Hey Survivors! Welcome to the latest edition of the Community Crunch and ARK Digest!

PlayStation Launch!

Earlier this week ARK launched on the PlayStation platform, we've had a lot of members join our large tribe. We'd like to wish you a warm welcome to the community, the game, and hope you guys are having a blast! We've had a lot to say about PS4 so far, as well as the game which you can read more about here:

Similarly to Xbox and PC, PlayStation users can expect frequent patches to improve the state of the game and add additional content. Earlier today we were able to roll out our first update for the console! Which will be fixing some issues that had become apparent during the initial release, such as uncooperative invites, glitchy fonts, improvements to CrossARK display filtering, and it’ll also resolve general crashes. This patch will also introduce the game mode Primitive+ to European players, and adds a native 1080p mode for PlayStation 4 Pro users!

Following that, we have an extra patch being cooked up this month for consoles! This Winter we will be releasing a very large update that will contain Procedurally Generated Maps for both Consoles, as well as all PC Content through version 252 - which means four additional friends will be joining the ARK on console! Players can also expect a significant increase in server and client performance due to brand new Physx libraries. We want to reiterate that we are fully committed to the development of ARK Survival Evolved across all platforms and you guys have a lot to look forward to!

To keep up to date with the current Patch Notes, as well as the ones going forward - you'll want to keep an eye on this thread:

ARK Digest 44

This Digest is going to be a little different as there isn’t a Q&A. We’re going to go back to our roots and provide you with a larger update on some of the other projects that the teams have been working on, and the direction they're headed in.

First of all, this week has been a pretty huge milestone for us as we were able to successfully release ARK: Survival Evolved on the PlayStation platform! We’ve had a lot of buzz all over and are pleased to hear how well it has been taken by the PlayStation community.

Now that all regions have had some time to get their feet wet, we’d like to announce a special contest on the PlayStation version of the game!

PlayStation - Trophy Hunting!

The first survivor to successfully defeat all 4 Bosses (The Broodmother, The Megapithecus, The Dragon, and The Manticore) and place their Trophies side by side will be awarded $2,000. This must take place on an Official PvP Server and players must provide media evidence when they successfully completed the task. This can be done via screenshots or a video showing the trophies, as well as hitting the pause screen to display which Official PvP Server this is on. The first (will be judged on time-stamps and also verified in game) person to tweet at @survivetheark with the images or video, including the #ARKTrophy, showing the proof of kills will win the prize. This contest will be ongoing until there is a winner. Make sure you’re following @survivetheark so we can reach out to you!

The next topic we’d like to discuss is very dear to us and a number of you in the community.

ARK: Survival of the Fittest Update

ARK: Survival of the Fittest initially started as the original Total Conversion for ARK: Survival Evolved. It’s a game mode which puts places in a battle arena where they fight to the death. Since it’s inception in August 2015, it has undergone a lot of changes.

As of today, we want to officially announce the hiatus of ARK: Survival of the Fittest. This means that there will be a halt in active development for the game mode whilst we consider our options for the game’s long-term direction. This also means that Survivor League will no longer run, for now. Please keep in mind that this may not be permanent, and there is active discussion surrounding the game mode’s future, including the possibility of a console port and development continuing, but for now we wanted to inform you that we would not be working on it plus no longer supporting it through competitive tournaments. The Official servers will remain online for the time being.

We understand that this may come as a disappointment to a number of you, Survival of the Fittest was a project we do love, but unfortunately, for now, it’s just not possible for us to scale up work on the title while also providing the necessary attention to ARK: Survival Evolved. However, we would like to give it a proper send-off: this winter we will be hosting two special matches to celebrate the game mode, as well as all who played it.

On Saturday the 17th of December at 11AM EST we would like to cordially invite the best SotF players to take part in an “All-Stars” 4-player-tribe game. The players will be invited based on their previous placements and accolades in Survivor League. This will be a standard 4-player match with the same settings as the October League, except the match timer will be scaled for 1.5 hours. All participants will be provided with a 20$ Steam Gift card, and the winning tribe will each receive a bonus 100$ Steam Gift card for their success! Following that match, we would like to host a final ~200-player Naughty vs Nice (to take place on The Island SotF Map) where the winning tribe’s players will receive a 50$ Steam Gift card (all hundred of them!).

