Sunken Scoop 15: There's Plenty of Fish in the Sea!

[ashgcy]

Welcome back aquatic a-fish-ionados!

After a long two weeks out at sea, we've reeled in a monster... a giant edition of the Sunken Scoop! So let's catch you up on what we've been working on for the past fortnight (and why we're saying more fishing puns than usual). We've added 8 new custom creatures to our roster! While such a huge number sounds ambitious, the new additions aim to tackle something that is lacking in ARKs oceans, ambient life! While oceanic giants are spectacular in their own right, a lot of feedback and requests we've gotten have asked us to add more of the little guys. There's no sense to a ocean TLC without adding wildlife that makes the waters feel less like a deadzone no matter where you go. These new additions are all going to be their own animals, unlike the many fish schools we have on ASE (and will bring to the map in ASA), and will all have their own roles to play when tamed! Read on to find out more!

If this is your first time diving into the deep end, we are a dedicated team of individuals who are looking to spruce up the ocean biome in the same way that Scorched Earth offered a unique, biome specific challenge to survival. New creatures, resources, structures, items and more, all set on a huge custom map, we're looking to give ARK's oceans the TLC they deserve! The main goal is to bridge that huge gap between early and late game ocean exploration, and make it much more viable and more fun to live a life beneath the waves! This is unofficial content and is only related to our mod. It is in no way related with the official game and its content releases.

Let's dive into the scoop!

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I THOUGHT THE ROSTER WAS FULL...

You've probably heard us say many a time that our roster of over 40 custom creatures is full to the brim, and we aren't able to add in community requested creatures... so what gives adding in a boatload of fish?

The answer is quite simple. Adding in a fish is a lot less resource intensive than our more ambitious creatures like the Wyrms, Omnidens and so on! They tend to have only a handful of animations, are generally easier to model, and are relatively easier to code! In addition, they make for excellent ambience that makes the ocean feel more alive!

With that explanation out of the way, let's move on to the hook of this scoop, what do all them fish do?

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CATCH OF THE DAY

As said above, each of these fish will be separate "entities", like the Coelacanth or Lepidotes. In addition to their individuality though, each will have a simple niche that they fill! For ease of workload, the abilities these fish have will either be underwater-ified existing mechanics or simple, but interesting ideas. The thought process is that these little guys will be fun/useful additions to your school, but won't steal the show from the main mascots of the mod! Also, please note that the ideas we're proposing aren't set in stone, and could be subject to change. 

We've had you waiting with baited breath for long enough, let's introduce the first fish!

Calamostoma

Excuse this fella's cold attitude, it's been asked "why the long face" way too many times! Meet Calamostoma, the arctic-dwelling, brine-blasting pipefish! These prehistoric seahorse relatives live in the cold waters around the Ice Caps, protecting themselves from predators with an icy-blast of superchilled water. Tamed ones make for perfect guard dogs to slow the flow of enemies through your defenses. Brinewing who? Artwork by ZCI5250.

Doryaspis

That fish is looking sharp! The point of adding Doryaspis was to add a bit more danger to the map! These spikey little scavengers live deep in the trenches of the map. Be warned, their serrated chin-spike and pectoral fins are more than just for show, a "swim-by" from one of these fish will really leave a nasty mark!

Tamed Doryaspsis are like undersea Dimorphodons, directly attacking the rider instead of the creature! In addition, wild Doryaspis have a small chance to drop a very awesome sword skin! Artwork by ZCI5250.

Haikouichthys

Fish for the brine pools. An ancient, transparent friend. The Haiku-ichthys! Pretty much everything you need to know about the Haikou is in the opening line, but something that was missed is that these ghostly fellows will passively produce bio-toxin over time! With Cnidaria being so much rarer on ASA, perhaps a school of these Cambrian-era fish will solve your Shocking Tranq Dart deficiency! Artwork by RexMyPet.

Oceanic Sunfish

No thoughts, fish empty. A unique fish from the modern era, the Oceanic Sunfish is here to brighten up TSW's seas! Functioning like a fun-sized Leedsichthys, a sizeable school of these will allow you to scrape enough fish meat to feed a whole village! All you'll need to round them up from the open ocean is their favourite food, bio toxin! Artwork by ZCI5250.

Stenoprotome

We've been trying to reach you about your Steno's extended warranty. The headgear on these fellows is more than just for show, as they make for the perfect handlebars to have them ferry you around! Slightly smaller than the average survivor, these colourful reef-dwellers are strong enough to drag the weight of a person and still keep swimming at full speed. Great for moving around your base with ease! Seaglide who? Artwork by WaterWitch.

Tek Coelacanth

An old vanilla staple gets a major version update! And unlike a Tek Parasaur these guys don't need to breathe, making them the perfect underwater element dust farms! We would like their sizes to be inheritable so that you can breed some absolutely colossal fish! However, please note that this role could be subject to change due to the fickle nature of ARK's code! We do have some other ideas for a replacement niche, which we will reveal if ARK decides to... well, ARK us :p. Artwork by ZCI5250.

Tek Gebrayelichthys

Gibby fish. I ain't writing that long ass name again. The nosejob isn't just for show either! These fish will use their squeegee attachments to good use, cleaning up and repairing structures for you! Artwork by RexMyPet.

Tek Trilobite

Man this roomba looks kinda weird... A robotic clean up crew of these fellows will do more than keep your base tidy, because they can convert your random garbage into valuable resources! While less powerful than the producing powers of a Gacha, a constant flow of valuables isn't something to scoff at! Artwork by ZCI5250.

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WHERE'S THE ASA NEWS?

We are super close to the ASA release! There isn't much to report compared to the last scoop, just more really annoying, game breaking bugs that we are trying to stomp out. Almost unsurprisingly, the culprit is the loveable problem child, Anomalocaris. We hate to be those guys just spamming "soon", but we're working on alternatives if the major bugs aren't able to be fixed!

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COMMUNITY CORNER

While we have plenty of content to share, we'd love to be able to share some things from our community! We accept screenshots, artwork, videos and anything in between, and we'd love to feature your work in the next scoop! There's a submissions channel in our Discord, or you can tag us @ARKSunken or with the hashtag #sunkenscoop on Twitter!

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That's all for this issue of the Sunken Scoop, thanks for tuning in! Hope you're excited with the net gain in creatures! Why don't you come to our discord to hang out? Definitely not fishing for compliments or anything! Have a wonderful timezone!

If this is your first time seeing TSW, check out the links below to find out more! Please note that if you want to play our mod, you need both the map and creature mod active.
Discord: https://discord.gg/BAkvgc7
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArkSunken
Map Mod (ASE): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2182740759
Creature Mod (ASE): https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2182770728

Edited March 6 by ashgcy

[ZCI5250]

YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS