What did you do in ASA today?

[Scheneighnay]

Been building up my mostly aesthetic watchtower portion of my tribe's mega base around the Stonehenge lagoon.

Got sick of the heatwave that was going on, so I took one of our spare argies north to scout a good river route towards the green obelisk. Noticed a cluster of 5 theris obliterating a carno, said "good thing I'm up here", and then crashed directly above them. Didn't lose anything of value but it was funny.

[Dave192]

Tried to build a base only to get the dreaded 'too many structures in the area' and it wasn't even half finished.

Rebuilt base to try and work around the structure limitation and encountered the same problem.

Tried a 3rd and final time but hit the same issue so just abandoned the project and live in a half-done base.

Its not like its even big. I see large sprawling bases all over the map, yet i try to build a 'village' base half the size and im struck with structure limit. Apparently trying to furnish your buildings and give them nice flourishes isnt allowed on Official and instead you have to build the typical hideous square box to store your dinos in.

 

Urgh.

[Cymas]

Kiah's Community Server, Unofficial, The Island

After a few days of being busy, I logged in to see what was going on. Tribemate C has been busy taming but this is one of my pet peeves, using tribe resources and not replacing them. And also neglecting the base in general. He's never played with other people before though so I'm trying not to be too hard on him. I just grit my teeth a bit and got to work.

First I cleaned up the animals, which were scattered all over the place and a couple of them weren't even in the pen. Had to save his para from being eaten by a dilo. Then I went ahead and built the basics for electrical so we now have a generator, fridge and 3 ACs to start a hatchery. Naturally that also meant an oil run, so I went out and did that, gathering enough oil for about a week plus some leftover for crafting purposes. Then I spent a bit of time organizing mats. Put a few of our fertilized eggs down to incubate, ran a short metal run, almost forgot to pick the eggs up before they hatched. Don't have time for raising right now, just wanted to get them close.

I am mildly annoyed he built another extension to this temporary base when he knows I'm starting the main base build soon but whatever. I don't mind exactly but we're starting to block travel lanes and that's generally not something you want to do on a community server. That was why I wanted to build up on the ridge in the first place, so we'd be out of the way. I think I can still try to incorporate some of his design into my build but even he admits he is not much of a builder. I'm hoping I can teach him a bit through the course of the build.

That was pretty much it for the night. I do want to try to tame some yutys before I start the build so we can start collecting a good stock of eggs for kibble. I expect my build is going to take anywhere from 1-2 weeks of daily play to do depending on how much assistance I get.

[Chudz66]

Playing SP this round, and was working toward an Industrial Forge.

 

I get back from a metal run and start unloading Haze, my anky. He's mostly cloud colored, but I probably would have named him the same if he were purple. Anyway, my third trip lugging a bag full of raw metal up a ladder has me really missing S+ and its transfer option, but I eventually get everything smelting and head for the fabricator. Let's see, what ingredient do I want to go for next? Eeinie . . . Meenie . . . Miney . . . Oil it is! Hopefully, Haze is up for a swim. 

Getting the oil is going great. Nothing bitey or shocky is around, and although I don't have scuba yet, I downed a Lazarus Chowder beforehand. The only close call is when we're heading toward the surface to unload and Haze lets out a machine gun fart that startles me. When I turn around and see the trail of bubbles drifting toward the surface, though, I break into laughter. This of course nearly drowns me on the spot, and leads to a massive coughing fit on the surface. 

I already have enough crystal for the IF, so the next item on the list is cementing paste. I hop on Birbs, my purple bary with yellow stripes and a lime green underbelly, and we head for the nearest cave. The sun hasn't been up for too long when we enter and begin chomping on spiders and those butt-head, melt your armor, centipede things. There's nothing in here that Birbs can't handle until . . . I decide to grab the artifact. Boom! I end up in what seems like a crash loop. After some research, I follow someone's advice and scroll to third person view just as I spawn in. And Ta! Da! I don't crash. Needless to say, Birbs and I hightail it out of the cave after that, saving every ten seconds on the way. Once we're back at base, I start making paste in the chemistry bench. Wow, that uses soooooo much stone.

After that, I take my argy and head toward the volcano for some obsidian to make polymer. We carefully peek over the rim when we arrive instead of diving right in. Reason being, the first time we came here and headed right in, there was a Giga looking up at us. Yah, we both might have shrieked a bit on that one. Luckily, he was in the lava and it burnt his biscuits pretty quickly. After mining the needed amount of volcanic glass, we begin heading home as the sun nears its departure point on the far horizon. 

Now that the polymer is cooking up, I decide to head out and mine the rest of the metal I need at night, instead of waiting for morning. How it went can basically be summed up by song.

Music begins playing: "Troodons to the left of me, raptors to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with Ewe..." 

