Xbox Partner Preview: A New Dinosaur Survival Adventure Begins Soon with Ark: Survival Ascended

When we first introduced Ark: Survival EvolvedStudio Wildcard never imagined the success of the game over the following eight years. Passion and support worldwide from our indie game helped it grow to a level that we never imagined.

Today, we’re excited to reveal the next era of survival gaming: Ark: Survival AscendIt’s a complete remake. There’s a lot that’s changed from the original, and today, we’ll be covering some of the key differences you may have noticed in the trailer, or you’ll see when you start playing soon.

Cross-Platform Modding: A New Approach

This is the most exciting new feature to arrive on Ark: Survival AscendCross-platform modding is possible. Since 2008, PC gamers have enjoyed the benefit of mods. This will soon be available for all platforms.

CurseForge’s in-game mod browser will have new dinos and structures as well as maps, decorative items, game modes, etc. We’re also working closely with professional game studios and developers to bring their original content and IP to Ark: Survival AscendExpect to hear from some of these partners soon.

You can start creating your mods at launch by downloading the Ark Devkit from the Epic Launcher. We’ve tried to make it easy for existing mod creators by providing a porting mechanism for old Ark mods though you’ll still need to make some adjustments given the fact that it’s a new engine and there have been some changes.

DevKit allows mod makers to utilize the power of Unreal Engine 5 and Blueprint to create any new gameplay or content within Ark. We’ll be sharing tips and tricks for how you can create your own Ark: Survival AscendWe recommend that for the moment, you look at tutorials made by Unreal Engine 5 creators around the world. These will also be useful for Ark: Survival Ascend!

The old game had around 30,000 mods available, and we’re pretty confident that this will grow with Ark: Survival AscendUnreal Engine 5’s cross-platform capabilities allow consoles access to mods and developers.

There’s a lot for players, creators, and frankly, ourselves to be excited about regarding this feature. The platform will soon be able to host many original mods and game modes from IP owners, as well as new content. We will continually be expanding the Ark DevKit’s capabilities, providing more features and tools to help you create the best mods and games you can.

We’ve got a lot more to say about this, so stay tuned for a future article from our team and partners covering more details about modding and what’s to come!

Unreal 5 tech in the World of Ark

There is a significant difference in the way that both games are played. ASAThe game is built using Unreal Engine 5. This gives us access to more tools, such as Nanite mesh render, Chaos physics and Lumen lighting. Obviously, that’s just a bunch of technical jargon, and if you’re not a developer, you might not be familiar with what any of that means — so let’s break it down!

• LumenThe lighting changes with the changing gameplay environment. The lighting is more immersive, realistic and rich. Imagine riding a raptor into the jungles on The Island, and experiencing lifelike environments. Sunlight and moonlight filter through the dense treelines, bouncing off of water surfaces, torchlights illuminating the insides of caves, and bases adapting to light based on whether you’ve opened or closed a window, and all of that dynamic lighting adjusting based on how you play the game.

• NaniteThe ability to stream and scale assets in real-time onto graphics processors allows us the opportunity to create games with a high level of visual detail. ASA. Imagine more detailed environments, with realistic textures of rocks, trees, and fauna. You’ll be able to construct highly detailed bases using the improved structure tile sets and, of course, tame sharper-looking dinosaurs! Frankly, everything looks better, and secondly, it really saves our development time, as Nanite eliminates the need to generate separate “level of detail” meshes and enables us to use the original high-resolution source meshes directly in-game.

• ChaosThis is a real-time simulation of large and complex scale destruction. So, when you’re raiding a base, blasting it with your rocket launcher, or crushing it with the sheer force of a Tyrannosaurus Rex’s bite, it will look more dynamic and realistic when those bases crumble and scatter around you.

  The other added benefit of Chaos is that it has allowed us to remove the legacy physics systems from the game, as we can rely on this new system entirely… Which means no more frustrating ragdolls. Gone are the days of hunting a creature and seeing its corpse float into the abyss; instead, we’ve implemented realistic death animations and knocked-out animations on all creatures.

• It is possible to render instances-basedThis is an important one. What is your favorite thing to do? Create massive bases, villages, and towns — basically, place down as many structures as you can fit into an area. The old game would have been severely affected by this because the client would have rendered everything. You only have to pay for one piece of structure when you use instance-based render. Meaning, one wooden wall on-screen has the same client impact on performance as a hundred — your game will be running a lot better in your giant bases!

• The following are some of the ways to improve your own ability. Fluid and Foliage Interaction SystemsIt was crucial to deliver a realistic, immersive and dynamic environment. We’ve tried to make it so that just about everything has a way of interacting with the foliage and fluids in the world. The game will show a physical response when your Survivor runs through grass, animals wade through streams or other items. These interactions dynamically adjust based on various factors such as size, velocity, or impact of what they’re interacting with. So, if you’re running through a stream with a Spino slashing at Coelacanth in shallow waters, expect to see a lot of water displacement, ripples, foam, splashes, and water droplets flying into the air around you.

  You can say the same thing about the foliage. As you ride on a Raptor, watch as each blade reacts gently as it moves forward. Watch as Brontosaurs brush the leaves off the trees and flatten the soil beneath their feet.

How to Create an Original Gameplay Experience

The first time you jump in ASA, you’ll notice a huge overhaul of the User Interface. It’s been punched up visually and given more functionality to enable you to tailor your experience to match your playstyle. The options are there if you’re looking for a more minimalistic UI to keep the immersion or something that covers all the details.

We’ve also leveled up various other aspects of the game, including the third-person camera for players and creatures with additional per-creature customization and flexibility. The new map features a highly detailed system with world pings, points of interests and a more comprehensive view. Intelligent creature paths are found using advanced dynamic navigation. No more running into the walls of your base. But running from Carnivores is now harder!

There’s so much more to cover, The Island was redesigned to include more customization, color options and quality of life improvements. It also features split-screen multi-player, audio rework, new structures and gameplay elements, as well as new items.

The key point to keep in mind is that Ark: Survival AscendThis will feature all of the previously released maps and DLCs in their remade forms and have its very own content road map. This will include new story content for the game, further gameplay/QOL changes, new DLC, seasonal events, and over time, we’ll be releasing 11 brand new creatures (More than any previous DLC expansions).

Thank you so much for your support over the last eight years, and we can’t wait to continue to grow its universe with you, bringing you more of what you love about Ark. We’re also excited to see what you’re able to create with the powerful new cross-platform modding tools. And don’t worry, there’s still a lot on the horizon with Ark 2 and “Ark: The Animated Series.” See you all soon, once again, on The Island, Survivors!