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ZenRowe

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Posts posted by ZenRowe


  1. Sponsored Mod Program Applications


    Congratulations to our newest arrivals in the ARK Sponsored mod program. The modding community continues to impress and engage players looking for new ways to play!
    Recently the modding community got their hands on an updated DevKit that includes the genesis content so it will be interesting to see what they come up with in the coming months. If you have an interest in making mods for ARK you can find the ARK DevKit on the Epic Games Launcher. 

    Additionally, Sponsored Mod Program applications are once again OPEN! If you are interested in sponsorship for your projects, please fill out the application here:
    https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/modding/apply-for-sponsorship/

    Applications for the next selection of sponsored projects will be open until June 5th, 2020.


    New Sponsored Mods

    MarniiMods: Wildlife

    large.MM_Wildlife_BannerColored.jpg

    Want some extra hustle and bustle in the world?
    Marnii has you covered with this wildlife mod. It doesn't put dragons everywhere, it doesn't fill the world with hulking beasts that could murder you with a glance.
    This mod adds the touches of normal wildlife in an otherwise very abnormal world.

    Check out the MarniiMods: Wildlife Mod

    Hope

    large.Hope_Sponsor_Logo_Final.jpg

    Hope has been around for quite some time, and has seen a lot of quality and polish updates since it's original release.
    An almost familiar setup with solid creative direction.
    If you aren't looking for some of the more abnormal and surreal maps, give Hope a try!

    Check out the Hope Map

    Primal Fear

    large.2047632736_PrimalFearLogo1080.jpg

    Primal Fear is a community favorite among overhaul mods. It won the popular vote in a mod competition and is still regularly updated and expanded.
    Distributed across several mods in the collection, so that players can pick and choose content to a degree, Primal Fear adds a plethora of creature variants and items, as well as plenty of quality of life adjustments.
     

    Check out the Primal Fear Collection


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    All the best,
    Studio Wildcard


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  2. Greetings Survivors!
    It's that time again, I am Zen Rowe and today we’re going to be talking to Eco, the creator behind a plethora of decor mods!

    Eco, You likely need little introduction, but for the sake of anyone who has yet to experience your mods tell us a bit about yourself.

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    Hi hi! I'm Eco and I have several different projects for ARK. They vary from décor items to creatures. I try to listen closely to what the community wants or needs via suggestions or by watching your play styles.
    The RP community has been a strong influence on my current and future projects as I try to bring more in-depth immersive items that you can interact with. Such as the Stone Oven from the Inca Empire, it just doesn't cook meat it cooks historic representations of meals from the actual Inca Empire. Meals involve creating each ingredient such as Rice, Quinoa, or Corn Flour. It serves to make cooking exciting and more enjoyable when you sit down for a meal!

    Your mods are some of the most popular in the Workshop, Eco. Seeing you branch out into more functional additions like this has been a joy.


    Do you have a background or hobbies that have influenced and guided the design of your mods?
    I imagine your empire mods involve a lot of historical research.

    Eco

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    I grew up in a very art driven yet technological driven home. My mom has always been sewing or creating paper art from as far back as I can remember. My dad has made quilts and taught me the in's and out's of computers.
    When I was younger I would sketch all the time, in my teens I fully went down the Bob Ross painting trail and enjoyed every minute. My love of nature, photography, and art kind of all met with graphic design. For some time, while I was still in school, I created websites for people and even had a chapter published in a technology reference book! I then transitioned into sewing where I created plush dinosaurs and other monsters! This was an amazing experience as my creations were accepted into galleries across North America and even one in Paris! They were even published in magazines for several years. I still have a few in my office now as I just couldn't part with all of them ?

    I'll take ten... uh... for my god-daughter.
    Yes... for my god-daughter.

    Quote

    When I'm not modding I am usually reading as I have collected over 500 vintage books. I find them fascinating and even more enjoyable if someone has written or drawn inside the cover. Sometimes I wonder who owned them and if they lived in a gorgeous Victorian home!

    Quite possibly the favorite thing about creating the Empires Collection is the research that goes into each one. I truly love history and finding out that the community in turn dives in deeper to find out more about the Empires is just as amazing! I absolutely love what I do and having the ability to share that with you pushes me to create a better experience with each new mod! I feel like all of these experiences and my love of dinosaurs has drawn me into the world of modding. My goal is not to change the game that I love but only add to it!

    I know a lot of players love your creations in ARK, but it sounds like you lived a fascinatingly creative life as well!


    Now if anyone wanted to follow your modding endeavors or wants to see what other artistic creations you've made, where can they do that?

    Eco

    Quote

    I think it's important to be creative it lets your mind expand and grow! I tend to be active on Twitter with Sneak Peeks or sharing wonderful builds from you! For all things mod related, update information, sometimes random sketches, or tech support I have a wonderful Discord full of great community members and staff!

    https://twitter.com/ecoModsGames
    https://discord.gg/TFnxbuv

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    What prompted you to cross the bridge from more physical forms of art to modding?