By the way, "Ewe" is my new name for my argy. Eventually, though, an Industrial Forge was crafted and set in place on the roof of my base. Hope you're all having fun.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Chudz66

[Cymas]

Kiah's Community Server, Unofficial, The Island

Tough day today, have to admit.

After stuffing myself with turkey and pie, I logged in to get started on the main base build. C had started prepping materials, of course in the most convoluted way possible. But the thought was there. I spent quite a bit of time scouting around the immediate area and killing annoying theris until I finally found where I wanted to set up. Not too far into the jungle there's a series of ridges that are relatively flat. It's quite a bit further from where I had initially thought but I got really inspired when I saw it so I set to work.

I managed to get the whole base level built, and that's about where the trouble started. I took a break and went on a flight north with Smoke, my argent C tamed for me. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, I just wanted to take a break. Grabbed a few drops, including a new anky saddle. Very handy, especially as C accidentally drowned our anky. He did tame a new one but hadn't saddled it yet.

I came across a low level female yuty in a fantastic spot for taming, so I took her down and tamed her. Unfortunately the walk home did not go well. She got stuck on nothing in the river and was almost eaten by piranhas. I had to jump in and spear them all to death individually then whistle her onto dry land. But alas, she met her end shortly after. Pack of allos on one side, alpha raptor on the other. What can ya do.

I did bring back a consolation prize, at least. I found a baby rex, watched its parent die to a large saber pack. Claimed it, flew it home and am now raising it, hoping it will survive the night on the trough.

Since it was still a baby I went back to building, where I could keep an eye on it at the same time. But alas, the server was not doing well. Several crashes later it ended up with a rollback that undid quite a bit of the work I had just done. Defeated, I gave up on building for the night. I did some general around the base maintenance tasks then sat idle, checking on the rex now and again. It's not a good level at all but it was free and we definitely need an apex carnivore. Plus it has nice colors, I'll keep it for breeding later. Have to admit I'm a bit disappointed, we haven't been getting any yuty eggs yet. Really need a male. Once we get the kibble moving so much of the game is going to open up. For now it's just that midgame grindfest.

Once the baby hit juvenile I called it a night.

[Chudz66]

I’m getting to the point where I want to start crafting some kibble, but I’ve been lamenting the fact that vanilla doesn’t have something that collects nearby eggs. Maybe the Tek tree does, but I’m way far away from unlocking that stuff. That’s when I stumble across a video about the oviraptor and its egg collecting ability. Woo Hoo!

And thus begins, Operation Elvira . . . er . . . Ovira!

First things first, pretty sure that oviraptors tame with eggs. Where can I get some eggs?

(Dodo News Network (DNN) Emergency Bulletin: There has been a rash of dodo-nappings in the Southern Islets area. Please be careful if traveling there, and notify authorities if you see anything suspicious.)

I eventually stockpile thirty dodo eggs, and I already know where a level 100 oviraptor is. Before heading out, I decide to use the little bit of jellyfish-goo I have on hand to make some shocking tranquilizer darts, because I’m not messing around on this one.

Of course, I manage to spook the thing the first time and lose it among the rocks and foliage. After what seems like an hour, I find it again and ready my bola. Whirring noise

The oviraptor makes a sharp turn just as I release the bola, and it goes sailing off to the right of it to entangle a bush. “Son of a . . . .”

Two bolas later, I finally manage to catch it and pull out my rifle. There’s a soft popping noise and a bright flash of electricity envelops the oviraptor’s head before it collapses. I look at the thin wisps of smoke rising from its skull and think, “Yah, that might’ve been a little bit of overkill on that one.”

Anyway, I now have Ovira, a female oviraptor, and next step is to tame some bigger dinos for an egg farm. Have fun, all.

[yarnevk]

Really been enjoying the auto-ovi function.   I get way more eggs than I used to in ASE egg hunt, so much so that the ATV (phiomia) back and forth is a burden.    Going to build a egg fridge, cookpot and feeder right next to ovi on passive no wander in center of pen while the others wander so I get more random matings (dodos are just more fun running around).   Way behind on kibble production and egg hatching though I got a stego dad with two sons (love claiming wild babies) as fast collectors the trip to the berry patch is very slow .  Need to find out if ovi swim for the water eggs!

That brings up the other feature upgrade I really enjoy making my water pen now with no timed pickups.   I draft the outline with stone pillars every few ceilings over,  sticking out high enough that I can raft in/out (the only blocker is the rudder) and the raft is easy to hop up onto and clip into the thatch docks.  Stone is easily got just clearing the shore of all the rocks and coral that tames get hung up on, and plenty of thatch on the beach.   Now when I run into unsupporting coral floors (even single player clipping thru terrain still no support maybe need to ghost and see how far down under the map the floor is), I can just decide to move that entire edge - very easy to make thatch extensions then move the pillars over without having to destroy anything and can easily mass pickup.  And placing the gates can actually be trial and error finding the best tame pathing.

