ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

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Jaymann
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ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Jaymann »

It's Early Access, but looks very sweet. Survival against dinos and build stuff. With individual servers and co-op I am in. Moderate sale at $25 and no monthly fees.
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Re: ARK: Survival on Steam

Post by Reemul »

Yeah look spretty good, I would but STeam Sale starts Thursday so gonna hold fire for now.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Daehawk »

Been watching videos. Didn't want another survival game but this one is winning me over IF..IF......the players are not kill on sight like all the rest. I want a friendly game this time.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Jaymann »

I think pvp is based on the server settings. But beware - the system requirements are steep and serious. Does not seem playable with the minimum specs.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

Just picked this up, it's early access but is one of the top selling games on steam at the moment.

It is a survival game with building, levelling, dinasaurs etc etc.

You can play online multiplayer either pvp or pve or you can play locally on your own or just with friends.

You start off on a part of the island and need to start collecting a few bits of wood, food, water etc with a view to levelling up, building a base, taming dinasours so you can ride them as well as avoiding them as they can kill and eat you.

been lots of updates and so far i am really enjoying it. Made level 5 built a thatch house and am now hiding in it over night waiting for daylight to kill an animal or 2 so I can build a bed and a catapult.

You need to feed yourself, drink, keep warm or cold as well as do everything else.

Performance improvements are happening, I have no issues running it on high but my specs are pretty good, i7, 16 gig ram and a gf970m, laptop not desktop.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by hepcat »

I've heard this game allows one to poop. What are your thoughts on pooping in a game?
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

hepcat wrote:I've heard this game allows one to poop. What are your thoughts on pooping in a game?
Z = Take a dump or it auto does it every now and then with an on screen prompt.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by baelthazar »

I heard your character persists in the world after you log off. That sounds terrible. Is that really what happens?
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by LawBeefaroni »

Reemul wrote:
been lots of updates and so far i am really enjoying it. Made level 5 built a thatch house and am now hiding in it over night waiting for daylight to kill an animal or 2 so I can build a bed and a catapult.
Have to love a survival game where you're building siege engines before you move out of a grass house. :lol:
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

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baelthazar wrote:I heard your character persists in the world after you log off. That sounds terrible. Is that really what happens?
Might suck on a PvP server but pve or local it seems to make little difference.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Arkon »

I am having an absolute blast with this. I thought I was making progress...I had found a beautiful waterfall and there was a nice clearing right next to the base of it. I had a cliff at my back, a stream to my side and plenty of vegetation. I laid out a few wooden platforms and started working on walls. I had my pig dino pet/mount with me and I started working on taming one of the horn bill herbivores, finally manage to knock it out and started feeding it berries...and then out of nowhere a spinosaurus comes barreling out of the woods towards my meager abode. My "pig" fought valiantly but in the end was a small snack. The unconscious dino I was taming became the next snack but at that point I swam across the stream and took off without looking back. I made it safely back to my base camp and started to rebuild my stock of berries.

Along came a lonely level 1 female triceratops. I pulled out my slingshot and fired. It took a total of 8 shots to the head before I finally knocked her out. She managed one good hit on me which tossed me what felt like 25-30 yards through the air. Now came the arduous task of keeping her unconscious while she slowly tamed. It took nearly 3 in game days. I had to keep venturing out to find more and more narcoberries, but finally she is mine. Of course now I don't have the research open to build a saddle yet, but she will work as decent protection and a pack mule for the time being.