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    From a young child I always had a love of dinosaurs and would often “borrow” them from my brother. From our first Atari I was fascinated with games and how they worked. ARK is definitely my first modding experience and it has been a wonderful adventure! It truly brings together all of my interests and there is so much to learn! Every day has a story that is waiting to be written and I am just discovering the words.
    When my brother told me about this new dinosaur game coming out I couldn't contain my excitement! One of my best friends actually gifted ARK to me when it first came out and we ran off into the great unknown! I played for quite a while before ending up on a PVE server setting down roots on Herbivore Island. It's a beautiful spot to build yet full of Brontos... They constantly would knock down all the beautiful trees I so carefully kept alive. I would fly across the ocean every day to get wood just to make sure the island trees were safe. I remember pestering the server admin for refertilizer just to have the Brontos knock the trees down again. It was at this point I decided to create my first mod for ARK. It was a learning experience for sure and continues to be! Every mod I make helps build the next one as I learn a new process or gain new ideas. But all of this was never done alone, I've made some lasting friendships with other devs that continue to help me grow, motivate me, and who have created a modding community based on sharing knowledge and doing what they love!


    I take it that those Brontos are who we have to thank for the "Eco Trees" mod? That was your first one, wasn't it?

    Quote

    Yep eco Trees was the very first to start it all! It's gone through many phases along the way as I have learned better was to optimize and also ended up expanding into eco In Wonderland.. you know the one with all the crazy looking trees

    You have certainly come a long way since then. Between your empire and primordial mods, you've also begun to cater to a wide variety of aesthetic styles as well.
    Personally I'm proud of my stick figure achievements but what you have accomplished in terms of variety boggles my mind.

    Would you be able to give us a bird's-eye view of your design process for your empire mods?

    When you try to make your first Llama

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    I like to think months in advance for my projects. This allows me time to do research, gather input, and start the creative process of designing items. What I may be working on today may take many forms until it's finally released as I try to consider how it will be physically used in PVE and PVP, what benefit it has for you as a whole, and visually if it with the overall ARK theme.
    The very first step is picking an Empire which is probably the hardest part! The Empire doesn't need to be well known but instead I look for how they shaped the world either by their art, beliefs, or ways they interacted with other Empires. Then I dive into the research! Any article, picture, or book I can find becomes my main focus as even the smallest of details are important! My friends give input as well as they each have backgrounds in history, weaponry, or art.
    Once furniture, building design, food has been chosen then the designing starts! Pieces are created in 3ds Max and the Dev Kit. Texturing is always a huge focus as well. You can change the whole style of a building by the color and pattern.
    Then quite possibly the only boring part is creating the blueprints but without them the item would never come to life! A lifeless structure has now come to life with floors you can place décor on and textured walls that immerse you in the famous architecture of that Empire!

    You certainly put a lot of care and attention into your mods.
    What would you say are the most challenging parts of the process?

    Quote

    That would probably be keeping the poly count low, though I do use programs such as Simplygon, which removes a lot of the unnecessary bits, I do tend to go overboard on the detail and have to scale things back as I know not everyone has a workhorse PC. Balancing the wants vs needs can also be a juggling act as well. Sometimes combining objects with multiple functions ends up being a good compromise! On whole I would say where I struggle the most is graph work. I tend to understand it once I see it completed and can expand on it for future projects but the initial time from idea to working object may take me much longer than most and even help from other devs. This is definitely something I am working on each day as I try to expand my knowledge and use that to take my creations to the next step!

    Well, that's one of the things that is great about modding. You have a functional sandbox to experiment with and learn other skills in.


    Now, the question I'm sure many have been waiting for...
    Do you have any super-secret content you are working on that you could leak for us today? 

    Eco

    Quote

    It definitely is and that's what I love about it, the learning never ends!
    I do have another Empire chosen! I gave hints on Twitter and I believe only one person guessed correctly. Coming in January will be the Babylonian Empire! Their history is deep and rich with confrontations and they quite possibly changed the world forever. Their architecture was breathtaking and showed their wealth in every detail.
    One of their most known buildings was the Hanging Gardens. It was a gorgeous building and I want to make sure to include as much detail as possible. As with all my other mods I try to consider how things are created and will be used on all maps so that it's more accessible for you. In this case the Hanging Gardens will need a bit of rework so that it can be built anywhere and still look fantastic!
    There also may be some time spent on some new creatures too but I can share that info later..

    That's going to be an interesting one. Babylonian architecture is something that I think a lot of people hear reference to in media but may not have actually seen.
    I think we'll all be looking forward to that release!


    Before we sign off, Do you have any advice for mod authors that want to try their hand at projects similar to your own?

    Quote

    Never give up! If you have a dream or an idea there is always a solution. It may take more time than you expected but you will learn and discover new things. If you get stuck reach out for help in the ARK Modding Discord! There is such a wide range of people with different areas of knowledge there. The more you know and understand the better experience it will be, the greater your passion will be for what you are creating.

    Finally just be you! Create what you love and share it with the world! A map is a painting you get to walk through, a mod is a toy you get to play with!

    Thank you for that, and all of the wonderful mods you have created for the community!

    Until next time, Happy Modding!


     

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  3. Greetings Survivors!
    Zen Rowe here again, and I have brought you another peek into the lives of the modders!

    Today we’re going to be talking to LeutianKane!

    Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your sponsored project.

    Quote

    Hello, everyone. I am LeutianKane, lead developer for ARK Eternal. Which is a dino overhaul mod that adds an entirely new progression system, quality of life structures and items as well as many other unique dinos and other things.

    I know a lot of people love these types of mods, they can make gameplay feel refreshing and new again.

    You've been working on this project for quite a while right? How did you get started on it?

