fanfiction My single player game on Pandora 123

[rpicardi1]

This will be another one of my game play adventures. As always, they may be added to, or conclude with just the one posting to stir up interest in the various mod maps available for Ark Survival.

 

Pandora 123 Adventure, a mod map for PC currently in development.

 

Settings; Single player with taming, harvesting, leveling set at 3X.

MODS; Ultra Stacks. Kraken’s Better Dinos. Castle, Keeps, and Forts Remastered.

Notes, I took off Marnimods Wildlife because it was upsetting the balance of the vanilla creatures of the mod when I made my first test play of this map. I had way too many low level camels and chickens spawning in with too few of anything else showing up. Therefore, this experience will be from starting the map from day one.

One unique thing from player created mod maps is they save in the SavedArksLocal folder. Because of that, if I were to start with a new character, that character would wipe out my existing character for The Island and all other mod maps I am playing. By just spawning in a random location, your character will start out with all stats carried over from The Island and or other mod maps including all engrams learned. You still start out with nothing, but the crafting goes a lot faster as those skills are already learned and you can go directly to them as your resources permit. In the case of my character, he will start out at max level 105 with all necessary engrams learned and all states set. He will have a large reserve of engram points should he need to unlock something from the available list.

 

The first impressions playing this mod map.

 

Robinson Crusoe, as my character is called, finds himself waking up on the beach of this strange island. He is located on one of four spawn points called Overseers Beach. Located in the East shore of the main island, it is one of four spawn points available and is the default one that is on the list marked as easy.

Looking around, Robinson can see an obelisk to the South close by surrounded by rocky cliffs that come down to the sea. It doesn’t look accessible from the shore although it can be access with a hike up the hill followed by taking a narrow path over to the terminal.

Towards the North, there is palm dotted beach with larger trees heading inland to some large flat grassy areas most ideal for building a larger camp. Stones, dead trees, and bushes loaded with berries are easily accessible. Larger boulders are scattered about with many of them either along the beach, or at the base of a large hill that is mostly too steep to climb up.

Several Dodo birds are about along with turtles, and other herbivores. While none are seen in the area, I’m sure that there will be spitters showing up given the time. Like when one first spawn in on The Island, all of the creatures that first appear are under Level 20 with many of them Level 4 to 12. Being the first day of the Valentine Event, there are a lot of crazy colors showing up on the various creatures including some low level Pteradons and those nasty sea gulls. The one good thing with Kraken’s Better Dinos is that the agro range of those pesky gulls has been reduced.

After a quick survey of the area, I start out by gathering the resources to get basic stone tools. As there are no branches or palm ferns that can be picked up like Ragnarok, I do have to punch a tree to get the thatch and wood to craft a crude pick. Armed with that, I quickly gather the resources to craft up a stone hatchet, five spears, primitive bow, and about 50 arrows. Using the bow to kill off the local Dodos, I am then able to craft up five bolas and prep a set of thatch clothes. With the bolas, I can now deal with any raptors should they show up before I have a starter shack constructed.

Using the Castle, Keeps, and Forts Remastered Settler’s Workbench for wood, I stock it up with wood and thatch from the nearby palm trees and fiver from gathering all of the bushes in the area. A 2x2 starter hut is constructed in the area where I plan to do a further camp expansion in the flat grassy area. The nice thing about this building mod is that all of it’s pieces are available by just unlocking it’s workbench. Also, all wall pieces are 1/3 taller which allows for sufficient headroom for large storage boxes and any shoulder tames. Three of them stacked is the same as stacking four of the vanilla ones. Later on, those pieces can be replaced with those crafted in the Villager’s Workbench which has the equivalent strength and requirements of stone structures. The Dino Gate is large enough for a Morellotop to fit through. The starter hut is then stocked with a large storage box, a spawn bed, a campfire, and a mortise and pestle. I place half of raw meat into the campfire and split the rest up to spoil for narc arrows.

Suddenly, the air reverberates with the loud sound of thunder. Is there a storm coming in? Is there a volcano getting ready to erupt? Is there something happening at the nearby Obelisk? Is there some strange event about to happen? I have no idea as like on the starter location of Lost Island, it is a sound that occurs at random.

