an open plea to Wildcard to fix Single Player resource respawning

[wizard03]

12 hours ago, Rest2020 said:

say i build a small base by gathering plant stuff, killing a few animals for hide, and gathering stone+flint. Now, i *think* resources ()on official servers of TheIsland) will eventually respawn the animals, but what about the plants, and what about rocks?
- and if plants/trees/rocks respawn, what if i gathered them from where i build a house?  will they appear inside the house?
- on official TheIsland servers, what time interval to respawn animals?  to respawn  plants+trees? to respawn rocks?
Is there a link to some website that gives me this info?

If your online, your good. The server keeps track of that stuff, and other than having your base ontop of the resource, it will spawn everything back in.

[invincibleqc]

4 hours ago, ARKinadium said:

 

I just made the above video. If you follow it and metal comes back I will be astounded. This is for PC. It would be amazing since everyone get the same version through the steam pipeline, and again no mods, and the only thing i launch ark with is -nobattleeye

If a couple other PC people can try this, and post your results I would be quite grateful.

 

If you have the metal/or resource to instant pop this will not work, and does not show what i'm trying to prove. I set the respawn to 0.10 which is 5hrs in game and gives you time to pick a node and leave the area before it respawns just like it would if you never touched any setting. It just makes it easier to slomo for 30 seconds and 5 hours in game vs an hour. I also halved the player radius so that i could stay close enough to verify it wasn't coming back.

You know, you should be extremely careful about what you ask for because I have a feeling what you think is a bug is actually intended and what you think is intended is actually a bug. 🤣

I mean, it was previously stated that they designed single-player in a way to encourage players to explore the map rather than camping their base. And I'm pretty sure the fact resources respawn over and over while you are around is actually what is unintended here. When you harvest a node, it is being hidden and set to respawn randomly between 1h15m and 2h30m (meaning in your test, between 7m30s and 15m). Then, there is an "exhaustion effect" mechanic that takes into consideration how frequently that specific node was harvested and increase the generated interval accordingly. When you log off and log back on in the same area, that interval won't start ticking until you leave that area and come back. In your test, you definitely didn't go far enough. Try to go closer to green obelisk like I did in mine, come back, and it should respawn after its interval. I'm pretty sure this is how it was intended, and the fact you can farm the same nodes over and over during the same session actually is what isn't. I believe they wanted players to farm an area, then have to go look somewhere else for resources, to then eventually be able to come back and farm their original spot again, etc. so that they make use of the entire map instead of camping their beach.

Either that, or the harvested array isn't properly loaded for the area you log into until it is being re-rendered but, based on their previous statement regarding that, I have a pretty strong feeling it was intended that way and the fact they respawn while you stay around unintended.

[ARKinadium]

4 hours ago, invincibleqc said:

You know, you should be extremely careful about what you ask for because I have a feeling what you think is a bug is actually intended and what you think is intended is actually a bug. 🤣

I mean, it was previously stated that they designed single-player in a way to encourage players to explore the map rather than camping their base. And I'm pretty sure the fact resources respawn over and over while you are around is actually what is unintended here. When you harvest a node, it is being hidden and set to respawn randomly between 1h15m and 2h30m (meaning in your test, between 7m30s and 15m). Then, there is an "exhaustion effect" mechanic that takes into consideration how frequently that specific node was harvested and increase the generated interval accordingly. When you log off and log back on in the same area, that interval won't start ticking until you leave that area and come back. In your test, you definitely didn't go far enough. Try to go closer to green obelisk like I did in mine, come back, and it should respawn after its interval. I'm pretty sure this is how it was intended, and the fact you can farm the same nodes over and over during the same session actually is what isn't. I believe they wanted players to farm an area, then have to go look somewhere else for resources, to then eventually be able to come back and farm their original spot again, etc. so that they make use of the entire map instead of camping their beach.

Either that, or the harvested array isn't properly loaded for the area you log into until it is being re-rendered but, based on their previous statement regarding that, I have a pretty strong feeling it was intended that way and the fact they respawn while you stay around unintended.

Well regardless they still dont respawn and i recreated my results in the video today going further like you suggested.