In January, we will also release the Scorched Earth SotF source to the Survival of the Fittest Development Kit. The map environment itself is complete, however enterprising modders would need to add the dino-spawns, as well as make any other changes that they themselves deem necessary. We will also ensure all Survivors who have won over 200 SotF games in a set competitive game mode receive their Bionic Giga skin in ARK: Survival Evolved v253. Sorry, it took so long - we’re still waiting for our functionality from Valve but have managed to create our own workaround!

We’ll keep you informed should plans on SotF change next year, as we are still sourcing potential ways to give the game a substantial development outlook.

Primal Survival Update!

The good news is that Primal Survival is still in active development by our partner studio, Instinct Games: however it is being delayed until later February 2017. Recently Instinct has been involved in a lot of major technical work on ARK: Survival Evolved. This has resulted in Primal Survival’s progress being slowed down, however, the improvements that we gain from Instinct’s work is beneficial to all game modes, including Primal Survival. You’ll get a substantial preview of things to come with it early next month!

That pretty much covers what we wanted to talk about for now - but worry not as there are great things on the horizon as well. We’re making solid headway with Player Dedicated Servers on consoles with the possibility of crossplay coming to ARK very soon including PS4, PC, and Xbox One (to quickly answer one burning question: this will be a separate “console compatible” mode on the PC version)! We have quite a few patches cooking up for you guys this winter season, for all platforms - so you guys will all get to enjoy something new. Whether it’s the first phase of TEK Tier; the infinite possibilities with Procedurally Generated Maps, new creatures with some innovative and surprising abilities; And of course, Raptor Claus himself - there will be something for everyone this Christmas!

ARK: Evolution Event Weekend!

To celebrate welcome PlayStation 4 Survivors and the opening of the PS4 Official Survivors, Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk! Starting from Tuesday the 6th of December at 12PM EST (yes it's live!!) until Monday the 12th at 12PM EST all Official Servers will be undergoing this evolutionary change:

2x Harvesting Rate

2x Taming Rate

2x EXP Rate

Sandboxr Sale!

Sandboxr is offering ARK figures at 20% off until December 24th (with the code LOOTCRATE) and free global shipping until December 12th! Make sure to pick one up during this great sale period!

Community Contests!

Player Procedurally Generated Maps!

The Procedurally Generated Map system allows players to make their own ARK maps by determining a myriad of landscape options from the heights of mountains, depths of valleys, and the number of lakes, rivers or oceans, to the kinds of each biome they want, and more! Let's check out the entries for this weeks contest! This week's contest winner is...

Safari with their entry Jagged Peaks!

You can check out a larger album here:

PG ARK Settings:

PGMapName=Jagged Peaks PGTerrainPropertiesString=MapSeed=8623096;LandscapeRadius=1.0;Water Frequency=5.0;Mountains Frequency=12.0;Mountains Slope=1.9;MountainsHeight=3;Turbulence Power=0.0125;Shore Slope=1.0;WaterLevel=-0.72;GrassDensity=4.0;JungleGrassDensity=0.2;ErosionSteps=8;TreesGroundSlopeAccuracy=0.1;DepositionStrength=0.1;ErosionStrength=0.2;OceanFloorLevel=-1.0;SnowBiomeSize=0.2;RWBiomeSize=0.1;MountainBiomeStart=-0.55;MountainsTreeDensity=0.01;JungleBiomeStart=-0.65;IslandBorderCurveExp=4.0;MaxSawnPointHeight=0.1;SnowGrassDensity=0.25;MountainGrassDensity=0.3;SnowMountainGrassDensity=0.15;UnderwaterObjectsDensity=0.5;SnowMountainsTreeDensity=0.01;TreeDensity=0.004;JungleTreeDensity=0.66;RedWoodTreeDensity=0.6;SnowTreeDensity=1.0;RedwoodGrassDensity=0.2;ShoreTreeDensity=0.25;SnowShoreTreeDensity=0.025;DeepWaterBiomesDepth=-0.24;InlandWaterObjectsDensity=0.5;ShorelineStartOffset=0.05;ShorelineThickness=0.006;MountainGeneralTreesPercent=0.1;TerrainScaleMultiplier=(X=1.0f,Y=1.0f,Z=1.0f);SnowBiomeLocation=(X=0.5f,Y=0.5f);RWForestBiomeLocation=(X=0.7f,Y=0.7f);NorthRegion1Start=(X=0.25f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion1End=(X=0.416f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion2Start=(X=0.416f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion2End=(X=0.582f,Y=0.5f);NorthRegion3Start=(X=0.582f,Y=0.0f);NorthRegion3End=(X=0.75f,Y=0.0f);SouthRegion1Start=(X=0.25f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion1End=(X=0.416f,Y=1.0f);SouthRegion2Start=(X=0.416f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion2End=(X=0.582f,Y=1.0f);SouthRegion3Start=(X=0.582f,Y=0.5f);SouthRegion3End=(X=0.75f,Y=1.0f);EastRegion1Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.0f);EastRegion1End=(X=1.0f,Y=0.333f);EastRegion2Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.333f);EastRegion2End=(X=1.0f,Y=0.666f);EastRegion3Start=(X=0.75f,Y=0.666f);EastRegion3End=(X=1.0f,Y=1.0f);WestRegion1Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.0f);WestRegion1End=(X=0.25f,Y=0.333f);WestRegion2Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.333f);WestRegion2End=(X=0.25f,Y=0.666f);WestRegion3Start=(X=0.0f,Y=0.666f);WestRegion3End=(X=0.25f,Y=1.0f) PGLastPreset=0