Some low level Tribolites are spotted near the water giving early on chitin, pearls, a black pearl, and raw meat. At least, I can now make a pteradon saddle if I can spot one worth taming.

Adding two more foundations to the starter hut, I gather the materials for a Refining Forge and place it down. Mining the boulders along the steep hillside, I am able to get 22 metal needed to start the refining process. Why 22 metal? Because I plan to use the Workbench of Kraken’s Better Dinos which requires 10 refined metal. As that workbench combines a Workbench with a Preserving Bin and cooking station, it is worth the extra effort to craft it at this time. It does not require a foundation to place it but I place it on one next to the forge anyways.

About now, the first day is coming to an end as the custom music plays in the background. One can see quite well at night so long as they are not in any heavy foliage. Some Moschops are around but they want stuff that is impossible to obtain at this time.

A thunderstorm rolls in this mostly peaceful night as I finally get the Workbench crafted and obtain a metal pick. Heading out into the cold, I go mining the boulder cluster by the beach for resources. I luck out by finding a metal ore rock hidden in that cluster of boulder. The forge is fired back up with that bootee, the stone and flint grounded into spark powder. By later that morning, I have a complete set of metal tools.

With the arrival of the morning, it would be useful to have some utility tames regardless if they are low level. But before I obtain any, I need to get a barn started to protect them from the dilos that are starting to show up in the area.

Cutting down all of the palms in the area and picking a lot of the bushes, I get the Settler’s Workbench busy crafting some 60 foundations. While it is doing that, I have spotted a Green Drop down the beach to the North. Heading for it, I spot a strange metal object in the sand which I will investigate later. The drop gives me some stone and narc arrows, and some basic resources.

Coming back to examine the strange metal object half buried in the sand, I find that it is a Tek Sleeping Pod. It is still functioning containing a sleeping woman dressed only in her underwear. I am wondering just how it got there in the first place. Are there going to be other people NPCs in this Ark? Will there be more of them? Will there be a crashed ship somewhere? That will be a mystery that will need to be solved once I am equipped to do some serious exploration.

Finally, I find a Moschop that asks for something that I have. It is quickly tamed up and put to work gathering berries, fiber, and killing off some pesky Pegomaxes.

By the end of the day, I have the foundations down for the barn and enough walls in place to protect the tames. A Level 20 starter parasaur is tamed to be a berry gather and faster transport. His stats suck, but he will do for now. It only takes three tranc arrows to knock it out for taming with five Mejoberries.

The next morning, I get the barn finished before heading out to explore. Meanwhile, a low level Bronto has moved in and is wiping out all of the trees. Knowing that he could get mad and destroy my barn if he burns his tail on the campfire or refining forge, I take the mochop out and get rid of it. Hard to believe just how hard a leveled up moschop can hit. The bronto is soon eliminated. A moschop can also harvest the raw meat and hide more efficiently that I can with a hatchet. I take half of the raw prime and store the other half. With the stack mod, it will stack and keep a lot longer then with the vanilla settings.

With that out of the way, I head up the path to the top of the hill to look for crystal. Near the top, I see a Gally running in a panic. With the Bola handy, I spot a terror Bird close by and have to bola it. Crap, why is a Level 20 Terror Bird so hard to kill with a crossbow? Near the top, away from what looks like a pass, I find a metal ore rock and one crystal. I can see others higher up but it is too steep to reach them without a flier. A spyglass is crafted and the metal placed in the forge.

Heading North along the beach, just past the Tek Sleeping Pod, I find another path up the steep hill. Taking my time, I spot a raptor pack on the crest in that pass. (Note, on the test game, an Alpha Raptor had spawned in with a pack.) I do have the raw prime and materials for saddles for them, but I’m just not going to try to take on three of them by myself to tame at this time. It’s too hard to bola three at once, then knock them out before they get loose. It was a disaster the last I that I tried that. Perhaps, I could bait them into a trap later on.