One of these days I am going to be able to move from my base camp on the beach but so far every attempt has been crushed by a massive carnivore. My first base camp fell prey to a T-Rex, I sat idly by as he smashed and chomped on my thatch hut...and then he caught my scent and I shit my pants...yes I hit the Z key in a panic and my character defecated just as the T-Rex swallowed me whole.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by baelthazar »

Reemul wrote:
baelthazar wrote:I heard your character persists in the world after you log off. That sounds terrible. Is that really what happens?
Might suck on a PvP server but pve or local it seems to make little difference.
Oh... so before I grab this, I want to confirm - there ARE PVE servers and I can play this solo?
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

baelthazar wrote:
Reemul wrote:
baelthazar wrote:I heard your character persists in the world after you log off. That sounds terrible. Is that really what happens?
Might suck on a PvP server but pve or local it seems to make little difference.
Oh... so before I grab this, I want to confirm - there ARE PVE servers and I can play this solo?
Yes and yes, I am playing local single player game, hard enough as it is, died twice already but it is fun. You keep your skills and levels but spawn randomly in your starter zone meaning you have to start again until you build a bed and spawn there.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by hepcat »

Went ahead and picked this up for 26 bucks. I figure the ability to poop onscreen was worth at least that much.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Baroquen »

I picked it up too, but at this point, haven't done much with it. Loaded it up, ran around, and didn't know what to do. Will probably tackle it over the summer.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

Punch trees, collect thatch and wood, cllect berries to eat and fibre. Build a thatch hut with the skills you learn as you level up. Build camp fire to keep warm at night, have a torch so you can see at night time.

Then die and start again, well thatw as me, it's tough getting hide to build a bed which you need to respawn there rather than randomly, this is my next goal.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by hepcat »

I ran around last night for about 30 minutes. Highlights included discovering that the E key allowed me to gather stuff. Although nothing is highlighted to show that it can be gathered, apparently. Eating a bunch of berries. Taking a dump on someone's thatch floor that I came across. And punching a Parasaur in the ass until he was unconscious, then force feeding him berries to see if I could tame him. While that didn't happen, I did die from exposure during the attempt.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by baelthazar »

I got this now. Can we make a PVE OO server or are they only on large meta-servers?
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Jaymann »

baelthazar wrote:I got this now. Can we make a PVE OO server or are they only on large meta-servers?
I would go for that. It is too difficult on single player, and I don't want to play with random asshats.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Stefan Stirzaker »

OO effect kicked in, if a server goes up I'd be interested. I'll probably have to wrestle the game away from the kids cause...Dinosaurs!

Edit: Looks like anyone cna create a server and password protect it. http://arksurvivalevolvedforum.com/view ... p?f=12&t=8
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

I am playing a lot on my own, if a server goes up I am definitely in as well.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Arkon »

It takes a pretty beefy dedicated machine to run a server. I got in on a server with some folks from Gamers With Jobs, they are using a hosting company for the server which does entail a cost to the folks who put it up. If anyone is a member over there, just hop into the thread. I am with another person at the West 3 spawn point, or at least near there.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by baelthazar »

Well, this was my first (successful) test of the new Steam refund system. I got into the game and, despite setting the graphics to a level that made it hazy and grainy, the FPS was jerky and sporadic. I felt like there was a slight "lag" because of the low framerates, so everything felt very cumbersome.

I might repurchase this when they optimize it a bit better, but after 29 minutes of playing I was feeling a little bit seasick - which NEVER happens to me in FPS games (and I love actual boat rides and never get sick). The FPS drops were somehow giving me a little motion sickness, I'm sure there is a scientific reason for this, but I don't know it.

A bit of a shame, because I was very hopeful about what you can do in this game. That being said, Steam refunded to my Steam wallet within 12 or so hours, so that was crazy cool!
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

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I am very interested in the game, but maybe not so much in early access. So freaking many survival games. I am just going to wait for "the one."
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

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baelthazar wrote:Well, this was my first (successful) test of the new Steam refund system. I got into the game and, despite setting the graphics to a level that made it hazy and grainy, the FPS was jerky and sporadic. I felt like there was a slight "lag" because of the low framerates, so everything felt very cumbersome.

I might repurchase this when they optimize it a bit better, but after 29 minutes of playing I was feeling a little bit seasick - which NEVER happens to me in FPS games (and I love actual boat rides and never get sick). The FPS drops were somehow giving me a little motion sickness, I'm sure there is a scientific reason for this, but I don't know it.