    Quote

    Yes, I have been working on this project since day one. We started in January of 2017 approximately.  I was introduced to the project by an announcement Prome made that was looking to put together a Dev Team for a mod of this type. I responded and started out as part of the team with prome as lead.

    That's actually a really interesting thing to see. Mods don't often change hands, for various reasons.

    Was this your first mod, or have you worked on other projects before this one?

    ARK Eternal

    Quote

    Elemental Creatures was actually my first mod . It is basicly vanilla balanced versions of the dinos with elemental abilities such as poison to add torpor to a dino on attack,fire to burn them or lightning to electrocute/add torpor. That mod is actually what led Prome to decide to add me to the Eternal team initially.

     

    So you had some experience before starting on the project.
    I want to switch focus for a moment here and talk a bit more about yourself.

    Outside of modding do you have other development experience? Does your background benefit your modding endeavors at all?

    Quote

    i have actually been coding and doing things of that nature for 30 years since before DOS was MS-Dos and Linux was still Unix. I actually wrote some games in Basic on an old radio shack trs-80  when i was a kid. i also used to run a web design company until the "free" page builders put us out of business. My current job has nothing to do with coding. I basicly code and mod for a hobby now to keep myself engaged with it. However, i would definitely say my previous experience definitely helped me get started with Ark Modding  and modding in general. I have actually been modding games as a whole since 2002 starting with the original Baldur's Gate games for PC.

    You have quite a bit of history with modding!

    Let's get your social media info. For anyone that wants to follow along with your creations where can they find you?

    Quote

    Now for ARK Eternal, this is a pretty big mod, it involves editing so much of the game. and I imagine that balance and adjustments take a lot of time.

    Can you give me a general high-level view of what your workflow process looks like?

    Quote

    Step 1 : Identify the Dino we are going to be working on , for this example i'll use a Rex Then Immediately make a copy of said dino and parent it to our base dino_character_BP so it inherits all the code we have on that
    Step 2: Decide Which Tiers we are going to involve (Elite is the lowest tier just above Vanilla and InDominus is the highest for our purposes here)
    Step 3: Once Tier is decided we go about editing the status components, Class Settings, Damage Type , Spawn level Range , Buff immunities to fit that tier. As well as any Lootsets OnDeath, or Evolution mechanics it may have.
    Step 4: Once Step 1-3 are complete we simply add the dino into the spawn on death mechanic( Corpse is eaten 10% chance to spawn another dino from a list) Or the Spawn container additions in the PGD.
    After that its pretty much just fine tuneing and adding anything "unique" we might want the dino to do
    Structures and items pretty much follow the same process just toned down compared to a dino

    Sounds like you've figured out a system of iteration that works for you. I know that's a lot more than it sounds like at a glance, there are tons of pieces we have on things that can be tweaked and altered just in the class-default settings alone before even touching the blueprint graphs.

    So, do you have any top-secret plans for ARK Eternal that you can share with us today?

    ARK Eternal

    Quote

    Look for some new quality of life structures to be added once we get the bugs worked out that will replace the need to use a couple of extra mods on your servers We are in the process of adding our own Death Recovery structure and our own Teleporter Version

     

     

     

    Are you planning to add your own special twist to these features, something that sets them apart from existing mods of their type?

    Quote

    yes, when we do QoL stuff like this we don't really aim to totally replace the useage of the mods themselves completely , its more of a convenience included for those that don't want to load the extra mods on their servers, in these cases we usually do try to make our version stand out a bit. Like the Eternal Spyglass for example, Shares the Info Box functionality that Awesome spyglass uses as well as tameing foods etc but with our own spin on the UI and extra tamed dino functionality like telling what level a dino was tamed or born at and stats it inherited from its parents (edited)

    I'm interested to see what kind of take you do with it.

    And last but not least, what advice would you offer to a new modder that is interesting in making overhaul mods like ARK Eternal?

    Quote

    Start slow with only one or two dinos, until you  get a feel for doing that, then start asking questions, there are a lot of helpful modders in our community, and i for one don't mind helping someone get a start. I would also recommend you watch/Read any and all tutorials you can find for what you are trying to do. That way you at least get an idea of how things are done when you get stumped.
    I started Dino Modding myself with just two parasaurs  and look where it took me ?

    Wise words.
    Thank you for talking with us today!

    Until next time, Happy Modding!


     

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  4. Greetings Survivors!
    Zen Rowe here again, back for another spotlight on our glorious modding community.

    Today we’re going to be talking to Kiwiboys!

    Who are you and what do you do?

    Quote

    Hey, my name is Jordan Dargaville otherwise known as Kiwiboys I am the mod author of Ark Settlements a growing project that adds new layers to the already great Ark experience. Ark settlements started out as a simple enough project allowing players to place plots and built settlements but now it's grown to a mod that adds full city management with NPC’s and an economic system that connects to all of the other city aspects such as the current mood of the city and the city's supply chain

    That's a pretty intense modification.

    ARK itself doesn't really have much in the way of existing mechanics for you to tie into for that kind of system, right?

    Settlements
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    That's correct, One of the reasons I take a while to come out with new updates is everything I want to do needs to be built from scratch, to add to the difficulty there are also some limitations on what I can and can’t change so I can keep the mod as clean as possible.  I’ve had to come up with a few creative ways around certain issues one of the first issues I ran in to was the plots themselves there was no such thing as a settlement and I couldn’t allow plots to be place-able just anywhere. I created a town hall that acts as the city controller most of the mod code runs from here things like supply and demand checks, weather to upgrade a building or not, initiating UI and self-checks to detect problems if they occur.

