The dev team of Ark: Survival Evolved are currently doing their annual Extra Life charity stream. During these events, they release new info about the next DLC coming to Ark. This year it's about Genesis Pt. 2, which was originally slated for release this winter, but has been delayed (like everything else in the world today) until March 2021. However, they released an exciting teaser trailer and David Tennant is the voice of one of the game's characters named Rockwell! As a fan of David Tennant, I was pleasantly surprised by this. To me it kind of raises the game to a new level, kind of like when Patrick Stewart provided his voice for The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.
I believe Genesis Pt. 2 is supposed to be the culmination of all of the Ark content released in the last five years. Everything has lead us to this. The game really doesn't throw the lore in your face, so if you want to know what's going on, you'll have to dig a bit. Otherwise, there are some good videos on YouTube covering the Ark lore and there are theories running around on the game's forum. Initially you'll probably be introduced to Rockwell by obtaining notes called "Rockwell Recipes," but you can also open Explorer Notes which are in various locations in each of the game's "story" maps (The Island, Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, and Genesis Pt. 1). However, it isn't until Aberration that the game seems to focus more on the characters of Rockwell and Helena. In Genesis Pt. 1, you have a small robotic companion named HLN-A that follows you around and tells you about being in the simulation. Yes, Genesis Pt. 1 is a simulation, you and HLN-A work together to figure out just what is going on as there are many "glitches" to repair.
There are some cool new looking creatures to look forward to as always. There are also some familiar creatures as well. I saw Pteranodons flying, so I'm hoping that means you can actually fly this time. Strangely enough, Genesis Pt. 1 had flying creatures, but didn't allow you to fly, though you could enable this on your own server or in your single player game. There weren't flying creatures in Aberration either, just something that could jump great distances and another that could glide.
Also in the Ark news today, TLC 3 has been released. This is the third time the devs have taken some creatures, given them a new look and some new abilities. This time the Stego and Mammoth received some TLC. Luckily, you cannot be dismounted on the Stego, as there are Microraptors in the game that can dismount you. They have different "states" in which they can change into with each different attack being beneficial in different ways, for instance one is better for harvesting thatch, another for berries. Mammoths got another seat added to their saddle, which now fits two. The new seat is for someone to play war drums, which have been in the game since the beginning, but they now give a buff. For instance, they make it so that your creatures can't become afraid as is something that occurs with an ability used by the Yutyrannos. Mammoths were also given some extra attacks.
Also included in this TLC is a bit of a taming UI overhaul that helps you better see what's going on while you're taming a creature, such as displaying it's torpor, so you don't have to go into it's inventory and keep an eye on it. Another addition with this TLC is the ability to finally breed insects and bats. You can watch the video released for TLC 3 here: https://youtu.be/bL_d6-jo0yY
For more information on the Extra Life event, Genesis Pt. 2, and TLC 3, check out the post on the website: https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/ark-genesis-part-2-teaser-trailer-tlc-pass-3-r1667/
If you're interested in Ark, it's currently on sale. If you want to discuss any of this, feel free to do so in the comments. I've tried to avoid spoilers w/ regards to Rockwell and Helena, but if you want to discuss those, feel free to let me know.
Check out these two videos by Anthomnia for more info on Genesis Pt. 2:
Trailer Breakdown: https://youtu.be/dvkUAmZZcZs
Look at new creatures, biomes, and items: https://youtu.be/MRWkc-rNEfc
If you prefer a more quick look at what was revealed (as shown in the video links above) check out the post on the official forum here: https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/extra-life-2020-livestream-reveals-r1670/
I believe Genesis Pt. 2 is supposed to be the culmination of all of the Ark content released in the last five years. Everything has lead us to this. The game really doesn't throw the lore in your face, so if you want to know what's going on, you'll have to dig a bit. Otherwise, there are some good videos on YouTube covering the Ark lore and there are theories running around on the game's forum. Initially you'll probably be introduced to Rockwell by obtaining notes called "Rockwell Recipes," but you can also open Explorer Notes which are in various locations in each of the game's "story" maps (The Island, Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, and Genesis Pt. 1). However, it isn't until Aberration that the game seems to focus more on the characters of Rockwell and Helena. In Genesis Pt. 1, you have a small robotic companion named HLN-A that follows you around and tells you about being in the simulation. Yes, Genesis Pt. 1 is a simulation, you and HLN-A work together to figure out just what is going on as there are many "glitches" to repair.
There are some cool new looking creatures to look forward to as always. There are also some familiar creatures as well. I saw Pteranodons flying, so I'm hoping that means you can actually fly this time. Strangely enough, Genesis Pt. 1 had flying creatures, but didn't allow you to fly, though you could enable this on your own server or in your single player game. There weren't flying creatures in Aberration either, just something that could jump great distances and another that could glide.
Also in the Ark news today, TLC 3 has been released. This is the third time the devs have taken some creatures, given them a new look and some new abilities. This time the Stego and Mammoth received some TLC. Luckily, you cannot be dismounted on the Stego, as there are Microraptors in the game that can dismount you. They have different "states" in which they can change into with each different attack being beneficial in different ways, for instance one is better for harvesting thatch, another for berries. Mammoths got another seat added to their saddle, which now fits two. The new seat is for someone to play war drums, which have been in the game since the beginning, but they now give a buff. For instance, they make it so that your creatures can't become afraid as is something that occurs with an ability used by the Yutyrannos. Mammoths were also given some extra attacks.
