its ability to set targets aflame with a single bite.
Domesticated
Attempting to pacify a Phoenix is, quite literally, playing with fire. The Phoenix must be continually set ablaze in order to be tamed. I've seen many turned into dust and ash in the attempt. After it has been pacified, the Phoenix will regain its vitality when it is aflame! Although its compact size prevents the Phoenix from being ridden, its aggressive enflaming has proved to be invaluable in battle. Plus, it can quickly roast up tasty cooked meat and refine raw ores at any time, as a living furnace!
ARK Digest 48!
Here is our question and answer session with Lead Designer, Lead Programmer, Co-Creative Director of ARK: Survival Evolved, and Co-Founder of Studio Wildcard: Jeremy "Drake" Stieglitz!
Survivor Monics asks, “When it comes to game performance in general... The game has come a long way I believe, optimization wise... But still, is missing quite a bit. What are your plans moving forward regarding these specifics?”
QuoteA lot of server-side work in particular, more physics threading and more efficient networking. For clients, one of the biggest areas for potential improvement currently is faster rendering of large bases: using instanced meshes to render hundreds of structures in a single draw-call. After that, general profiling. DX12 is still of interest, but we need to do more analysis to make sure it’s a real benefit to players -- the gains were small last time we checked, and the drivers were unstable, though I imagine a lot has improved over the past year, so will be taking another look at it!
Survivor DangerPlayz asks, “Hey Jeremy! I play a lot of singleplayer and am very happy with the changes you have made recently! However, can we please get an option to remove the engram points system and unlock all engrams at a certain level, when we reach said level. Thanks!”
QuoteWill do, easy enough.
Survivor Caseybear asks “Will the small CrossArk cluster servers be gaining access to Ragnarok and other future content? If so, any idea when?”
QuoteAye, it should be added when we allocate more server machines at launch.
Survivor IGNWhyt asks, “Will you please address the issue where the game takes up 100+GB? Is this intended? Are there any plans on reducing the size?”
QuoteIt’s intended. In essence, much of the content exists in two forms: seekfree (for fast-loading of the basic game), and non-seekfree for support of Mods and Total Conversion to use individual assets. That said, there is a strong argument the non-seekfree files necessary for Mods should be contained in an optional “Mod Support” DLC pack, and not part of the immediate base game. Will consider this in the days ahead.
Survivor RaifuForLaifu, asks “Can we get a damage reduction on The Dragon's fire breath pretty please with extra sprinkles on top? 25% feels a tad ridiculous. Thank you”
QuoteIt shall be done!
Survivor Blackwolfe asks, “You earlier mentioned that you were reworking the kibble tree. Will this also affect the kibbles asked for when imprinting dinos? Beacuse kibble for imprinting I think is a large part of why people feel forced to have a lot of dinos (together with the kibbles needed for taming).”
QuoteYes, we have a tentative rework of the Kibble Tree that will be going live on the post-retail-launch “Experimental” branch for public feedback.
Survivor GamerPerfection asks, “Can you make the Tribe Logs record your Tames/Turrets kills? I find it frustrating not knowing what they've actually killed when i'm not around.”
QuoteIt shall be done!
Survivor Mendoza asks, “Can we get Sun Glasses added to the game to help reduce glare?”
QuoteYep.
Survivor iAmE asks, “Do you plan on hiring any additional support staff? I would figure any number would be nice, as you would seem to be going up from what appears to be zero (4-6 Month ticket turn arounds hurt this game an immense amount.”
QuoteYeah, as we get into retail launch and beyond, more Support Staff is going to be needed and we’ll be getting that buffed in the coming weeks.
Survivor Touhma asks, “As A server Admin I want an option that can allow me to have a full customisation on Taming time / ressources Any chances to have this options :
* TamedDinoCharacterFoodDrainMultiplier -> To avoid the consumption of ressource after taming ( when foodDrain is up )
* WildDinoCharacterFoodDrainMultiplier -> To tweak the speed of taming whitout affect the tamed dinos ( when foodDrain is up and avoiding the effect on tamed dinos )
* WildDinoTorporDrainMultiplier -> To have a use of narcotics ( because of TamingEfficiency make narcotics almost useless en taming time is less than offi )
* PassiveTameIntervalMultiplier -> To adjust the interval between 2 feeding tentative for passive tame dinos ( because if the foorDrainMultiplier is greater than 2 the dino is dying when trying to tame it )
Why I want these changes:
QuoteThose are good, and we’ll get it done!
Survivor CottonCandy asks, “1) Is there any chance we'll see an option to enable NVIDIA Ansel on servers that don't care about people using it to cheat, etc?”
QuoteYeah, we’ll just add the capability to use Ansel if you’re an admin :-P
Survivor PaladinKong asks, “Will those who have the game now in early access be able to get the physical items that come with the collectors edition, like the dossier book, without having to buy another copy of the game?”