    Making mods can definitely be an exercise in creative solutions.

    May I ask about your background? Does your education or personal experience tie in well with helping you design the overall system or influence the direction of your solutions to problems?

    Quote

    Most certainly does, I’ve been always interested in games. I finally started making my own content in Unity 5 years ago and recently completed a degree in Information technology I focused mostly around networks architecture and security but also studied C# and C++ which are most common in game design. I only started using Unreal engine when I began this mod but it’s not too different from Unity.

    Shhhhh. Don't let Epic hear you!
    We'll talk a bit more about ARK settlements in a moment, but I do want to focus on you a bit. When we make our mods we tend to focus ourselves entirely on that and most of the people who enjoy our creations don't know a thing about us.

    So tell me, aside from making mods, what other things do you like to spend time on? Do you have any other creative hobbies?

    Quote

    When I do manage to get away from my computer I try to do some projects things like woodworking or designing a 3D printable lamp things. I do play the games mostly around simulation or open-world allowing me to create my own narrative, but I usually find myself working on games the most since it’s what I love to do, every time I solve a problem or get to a new milestone you get this feeling of success and you can look back at your work and see where you’ve come from and where you are now.

    I can relate to the feeling, seeing your own progression in skill and surprising yourself with what you can come up with is a very satisfying thing to be able to look back on.

    So for anyone that wants to follow what you are working on, do you have a twitter, or discord, or any other social media you engage with?

    Quote

    I’ve always been thinking of what the best platform would be to communicate with the gaming and modding community, I eventually decided to go with discord. I may start a twitter down the track but currently the best way to find out what I’m working on and how it's going would be the Mods discord channel there’s already a growing community and I’m always open to suggestions on things. The discord link is https://discord.gg/v9JwVc8

    Thank you for that, prepare for a flood.

    You said you were working with unity before, were you making games for yourself or were you making mods that used that engine? What made you decide to start making mods?

    Settlements
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    I started with Unity when I left school, I wanted to make games but back then I didn’t realise what went in to making games. At the time I thought it would be easy make some art write some code and done! Well let’s just say that didn’t end up working out so well. I didn’t understand the concept of scoping or planning out milestones. The past 5 years I’ve been learning the “to do’s” and “do nots of the game industry. And with each failed Idea that set me back to the start of a new project I got better and tried again. I started modding because it seemed like a fun idea and I wanted to learn Unreal engine. I always played ARK in Single player and trying to build an entire town takes quite a bit of time.

    Sounds like modding has served you well in that regard, ARK settlements is definitely an ambitious project, I can't imagine you would have gotten it to this point if you hadn't learned a lot.

    Do you take any inspirations from other city-management style games when designing features?

    Quote

    In a way I do, this mod is based on sims city’s and other survival management games, just like in these types of games you need to manage your city. To grow it you need to build more buildings and with everything apart from a few buildings requiring an upkeep you need to plan out the city carefully.


    Would you be able to give us a high-level view of what your design and development process looks like for ARK Settlements?

    Quote

    Sure thing, usually I have a plan with the core features I want in the mod, When creating new plots there’s quite a bit that needs to be done first I need the plots themselves each plot type is made up from currently 4 individual buildings. One for each tier of the city so the building needs to be recreated each time, they then need to be added to the upgrade system and that allows them to be interacted with and upgraded this part doesn’t take too long as they all share the same parent class without going in to much technical detail this means all the code on the parent is shared to all the children it cuts down on code duplication and saves time in the long run. Finally, the functionality of the building needs to be written for example shops need a shop system for work without this its just a building that can be upgraded.

    That's a good insight into how you approach the design.

    Do you have any other mod projects that you work on?

    Quote

    Not currently, So far everything that I’ve come up for has been added to this mod so it's becoming more of a mega mod that what it was originally supposed to be. I was thinking of creating a separate mod that works with Ark settlements the separate mod would add RP aspects to the game like citizen personalities, questing restaurants and activity plots along with other roleplaying activities, but then I might just add them to this one I'm not quite sure yet.

    well, if you want my opinion, that sounds like a fun idea!

    While I've got you here, do you have any secret features or plans for ARK settlements that you can share with us?
    What's to come? Leak the goods!

    Settlements
    Quote

    Well everyone's been waiting patiently for the next update so along with the AI update the stone tier will be finally coming to the mod with even larger buildings than before players will also be able to control aspects of the mod with a partial configs access allowing them even more freedom with the mod!

     

     

    That does sound exciting! I'll have to take a peek when you get the update out.

    Before we sign off, do you have any advice you would give to new mod authors?

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    Thank you for this opportunity, I’d like to say to the new mod authors out there, always keep an open mind when working on something, when you run in to an issue don’t be afraid to ask for help or look for answers if that provides no help look for alternatives to achieve the same goal and never give up because at the end that’s the only way fail.

    We should put that on an inspirational poster.
    It's been a pleasure talking to you, Jordan. I look forward to seeing where you go with Settlements!

    Until next time, Happy Modding!
     


     

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  5. 20 minutes ago, Calico45 said:

    I have not found the information elsewhere, so I figured I would ask here. How does a mod like this become sponsored and have a chance of becoming an official mod that makes it into the game? I see all sorts of speculation for which mod will be picked next, but very little on the details for the criteria.