A bit of a shame, because I was very hopeful about what you can do in this game. That being said, Steam refunded to my Steam wallet within 12 or so hours, so that was crazy cool!
When I buy a game that my system can't run, I generally keep the game until I upgrade my system. That's always been my benchmark for knowing when to upgrade. GTA 4 was horrific on my last computer, nothing but slideshows, missing graphics, and visual artifacts. It was beautiful on my new rig.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Freyland »

Paingod wrote:
baelthazar wrote:Well, this was my first (successful) test of the new Steam refund system. I got into the game and, despite setting the graphics to a level that made it hazy and grainy, the FPS was jerky and sporadic. I felt like there was a slight "lag" because of the low framerates, so everything felt very cumbersome.

I might repurchase this when they optimize it a bit better, but after 29 minutes of playing I was feeling a little bit seasick - which NEVER happens to me in FPS games (and I love actual boat rides and never get sick). The FPS drops were somehow giving me a little motion sickness, I'm sure there is a scientific reason for this, but I don't know it.

A bit of a shame, because I was very hopeful about what you can do in this game. That being said, Steam refunded to my Steam wallet within 12 or so hours, so that was crazy cool!
When I buy a game that my system can't run, I generally keep the game until I upgrade my system. That's always been my benchmark for knowing when to upgrade. GTA 4 was horrific on my last computer, nothing but slideshows, missing graphics, and visual artifacts. It was beautiful on my new rig.
I think that practice might be suspect when the game is early access. Why update my machine for a game that could quite possibly end up optimized for my present rig?
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ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by baelthazar »

My rig should have run it fine, as it runs most recent games with no hitches. Ark is just poorly optimized for some systems. The graphics do not look good enough to be that taxing. Poor frame rates even on top tier systems is one of the major complaints in the Steam reviews.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

baelthazar wrote:My rig should have run it fine, as it runs most recent games with no hitches. Ark is just poorly optimized for some systems. The graphics do not look good enough to be that taxing. Poor frame rates even on top tier systems is one of the major complaints in the Steam reviews.
Yep, but it has been freely acknowledged that ther are issues and it is an EA game.

I am running on high but there are plentry of slowdowns and issues this doesnt detract from the fun I am having.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by tgb »

I'm intrigued. I'm over the minimum specs (I notice there are no recommended specs listed). How much of the performance is CPU dependent as opposed to RAM or video card, as the CPU requirement is where I'm weakest?
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

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tgb wrote:I'm intrigued. I'm over the minimum specs (I notice there are no recommended specs listed). How much of the performance is CPU dependent as opposed to RAM or video card, as the CPU requirement is where I'm weakest?
I dont really know, having bought a new system recently I tend not to bother looking atm as there isn't a need.

Performace isnt great though. Reading the topic can I run it on teh steam ark forums it seems to be GPU demanding rather than CPU.

At least you can try it and get a refund if it doesnt work ok.

Also what are your specs?

http://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/di ... 8241/#p369
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

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tgb wrote:I'm intrigued. I'm over the minimum specs (I notice there are no recommended specs listed). How much of the performance is CPU dependent as opposed to RAM or video card, as the CPU requirement is where I'm weakest?
It seemed like it was more CPU dependent on my system, which is likely why it did not run well. That is usually the problem when games are not fully optimized to work with the multitude of CPUs on the market. The graphics, even on high (which was almost a slide show for me) also looked pretty grainy and muddy. I was not impressed with the visuals at all. Given there are loads of survival sim games out there and this one is still early into Early Access, I think it is safe to wait.

Also, I'm irritated that Steam put this as one of the "Featured Deals" of the day, but kept the price exactly the same as all of the other days of the sale (only a 17% discount). That seems a little dishonest - given that being "featured" did not lower the price like it did with all the other items (that 17% discount was a pre-sale Early Access price).