and here's what they had to say about the map:

Quote I finally found a procedural ark that I think would make for the ultimate solo PVP experience. Do you build an expansive base on one of the huge, flat shores of the great lakes, taking the risk of being completely exposed in well-known territory, or do you build a small cabin in the treacherous mountain passes that are all but invisible from both ground AND air. Despite how this map looks it's actually quite traverseable, but still mountainous enough where grappling hooks and jumping dinos like the protocoptodon don't give you a competitive edge. I seriously suggest loading it up if you're interested!

Congratulations Safari! We hope the rest of you enjoy the map and we're looking forward to the entries next week. Soon Consoles will get the glory of PGMs and will be able to try out some of these maps and hopefully share what you've cooked up too!

If you'd like to learn more about PGMs, please check out our quick start guide:

...and this great explanation video from Thick Freedom!

NVidia Ansel Photography Contest

Super Resolution Version: http://images.nvidia.com/ansel/SuperResolution/ARK-SuperResolution1/ARK__Survival_Evolved_HighRes_2016_09_01_-_14_38_36_55.html

ARK: Survival Evolved and the Scorched Earth Expansion Pack now include support for NVIDIA Ansel -- a revolutionary new way to capture in-game shots. Compose shots from any position, adjust with post-process filters, capture HDR images in high-fidelity formats, and share the screenshots in 360 via a smartphone, PC or VR headset.

Learn more about these features from the NVIDIA blog.

Now let’s get to the contest!

There were 3 potential categories for survivors to enter their shots into and they were the following:

Three Categories

Super Resolution: These should be taken at 8x Super Resolution. Players can optionally use Depth of Field effects accessible in Spectator mode by pressing the [Delete] key.

Panoramic 360 Stereoscopic 3D: These should be taken at 4x Super Resolution, in 360 Stereoscopic 3D mode. We will crop them to 2D for web display, while also providing the 3D version for viewing within VR display.

Freeform: Any settings, whacky and creative use of Ansel filters are encouraged. Adding humorous titles/captions in Photoshop is also acceptable for this category!

And now without further ado, here are your entries!

You’ll want to click on the image title to be able to download the maximum size image, we’ve resized them for display purposes

Super Resolution!

Winners!

BlueDragon - My Precious

GravesAJ - A Link to the Sky

Wolf Angelus - Escape

GravesAJ - Instant Regret!

BlueDragon - Parenthood

Runner Up!

BlueDragon - Fight to the Death

FataL1ty - Purple Nightmare

FataL1ty - Winged Fury

KISHK0 - Chase

NakedZombo - The Unknown

Honourable Mentions!

GamerPerfection - The Dodos of ARK Welcome the PS4 Community

KISHK0 - Devouring The Moon

KISHK0 - King In The North

Kovko - Golden Sunset

Kovko - On The Hunt

L0rdDrag0n - A New Beginning

L0rdDrag0n - Don't Flinch

NakedZombo - Crystal & Shrooms

GravesAJ - Dangerous Waters

GravesAJ - The Edge of the World

KISHK0 - A Happy Beginning

EXFIB0 - Taunting

FataL1ty - Flying High

FataL1ty - Hunting Larger Game

FataL1ty - Holy

Wolf Angelus - Underground World

NakedZombo - Mystery Cave

Wolf Angelus - Smoldering

Panoramic 360 Stereoscopic 3D!