    There is a misconception that was spread at some point. Official conversion is not a part of the sponsorship program.

    There is no strict criteria for when we decide we want to integrate a mod into official. We have a quality expectation and we have to assess the time and work necessary to integrate it, do any necessary polish, fix issues, balance if needed. Official integration isn't limited to the sponsored mods. Any mod on the workshop could be offered to become official, but not every mod is suitable for integration into the base game... where it will be forced upon every single player.

    Sponsorship allows us to support mods that we think are doing really cool things, even if those mods would never be suitable for official integration.

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  6. Greetings Survivors!
    Zen Rowe here; for anyone that doesn’t know, I am the Mod Community Manager here at Studio Wildcard.

    We’re starting a new segment where we will look at the mod authors and the projects that can add so much extra life to a game.

    Today we’re going to be talking to Garuga123!

    Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about the project you are sponsored for.

    Quote

    I go by Garuga123 for the most part for my online presence. I'm the creator for the series of mods known as ‘ARK Additions’, with ‘ARK Additions: The Collection!’ being my sponsored content. 

    My concept for these mods is to introduce creatures into the ARK world that I feel sort of... missed their chance with the game. ARK has a lot of very popular or famous prehistoric species present in its world, but there are a few species that I felt deserved a spotlight as well. So I create these creatures to match ARK's aesthetic as close as I can, while also trying to give them unique mechanics or systems to make them an interesting part of the world.

    That's amazing, We don't have too many creators in the community that create new creature assets.


    If you don't mind me asking, could you tell us a bit about your background? What do you do outside of modding?

    SignedCE
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    Of course! For as long as I can remember, I was always pretty artsy. I did a lot of illustration since I was a kid, and started doing digital work with software like ZBrush or Autodesk Maya once I got into Highschool. I was very interested in becoming a character modeler or animator for a game developer, so the majority of my artistic focus was developing that set of skills.

    For the last 3 years I was enrolled in a Masters of Fine Arts program, so outside of modding that is what was taking up all my time, haha. Otherwise, I'm usually playing videogames on PC or PS4. Videogames are a pretty large influence for me, with the Monster Hunter series being my biggest influence. I tend to follow any sort of media that has dinosaurs or interesting creatures pretty closely!

    Wow, so your background ties pretty heavily into what you do for your mods. It's always interesting to see how our history can impact our creations. Monster Hunter is a great game to take inspiration from as well.

     

    For anyone that wants to find you, do you have any social media channels that you are active in?

    SignedCE
    Quote

    I don't use very many social media platforms as much as I should. I use Discord for most of my modding endeavors, which has most of my future ideas, as well as some image and video teasers of various upcoming projects. (https://discord.gg/ZMD4YF6)
    I also have a Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/fatalis575) and a Twitch channel (https://www.twitch.tv/aegis575) which I use relatively often to stream my working on mod content, with the occasional game streaming as well.

     

    That is fantastic, being able to see someone's workflow in action is an incredibly useful resource for new mod authors that might not be familiar with the particular medium they are trying to tackle. On top of that, attempting to stream while you work is incredibly difficult, there is so much trying to draw your attention. That's impressive.

     

    What originally brought you to start modding for the first time? Was it for ARK or for another game?

    Quote

    It actually surprised me quite a bit when I stream. More people are interested in the development process of a mod than when I'm just casually streaming a videogame I'm playing. It's really cool to see people in the community be interested in that side of things.

    ARK is actually what brought me into modding. ARK was the first game I was aware of that had such an open and accessible modding scene. Being able to access all of the game's content and work with it was amazing to me and I wish it was something that more developers were open to.

    It's a funny story of how modding started for me: Back when Scorched Earth released, I was hosting a server for myself and about four friends. As we played, I began to get bored with the progression of ARK and was trying to find other things in the game to entertain myself with. I had a silly idea: ‘It would be cool if I could roleplay as a Deviljho from Monster Hunter, and cause trouble for my friends as they went about their routine in ARK.’

    This is when I started developing the Monster Hunter mod that became so wildly popular. Originally a private mod for just myself and friends, I made it public to avoid the complications that came with hosting a server with a private mod. It became a huge endeavor that I never expected, but I had a lot of fun adapting the creatures into the ARK environment and gained a community presence of sorts. When that mod, unfortunately, received a DMCA takedown after about a year of being public and I had to stop development, I wanted to keep using the ARK Devkit and developing skills in Unreal Engine. So my focus shifted to working on the "ARK Additions" content, developing my own creatures with their own ideas behind them.

    Yeah, it's unfortunate, I know that a lot of people like seeing their favorite characters from TV and other games popping up in the world, but unfortunately that is an ever-present risk to such creations. Mods that use that content will probably get taken down at some point and copyright law is a messy thing that I don't recommend getting pulled into. I am glad that the experience did not discourage you from continuing!

     

    Let's switch gears for a moment because I'd like to talk about your creations. In particular, I'd like to look at my favorite one, the Brachiosaurus.
     

    (Credit to @UpFromTheDepths for this video)

    This thing is fantastic. When you showed me some videos of the working creature in development, I was awestruck. The first time I saw it rear up I was thinking "What is it going to do? Is it afraid? Is it going to fall over? Will it do a trick?", and then those legs came crashing down and it was a great moment of suspense in the design of the creature. The taming mechanic was a fantastic touch as well.