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by yarnevk

[Chudz66]

I found a sap tap in a drop a while back, and after seeing it languishing in a storage box for the hundredth time, I decide I might as well do something about it. So I cobble together a tree platform and three more taps, and then Ewe and I head for my usual tree in the red woods. Approaching slowly, we scan the giant trunks and shadowy boughs, on the lookout for Bang!-Bang! Kitties. But the coast is clear, so we begin setting things up. And Presto! We’re in the sap business.

I then decide that a supply of honey would be nice. . . Ugh!

Early on in my game, I saw a bee just hanging out by a rock, but it disappeared after a while. Thinking there are probably other spots like that, I watch a video that gives various locations to check for free-range bees.

So I check . . . and check . . . and check some more. Then I check in other places, and still others, but there is a dearth of bees. “Maybe I should put out an A.P.Bee,” I think. (Yah, I’ll see myself out.)

Anyway, I resolve myself to having to go into the red woods for a queen bee. Another part of that video shows the person using C4 to destroy the hive, so I get to crafting all the bits and bobs that will be needed and head back to the red woods.

Luckily, I find a hive only a couple of trees over from my sap station, so I set about clearing some of the brush to open up the view. While doing this, a pego (A.K.A. Butthead) decides to tame himself by stealing my mejo berries. Seconds later, a giant snake decides to eat both of us and meets a swift end. And when I turn back toward the tree, another pego jumps out of a nearby bush, scaring both me and Butthead. I think I kill him before he manages to steal anything, though. (Um, Nope!)

Now, I’m finally ready to go after the hive. (Cue the Benny Hill music)

After a fresh spritz of bug spray, I launch my grappling hook and begin rising toward the hive. When it’s within reach, I switch to the remote detonator and place two charges. I then hit the right mouse button to descend, but the problem is that I forget to switch back to my crossbow first. So . . . . BOOM!

My ears are ringing, and I’m beginning to panic. What’s left of my armor has been blackened by the explosion, which also singed most of Butthead’s fur off. (Talk about a horrible sight!) I finally switch back to my crossbow and disconnect, falling to the forest floor. Scrambling, I make my way toward Ewe, chugging a case of medical brew along the way, with the hopes of gathering my wits.

Once said wits have been gathered, I plop Butthead down and take a look at the hive. It’s still there, only a fifth damaged. I guess my broken armor pieces absorbed most of the explosion. (Swear Word!) I begin using my ascendant crossbow to whittle down the hive’s health, stopping from time to time to kill waves of angry bees. It finally falls apart, and I see the queen. I look in my pack for the flowers to move to my hot bar and realize that last (Swear Word!) pego yoinked them!

The queen nonchalantly shrugs and flies off, disappearing into the forest.  

(Lots and Lots of Swear Words!)

 

(So, yah. That could have gone better. . . .)

Edited November 25, 2023 by Chudz66
Formatting

[Cymas]

Kiah's Community Server, Unofficial, The Island

Had an immensely successful weekend.

First, I got about 90% of the main base build done. Caught tribemate C trying to make an ugly behemoth gate water pen for his frogs. Took them all down and am making him build a proper PVE pen with design and aesthetics, and only one gate lol. Borrowed one gate for the fence for our yard on the lower ridge beneath the main base. Got a grinder and a few vaults up too, always nice to have.

Lots of taming, too. Got a few birds for my first breeding project, a color morph inspired by my other big gaming love, FFXIV. A saber that tamed out with 53 HP for future cave adventures. A 145 yuty that was probably one of the most scuffed chases I've ever had, I honestly have no idea how I didn't die on that one. A friendly neighbor airlifted it home for me, and someone else gifted me a quetz egg for our own future air taxi. Also stumbled across a bee, so we can officially make ourselves kibble now which is fantastic. I almost put it to use right away with a 145 rex on carno island, but by the time C had any done the rex tamed. Got another bug taxi home. Kinda feel bad I accidentally fed C to bears twice yesterday taming one for honey that we now don't even need it for lol. All good though, he had never tamed one before so he had fun with it.

There was quite a kerfuffle on the server too, a 150 female rhynio popped so there was a whole bug taming event organized. I think at least 5-6 people got babies from that queen. It was nice to see, everyone working together and waiting their turn. The bug eventually died accidentally much later on. I was a bit sad that we weren't prepared for it, but considering we've only been on server for I don't know, 2 weeks max, can't expect anything yet. Now that we have our kibble supply secured though, it is on like Donkey Kong.

It's hard to keep secrets from C but I think I'm gonna try breeding up a little gift for him too, if I can. I think I need to make my own fridge for my room so he can't peek at the eggs and see what I'm doing. Hiding the babies themselves will be another matter though.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased. We're in a much stronger position now and can turn our attention mainly toward hunting during the week.

