ARK: Survival Ascended
This article is about the 2023 remaster for PC, Xbox Series and PS5. For the 2015 game on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch, see ARK: Survival Evolved. For the game on iOS and Android, see ARK: Survival Evolved Mobile.
Grove Street Games
October 25th, 2023[3]
Xbox Series X|S
November 21st, 2023[3]
Playstation 5
November 30th, 2023[3]
ARK: Survival Ascended is an Unreal Engine 5 remastered version of the original ARK: Survival Evolved game. It was announced on March 31, 2023 on survivetheark.com,[4] and was released on October 25, 2023 as an early access title on Steam,[3] with DLC content to be released over time.
Summary
“ | Respawn into a new dinosaur survival experience beyond your wildest dreams… as ARK is reimagined from the ground-up into the next-generation of videogame technology with Unreal Engine 5! You awake on a mysterious island, your senses overwhelmed by the blinding sunlight and brilliant colors bouncing off every surface around you, the azure waters of a verdant Island lapping at your bare feet. A deep roar echoes from the misty jungle, jolting you into action, and you stand up – not afraid, but intrigued. Are you ready to form a tribe, tame and breed hundreds of species of dinosaurs and other primeval creatures, explore, craft, build, and fight your way to the top of the food-chain? Your new world awaits... step through the looking-glass and join it! | „ |
~ Steam Description |
Features
- Unreal Engine 5 overhaul with Nanite, Lumen, and NVIDIA's RTXDI
- Cross-platform multiplayer
- Cross-platform modding
- New content
- Dynamic water using FluidNinja
- Interactive foliage
- Cutscenes
- Unreal Engine 5 performance gains: instanced rendering (higher performance when drawing large bases), threaded server networking, and UE's custom physics engine
- Dynamic navigation mesh and creature path-finding overhaul
- Cross-platform anti-cheat
- Updated mini-map (pan, zoom, pings, etc – similar to the TSotF mini-map)
- Queueing system
- New third-person camera (with the option to opt out)
- Directional sprinting and walking
- Ping system
- Gamepad cursor
- Chibi slot and skins tab
- Nvidia DLSS Support
- Photo Mode
- Dino/baby management QoL
- Wild babies
- Snap point improvements (new snaps, logic improvements)
- Character creation & customization improvements
- Tek Binoculars rework
- An updated control scheme on controller
- Numerous bug fixes
Gameplay Changes From ASE
General
- New gameplay balance.
- The
Movement Speed Status has been removed from official servers, but may be enabled elsewhere.
- Mutations change, now have a separate meter from level points.
Supply Crates loot table rework.
Carcharodontosaurus and
Rhyniognatha dossiers now are on The Island map.
Inventory/UI
- Overall menu rework.
- New Ping System, similar to that of Survival of the Fittest.
- New menu icons.
- New photo mode.
- Better map, now showing coordinates and allows to zoom in and out.
- Better dino tracker, allowing to track tamed creatures and see its location on the map.
- Configurable third-person camera distance by holding Left Alt.
- Quick-inventory feature by holding Q, allowing the player to navigate around all its inventory on his hotbar, use 9 and 0 to navigate.
- Quick-transfer between inventory and hotbar by clicking the slot number on the keyboard when selecting a valid item from the inventory, it will instantly transfer to that hotbar slot.
- Quick access to the shoulder pet's inventory that the player is carrying on his shoulder by holding R.
- When holding items that use ammo, such as the
Longneck Rifle and
Crossbow, R can be held down in order to display a radial wheel that allows you to change between different ammo. This also allows the player to craft ammo from this menu clicking
on the ammo.
Structures
- Complete construction rework.
- Improved the process of picking up and demolishing structures, picking up or demolishing all the structures that last one had supported.
- Decreased the number of construction engrams, allowing the player to modify, for example, a wall to be a door frame.
Electrical Generator no longer require cables, instead wirelessly powering any electric or gasoline-dependent appliance within a certain radius.
- Any Appliance that previously required
Gasoline, such as the
Fabricator, may also be powered by the generator.
Tek Generator now gives power to the
Tek Replicator.
- All crafting stations now has "Wireless" resource pulling option that uses resources from all the
Tek Dedicated Storages nearby.
Chemistry Bench now only requires electricity.
Tree Sap Tap now produces
Sap respecting the server stack multiplier (30 by default).
- Irrigation now only requires an intake pipe, wirelessly irrigating within a fixed radius, which can be extended to a certain area by placing a reservoir.
Stone Fireplace now can cook meat.
Toilet now spoils all meat inside its inventory whenever a player flushes.
Items
Seeds now have a spoil timer equivalent to their respective berry.
GPS,
Compass and
Transponder Node removed, replaced with the upgraded map and dino tracking features.
Torch now can be placed on the belt height of the player.