QuoteThe company that manufactures & distributes the Collector’s Editions (which is not us directly) has told us that when they sell out, they can manufacture more that are CE-only (and thus cheaper) without the game included. I think we’re close to selling out, so we’ll bug them about it now.
Survivor johnm81 asks, “Prim+ players have been told that load times for pc version can't be addressed till after alpha. Now that alpha is over what are the plans to lower the 5-15min load times for this total conversion?”
QuoteYep, we need to do give it a proper Seekfree cook which would then have the same load times as the base game. We’ll do so soon. The problem is that it has to then be updated (recooked) more often as well, but I think we can handle it. We may also provide Dev Kit authors with the option to do a (large but super-fast-loading) Seekfree cook.
Survivor legendaryc4 asks, “can console players get the option to hold back the left stick to slow flyers down? Very big here for me as building high up can be a pain.”
QuoteYes, we’ll add this. Been on the todo list for a while but darn the limited buttons available on gamepad. What you suggest seems like a good way to go with it.
Survivor Lowly asks, “Can we get some sort of flame retardant suite, firefighter suite, racing driver type flame retardant suite, to fit into the modern technology side of scorched earth”
QuoteYes, Bio/Hazard Suit is incoming.
Survivor Dustiest-Ninja asks, “On a scale of 1-Incredible Hulk how much did dealing with the PhysX Engine for the tek ATV-jeeps make you rage?”
QuoteIt was… interesting. In all fairness, we actually had to modify the lowest-level PhysX code in order to make it work halfway-decently :-P I hope to do more with that soon.
Survivor Syntac asks, “Will you guys ever implement the Hive, the creature in the dev kit that looks like a giant beetle?”
QuoteAfter the Phoenix
Survivor Gelantious asks, “Any news related to Vulkan? Still having hopes you guys will move over to it and ditch the idea of dx12, since it would help Linux users as well and all windows users, not just the windows 10 players.”
QuoteUnreal 4’s own official Vulkan integration was only like half-functional when I last reviewed it a few months ago. I’ll take a look shortly to see if it’s farther along. Once Epic has got it going fully well (fully matching the functionality and pipeline of DX11 & Shader Model 5), I’d like to try to incorporate it into ARK.
Survivor tolle79 asks” lets be serious the question of all quetions is why doesnt the doedicurus gather berries? Like how does it survive in the wild?”
QuoteIt ought to gather berries! :-P
Survivor LordMaxilos asks, “TEK: Is there any chance that some sort of TEK Bow will be introduced to the game? As well as a TEK Arrow who will split up into three when you shoot it or something?”
QuoteTek Bow isn’t a question of “if”, just a question of “when”!
Survivor Redstorm8616 asks, “Growable Cactus Sap?”
QuoteHmm, could be fun. <*Ouch, prickly!*> In all seriousness, we should totally do it and will. Would be fun to have more growable crops.
Survivor mleii asks, “Can we get some videos showing what the Xbox One X will look like in game?”
QuoteSoon -- the Xbox One X runs at 1440p 30 FPS using “PC High” settings, or 60 FPS 1080p using “PC Medium” settings (we’ll provide the Option for either High or Medium modes). Also because the Xbox One X has so much available RAM, ARK for Xbox One X has a new 4k texture pack (free DLC) and when the a non-dedicated multiplayer host is Xbox One X, the clients don’t have a distance-tether! It was shown behind-closed-doors on August 8 Xbox One X event at Microsoft, so I think we can take some video from that build.
The Great Migration!
We have some very important news for Survivors playing on our official servers. This coming Tuesday (August 22nd) we will be posting the list of servers that will be taken down on our launch day and re-purposed for the new servers, while all other existing servers become Legacy servers. For those who decide not to migrate, the saves for these servers will be uploaded and provided, which you can then download and use to host your own unofficial servers with all of your stuff intact.
Closer to release date we will also be communicating how these servers will be allocated, so you can prepare to take over a new server!
ARK: 3x Evolution Event Weekend!
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 21st at 12PM EST. All Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:
3x Harvesting Rate
3x Taming Rate
3x EXP Rate
3x Maturing
3x Hatching
3x Gestation
3x Faster Mating Interval Rates
Reminder: this 2x bonus is on top of the 2x rates that are now standard on our official servers!
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... F1r3fly with their map Hinsawdd!