Also included in this TLC is a bit of a taming UI overhaul that helps you better see what's going on while you're taming a creature, such as displaying it's torpor, so you don't have to go into it's inventory and keep an eye on it. Another addition with this TLC is the ability to finally breed insects and bats. You can watch the video released for TLC 3 here: https://youtu.be/bL_d6-jo0yY
For more information on the Extra Life event, Genesis Pt. 2, and TLC 3, check out the post on the website: https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/ark-genesis-part-2-teaser-trailer-tlc-pass-3-r1667/
If you're interested in Ark, it's currently on sale. If you want to discuss any of this, feel free to do so in the comments. I've tried to avoid spoilers w/ regards to Rockwell and Helena, but if you want to discuss those, feel free to let me know.
Check out these two videos by Anthomnia for more info on Genesis Pt. 2:
Trailer Breakdown: https://youtu.be/dvkUAmZZcZs
Look at new creatures, biomes, and items: https://youtu.be/MRWkc-rNEfc
If you prefer a more quick look at what was revealed (as shown in the video links above) check out the post on the official forum here: https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/articles.html/extra-life-2020-livestream-reveals-r1670/
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Couple thoughts after watching the trailer:
Firstly, why do super villains monologue so much? You'd think there would be some support group for them and a stickied thread would be "DON'T MONOLOGUE YOUR PLAN TO ANYONE, IT'S BETTER TO KEEP YOUR PLANS SECRET!" As much as we love David Tennant he should know better!
Secondly, it's cool to see you still playing Ark Greg! Seriously, I love reading more about this game and it's cool you still play it.
Lastly I've downloaded Ark on my tablet (more on my tablet in a recently post) and I plan on playing it. I'm not sure how much of the Ark experience is on the tablet version but it's free and i've heard it supports controllers in a great way. I've been playing other games but Ark is installed and i'm gonna make the jump at some point soon.
Thanks for letting me know someone's still interested in what I have to share and say about it. Recently I was thinking about writing a post "why am I still playing Ark" post. Steam says I've clocked just over 3300 hours! The game has disappointed me. I feel like it started off at such a high point that it just couldn't possibly top itself. It did get better in many ways, but I've run into multiple issues which have not yet been resolved, even though some are years old.
Check out the bottom of my post as I just updated it w/ 2 videos by Anthomnia who covers Genesis Pt. 2 details that Studio Wildcard released during the Extra Life event. He watched it all and broke it down into some what small videos for us to see and I greatly appreciate it. This isn't the first time he's done this. I actually find it kind of humorous regarding the things the devs decide to create Tek versions of. I think they should create a Tek Toilet, there is a regular toilet in the game. Tek items are the highest quality/best items and usually require Element to craft and power. Element is given as a boss reward, but there are other ways to obtain it, such as collecting Element Dust from defeating Tek versions of creatures. Yes, they added those in and they look cool! In my experience, most bosses are extremely difficult to do by yourself, even with "single player settings" enabled, so I usually just use the command console and give myself some Element.
I'm not sure how it would work on a laptop, but I suspect it wouldn't be very great, so you'll have to let me know how that goes. I actually did try to play it w/ a controller, but it just didn't feel right to me. I heard or read some where that the Switch version was pretty bad as the console isn't powerful enough for the game. The game is most definitely power hungry and requires quite a beefy system to run it at max quality even at 1080p/60FPS. It usually runs well for me now, but the main map, The Island, often dips to about 40FPS using the "extreme" preset, so I've sometimes changed it to "high." That puts the game at a good near 60FPS just about all of the time. I didn't really notice this during my recent play through and I played on pretty much every official map except Ragnarok and The Center. I didn't spent very much time on The Island, though.
I'm hoping Genesis Pt. 2 won't disappoint me like all the other DLC except for Scorched Earth did. I once eagerly awaited the release of an Ark DLC, but I've now learned to keep my eagerness in check. I'm not impatient about it now. The game and it's updates never get released when they first say they will, there's always a delay, so that's to be expected. After so much of this, I've learned to be patient.
I wonder what's in store for Ark's future or if Genesis Pt. 2 will truly be the end of it. I really hope not. I saw some movie trailers years ago, but I haven't seen, read, or heard anything about an Ark movie for a long time.
Updated post, added link for forum post showing off what was revealed. I thought this might be handy in case someone would rather take a quick look instead of watch a 20 minute video.
> Steam says I've clocked just over 3300 hours! The game has disappointed me. I feel like it started off at such a high point that it just couldn't possibly top itself. It did get better in many ways, but I've run into multiple issues which have not yet been resolved, even though some are years old.
I’ve seen this with games on Steam. Someone clocks in a ton of hours and then rates the game poorly, not to say this is you, it’s not really but sort of. This happened to me with Hearthstone but for entirely different reasons you have with Ark. I played it free to play for a ton of time and then burned out due to the free to play economy getting way to grindy. Plus I think I was just really burned out on it because when you spend so much time doing something it’s hard not to be. Is Hearthstone a great game? Yep. Did I get really burned out on it and need to step away? Yep.
> I wonder what's in store for Ark's future or if Genesis Pt. 2 will truly be the end of it. I really hope not. I saw some movie trailers years ago, but I haven't seen, read, or heard anything about an Ark movie for a long time.
If they have a popular game that still generates a ton of revenue for them I wonder why they’d ever stop working on it?