[Chudz66]

Bee Attempt II: Return to the Redwoods was a success! Once I had the hive up and running, I was quickly reminded that a ghillie suit might be a good idea when I opened it wearing a mix of flak and chitin armor and was instantly covered in angry bees. Definitely a close call.

With that in mind, I hopped on Ewe, and we grabbed Chomp, my rust-colored moschops. We then headed off to tank the local penguin faction level. It seems like most of them have migrated, though, as they weren’t on their usual ice berg. We eventually managed to find a couple, but Chomp couldn’t harvest their cute, little, mangled bodies. I recall moschops being able to in ASE, or maybe I was doing something wrong in ASA. Either way, it took longer than I had planned, but I managed to get a full suit of ghillie armor made.

I was also tired of crafting cementing paste, so the first four honey went toward sweet veggie cakes that were used to tame two snails. I made a little pen for them, put them on wander, and went to check my sap taps. So yah, I forgot to spay them. . . . Upon my return, I was greeted with a seven snail orgy. Needless to say, the snails were immediately taken to the vet and spayed post-haste.

I crafted an auto turret and eventually figured out how the exclude list works on it. It’s like fireworks and happiness every time it kills an ichthyornis.

I also managed to find and tame a low level female Rex and a low level male Rex, so the beginnings of my kibble farm are in place. A gazeebo was then built for Ovira, so she could wander around and give them the egg buff.

Anyway, that’s where I left things. Hope you’re all having fun.

 

[Cymas]

Kiah's Community Server, Unofficial, The Island

I am pleased to report tribemate C has really started getting into this build. He's put together a very nice sea pen with an attached tiki bar and garden. He says he's very proud of it, I think maybe a new builder is being born lol. I've been helping out with some general ideas and suggestions but the build is all his. He also seems to be making some friends on the server, which is great. He told me at the start he was too shy to talk to other people but it seems the ultra friendly community Kiah is fostering has won him over.  One of my suggestions was to ask her to do a painting for the bar, I think it would be nice to kind of tie in to it seeing as we've got a nice little community center going now. Can't wait to see what it will look like when it's done.

As for my own contribution today, I invested quite a bit of time into running drops with my newly adult quetzal, Zynzal. Finally something that can carry stuff! Didn't get much of note, but I did get our first sheep tamed. Then I found a 145 theri, which I carried over to the bar so C could shoot it out of Zynzal's claws lol. Easy tame now that we have kibble and narcos. Then I grabbed a 140 bary, another easy carry, shoot and tame. Then I found a nice little gift for C, a 130 frog to potentially add to his breeding line. A little low I know but finding decent frogs has been a struggle.

That was about it for today. This is the slightly annoying part of the game where you can spend a lot of days getting not much of anything done if the game doesn't feel like giving you anything. That I got two good tames was highly unexpected, to say the least.

[yarnevk]

Finally made it to herby island to get me some low level ankys!   Finished home base water pen thatch walled draft (only low level sharks in area its OK), took the turtle/dolphin/shark navy out for a swim.  Seems they never fixed the ASE problem of dolphins/sharks highwater following and killing themselves, and the new spiky coral hitbox stucks lost my 56 shark (280 by 5 leveling).  So between that and mistaken passives trying to get group whistles down stopped midway to get a few new dolphins .....and the turtle/dolphins made short work of the manta rays in the crossing.   No sign of leeds, but I still parked my raft across at the nearby ptera island - picked up my smithy, forge and feeder with my ptera (new pickup feature makes raft a truly portable base!) and grabbed up a few beacon supplies to make a hut (because it is wild temps out there). The turtles are murder on manta rays and sharks which is all that was in the deep channel crossing.    Luckily I leveled up on the way over just in time to qualify for anky engram so going to kill the brontos getting in my way for some hide and meat supply while I farm.  Spawn is good first thing I see is an anky family.   

Way behind everyone else in this thread - as I am running .125x XP (ASE 4x bonus weekends became 1x and SP is 2x) everything else at 1x aside from SP tames/breeds rates (and 5x terrain respawn - I want things to stay cleared force me to move deeper into the island).   Moving up to stone tier after month of play, so thatch then wood then stone progression is a reality and not a bypass to metal - and all the tames have a purpose because it takes a while to get a new saddle type and having fun learning their TLC features (as I had left ASE before that - just figured out trikes have ram now - and it seems anky are good swimmers/cavers too).  In fact the only use for metal I have right now is sharpening my tools for more wood/stone!

Edited November 28, 2023 by yarnevk

[Cymas]

Kiah's Community Server, Unofficial, The Island

Slow day on the Ark. Went hunting. Got ambushed by a 150 male rhynio, because why not. At least now we've got a pheromone. Tamed a couple of direwolves. One had pretty good stats, at least. The other's sacrificial. We still don't have a male wolf for breeding though. Didn't find any decent drops either.

By the time C logged in I was kinda tired after a few hours of flying around seeing not much of anything, so I logged for the night.