Electronic Binoculars rework, now they're called
Tek Binoculars and shows complete information about the target.
Creatures
- Because
Movement Speed is no longer improvable by levelling the stat, all creatures do not increase the speed stat neither wild nor tamed.
- Occasionally, wild babies may be found with their respective parents, and may be claimed by slaying or taming the parents.
- Ragdoll physics rework, they are now rebalanced and more improved especially for killing, which are implemented by using low gravity state and restrained body fracture that the creature will slowly collapsed through the ground.
- Humans can now have blood damage
Basilisk and
Karkinos are now breedable.
Dung Beetle rework, now it auto-collects
Feces that it has in range.
Jerboa is no longer capped to spawn at level 1, spawning now as a normal creature.
Morellatops adjustment, now it has a
Water stat to improve its water storage capacity, also it can water crops.
Onyc has a new land mechanic and their corresponding animations.
Oviraptor rework, now it auto-collects
Eggs that it has in range.
Pegomastax now have a toggleable ability to automatically pick up
Gacha Crystals in a radius that scales with its level.
Phoenix has a new land mechanic and their corresponding animations, also it can spawn with more color variations, including: orange, red, blue, green, and pink.
Reaper King will now scale with player levels.
- Significant Increase in natural color palette variation of different mapped areas in creatures.
New Additions
New creatures
Each remastered DLC map will be brought back with brand new creatures to be found and tamed in the landscape. a free community-chosen creature and a paid creature from the Adventure Packs or Fantastic Tames of each DLC map. Additionally, ten creatures from the mod Additions Ascended, will be added to the base game.
Archelon
Armadoggo
- File:Bison.png Bison
- File:Cat.png Cat
Ceratosaurus
Cosmo
Deinosuchus
- File:Deinotherium.png Deinotherium
Dreadmare
Dreadnoughtus
Fasolasuchus
Gigantoraptor
Maeguana
- File:Megaraptor.png Megaraptor
Oasisaur
Pyromane
Shastasaurus
Sir-5rM8
Xiphactinus
Yi Ling
New items
Resources
Consumables
Algae Sushi
Archelon Algae
Archelon Egg
Basilisk Egg
Ceratosaurus Egg
Cianberry
Cianberry Seed
Cosmo Egg
Deinosuchus Egg
- File:Dreadnoughtus Egg.png Dreadnoughtus Egg
Fasolasuchus Egg
Gigantoraptor Egg
Hemogoblin Cocktail
- File:Maeguana Egg.png Maeguana Egg
Magenberry
Magenberry Seed
Verdberry
Verdberry Seed
Xiphactinus Egg
Yi Ling Egg
Structures
Dark Altar
Decor Box
Display Case
Medium Tek Teleporter
Small Tek Teleporter
Tek Behemoth Cellar Door
Tek Large Cellar Door
Saddles
Archelon Saddle
Ceratosaurus Saddle
Deinosuchus Saddle
- File:Deinotherium Saddle.png Deinotherium Saddle
Dreadnoughtus Platform Saddle
Fasolasuchus Saddle
Gigantoraptor Saddle
- File:Maeguana Saddle.png Maeguana Saddle
Shastasaurus Submarine Saddle
Xiphactinus Saddle
Yi Ling Saddle
Cosmetics
- File:Aberrant Ghillie Boots Skin.png Aberrant Ghillie Boots Skin
- File:Aberrant Ghillie Chestpiece Skin.png Aberrant Ghillie Chestpiece Skin
- File:Aberrant Ghillie Gauntlets Skin.png Aberrant Ghillie Gauntlets Skin
- File:Aberrant Ghillie Helmet Skin.png Aberrant Ghillie Helmet Skin
- File:Aberrant Ghillie Leggings Skin.png Aberrant Ghillie Leggings Skin
Desert Ghillie Boots Skin
Desert Ghillie Chestpiece Skin
Desert Ghillie Gauntlets Skin
Desert Ghillie Helmet Skin
Desert Ghillie Leggings Skin
- File:Wasteland Ghillie Boots Skin.png Wasteland Ghillie Boots Skin
- File:Wasteland Ghillie Chestpiece Skin.png Wasteland Ghillie Chestpiece Skin
- File:Wasteland Ghillie Gauntlets Skin.png Wasteland Ghillie Gauntlets Skin
- File:Wasteland Ghillie Helmet Skin.png Wasteland Ghillie Helmet Skin
- File:Wasteland Ghillie Leggings Skin.png Wasteland Ghillie Leggings Skin
Data Maps
Public Test Realm
On December 5th, 2023's experimental patch 32.4, a Public Test Realm (PTR) was launched. It allows players to try work-in-progress future updates to the game, allowing issues to be reported in advance before reaching the live game. These versions may be less stable than the live builds, and as a result it is recommended to back up any savefiles before using them with the PTR version.