I did want to clarify that I got my refund processed, but apparently it takes up to 7 days for the money to be put into the wallet. That also irritates me, because I would like to put that money towards getting Farcry 4 at a lower price.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

Yeah I agree it's not the prettiest game but it does actually feel progressive in what it requires an din fact seems to make some sense on how it does this, the others I have tried seem all over the place compared to this one.

This one reminds me a bot of Radiation Island on the ipad.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Arkon »

Keep in mind that there are numerous options for running the game on lower settings accessed when launching from Steam. Obviously it won't look as pretty but on my now 4 year old system (Although my video card is newer an GTX 770) I am running at high or perhaps better and it performs just fine. Every now and again there is stutter but it is manageable. Also I think one major setting that folks overlook is the motion blur setting. When I first played this was set to on and I thought the game looked and performed horribly, it made it look like turning caused screen tears etc. Turning that one setting off made a world of difference.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by coopasonic »

Played for about two hours tonight. Really enjoying it. I have a nice thatch hut and clothes on my back. What more could you ask for? I need to figure out creature taming next.

Lesson of the day: Use the hatchet when looking for wood. The ratios of stuff you get when gathering depend on the tool used... as the description of the tool makes clear... oops.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

coopasonic wrote:Played for about two hours tonight. Really enjoying it. I have a nice thatch hut and clothes on my back. What more could you ask for? I need to figure out creature taming next.

Lesson of the day: Use the hatchet when looking for wood. The ratios of stuff you get when gathering depend on the tool used... as the description of the tool makes clear... oops.
Yeah well important especially when killing creatures and you need hide dont use the pick you get meat use the axe you get hide which is key to making a bed so you know where you respawn at.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by ericb »

My biggest problem is basically the other players...and the assorted bugs, glitches, crashes and weirdness associated with being an late alpha/early beta :) The buildings are pathetically weak with some villages taking days (real days) to build but can be destroyed in minutes. You almost have to have a private server or you can expect to be camped, killed, stalked or just harassed pretty regularly by bored lvl 50 kids on summer break. Even in PvE your dinos can be killed during the taming process which can take hours to days.

Love the game, love the concept but it really needs a few more weeks (maybe months) to mature and get it ready for prime time. The good thing is the developer seems really active with almost daily updates and it has some names and money behind it.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Daehawk »

This video may be interesting to those wondering about the game.

I want it but I dont like the price point right now at over $20+. I like these type games but after getting a few I find I dont play them as much as I thought I would. Im also considering Subnautica a lot.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

Daehawk wrote:This video may be interesting to those wondering about the game.

I want it but I dont like the price point right now at over $20+. I like these type games but after getting a few I find I dont play them as much as I thought I would. Im also considering Subnautica a lot.

I have tried a few and this one along with Terraria has been my fav by far. I really fancy Subnautica as well but 1 EA game at a time is enough.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

ericb wrote:My biggest problem is basically the other players...and the assorted bugs, glitches, crashes and weirdness associated with being an late alpha/early beta :) The buildings are pathetically weak with some villages taking days (real days) to build but can be destroyed in minutes. You almost have to have a private server or you can expect to be camped, killed, stalked or just harassed pretty regularly by bored lvl 50 kids on summer break. Even in PvE your dinos can be killed during the taming process which can take hours to days.

Love the game, love the concept but it really needs a few more weeks (maybe months) to mature and get it ready for prime time. The good thing is the developer seems really active with almost daily updates and it has some names and money behind it.
I am playing locally on my own, it is hard enough to play on my own.

Coop would be great imo, this game is made for it, do high difficulty, group of friends banding together. We just need a server to play on together and get people on it at the start.
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Re: ARK: Survival Evolved on Steam

Post by Reemul »

I see the latest patch adds stone buildings, seems like a good addition but does that mean they are 100% safe from dinos.

Hit level 15 and now have access to a bow and arrow which makes killing creatures easier.

Also managed to build a wooden house and some decent storage so whne dying I dont loose stuff.

I have strip mined my local area so the need to travel seems to get more important
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