Honestly this is the phase of the game I dislike most, being reliant on rng to acquire what you need to enter the early endgame phase. Maybe I'll see if I can buy some eggs or something to move it along.

[Chudz66]

Let’s see, what did I do? Well, I chased Ovira all over the place because she kept escaping from her gazeebo. The wanderlust is strong with that one, so I finally built a stone apron around her enclosure and put up another line of fencing, which has helped some at least.

Rex hunting, for low levels to add to my kibble farm, didn’t go so well. I looked all over and finally found a level 20 female Rex . . . that was immediately eaten by raptors. When I got back to the base, I put my framed photo of me with Raptor Claus facedown on the table in protest.

I also did some resource gathering to top off the storage boxes, and made some sweet veggie cakes for the snails. As far as they’re concerned, I’m a first class chef.

I then decided to head over to Carnivore Island in search of a kitty to tame. Lots of low levels around, so Ewe got some battle training in, after getting the notes of course. She raised up several levels, and we finally found a level 145 kitty that was black and gray. So we grabbed her, headed over to the little safe island, and dropped her in the trap. I shot her with one tranq and then noticed movement behind and to the right of the trap. There was a Rex on the safe island, and then a raptor, and then an argent. The little safe island wasn’t feeling so safe anymore, if you know what I mean. Once the area was clear, I put another tranq in the kitty, and then another argent showed up. Sheesh! Everything was smooth sailing after that, though, and Sabene was tamed with average stats.

I also found a nice bow, sniper rifle, and some ghillie upgrades from drops there. But that’s pretty much about it, hope you’re all having fun.

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by Chudz66

[Cymas]

Kiah's Community Server, Unofficial, The Island

While I was at work today, C had quite a day. He did not succeed at frog breeding, borrowed an asc longneck bp and made a very expensive rifle, then immediately lost it and a newly bred saber to a lagged jump at the end of the lava cave. Yep. I did my best to console him and said to consider it a sacrifice to the Ark gods for luck.

Little did I know, I was right.

He was at work by the time I got home, so I logged in to play solo. Well, as solo as one can be on a server. Today started much the same as yesterday. I started with a bigger metal run to help recover the cost of the longneck, then began running drops and doing some slow sweeps around my favored hunting areas. I got a 150 argent, but lag shot it right as it went down. Stats did not turn out well, but I can use the colors for breeding, I guess.

But then as I was hunting around checking theris by green ob, I found not one but two 135 brontos, a male and female nearly side by side. I couldn't believe my luck. So I did what any enterprising hunter would do. I KO'd them both, spent a game night building protective pens for both of them, then flew home and got kibble. My rare double bronto tame did not go unnoticed by B, the server's bronto collector. He's obssessed with breeding a bronto line for rhynio taming. He had one stat left missing from his base bloodline: stamina. I didn't check either bronto's pretame stats as I was too busy trying to ensure they lived long enough to be worth the kibble I tamed them with, using up all of our preciously small supply.

The first bronto stood up with 40 stamina. Success! B was so excited he offered to bring a bronto over right away to breed. Then the other bronto tamed. 42 stamina! He was even more excited and dragged his male halfway across the map to breed with my female. I gave him the egg as he was raising brontos and I wouldn't have time until the weekend. I am quite happy to finally have contributed something to the server, and I also hope that means if the stats pass successfully I'll get an egg from the finished base bloodline.

Both of us continued to enjoy the favor of the Ark gods. On the way home B found a 150 oviraptor to tame. I found a 140 theri just down the beach from our base. I flew it up to drop in our entryway that doubles as a taming pen, made more kibble and tamed it up and we now have breedable HP for our soon to start theri bloodline. We don't have a male yet but hopefully I can find one that will give me stamina.

I told C his sacrifice was not in vain, but did not tell him what happened tonight. I imagine he'll be quite surprised when he logs in tomorrow.

I do feel a bit bad as it was late enough and I was tired by that point, so I didn't really restock as much as I would have liked. I did shift some animals around in the pen, kind of had to with two brontos now taking up a not insignificant amount of room. That was it for the night.

[Chudz66]

I focused on getting mats for a grinder, which definitely took a while. And when it was done, I rummaged through my storage and fed it a bunch of things, like saddles I didn’t think I’d use, and an ascendant stun baton thingy. That last one gave some nice mats, including a bunch of organic polymer that I used to make a stack of those fancy metal arrows.

I decided to do some general roaming after the grinding binge was done, so I hopped on Titan. He was an impulse tame, a max level iguanodon with what I feel are cool colorings. His main body is a rich brown color that has light blue flecks, like stars, and his underbelly is cyan along the edges, fading into a light blue middle. Plus, the fact that I had already found a Mastercraft iguanodon saddle in a drop helped in the taming decision.