I started a new game. mined the node. flew to the green obelisk and logged out. Came back in waited 12 in game hours (way over the 5 it respawns) and it never came back. I feel quite confident calling this a bug as the node DOES NOT COME BACK. this is repeatable across the entire map and will eventually lead to zero nodes. 

There is a log of previous WC statements in regards to this, including one from the community manager at the time all out stating that it was intended to keep single player people from cheating(which was later walked back when she was called out.)

[wizard03]

But on a serious note, I have taken all the metal out of the hunter cave, the bump of a hill by the central south beach, the hill in the middle of the redwoods, the multiple bumps on the eastern south edge of the redwoods, and I am now rapeing the valcano mountain, the the mountain to the east of it.....Flying off with my flock of argies to gather 10k metal isn't too bad, but the though process of how I might run out of metal before I get the tek stuff going is starting to burn me a bit. I very well could get so desperate that I might need to get a dunky just to harvest the metal nodes in the water caves on the island at this rate. @.@

[invincibleqc]

17 hours ago, ARKinadium said:

Well regardless they still dont respawn and i recreated my results in the video today going further like you suggested.

I started a new game. mined the node. flew to the green obelisk and logged out. Came back in waited 12 in game hours (way over the 5 it respawns) and it never came back. I feel quite confident calling this a bug as the node DOES NOT COME BACK. this is repeatable across the entire map and will eventually lead to zero nodes. 

There is a log of previous WC statements in regards to this, including one from the community manager at the time all out stating that it was intended to keep single player people from cheating(which was later walked back when she was called out.)

I'm not sure how you tested, but it is pretty consistent on my side. Before going into technicalities, let's first reproduce your video and show that going slightly farther toward green obelisk actually make that node spawning again for me:

Now that this is out of the way, let's dig into why that is. As you probably know (or not), the map is basically a 5x5 grid of sublevels when it comes to foliages, non-permanent static meshes, etc. For example, something like this:

Keep in mind that this is for example only, and that this map is first of all not precisely scaled nor aligned and that the inclusion volumes themselves aren't symmetrical/can overlap with each others, etc. However, it is good enough for demonstration here.

Alright, each cell usually contains at least 2 sublevels (can be more for special effects, cave entrances, etc. but those are irrelevant here); near and far. Although it can differs, near usually includes rocks, metals, small trees, branches, etc. and far large trees, non-permanent static meshes, etc. Everything that is included into far, will render around players up to 50k units and everything into near up to 20k units. Something like the following, where the red dot is you, the green circle is near, and the blue circle is far:

As you can see, your near range (green circle) covers at least D5 and E5 (as well as E4 and possibly D4 but that is irrelevant here) at the location you re-logged. But what does that means? That means that as long as it covers E5, your metal node that is included into the near range will not be marked for repopulation and that its interval won't start ticking until it actually does. Now, by going slightly farther like I did in the video above -- somewhere around there:

My near range went out of E5, meaning that everything that is included into near from that cell will be flagged for repopulation when I come back. However, since my far range didn't and still overlap that cell, everything that is marked far will not. If I were to go to green obelisk somewhere around there:

Everything included into near, as well as into far, from E5 would be flagged for repopulation when I come back. Let's put that to the test (skip to 02:50 for the near respawns, and 07:40 for the far ones):

As you can see, everything included in the near range respawned when my green circle went out of E5 and then everything from far did when my blue circle did went out. So yeah, I'm not sure how you did perform your tests, but it is pretty consistent on my end. As to whether it is intended or not, I can only guess and/or make assumptions about it. However, I personally believe that it is and that it may have been a last minute design decision that was probably rushed to make its way to the retail disc version and that the fact nodes respawn over and over as you camp site may have been oversighted or introduced later on down the line. Another reason why I think it is, is the fact that bushes (you know, Bob's favourite meals) will always respawn regardless, as opposed to actual resources that only does when you leave their area.

With all that said, perhaps there is really a bug that causes them to be permanently depleted somehow and everyone saying they are affected by such issues aren't just happy campers. I sure am unable to reproduce any issue with resources on single-player on my side. 🤷‍♂️

Also, if you test further and don't get the same results, please provide a clip so that we might be able to identify differentiating factors.