Heading away from them, I get high enough on the hill to clearly see the lay of the land to the North. The sky is dominated by a giant tree with what looks like snow capped mountains shrouded in a strange fog. Something else to explore once I can get over there.

Coming down into the valley beyond I follow a stream heading East back towards the beach as it is now getting late. At the end on a peninsula, there is a structure that looks like Stone Hedge. I find a much better Parasaur stuck in the trees. After clearing out the Dilos nearby, I proceed to tame this better level Perry, then follow the shoreline back to the barn just as it gets dark out.

Using a raft is going to be risky while on the way back with the Parasaur, there was a Leed beached up on the rocky shore.

Tomorrow, on day four, I may try to tame up that raptor pack by first building a pen, then trapping all three in it for taming.

[rpicardi1]

Day 4.

I head back out with the intention on checking on the status of the three raptors up on the hill when all hell breaks loose among the herbivores on the beach. Several dilos have showed up and are raising havoc among the creatures there. They are running in a panic everywhere. I no sooner have dispatched them when the raptor pack shows up getting in a fight with the local Trikes. They get scattered in the fight and I am soon chasing down a lone one going after something that doesn’t want to fight back.

This pack, the one I spotted a day ago, are all low level. The pack leader, a female is just a Level 44, the other two males Level 24 and 16. I bola the loner and drop it with two tranc arrows to the head. It’s the Level 44 female. She is tamed in no time with a raw prime meat. Surprisingly, her stats are not that bad for a Level 44, now Level 65. Saddled, I harvest all of the carnage and take Ronda back to the barn.

I come back to check on the area and spot a raptor after a Parasaur, so I go after it. Wow, these wild raptors are really hauling butt with chasing everything. When it gets hung up in a driftwood log, I bola and knock it out with one tranc arrow. I find that it is the Level 16 male. Tamed, I find that his stats are surprisingly good for his low level. Health is weak but weight and melee are quite good. Heading back, I find the Level 24 male, dead. The trikes must have taken him out. I take Ronnie 1 back to the barn and head out a third time.

Finally, I get back up on the hill but then spot a Terror Bird after something. It Ids as Level 4. It appears to be bugged trying to eat something much like I have seen Alpha Raptors do. I do spot a lone Level 24 male raptor and am able to bola it to tame. Opps. I don't have enough fiber for a third saddle. While getting fiber, the raptor is tamed, following me until I can craft up a saddle. It’s stats are also good in the right places as well. What good luck on this quest. All three raptors tamed up on just one raw prime meat and have decent stats for being such low levels.

I go looking for the Level 4Terror Bird while on the third raptor, but it seems to have just vanished. Oh well, I take Ronnie 2 back to the barn to join his new friends.

While out exploring the local area, I have noticed two “Tickle Chickens” out around the Northern Pass. Given that it takes so long to gather wood and that the Stegos are so large and slow, I check the requirements for a saddle. “Tickle Chickens” are not only superior at wood gathering, they can gather berries and fiber in large amounts. Their only disadvantage is that they don’t get a weight reduction. At least, the stack mod will help with that. They can also gather meat and hide off of dead creatures. While they can be a dangerous creature to tame, I will take the risk to get one. Besides, I am going to need to expand the size of the barn as it is starting to get crowded in there.

With a saddle and spyglass, I head out to go hunting for one.

I find one down near the beach, but at Level 4, it is not worth the risk to try to tame such a crap level creature. Besides, they can move quite fast if I can’t get a trap built to confine one. I just don’t have the ability to gather that much stone given that I haven’t seen any Ankylos or Doeds in this area. Finding a Level 44 up in the pass, I get into a position where I can knock it out without getting killed.

With Thresia tamed, I saddle her up and proceed to get her levels in stamina and melee. I mine the two metal nodes I spotted with Ronnie 2 but didn’t mine because of the low weight capacity of raptors.

Back at the barn, I unload the booty she has collected placing it in storage. I then head up into the other pass to look for more metal nodes.

Up on the hill by the barn, I spot two Terror Birds. Unlike the Level 20 that I bola, that was so hard to kill, Teresia takes both of them out in seconds. She also gathers some tools that they had on them.