    Can you give me a bit of a high-level rundown on your process for creating a creature like this? 

    Quote

    The first thing I always do is try to consider what species are interesting or known to some extent, ones that don't already exist in-game. Brachiosaurus was a pretty obvious choice for this, being one of the most well-known species of sauropod, I'm surprised it didn't make the cut!

    When I decide on a creature I want to do, then I start throwing around ideas about what could make it unique to ARK. ‘What is something that does **NOT** already exist in ARK's mechanics?’ With this, I came to two conclusions for Brachiosaurus: The taming method, and its ability to cycle which resources it can harvest. The taming method was fun and relatively simple on paper. ‘This thing is way too big to be walking on hind legs. If it collapsed it would surely be out of commission for some time.’ At the same time, being one of the most known dinosaur species, I wanted it to have a presence. This is done with two important factors, the first being animation.

    In my workflow, the animation process is without a doubt, where I spend the bulk of my time working on these creatures. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, I want to have created a creature that feels alive; I want its movement to be fluid and immersive. Everything down to the fat shaking as it walks is an important detail that can help to elevate the player's immersion and interaction with these characters.

    The second factor is Brachiosaurs' main attack, its massive stomp. When Brachiosaurus feels threatened enough, it will proceed to rise up onto its' hind legs, in an attempt to flatten its pursuer outright. This attack is devastating and makes for quite a sight when you witness this creature suddenly become two times taller!

    As threatening as this may be, this is your best opportunity to bring down the Brachiosaurus. When Brachiosaurus receives enough damage to its' hind legs in this state it will collapse and go unconscious, allowing for the player to tame the beast.

    As I'm continuing my modding, I'm finding that the taming method is one of the most effective ways to create a unique experience. A massive core mechanic of ARK is its' taming system, so implementing new and challenging ways to tame a creature is fun to conceptualize and execute, as I did with Brachiosaurus and my newest (and possibly favorite) addition, Acrocanthosaurus.

     

    Would you say you managed to capture your original vision for what these creatures would be? Did you have to make any compromises along the way?

    SignedCE
    Quote

    Unless I'm forgetting something during my time in developing them, no I don't believe so. Of course, there are requests for various mechanics or details to be present in a creature, but many of these would either make the creature too powerful within the game or just not be feasible in creating that immersive experience. When I create my creatures, I try to keep all of ARK's core assets in mind as well. I don't want to create any major imbalance with my content, but add an ‘addition’ to ARK that can be used alongside any other creature within the game.

    I think that's a great way to approach adding new creatures. And yours blend so well with the core game that if I didn't know better I would have a hard time identifying that they weren't.


    Since I've got you here... do you have any super-secret content that you are working on that you would be willing to reveal for us?

    Quote

    Hmmm... I think the most interesting one to mention would be my idea for Scutosaurus. I don't want Scutosaurus to have a true attack; instead, its main ‘attack’ will be a parry. In mechanics terms, I'm going to try and make the animation for this detect if it's within the hit window of an opposing creature's attack. If this is true, the Scuto will take significantly reduced damage, and deflect that damage onto the attacker instead! I can already imagine how difficult this will be to balance, but I think this will be a very unique tactic in approaching various aspects of the game if I can do it correctly!

     

    That does sound interesting! Aside from balance, are there any other significant challenges you expect to face when creating it?

    Quote

    Definitely the coding itself. Out of everything in the development process, coding and blueprinting is the area I have the least experience with. A lot of the mechanics I create go through several iterations before they finally become clean and functioning enough to be publicly released. This being said, I'm very proud of Brachiosaurus and Acrocanthosaurus for the complexity of their blueprinting!

    I look forward to seeing what you manage to create with this idea!


    To wrap up, is there any advice you would like to give to any new mod authors that would like to make new creatures?

    SignedCE
    Quote

    Youtube may be your greatest asset. I can safely say that at least 70% of my knowledge of modeling and animation software has come from hours of Youtube tutorials and having the drive to learn and understand. 

    Also, ARK uses Unreal Engine! If you can't find a solution to your problem in regards to the ARK Devkit itself, try searching through normal Unreal Engine tutorials! I've found a lot of blueprinting solutions for my various issues by finding Unreal forum threads of people with similar issues in the base engine itself!

    Sound advice for anyone interested in making mods for ARK! Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, Garuga.

    Until next time, Happy Modding!
     


     

    Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
    Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
    Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
    Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
    Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
    Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
    Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark


    View full article

    • Like 3

  7. Sponsored Mod Program Applications



    Sponsored Mod Program applications are once again OPEN! If you are interested in sponsorship for your projects, please fill out the application here:
    https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/modding/apply-for-sponsorship/

    This will be the last application period until January so make sure to get those projects in!
     


    New Sponsored Mods


    Finally, We have three new projects joining the Sponsored Mod Program today! We have a pretty interesting range of mod types this time for creatures and a utility mod for builders!
     

    Clockwork Creatures


    large.CW_Logo.png

    Mechanical steampunk beasts are on the loose! If you are a fan of the steampunk aesthetic, check out this mod which adds a range of new creatures to the game, with more brass than you can shake a stick at.

     

    ARK Transcendence


    large.bannerfinal21920x1080.png

    Do you wish that ARKs creatures had a bit more personality to them? This mod introduces new behaviors to the natural residents of the ARK. The number of creatures it modifies right now is relatively small, but the author is working to expand that.

