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Icepop
23rd July 2016, 12:15
This is what I'd like to see on the ARK server:



Change the map to 'The Center' - Personally I'd like to play on the new map, and it's generally regarded as a better map, it being larger and more developed. I feel that 'The Island' map is getting a little too familiar and that late game play becomes more of a chore than an enjoyable experience.
Slight tweaks to the server rates - Increasing the rates to 5x tame, 4x gather & 2x xp (from 5x, 3x, 1x) will allow newer players to have a faster start on the server, and allow later game players to achieve the high levels quicker. For example, we only have a couple of players above level 80, even though the server has been up for at least 5 months now. With the increased xp rate, the gather rate should be increased to double that of the xp so that the levelling up of a person does not overtake their ability to construct their new technologies.


As the server has been offline recently, I think this would be a good opportunity to refresh the server and draw some players back in. What does everybody think? :confused:

- Ice

Marius49
24th July 2016, 13:05
I think you should start making a pool about the map change you desire. There are still tribes and lone survivors on the current server which are quite advanced into the game, so changing the map completely will just wipe out all their work like it never happened. If there is someone that would like to have a change it's them, first, and new comers second.

There can also be a case of "supply and demand": if there are a bunch of new comers that find an interest in the new map and that will make them stick along for a good amount of time then sure, go for it!

As of the increase in gather/tame/xp rate this could be more useful on a fresh map rather than the current one so everyone can get a fair start.

Icepop
24th July 2016, 13:20
I think you should start making a pool about the map change you desire. There are still tribes and lone survivors on the current server which are quite advanced into the game, so changing the map completely will just wipe out all their work like it never happened. If there is someone that would like to have a change it's them, first, and new comers second...

I have created a poll on this thread, could everyone please place their vote on their preferred option. I am myself one of those advanced people mentioned, and a few other advanced survivors (Poker, Hugo and Scarylion) feel that we should restart the server/change the map, all of us becoming bored with late game play.

Marius49
24th July 2016, 13:34
So far there is everyone wants the map to be changed considering the poll (which is 1 person ATM ;) )

Anyway here are a few mods I found interesting. Maybe we can add them once the changes will commence:


Morecrafting Primitive (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=718872221) - a few basic stuctures, good starting material and it looks pretty good as well
Platforms Plus (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=719928795) - more platforms, more interesting building and a fancy defense system ;)
Pillars Plus (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=708807240) - I smell some fancy bridge builds soonTM
Redwoods Anywhere (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=722649005) - Redwood here, Redwood there, Redwoods Anywhere!!! (good for tree houses, but this one was obvious right? .... Right?
Bridge (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=558651608) - We really need more bridges ...

Icepop
24th July 2016, 13:39
I agree, these are some nice looking mods. I'm pretty sure there are many more that will need to be considered also :o
I think these will really make the game more interesting in all different areas.

Marius49
24th July 2016, 13:43
This one is also interesting, although it's a bit out of the main theme.

The Middles Ages (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=668239751)

Dourne
24th July 2016, 19:42
Think I've made my vote clear on other threads. This will help my wife and I get a fresh start. One thing though..... I don't like titans...

DocOlds
24th July 2016, 19:43
I'm on board with this, I can't see myself going back to the old map after playing the other options. With all the new items/levels they have added, increasing the XP multiplier wouldnt be a bad idea. It takes a ton of XP to unlock the titanisaur saddle and I would like to have one of those without waiting 6 months. Adding more mods makes the server harder to keep up to date and could introduce major problems. It has happened before where a simple color mod for dinos created a problem where ALL dinos would disappear if the mod was removed, later on, the mod didn't update to keep up with Ark, HAD to be removed and bye bye all tames. I would really love to see Valhalla instead of the Center, but since it isn't finished or officially supported, anything could happen.

Been taking a little break from Ark after an intense 3 week war against a group with far more players, dinosaurs, and resources. After that hard fought victory, I'm ready to settle down and explore some of the new content thats came out in my absence.

Jiro_89
26th July 2016, 20:06
I'm not opposed to a map change but I'd prefer Valhalla over the Center. The original plan was to continue the current "The Island" server and then add a heavily modded Valhalla server to our list. Problem was I got too busy too quickly to secure the next map.

From what I've seen on the Center map, resources are basically regionally set. A big issue I have with that is people can take over an area and prevent others from access to a specific resource that can't be obtained elsewhere. While we could enforce rules to prevent that, I'd prefer a map allowing people more access to land and resources. Valhalla accommodates both options quite well. Something else to keep in mind too is we can save the state of the current "The Island" map instead of retiring it and we can always fire it back up for throwback or whatever other ideas come our way.

Dourne
27th July 2016, 11:19
Having just gotten off Vahalla for the first time, i'm not a raving fan. its a great map size wise. I ran into the following issues: Mountains, surface not always the 'surface' (could see and walk under the world in more than a few spots), dinos walking in mid air, surprise 'lack' of dinos, i saw 1 fish.... If these can all be addressed and or 'fixed' I can second Vahalla as i haven't played on it before. If not i still prefer the Center.

Can you elaborate on the resource camping/prevention issues we may face on the Center?

InsaneJ
27th July 2016, 12:36
I don't know anything about any of the maps being discussed. Are these official maps? Or are they community creations?

If it's an official map you'd at least expect the bsp to be somewhat decent. Especially since it's an Unreal Engine game.