I had my new Ascendant, compound bow on me, and that heavy stack of metal arrows. Part of the roaming plan was to test out if that bow was better than my Ascendant crossbow, so I shifted Titan into AWD, and we were off in a cloud of dust.

We jammed on the brakes when we saw a test dilo. I hopped off, took aim with the bow, and let fly. The headshot did over three-thousand damage, and the dilo’s dome disappeared in a pink mist. I locked eyes with Titan, a look of awe on my face, and he gave me a thumbs up.

We roamed for a bit with Titan thumbing things to death, like dilos and raptors, and then I saw a couple of terror birds across the river. I dismounted and took several shots with my bow. I gave up after four misses, since these arrows are costly to make, and I’m a cheapskate. I hopped back on Titan, and he plowed through the waters, heading for the opposite bank.

A fight broke out as soon as we emerged from the river. During it, I noticed one of the terror birds was a level 150. Thanks to his saddle, Titan didn’t take too much damage by the time the battle was over. And as I hopped off to harvest the bodies for hide and meat, a little bundle of fluffy feathers came barreling toward us. It was a level 150 terror bird baby. I shrugged. Time for another impulse tame, I guess. So I fed him some meat, not saying where it came from, and he began maturing quickly. I decided to head back to base, mentally kicking myself in the butt because I had ground up a Journeyman terror bird saddle not too long ago.

When we got back, I assigned Cheech as a Rex guard and called it a day. Hope you’re all having fun.

 

 

 

[Chudz66]

The next time I played after posting, I was flying back to base and decided to go after a nearby drop. It had an Ascendant Terror Bird saddle in it! Cheech is looking good!

Breeding Rexes was next on the list. I made a little pad with air conditioners underneath, plopped a fertilized egg on there, and waited. A low level female Rex hatched, and imprint time was thirteen minutes. Hmm . . . too bad she matured in like six minutes and change. So needless to say, I’m going to have to work on refining those settings. I was able to get two more female Rexes to add to my kibble farm out of the fertilized eggs I had on hand, so production is officially up and running now.

Now that our stock of kibble was growing, Ewe and I flew off looking for higher level Rexes to tame, but we didn’t find anything. While doing that, though, I managed to come across four red drops in short order. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, they didn’t really have anything exciting in them. More grinder fodder at least.

After returning to base, I kind of felt like it was time to start on my water dino collection. However, I really didn’t feel like building a water pen, so I added another turret instead. Hopefully the two overlooking the water will be enough to keep my water tames safe. And once the new turret had a fair supply of ammo, I decided to head out.

I slipped beneath the waves, crossbow at the ready. (Maybe it’s just me, but the ocean on ASA seems less populated than ASE.) I probably shot six or seven low level sharks to death while looking for something tamable. There was a point where two of them were in my face as I swam backward, frantically spamming crossbow shots as fast as I could. Luckily, I was relatively unscathed at the end of that encounter. But then I saw a level one hundred, which I figured would work for taking out a Basilo’s Manta guards, so I swam into action.

The ascendant crossbow worked well with the tranq arrows, and it went out fairly quickly. Then I realized I didn’t have anything to tame it with, but I also remembered that sharks can give prime fish meat now, so I found a volunteer. While my new recruit was taming, I hit the beach and ran back to base, so I could make a saddle. I got back shortly before it tamed, and a few minutes later, Spork the Shark joined the tribe. I finished the rest of my play time leveling him up.

Hope you’re all having fun.

[yarnevk]

Been working on stone water pen myself with shark guards and dolphins swimming circles!  The thatch draft water pen at my noob base kept getting eaten by sharks as I was not getting stone up fast enough, and the shark guards I had kept getting stuck on coral..  So keeping it as the turtle pen and moved onto herbi island layout.  Have completely stone walled it off and has much better drop off for sharks.    Scored a max level shark so he guards the door as he solos alpha sharks and already ate a basilo and a leeds.   Think I will double gate for a trap space, there is enough stone on the island to resource it with the anky working it.

Crossing the channel from the nearby island on the raft and my herby mount is safe with the max shark keeping it clear.   There is a blue/purple/yellow drop so I already got harpoon and bolts, but I need to deal with the cold this game is broken dropping from 55F to 25F instantly but it seems like a good base for hitting the deep from.

Edited December 6, 2023 by yarnevk

[Shriekk]

rebuilt my base twice today was wiped twice on pvp fun times.

 

[yarnevk]

SP but 1x hard with .125XP for that original ark leveling, except for SP taming/breeding.   Levels are /5 what you are used to as you read this.

With the last megapatch I saw they fixed the crop plot visuals so I decided to work on putting the crop plots back down, but first I had to replace the poo pig who had dropped undermesh like half my simple egg pen, since I like them to wander for a lively pen he had died.