PGMapName=Hinsawdd
PGTerrainPropertiesString=MapSeed=71;LandscapeRadius=1.0;Water Frequency=5.5;Mountains Frequency=9.8;Mountains Slope=1.5;MountainsHeight=0.95;Turbulence Power=0.0125;Shore Slope=1.0;WaterLevel=-0.72;GrassDensity=1.0;JungleGrassDensity=0.02;ErosionSteps=10;TreesGroundSlopeAccuracy=0.5;DepositionStrength=0.025;ErosionStrength=1;OceanFloorLevel=-1.0;SnowBiomeSize=0.493963;RWBiomeSize=0.25019;MountainBiomeStart=-0.57;MountainsTreeDensity=0.01;JungleBiomeStart=-0.68;IslandBorderCurveExp=4.0;MaxSawnPointHeight=0.1;SnowGrassDensity=0.25;MountainGrassDensity=0.25;SnowMountainGrassDensity=0.15;UnderwaterObjectsDensity=0.6;SnowMountainsTreeDensity=0.01;TreeDensity=0.04;JungleTreeDensity=0.66;RedWoodTreeDensity=0.35;SnowTreeDensity=1.0;RedwoodGrassDensity=0.15;ShoreTreeDensity=0.05;SnowShoreTreeDensity=0.025;DeepWaterBiomesDepth=-0.24;InlandWaterObjectsDensity=0.5;ShorelineStartOffset=0.01;ShorelineThickness=0.002;MountainGeneralTreesPercent=0.5;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)
If you'd like to learn more about PGMs, please check out our quick start guide:
NVidia Ansel Photography Contest
Super Resolution Version: http://images.nvidia.com/ansel/SuperResolution/ARK-SuperResolution1/ARK__Survival_Evolved_HighRes_2016_09_01_-_14_38_36_55.html
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!
The Body Farmer - Giga on the Great Plains
Honourable Mentions!
EXFIB0 - Ragnarok
EXFIB0 - Wyvern Scar
F1r3fly - Sunset Solitude
Kovko - Bug Attack
Kovko - Catch me
Kovko - Waterfall
Pollti – Giga on fire
Pollti – She is so funny
Valoule - RagnaRock
Wolf Angelus - Dawn in Japan
Wolf Angelus - House Rangetsu
Wolf Angelus - Scenic Japan
Panoramic 360 Stereoscopic 3D!
Winner!
Kovko - High
Honourable Mentions!
EXFIB0 - Generated
EXFIB0 - Snow Valley
Kovko - Bloody Shore
Kovko - Deserted Island
Kovko - Rainy
Wolf Angelus - House Rangetsu Courtyard
Wolf Angelus - House Rangetsu Entrance
Freeform!
Winner!
BatmanTDKR - Little Dragon
Runners Up!
Valoule - postcARK from Ragnarok
Wolf Angelus - (Postcard) Greetings from Hanamura
GreetingsfromHanamura-Freeform.jpg.0797538fe6c049e165c45e0ff024e9bc.jpg)
Honourable Mentions!
Cheb - Atlantis of the Sands
Cheb - Drake's Fortune
Cheb - Gate to Shambala
Cheb - Libertalia
EXFIB0 - Burning
EXFIB0 - Flight
EXFIB0 - Light
F1r3fly - Winter's Breath
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 101 is...
The Airship Has Arrived - Steampunk Mod v(1.8) by LameWolfProductions
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 101 is…
The City Challenge, Vanilla+ Base Tour by Flydive!
We also want to announce two amazing runner ups...
House Rangetsu - Inspired by Castle Himeji by Wolf Angelus!
and...
GoT: BUILDING THE SEVEN KINGDOMS Ragnarok | EP1 Pyke Castle | Ark Survival [ NO MODS ] by badassunicorn!
If you'd like to check out the submissions from the rest of the entrants, you can do so here:
Fan Feature!
Polymer Clay Microraptor by by Naila
https://www.facebook.com/Polymer-Clay-art-by-Naila-458565734212216/
When you finally reach Endgame in ARK: Survival Evolved - Lame Game Skits by LameWolfProductions
THE BABY BOOMER by ranger1presents!
ALL DINO BATTLE (to date) || EPIC ARENA BATTLE by Squidge Meister
Fishy by GeeKy gAMer no.1 & gOOgly Owl
Star City by Dragonarcwar
Massive Castle/ Fortress Build on Scorched Earth Ark Survival Evolved by Travis138
MY HOUSE by 林小欣
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1111486558
Alangsauras by Mglogo
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1113411338
Realistic Dinosaurs size update by DinoPlayer34
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1110030818
Tyrannosaurus Rex Lip Function by DinoPlayer34
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1111849998
Andrewsarchus by milokamilo
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1110733723
Tanystropheus by Scanova the Carnotaurus
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1108880618
Dossier: Elasmotherium by Scanova the Carnotaurus
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1108719461
Dossier: Tyrannotitan by Scanova the Carnotaurus
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1112869623
Dossier: Giganotosaurus by Scanova the Carnotaurus
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1111936262
Dossier: Woolly Mammoth by Scanova the Carnotaurus
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1110447510
Additional Creatures Official Dossier: Walrus by Shadlos
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1110889823
That's it for this post guys! As always if you’ve got anything to share please get in touch and be sure to follow us on:
Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
All the best,
Studio Wildcard
Edited by Jen
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