DocOlds
27th July 2016, 21:40
Both were made by players, the Center got official support after the map author finished it. Valhalla is still a work in progress, mostly because it is a much more ambitious project. The biggest problem with the Center is polymer, there is one tiny iceburg with penguins for organic polymer and over half of the maps obsidean is on a small skull shaped island. Valhalla has obsidean spread out all over and enough penguins to actually make it worth your time to go to them. The Center also concentrates all of the red/yellow airdrops over the volcano island, where valhalla drops the top tier drops in the desert, snow biome, swamp, floating island and volcano island. It's simply easier for everybody to get a piece of the top end stuff on Valhalla. The Center has spots with incorrect ground meshs as well, and unlike Valhalla, turning textures to medium+ doesn't fix the problem for me. Valhalla has everything the center has and more, and it isn't even done yet. I'm sure once it gets finished and officially supported people will hardly remember the Center map.

Jiro_89
27th July 2016, 21:51
Having just gotten off Vahalla for the first time, i'm not a raving fan. its a great map size wise. I ran into the following issues: Mountains, surface not always the 'surface' (could see and walk under the world in more than a few spots), dinos walking in mid air, surprise 'lack' of dinos, i saw 1 fish.... If these can all be addressed and or 'fixed' I can second Vahalla as i haven't played on it before. If not i still prefer the Center.


Indeed as Doc mentioned, increasing your texture level will fix the invisible meshes/floating dinos on invisible meshes.

Dourne
28th July 2016, 08:55
Changed settings to epic, and it still happens. Not to mention it is the recommended setting 4 generations above my vid card. no way i can play at this setting.

We could put pillars on this polymer island on the Center to prevent anyone from building on it beforehand. i've never been 80+ so never really needed polymer to begin with.


Change: low settings seemed to correct this but i doubt anyone wants to go that low.

Dourne
28th July 2016, 08:58
epic setting
3021

Marius49
28th July 2016, 11:40
Change: low settings seemed to correct this but i doubt anyone wants to go that low.

If it works then why not. After all there are players that can barely play with even those kind of settings. ;p

DocOlds
28th July 2016, 16:13
I've never seen that graphics problem before, is it like that in just one place or everywhere?

edit: I went to the valhalla steam page and at the top it says Please check the high quality materials box in your settings, along with max mesh detail to see the map properly, we are working on addressing those issues

Dourne
28th July 2016, 18:28
it was everywhere. i pretty much make a foundation and a bed then run around til i die looking at the various spawns. It did seem to fix some locations but testing this morning proved it still happens.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=733127738


settings for the above pic
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=733127917

Jiro_89
28th July 2016, 21:38
it was everywhere. i pretty much make a foundation and a bed then run around til i die looking at the various spawns. It did seem to fix some locations but testing this morning proved it still happens.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=733127738


settings for the above pic
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=733127917

Are you playing on extremely low memory mode?

Dourne
29th July 2016, 10:42
not top of the line but the only thing low about my system is the vid card nvidia GTX 550 Ti. 16GB ram. i7-5820k cpu @ 3.30GHz.

Jiro_89
29th July 2016, 11:16
I'm actually referring to the game setting. When you right click Ark in your game library there are several startup options. Extremely low memory might be able to help. I used to play on a laptop with integrated graphics and I had to squeeze every advantage I could for play-ability. Another thing that might help is adding the -sm4 flag to your startup option (I can explain that more if you want).

DocOlds
29th July 2016, 17:09
When I originally played Valhalla I had a GT640 and used DX10 mode, that might be worth a shot too. Your 550ti is ~40% better then my old GT640, there has to be a setting that fixes it for you somewhere. And remember some settings need a game restart to take effect, so don't give up on anything to fast.

Might be time to upgrade that card though, a lot has changed since that was made and Ark is brutal on the graphics card. I got a 750ti last year and its 12 fps in big bases at medium textures and low everything else. Now I'm looking at upgrading again. Buy cheap, buy twice.

Dourne
29th July 2016, 19:45
I'm actually referring to the game setting. When you right click Ark in your game library there are several startup options. Extremely low memory might be able to help. I used to play on a laptop with integrated graphics and I had to squeeze every advantage I could for play-ability. Another thing that might help is adding the -sm4 flag to your startup option (I can explain that more if you want).

Tried both. same thing....start climbing a mountain and see the other side. Got anything else?

InsaneJ
29th July 2016, 19:46
Update your drivers?
http://www.geforce.com/drivers

Also, please stop derailing this thread guys. Just open another thread to talk about graphic glitches.

Jiro_89
29th July 2016, 21:05
Oops! Here's a thread I made that might be able to help anyone with the FPS and graphical problems.

https://happydiggers.net/showthread.php?2329-How-to-increase-FPS-in-your-client

Address any further questions in that thread.

Dourne
29th July 2016, 23:43
Update your drivers?
http://www.geforce.com/drivers

Also, please stop derailing this thread guys. Just open another thread to talk about graphic glitches.


Drivers are pretty much always up to date. my wife tells me so i dont have to look lol.

it seems graphics wasnt the issue at all. i put in the command for dx10 and havent found a bad spot yet, even the places i knew had them. I accidentally pushed reset and even with all the graphics between medium and epic still no clipping problems. restarting in normal ark instead of low memory to check again.

edit: normal starts with the low fps issues and maybe some dx10 dino issues as i was killing a dodo and it mostly disappeared and was not able to skin it for hide/meat. for the most part it is playable.

InsaneJ
4th August 2016, 16:32
Spend my first 5 seconds on our new TheCenter server. Did not disappoint:
3029

ARK sucks from a server administration standpoint. But I thought this was hilarious. We've been spending a couple of days just getting a second server to run on the same machine with this map. And when we finally got it to run, I get killed within the first 5 seconds after joining. Maybe the game is trying to tell me something ;)

InsaneJ
4th August 2016, 16:40
3030

You guys are in for a treat!

Commiellama2
4th August 2016, 17:33
Did you set the difficulty level to "Australia"?

Dourne
4th August 2016, 18:21
lol you're not gonna live on lava island..