Before I am able to mine a metal node I have spotted, I see a Gally go racing past me at a dead run as it is racing downhill straight to my camp. Where did that Purple T-Rex come from that is now chasing it? I have to make a fast trip back to camp where the T-Rex has now cornered a Tek Parasaur up against a boulder. I am able to come up behind it and take it out with Teresia. Good thing given that the wood barn would have been the next thing that would have been ripped apart by this apex predator. I get an extra metal pick, a higher level metal pike, and an assortment of other goods including the T-Rex arms. They are all on Teresia who has also got 26 more raw prime and 260 Toughened Hide I will need to craft the Valerian Reins once I can tame a decent level flier.

I will need to do a lot more exploring tomorrow to look for a Doed and resources needed for the Valerian Reins and some cryopods.

To be continued?

I do need to get back to Lost Island, Crystal Island with the Crystal Island Mod added, Genesis, and the Scorched Earth story.

[rpicardi1]

Day 5.

 

I take Teresia out for an extended exploration along the beach to look for a Ptera up in the Level 100+ range. No luck as usual. They are all 20 or lower with some near 44. Heading past Stonehedge, I follow the river to the lake near the jungle of the giant trees to look for beaver dams. I do find some beavers but no dams. I also wipe out several of those nasty Troodons.

Heading up the hill to find the pass to shortcut back to camp, I end up on the high ridge. There seems to be no way to safely get down from that height. Worse yet, I have a major problem getting back the way I came. Two T-Rexes get wiped out as I look for a path to get where I started. Finally, I find the way down getting some metal and crystal on the way.

Before I get back, I spot a doed halfway up on the ridge. I am just able to get up to it to tame it. With Doed, I can now fill the Villager’s Workbench with stone and get started enlarging as well as upgrading the barn. That finally gets done during the night and into the next day.

This flier situation is becoming a handicap since so much of the needed metal and crystal is up on the nearly unclimbable ridge, or a long ways from the barn. Also the non existence of a source for organic polymer is another handicap. It is time to transfer off of this Ark to Amissa where I have a large store of polymer from the crabs that live on Pirate Island. I will also bring back Electra, my Lightning Dragon via the Obelisk Network, so I can have a strong flier.

Back on Pandora 123 with Electra, I transfer the Polymer to the Workbench and craft up extra Valerian Reins. There is then polymer left for Gillie Armor and other items, such as nets for the Harpoon Launcher which are soon crafted up.

Taking Electra out for some exploration, I fly Southeast towards a group of islands that are on the map. The sea is interesting here as it looks like there may be an undersea bubble in the area, it’s reflection showing up under the water.

Reaching the islands, I am in for a surprise. This mapmaker must have been a fan of the original Unreal Game when it first came out for PC and really set the standard for true 3-D worlds. The most dominating landmark is a Nali Cross with a crucifixion of a Nali, the four arm native of NaPali. Also nearby is a Nali Castle complete with the moat and the actual sounds of the frogs that live in it. The area is rich in metal and other resources. The usual Island dinos are abundant in that area. I may end up sailing a raft over there in the future to set up an outpost as well as to explore the area more thoroughly.

Finally, on day 8, armed with the net gun and raw prime, I spot a Level 106 Argy and am able to net it in a safe area to tame. It is already dark by the time I get back to my base where I can place the Valerian Reins on him to boost his slow flying speed.

An Ankylo is finally located to be used to gather the materials for sparkpowder. With four forges now going to smelt the metal ore I can now easily obtain from the high ridges, I am getting the charcoal needed for gunpowder.

Day 9. Finally, a Ptera worth taming, Level 100. Two raw prime later and it is mine. With Valerian Reins, I have a flying mount that can easily ambush those pesky gulls from the sky. They have been a nuisance as of late trying to get through the bars in the barn window to steal from the tames.

With the three fliers, a raft, and a canoe, I will soon be better equipped for further exploration on this mod map.

 

I am currently working on the Scorched Earth and Genesis stories to continue them. Expect more chapters on them in the near future