[sjskdjkfa]

Huh, I wasn't able to replicate it, though I thought I had in the past, perhaps I misremember or did something different then. Not gonna make a video but for anyone wondering here were my steps:

1. log into single player island go to herb island force tame a anky and wipe out most of the metal nodes on the island

2. did a loop around herb on a force tamed ptera to look around and make sure the metal was gone then hoped off and exited

3. logging back in i turned down the resource respawn period to 0.01 hopped on the ptera and gave it infinite stats and also used slomo 3, flew off and did a lap around the green oby, flew back to herb, observed it was covered in metal nodes

[SavvyMango101]

Hello friends,

I have a non dedicated server with a few of my friends (which i am the admin of), and several of them need metal for their upcoming projects, and usually go to herbivore island to get it. the metal, however, is not respawning there, or anywhere else. I have tried pretty much everything in my playbook to get it to spawn (slomo command, turned resource node respawns and distance from structures down to 0.01, restarted server many times, and literally just sat afk for hours) yet it does not spawn. any help is much appreciated.

[invincibleqc]

31 minutes ago, SavvyMango101 said:

Hello friends,

I have a non dedicated server with a few of my friends (which i am the admin of), and several of them need metal for their upcoming projects, and usually go to herbivore island to get it. the metal, however, is not respawning there, or anywhere else. I have tried pretty much everything in my playbook to get it to spawn (slomo command, turned resource node respawns and distance from structures down to 0.01, restarted server many times, and literally just sat afk for hours) yet it does not spawn. any help is much appreciated.

On single-player/non-dedicated sessions, you need to go to a different tile in order for the harvested nodes to be flagged for repopulation. You can find more details in the following post:

 

[Slavik777]

  So this is two fold.  I do have an issue in the single player on Genesis map Arctic biome where nodes are not respawning, an issue that has been plaguing ARK for years without fix.

A) Wanted to know if new fixes are out.  So far I have increased respawn rate/lowered distances for respawning from player -structure and running on non dedicated....

B ) No, this is not a feature as some may report while linking a Tweet of Jenifer Stuber.  What people need to do is read further on the Tweet thread of replies and they will see that Jennifer Corrects herself by stating that this was with regards to "cave spawn timers" and nothing else, while Skittlis from QA team just outright says its a bug (so please stop confusing people, as we need to raise the issue, as it was seemingly forgotten!" 

  Here is the tweet link please read full thread https://twitter.com/Vynlann/status/1126756721987166208

 Here is an excerpt  

[wizard03]

On 4/23/2021 at 5:18 PM, sjskdjkfa said:

Huh, I wasn't able to replicate it, though I thought I had in the past, perhaps I misremember or did something different then. Not gonna make a video but for anyone wondering here were my steps: 1. log into single player island go to herb island force tame a anky and wipe out most of the metal nodes on the island 2. did a loop around herb on a force tamed ptera to look around and make sure the metal was gone then hoped off and exited 3. logging back in i turned down the resource respawn period to 0.01 hopped on the ptera and gave it infinite stats and also used slomo 3, flew off and did a lap around the green oby, flew back to herb, observed it was covered in metal nodes

Yeah, its a bit cheaty, but then again you gotta do what you gotta do. 

As for it being a "feature" I am starting to highly ponder how true this is....In single player, if you hit the default settings button, the quality of all the BP's are at max levels. Nearly every blueprint you come across will require the "maximum" amount of raw resources needed to build those blueprints. And thats not including all the gun ammo you make, if you spend the extra metal to build an industrial forge, yadda yadda, ect. ect.

As those node's disappear, you ability to build saddles, rare blueprints, ammo, ect. ect. slowly drains away until your running around on an anky crushing river rocks because its less of a pain then moving your base "again", the good nodes are all gone, or you just plain out of them in the end.

[Madcap]

So my missing metal nodes in my SP game wasn’t me screwing up my settings somehow? That is both a relief and at the same time rage inducing. 

Sorry Mr Moderator, this issue has nothing to do with distance, as I have flown the entire length of the Island and lost entire mountains worth of metal. Now I know the only way to beat this is to ‘cheat’ and jack up the respawn rates I shall be scrubbing my game and starting again, no sweat, only a few hundred hours wasted!

