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Ark: Survival Ascended to get mod tools that let you create “entire custom Unreal Engine games”, devs boastOut end of this month
Out end of this month
Image credit:Studio Wildcard/Snail Games USA
Image credit:Studio Wildcard/Snail Games USA
This will greatly expand the game’s moddability, though concrete details are thin on the ground. It’ll ship with a “Mario-inspired” platformer to show you how. There’s also a dev kit update planned next week for multiplayer spin-offArk: The Survival Of The Fittest. This will allow you to “sculpt the ultimate battlegrounds where your fellow ARK survivors will fight to see who will be the ultimate survivor”.
The new set of tools will let you “design custom main menus, host and browse your own multiplayer game sessions from within the mod, and even create a mod that progresses (seamless travel) from one level to the next - the sandbox is officially yours to play in,” the post continues. “Get ready to unleash your inner game dev, push the limits of ARK’s potential, and build experiences that will leave the community speechless. We can’t wait to see what you cook up!” As for next week’s SOTF update, this will let you “craft custom arenas” and “create devious new battle-royale style game modes”.
Less grand, still important plans for Survival Ascended include improving the server performance - “expect continued improvements throughout January, and know that we’re constantly monitoring and tweaking to make the Official Network stable” - introducing new hack and exploit detection and prevention measures, and improving network movement for both human characters and the dinos.
Full server transfers on official servers are coming on 24th January, allowing players to download items and creatures onto the map without restriction. At the end of February, Studio Wildcard will introduce the new Center area, and a new breed of retro reptile, the “gentle” but very territorial Gigantoraptor (see in-game illustration above). The Center is summarised thusly: “Lush jungles teem with hidden secrets, treacherous ice peaks pierce the sky, and crystalline caverns beckon with untold treasures.”
On 1st April, meanwhile, we can expect the Scorched Earth update, which is billed as “an unforgiving desert where every oasis is a hard-won prize and every sandstorm a test of your grit”, and introduces “ultimate desert steed” the Fasolasuchus. Yes, it’s cowboy-themed, and so are the outfits and accessories found in the accompanying Frontier Adventure Pack. Also in the Frontier Adventure Pack: the ability to build trains. Can dinosaurs drive trains? I guess they’d better learn.
Image credit:Studio Wildcard/Snail Games USA
All told, it’s an exciting/worrying time to be a massive lizard of the antique persuasion, though I’m not sure it’s enough to appease fans of the originalArk: Survival Evolved, whoseservers were shut down when Survival Ascended went on sale last year. The game was originally announced as a free upgrade for Survival Evolved, bundled withARK 2, but it was subsequentlyupgraded into a standalone premium $60 purchase, which was thendiscountedin response to player outrage and the delaying of some accompanying DLC.
The original Survival Evolved remains one of ourbest survival games on PC. The Survival Ascended remake has earned a Mixed reception on Steam since its early access launch, partly in response to the above controversies.ARK 2, meanwhile, is out later in 2024, and is said to be more of a Soulslike than its predecessor.