So got crop plots down, my pego had fresh seeds as the old ones from the stego had rotted - then headed back to herbi island to find that easy pig tame.  I had reran wild dinos wipe after realizing turkey trials screws up rates and disabled it - so hoping for some higher levels than single digits I had before.  The shark guards have been busy killing everything that moves so lots of chum in the water but surely safe to raft or swim over.  One of them was weighed down - had two full stacks of fish oil plus lots of fish filets rotting.

find a lvl25 female pig so dino respawns worked, they really need to make higher quality poop but they are easy to tame so I took her.  Then found a 33 male anky only have berries but still got 75% for bonus levels.  I guess SP maxes at 36 not 30 as I also found a 36 bronto but I did not have enough narc arrows to try for so will save it for later.   The anky is bigger than my prior high level male, I had been looking for a higher female since my egg drops from the prior pair kept coming out low males but a new stud I will take.   While doing that I spotted a high level pelagornis to replace my early game tame and snuck in below it and xbow narced it from underwater so that was fun while waiting.   

While I was checking how much the tames needed on dododex a cold snap came and I was out in the wild ocean weather so I flipped back to ASA dead as I had not paused.   Run back to corpse from across the island die from cold exposure before I get there, run back to that corpse after waking up on the raft, die of cold exposure while trying to get spare gear off my pet pego.   Good thing I am on herbi island because I got three tames going now and am three corpses into this.   Wake up at my noob bay base, grab my parasaur workhorse (iguana racehorse died to alpha raptor), torch and spare hide armor and a fur hat I got in a drop - gallop back across the map stepping on raptors and dilos in my rush.   Thanks WC for the update the death icon now continues to ping at your feet as I could not see my corpses at all so I got my stuff back.

So load up the raft with all my new high level tames (pig, bird, and anky plus the para), had two crashes on the way back but reasonable saves so no losses.  I had already cleared out most of the rocks with prior anky trips so it was smooth sailing.  Get back and my older anky  with his younger mate had produced a grown up 27 male to claim.  Not great but I was wanting a chain gang so decided to keep it then noticed there was another egg about to hatch.  This one was 29 female - and I found out they fixed SP babies so we walked but I missed the last chance - and then it crashed.  dammit.   Reloaded back on the raft near home =  tried to do the exact same things, but decided to off the male this time using my foresight for the new egg.  Then noticed this time I got 29 female twins - so I will take that butterfly effect!  And this time we got walks and cuddles in the nick of time so fully and I so my new anky stud was happy to get right to work, while the old stud has rocks to break. And I am happy WC added the baby games back to SP was not expecting that!

Finally put the poo pig in place, already got some carrots.  I really need to go to bed way past time and this was supposed to be a find an easy pig and logoff session hours ago.

Then I noticed my compy I had raised that had been swimming under the map ran up to say hi, realizing they must have popped back up all the fallthrus I went looking for my trusty lystro - my first tame on the island.  I had ghosted under the map to get him off wander as he still could reach the food bin from there.  But I did not see him so turned on the icon, there he was on top of my greenhouse saying hi!  So very happy about that and he jumped for joy!   He is now 84 which is getting up there in dog years so everyone had a level party with some fresh carrots.

Got some stone finishings to do on the pens, get the farm productive, get some eggs cooked.    After that maybe see how many newborn ankys I got maybe do some caving.

[Chudz66]

Let’s see, I rounded out my turret coverage, and went drop hunting a lot. I also leveled Spork the shark some more, chomping everything we came across. There was a close call on that mid-level, Alpha Mosa, though. I had to retreat and heal up. No luck on finding a tamable Basilo yet. And then the Turkey thing hit.

I’ve been mostly taking them out with my Ascendant Pike, but the armor repair bills are close to the GDP of a good sized country. But anyway, I finally got a Yuty-Chibi!

To level it up, Birbs and I headed out to look for Alphas. Needless to say, I also had to retreat to heal from a high-level Alpha Carno. The bleed was brutal. We came back and took it out afterward at least. I managed to get Mini-Hulk, my Yuty-Chibi, to level two with the help of some Alpha Raptors, so I’m gaining experience again at least. I’ve also almost died to Turkey-Ambush twice so far. I attack one, and then like four more jump out of the bushes.

Oh yeah, and thanks to it being Turkey-Time, a couple of them have bullet-soaked my aforementioned turrets. So I’ve been making a lot of gunpowder lately.

I also have my first otter tame in ASA. Misty is low level, but it’s nice to have an otter again. She’s rocking a pilgrim hat, thanks to the event, and looks fantastic.

Hope the rest of you are having fun.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Chudz66
Had to get rid of the quote part

[yarnevk]

I just been grinding at the farm to get the finishing touches done on my two water pens.   Just finished the wood docks, wasted hours trying to ghost an anky and turtle out of the rocks.  Got the anky out but the turtle is wedged in a tight hole cannot even saddle it on ghost.   Guess I learned my lesson about using natural rocks as a wander pen wall.   It was a mutated one all irish green. 

