Mod Spotlight: ARK Settlements

At least you remembered to add the mod link.

I like the idea of city management in Ark, but I personally need it to be on a small-ish scale. It breaks up the survival theme a bit, which can be good and can be bad. I would be open in getting more elements in this same vein into basic Ark, I would especially love a small family aspect, but I don't expect it and would assume it would be considered contrary to current/past goals of development.

As fun as Ark is, it does feel weird in single player/small coop sometimes while reading the lore in the explorer notes and just being alone with the creatures. I know it could be a way to encourage multiplayer, but surely I am not the only one that likes the idea of seeing other "people" without the multiplayer problems. Kind of like the thralls from Conan Exiles.

Great job on the mod, though. I bet it was a lot of work.

i got another settlement that needs you help!

On 11/1/2019 at 12:33 PM, Calico45 said:

surely I am not the only one that likes the idea of seeing other "people" without the multiplayer problems. Kind of like the thralls from Conan Exiles.

That's what mods like Human NPCs are for

11 hours ago, Udam said:

i got another settlement that needs you help!

Yeah, this mod reminds me of Sim Settlements mod for Fallout 4, I actually wondered if it wasn't the same author when I heard about it

On 11/1/2019 at 9:33 PM, Calico45 said:

I like the idea of city management in Ark, but I personally need it to be on a small-ish scale. It breaks up the survival theme a bit, which can be good and can be bad. I would be open in getting more elements in this same vein into basic Ark, I would especially love a small family aspect, but I don't expect it and would assume it would be considered contrary to current/past goals of development.

As fun as Ark is, it does feel weird in single player/small coop sometimes while reading the lore in the explorer notes and just being alone with the creatures. I know it could be a way to encourage multiplayer, but surely I am not the only one that likes the idea of seeing other "people" without the multiplayer problems. Kind of like the thralls from Conan Exiles.

Great job on the mod, though. I bet it was a lot of work.

I originally thought ark would have currency, human npcs and cities when i 1st bought it.  The SE trailer where u walk into a city and a guy tries to sell u a jerboa is deceiving.  Frankly id love some command and conquer coding in the game.  Have npcs build strongholds and defenses.  Have npcs want to ally and trade with you like in age of empires.  Have npcs try to raid you.  It would add a lot of depth to SP as well as bring a use to raid dinos and (Anti)raid items.  "congratz, u busted your balls to get to lvl99.  Heres a rocket turret."  "ya, no.  I dont need that.  What a waste."

1 hour ago, Onimusha759 said:

I originally thought ark would have currency, human npcs and cities when i 1st bought it.  The SE trailer where u walk into a city and a guy tries to sell u a jerboa is deceiving.  Frankly id love some command and conquer coding in the game.  Have npcs build strongholds and defenses.  Have npcs want to ally and trade with you like in age of empires.  Have npcs try to raid you.  It would add a lot of depth to SP as well as bring a use to raid dinos and (Anti)raid items.  "congratz, u busted your balls to get to lvl99.  Heres a rocket turret."  "ya, no.  I dont need that.  What a waste."

I did not expect these elements when I bought the game, but when I joined the bandwagon Ark was pretty solidified in its formula in my opinion. I would not mind your suggestions and I agree it would give single player, small coop, and PVE especially more depth. Imagine the better social interactions available to modders and players once they had to be coded into NPCs, like trade/shop menus/interactions. However, I would honestly want to focus on something more attune, though more helpful, to the thralls in Conan Exiles. Maybe not their exact taming aspect, but as grindy as Ark can be I would love some helpers. I know you can do that with creatures to some degree, but be able to tells NPCs to craft, gather, and best of all feed the newborns while I am off doing something else would be great. Since they are not adopting some of the more convenient aspects of the S+ mod, I would love to see the possibility of it become official in something like this. Even just seeing other survivor NPCs struggling in the wild would be somewhat interesting and dynamic without any greater interactions, with an AI similar to other creatures. I do not expect it by any means, though.

40 minutes ago, Calico45 said:

I did not expect these elements when I bought the game, but when I joined the bandwagon Ark was pretty solidified in its formula in my opinion. I would not mind your suggestions and I agree it would give single player, small coop, and PVE especially more depth. Imagine the better social interactions available to modders and players once they had to be coded into NPCs, like trade/shop menus/interactions. However, I would honestly want to focus on something more attune, though more helpful, to the thralls in Conan Exiles. Maybe not their exact taming aspect, but as grindy as Ark can be I would love some helpers. I know you can do that with creatures to some degree, but be able to tells NPCs to craft, gather, and best of all feed the newborns while I am off doing something else would be great. Since they are not adopting some of the more convenient aspects of the S+ mod, I would love to see the possibility of it become official in something like this. Even just seeing other survivor NPCs struggling in the wild would be somewhat interesting and dynamic without any greater interactions, with an AI similar to other creatures. I do not expect it by any means, though.

If you played c&c or AoE then you know the npcs start from scratch like you.  That means it goes without saying they build, tame, breed, ect.  I was also thinking of having npcs on ur side doing the same.

As a console player, I haven't had much of a chance to play with mods beyond those pieces and parts we have been provided as they are added into the main game. 

That said however, I have to say I still enjoy reading these spotlights and interviews. Even if I can't use them, I like to imagine the possibilities - and should I ever switch to PC - these interviews are a great way to see what out there is being worked on and is considering going forward over those that may not be updating as regularly. So thanks for adding them! ?

On the mod itself, I can see the pros and cons to having NPC's in the wild running about, some related to storyline, gameplay, PvE vs PvP, etc... 

If the opportunity was given to consoles however, I would be using them. And if we had them, a mod like this would be a great way to use them and make it feel village-like. So I think it is an awesome idea that I hope to someday play around with. If not with my current method of play - than with another.  

Is this mod only good for single player or is it setup for multiplayer also?

I really need to try this mod

I need this in my life. 

That looks really cool.  Nice job.