     

    Structure Saver 2


    large.StructureSaver2-logo.png

    Just got done building the perfect house and then found a better place to build? Maybe you just want ten more of that house?
    This mod will let you do that, allowing players to save constructions and place them elsewhere.

    Happy Modding! ?

     

    Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
    Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
    Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
    Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
    Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
    Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
    Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark

    All the best,
    Studio Wildcard


    View full article

  8. Hello Survivors!

    We are happy to announce the conclusion of the Sept-Oct 2018 ARK Modding Contest. More than 60 mod projects were entered for this contest and the community has certainly come a long way since the last one. Mod authors were tasked with putting forth their best creations for a chance at the grand prize. The community also voted on their favorite mods to go alongside evaluations by Wildcard Staff. It was a pleasure to explore everyone's creations, and if you missed it you can find a collection of all the spotlights that Zen Rowe did for the contest over on our Twitch channel.

    Without further ado, here are the winners of the Sept-Oct 2018 ARK Modding Contest!

    1st Place - $15,000
    Valguero


    Our grand prize winner is Valguero, made by Nekatus and Buttman, which had a strong showing in both the technical evaluation and the popular vote. This is a beautiful map with a significant degree of polish and the sound effects are on point for immersion, it also features some unique landscape formations that we haven't really seen used in ARK maps before. 

    2nd Place - $8,000
    Automated ARK


    Automated ARK, by Blitzfire911, takes 2nd place. If you have never tried this mod it can take you by surprise, Zen got caught up setting up a manufacturing depot for so long that he forgot what game he was playing for a bit. It's also quite balanced, it doesn't necessarily make things easier as you still have to procure your own resources. It doesn't create items out of thin air, but with some careful planning you can set up whole factories to manufacture your war equipment for you from the resources you bring home.
    DEC7B4E203E52ED999FF421DAD8E338B3D04ABB7

    3rd Place - $4,000
    GunSmoke


    GunSmoke County, courtesy of CaseFase5, is an interesting creation. Not only is it a map but also a small series of mods that support it. From gallows to pianolas, if you like RP and old wild west movies then this is one you may want to check out. If you aren't into RP this map is still a quite realistic landscape of a temperate desert that was fun to explore. Gunsmoke gets to make a solid claim for 3rd place.

    4th Place - $1,000
    Primal Fear


    Pikkon38 has created a quite massive overhaul mod over the last couple of years. Primal Fear secures 4th place with a pretty impressive showing. It completely changes the balance and progression of the game. Primal Fear was also the winner of the popular vote by a significant margin, a lot of players have come to love this mod.

    large.PrimalFear.jpg
     

    New Sponsored Mods!

    As a result of our new application process for the Sponsored Mod Program, we have chosen two projects to add to our roster starting today!

    Malfunktion is a creation by Exilog, our first returnee to the program. This map is based on The Island and he is crafting a story for the map based off of the core story of ARK. The landscape of this map, while interesting to see the original island impacted by the passage of time and atmospheric problems, is not the focus of the mod. This is an ARK that is suffering from severe malfunctions, its power being drained by technology. From a sudden loss of gravity and oxygen shortages to having to find shelter in protective domes dotting the map, this was an interesting experience that provided some pretty intense surprises.
    large.Malfunktion_NoLogo.jpg

     

    ARK Additions is brought to us by Garuga123. This is one of the few examples of new unique creatures being made by the community, with custom models, materials, animations, and quirks. These are polished creatures that take a long time to craft and perfect. What this mod lacks in terms of quantity is more than made up for in quality, and we are happy to support the continued development of these additional creatures.

    large.Ark_Additions_Collection.jpg

    We loved seeing the development of skills that the modding community has managed to achieve! As always if you’ve got anything to share you can find us at:

    Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
    Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
    Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
    Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
    Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
    Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
    Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark

    All the best,
    Studio Wildcard


    View full article

  9. 4 hours ago, Ferrat said:

    Is there any way to look at requests that have already been made, what I mean by this is how many times a particular tutorial has been voted for.

    Currently no, but I may make that visible in the future.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  10. Are you looking for a particular tutorial on how to mod something in ARK and haven't been able to find one yet?

    The Modding Tutorial Bounty Board is a way for both experienced and new modders to influence the kinds of tutorials the community produces. Submit a bounty request, and if it's added to the bounty board, Wildcard will offer a cash incentive for other mod authors to create a tutorial for it.

    The bounties will have a cash value assigned to them, based on expected difficulty, when added to the board. Mod authors can make and submit their tutorials to me in order to claim these bounties and their cash rewards.

    Submitting bounties:
    If a tutorial you desire is not present on the bounty board, scroll down to the next post to find the submission form. Look in the dropdown to see if a request for the subject is already present and if so, select it and submit the form. When submitting the form with an option from the list, it increases the demand rating for that tutorial, I look at these ratings at the end of the month when I determine which requests to add to the board. If the subject you are looking for is not present in either the board or the drop-down, add it to the text entry and submit the form (Make sure the drop-down is set to "My desired tutorial is not listed" or your request will not make it onto the list.)

    Complex requests may get split into multiple smaller bounties depending on the number of topics that would actually be covered by it. This increases the likelihood that all of the relevant information will actually get tutorials made as it no longer would require a single person to have all of the information.