Now that I got them down, I just watched a best base locations in ASA - and the spot above the water pen was on their list and I had been thinking that will be a cool project to connect a cliff base there to the water base.   So that will be my next project for metal/tek tiers.

But I just came here to post my luck - since the beginning of the game when I lucked into a moschops max level wanting red berries to tame I have been looking for a maxed mate - and I just found one wanting mushrooms - literally right next to my fridge in the greenhouse as I came back from the crystal/metal/wood run up the mountain.  So now I can start my specialty harvester moschops family! (assuming that works I hear it might be bugged).  

I think seeing more tame diversity as I turned hibernation off on my SP game. 

Got a CPU upgrade to build (which is always nearly a new system - new MB/fan/mem/PS) as been running underspec old CPU.   So hopefully that goes well so I can get back to the grind!

Edited December 15, 2023 by yarnevk

[yarnevk]

My sharks have been giving me basi blubber trophies around herbi island when I had them on aggro guarding - look there?

Edited December 15, 2023 by yarnevk

[Chudz66]

The Great Basilo Hunt!

It’s a little before midnight, and everything’s topped off and crafted that needs to be topped off and crafted. The Industrial Forge is doing its thing on the roof, smelting the latest batch of metal, and I need to think of something else to do. That’s when I remember the suggestion to look for Basilos around Herbivore Island, so I stop at the equipment box to grab my SCUBA gear. Once I’m all set, I head for the beach and feel Misty clamber up onto my shoulder as I go.

The moon is high when I hop on Spork. He squirms a bit in the shallows, but we eventually slip beneath the surface and head for the island. I enjoy the Ark oceans at night, quiet and subdued . . . until you run into a shark, and then another shark, and then an Alpha shark. Mini-Hulk got some Chibi experience at least.

It’s nearing morning when we arrive at the island, and our search begins. We do find several whales, but they’re low level. Spork decides to snack on one and . . . Wham! His weight is nearly maxed from all the oil. (I still feel bad killing Basilos.)

Once the encumbrance situation is settled, we resume our search. The sun is just rising above, but the depths are still clouded in shadow, and that’s when I see it. A strange light illuminates a patch of the ocean floor, and there’s a bump in the middle of it. It gives me tech vibes. Would ASA have explorer notes on the bottom of the ocean? We swim closer to investigate, keeping an eye open for apex predators as we go. Nearing it, I still can’t make out if the bump is a chest or something else, so we decide to glide over it, like you would an explorer note. And . . . .

BRRRRRRRZZZZZZZZRRRRRZZZZZTTTTTTTT!

I’m immediately knocked off Spork who’s stunned. Misty and I both mentally shout in unison, “Jelly!” I get my crossbow out, but the Jelly is beneath Spork, and I don’t have a shot.

Spork’s stun wears off, and he’s like, “Whisky Tango Foxtrot!” as the Jelly keeps attacking.

Luckily, I recall there’s no chain-stun now, so I swim madly and remount Spork. A couple of chomps later, and the Cnidaria is goo in his inventory.

After that excitement, we decide to put off Basilo hunting for another day and begin heading back to base. On the surface, Spork is still dealing with involuntary twitches from the previous shock, Misty looks like she has an 80’s perm, and I just bust out laughing over my “Explorer Notes at the bottom of the sea,” idea.

Spork and Misty begin glaring at me. Needless to say, it is an awkward ride home.

 

[Hope everyone’s having fun, and beware jellyfish that are sunken into the floor of the ocean.]

 

[yarnevk]

I took my sharks off guard aggro as unlike other wandering gatherers they do not stop at half weight.   Did not want to lose them from being larded down.   Now I risk leeds to raft cross though I have not seen them there ( I actually have only seen them due south of the southern isles near the manta spawns in the rocky area), it only takes 10s from the near island but I built a raft dock in the shallows to raft clip right into my warehouse as I ram at full speed.

I already lost a dolphin and another shark there to the mysteriously buggy your dino died message (OK one maybe did not visit the trough enough but the other was full of fish and parked at the trough), and another got caught in a shark/manta fracas was out hunting with the sharks.   So my pen is open already the dolphins are coming in again to check out the tame sharks - then I will close the door the entire island is but a trap!

I moved all my big dinos to the beach near there ready to start clearing the jungle for my megabase .  Caught a blood red sarco low level I snagged that always appears half dead but left a trail of corpses along the beach on the trip  - it was an defensive tame while waiting for miss bronto to unstuck herself from the rocky bay did not realize I had narcs loaded.  And I just leveled into a sarco saddle so that was luck. I whispered sweet nothings to my bronto about the island of brontos and that got her moving.  I am out of the game while I debug my new CPU build, it posted fine except it fails to see my SSDs on SATA ports despite not having a M2 SATA to conflict with.   And this laptop is not going to cut it with its AMD branded integrated gfx.

 

Edited December 16, 2023 by yarnevk