Winners!

EXFIB0 - Ice River

KISHK0 - The Crystal Cave

Wolf Angelus - Redwood Oasis

Honourable Mentions!

EXFIB0 - Sky City

NakedZombo - Nope!

KISHK0 - Mysterious Adventures

KISHK0 - Cave Flora

EXFIB0 - Morning View

EXFIB0 - Redwood Waterfall

EXFIB0 - Ice City

KISHK0 - The Bridge

Freeform!

Winners!

Wolf Angelus - Ice Age!

Morgengrau - The silent Master of the Mountain

Runner Up!

Kovko - Excuse me kind sir

Honourable Mentions!

FataL1ty - Aww Yiss

GravesAJ - Clever Girl

Kovko - Poor Dylan

ARKVideo!

This contest is open to all types of video be they funny, epic, scenic, stories, whatever inspires you. Just a general reminder that they should remain safe for work, think of the children!

And without further ado, the ARKVideo for Community Crunch 75 is...

Congratulations to

Timmy Carbine!

and we'd also like to give a shoutout to our runner up!

LameWolfProductions!

ARKitect!

This is an award given to Survivors to celebrate the amazing structures you build. These bases are judged based upon a number of different factors such as their creativity, uniqueness, how fun of a base it is, the difficulty of building it, the functionality it provides and much more!

The ARKitect for Community Crunch 75 is…

Tess for their TwitchRP Homestead!

Seriously, this is a super impressive build and we could probably fill the entire Crunch with their images, so definitely check out the album to see the rest of it, thanks for the entry Tess!

We'd also like to give huge congratulations to our runner ups

SWChris for The Stacks cave build!

and finally Virgil 87 for their Winter Wonderland! (You should use the screen sharing system on console next time )

and for more pictures of his Christmas build, check out their twitter!

Massive shout-out to everyone who entered! Your submissions continue to impress . Hoping to see some new entries now that we've got some new friends joining us! If you'd like to see all the submissions for the contests, you can check them out here:

Fan Feature!

ARK on PS4 PRO - EP 1 - HOW TO LEVEL FAST AND EARLY SURVIVAL TIPS!! by JayEx23

ARK Survival Evolved PS4 Tutorial - How to Make a Private Server / Dedicated Server! (PS4 PRO) by StarSnipe

ARK Survival Evolved PS4 Servers Explained by JadePlaysGames

MYSTIC POOP! - MODDED ARK: Mystic Academy E1 by Sl1pg8r

ARK Base Locations on The Island by KishK0

ARK Mythbusters EP 12 by EXFIB0

ARK Mythbusters EP 13 by KishK0

Which Flyer is the best for PvP by EXFIB0

TROODON FIRST LOOK by Naked Zombo (Not Official Setup)

THERIZINO FIRST LOOK by Naked Zombo (Not Official Setup)

Little Terrors! - Pooptopia by Kortniechan Gaming

How to protect your generator and cables, turret placement guide and building tips & ideas by Yocimir

ARK Pirate Ship build by RYANT1UM

The Giant Squid - ARK Bites by Lame Wolf Productions!

ARK Dev kit modding how to create new dinos by jordanisgreat 505

ARK: Extinction Imminent™ RL Edition *Coming Early 2018* by ФFallenSpartanФ



Source: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=814488298

REAL ACTION SURVIVOR by Mac Creene



Source: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=813357350

Stegoceratops. by jordanisgreat



Source: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=814740548

Raiden's Armor by Frozen



Source: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=813189612

The Raptor Beneath the Night Sky by GoldHeart



Source: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=814249048

Auravelocis Summanatus (Zephyr) by kazmanian45

Hypermenoptera(Hornet) by kazmanian45



Manis Titantea (Pangolin) by kazmanian45



Tarragonia Draculunis (Tarragon) by kazmanian45



Dermigneous Garchaeropile (Gargoyle) by kazmanian45



That's it for this week! Thank you, everyone!

As always if you’ve got anything to share please get in touch and be sure to follow us on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/survivetheark

Facebook: www.facebook.com/survivetheark

Reddit: www.reddit.com/r/playark

Imzy:

Much love,

Wildcard Jat, Jen & the ARK: Survival Evolved Team