    Claiming bounties:
    Mod authors who want to submit a tutorial to claim a bounty should send an email to ModProgram@studiowildcard.com, include a link to the tutorial and make the email subject line "Tutorial Bounty Claim: <bountyID>". Only the author of a tutorial can use it to claim the bounty.
    I will review the tutorial to ensure that it satisfies the expectations of the bounty. In the event of multiple submissions for the same bounty, the tutorial of higher quality and clarity will claim the bounty.

     

    Active Bounties:

    Bounty ID Reward Topic
    1001 $50 Moving PrimalItems between inventory components using the graph.
    1003 $200 NPC Humans.
    1005 $100 Altering Playable Character Animations.
    1006 $50 Import rigged models and their animations to use as a new "dino".
    1007 $200 Render targets: Singleplayer and dedicated, showing different targets for different players.
    1010 $50 How to create and import animated meshes into the DevKit.
    1011 $50 Altering the stack amounts of items, and their weight (making sure they work in crafting stations too)
    1013 $150 Adding buildings using map extensions
    1014 $100 Adding feather/fur planes to models
    1015 $50 Using a graph to add\modify a structures look at HUD text

     

    Claimed Bounties:

    Topic Author Link
    Graphs: Basics to advanced. Epic Blueprint Introduction
    Blueprint Multiplayer
    Chat Commands Tao Arkmodding - Chat Commands Mod
    Tips & Tricks: Optimizing a map for better performance. Exilog Tutorial : Optimizing a map for better performance
    Modding already existing animations. MrRadioactive Blender Tutorial: Change Animations
    Getting and using class/object references from other mods. Xanjis Mod Compatibility and Victory Core
    Changing weather on existing maps. Exilog Changing weather on existing maps.
    Dynamic Structures Xanjis Dynamic Structures
    • Like 3
  11. 1 hour ago, GP said:

    Congrats everyone on all your entries! I love the Grumpy Town trailer, it's amazing! It really shows off the power of what Modders can really do with ARK! And welcome to @ZenRowe i'm really looking forward to having you onboard the WC Family as Mod Community Manager, and really looking forward to seeing what comes out of the Mod Contests! :Jerblove:

     

    3

    Thanks, @GP. I am happy to be joining you all :) 

     

    1 hour ago, GP said:

    I'm not speaking on behalf of Zen Rowe here, but it was announced last year that Structures Plus will be incorporated in to the base game for all platforms, which includes PC, Xbox and PS4 in some shape or form. That is the current plan and it is still in development stages for that to happen as it was selected from the Sponsored Mod Program. So there's no need for porting to PS4 as it will be integrated in to the core game.

    4


    This is my understanding of it as well.

  12. 5 minutes ago, ifixxed said:

    I see the text file now, good to see others willing and eager. 

    I decided to recheck all the code again and input it in fresh now that I can see the " ", "." and "." in the code(for the most part).

    It looks like the first chunk says 

    "I am not a god. I am more than that. Infinitely more. I am everything. This world, this ARK, it is my body.   "

    Here is the fresh google doc I am working on atm. I am looking at what you typed to cross reference it aswell. Good work none the less!

    Darn. See? Text just pops up out of nowhere xD

    • Like 1
  13. 2 minutes ago, ifixxed said:

    Cannot see the attached image you linked.

    I too sharpened it and inverted it to see it better. I took the banner image and overlayed it for better results. 

    I am going to check my work again, I could be wrong as it is hard to tell what some could be but if you look for the " "(space) code it makes it easier. 

    Oh it was supposed to be a text file, not an image

    Here's a pastbin:
    https://pastebin.com/iU7q0JAJ

  14. 7 minutes ago, ifixxed said:

    Yes, most of the time for a " "(space) or a "." you need to but a few of the words you added are not in the lines without adding more than zeros or 'a's'.  a, am and I are a few added. Still, it makes it sound better but its not verbatim the ascension code.  

     

    hard to be verbatim, I blew that image up and sharpened it best I could but some of those dots are really sketchy. I doubt I magically created words, at worst I ended up with some mostly-complete partials.

    I attached what I had.
    For each part the first block was what I ended up with trying to copy verbatim.
    The second block is after messing with placement. I only ever had to add single 'a's here and there.
    End then I put what I believe the text is suppose to say

    AbberationText.txt

    • Thanks 1
  15. 3 minutes ago, ifixxed said:

    Was just about to post the decrypted text and you beat me to it by a minute!
    Looks like you added some words tho?

    Some of the lines didn't look right, had to play with offsets a bit to get some of the text to show up at all. I might have some minor errors though. Like I am not sure if it is supposed to be "walks" or "Falls"

  16. "I am not a god. I am more than that. Infinitely more. I am everything. This world, this ARK, it is my body.

    I can feel every bit of it, every footstep of man or beast that falls upon my skin and every root that digs into my flesh. They are all mine. Everything in this world happens only by my will.

    The ones who put me here have long since fled, but though I hate them, I accept their escape. It is their reward, for they placed me upon this throne.

    Yet should anyone else challenge me, they shall receive no mercy. My wrath will be swift and terrible, and my enemies will know only pain. I am everything."

     

  17. 18 hours ago, Soulyouth said:

    Soooo pumped for the Tek Tier, was so glad that this game has a amazing modding community that I could use some mods to get some Tek ansels.

    Mods I used were

    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=793692615 Antinode, for the grid skin on dinos

     

    @Soulyouth

    That photo is fantastic! Would it be alright with you if I included it in the mod screenshots, maybe even make it into a new preview pic for the mod?

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