[Casroids]

On 4/18/2021 at 6:52 PM, ARKinadium said:

For the last threeish years anyone wishing to play on single player found out (after spending countless hours) that if they mined a resource (metal, stone, etc) and either logged out, or crashed before it re-spawned that it would never come back. The alternative is to set the resource respawn to 0.0 so it instantly re-pops to avoid this, but in doing so hopelessly outbalances the game as you give yourself unlimited instant resources this way and alternatively you can't obviously keep track of what you mined and when so you don't over do it.

I myself have put in 8 separate support tickets over the last three years to have ALL of them closed out, and never had this fixed.

There are lots of reasons to play SP vs online like slow or no internet, trolls, and most importantly to me is that it takes 30-40 seconds to render bases which are instantly rendered locally.

 

I'm calling on Wildcard to both finally acknowledge this and to please fix it.

 

 

 

If you play single-player you should reply, or add to this to prevent it being swept under the rug.

 

@Cedric @Jatheish

👍🏾

[Xehanort]

Yeah, I've started my sp months ago and I've always noticed the problem of metal nodes not respawning properly. I "fixed" the issue changing the rate of spawning, but I'd like to have the problem fixed for good so I can play as vanilla as I can.

[Casroids]

Yes please!!!

[Hargelbargel]

I did fix this problem once (also keep in mind artifacts don't respawn either). But you're not gonna like the solution.

We had been playing on a non-dedicated server, and this happened. We uploaded our save to a dedicated server and it fixed it. Later I went back to playing single player and had to convert my dedicated ark save file to single player (it wasn't straightforward and I don't remember what I did exactly). But after awhile I got the respawn bug again. 

It's sad to see, that 2 years later, it's still a bug.

[Hargelbargel]

I finally found a fix! It was in a Youtube comment section.

Set your resource respawn rate to 0.0, and respawn radiuses to minumum.

Mine something in the area, then fly out of render distance and come back.

[maxplanck58]

Indeed - for those of us that have a lifestyle that only allows us to play 30 minutes at a time in SP or non-dedicated, the map runs out of resources quicker than you would think.  You log out before the resources can respawn every time, and they never come back.  It is a long-standing bug that in my opinion needs attention.

[Randomsome1]

I think I found the missing piece to the puzzle, but it isn't pretty if you're a purest. I found it on the wiki

Console Command: RepairArea <Radius>

Repairs all structures in given radius around player. Only seems to work on structures that have been damaged since last server/session restart? Can be used to repair bugged resource nodes (for example to resolve bug of stop spawning of metal in single player and non-dedicated/temporary servers)?

I gave it a shot using some obnoxiously large radius and the missing rock/metal nodes instantly respawned. I still had to do the resource setting thing and fly away from the area to respawn missing trees after, but it's all back.

 

[Saintrode]

So I'm not sure if this is topic is relevant anymore but I was also having a problem with metal, crystal, etc nodes not respawning.

I finally gave up and switched the resource respawn rate to 0.  I went to a new area, parked my anky by 2 nodes and mined them repeatedly (without moving, although there was a slight wait for the node to respawn but no more than 30 seconds)

I flew back to my base, dropped the metal off, and went to another 2 metal nodes somewhat nearby. I repeated the process and went back to my base.

Upon returning to my base, I noticed the "missing" metal nodes had respawned. I went to the "missing" crystals and they had respawned. 

So idk what the problem is/was but I switched back to the regular respawn rate and I'm going to continue playing solo that way... Until the nodes go "missing" again and then I'll switch back to resource respawn rate 0.0 for an hour or two and hope the problem resolves itself again.

[riceandvegetable]

Yes, setting it to zero or close to it brings back lost nodes. I remember one time where I harvested a single cactus on Valguero, then sat around (at a respectful distance) for 20 minutes waiting for it to respawn before eventually giving up. It must have come back invisible but convinced me that cacti are a limited and precious resource. Lost the only obsidian nodes within a 5 minute flying radius around my base too. Playing with fast respawn feels cheaty but still beats anguishing over singular cacti and rocks.

[Scarborough1994]

We ain't gonna get any love guys, wildcard sucks, we can only hope ARK 2 will be better, whenever it gets released