Roadmap
The Roadmap of the different Maps for ASA Goes as Follows (May Change with Future Roadmaps):
- The Island - Released October 25th, 2023
- Survival Of The Fittest - Released December 21st 2023
- Scorched Earth - Released April 1st 2024, Including:
- The first Bob's Tall Tales DLC segment, Frontier Showdown, Including the Oasisaur
- The community-voted Fasolasuchus
- The Center - Released June 4th 2024, Including The Pyromane
- Aberration - Released September 5th 2024 [5], Including:
- The second Bob's Tall Tales DLC segment, Steampunk Ascent, including Cosmo[6]
- The community-voted Yi Ling
- FSR 3.1 frame generation technology update[6]
- Extinction - Released December 20th, 2024[7], Including:
- The third and final Bob's Tall Tales DLC segment, Wasteland War, Including your pal the Armadoggo
- The community-voted mighty Dreadnoughtus
- Astraeos - Released February 13th, 2025[8], originally announced as a June 2025 surprise premium mod map in the 2025 Roadmap[9]
- The return of the fan-favourite glider, instead of calling it "Maewing", it's now called the Maeguana
- Unreal Engine 5.5 update[10] - June 2nd [11]
- Ragnarok - June 18th 2025[11], Including:
- Valguero - August 2025[9], Original Roadmap date December 2024[12]
- The community-voted Megaraptor
- Lost Colony - A New Paid Canonical DLC Expected November 2025[9], Original Roadmap date November 2024 (on the roadmap it is listed as a surprise) [12]
- Genesis Part 1 - April 2026[9], Original Roadmap date February 2025[12]
- The first Bob's True Tales DLC segment
- Genesis Part 2 - August 2026[9], Original Roadmap date May 2025[12]
- The second and final Bob's True Tales DLC segment
- Fjordur - December 2026[9], Original Roadmap date October 2025[12]
- Crystal Isles - coming later, meaning after all other maps[13], Original Roadmap date April 2025[12]
- Lost Island - coming later, meaning after all other maps[13], Original Roadmap date August 2025[12]
Club ARK
Club ARK, is a social hub where survivors can chat, relax, and have fun in a variety of activities, mini-games, and missions to earn prizes to take back "home" with you. Club ARK can be joined from the in-game Pause Menu on the Official Network at any time. ‘Custom Cosmetic’ mods – including costumes, items, and even functional structures – will be automatically downloaded in the background while you play. This is a toggleable option.
DLC
DLC Maps
Story Maps
Mod Maps
Bob's Tall Tales
Bob's Tall Tales is an optional paid season pass with optional paid "Adventure Packs" with new cosmetics, creatures, building items, weapons, and more for story maps (excluding the Island). It also has animated Explorer Notes with the voices of Karl Urban and Auliʻi Cravalho.
The first three original DLC maps, Scorched Earth, Aberration, and Extinction each have an "Adventure Pack"
Bob's True Tales
Spotlight
History
- On March 31st 2023, Wildcard officially announced the successive UE5 Remaster to ARK: Survival Evolved, expected to replace its predecessor upon release. Initially believed by some to be an "April Fools" reference, the original "ARK: Respawned" bundle was to be priced at $60, packaging ARK 2 along with the remaster. This was met with heavy controversy from the community. In response to this, Wildcard instead decided to release ARK: Survival Ascended as a standalone game at $60 with all existing ASE DLC included.
- Upon the reveal of the new revised roadmap from the original as well as the confirmation of ASA being an early access title, the price of ASA was subsequently reduced to $45, as well as being delayed from the original August 2023 Date. Instead, it launched without Scorched Earth, Survival of the Fittest, or any other on-launch additions as suggested by the revised roadmap.
Notes
- Nitrado has been chosen as an exclusive commercial server host.[14]
- At launch, the server license permitted only non-commercial, personal use, required a valid Steam game license, and allowed only one server to be hosted on a single machine at a time. This license has been replaced.
- Current dedicated server license only permits non-commercial, personal use, with remaining clauses removed.
- As of launch, the game appears to be extremely intensive, often requiring console commands to reach playable framerates on medium end hardware.
- The game was originally scheduled to launch in August 2023 with Survival of the Fittest and Scorched Earth being available at launch, but was later delayed to October 2023.
- The game was originally scheduled to launch simultaneously on all platforms, however the console releases were delayed. The Xbox Series S and X release was delayed until November 14th, 2023. It was then delayed for a second time and released on November 21st, 2023. The Playstation 5 release came on November 30th, 2023.
- The game launched on Steam with a limited early access price cut that was promised to also come to the console releases. However, this never happened and has not been mentioned since.
- After the Original Delay, the game was scheduled to launch in October 2023 Without any on-launch Additions as on par with the stated roadmap, but the game’s DLC Content has since been delayed again in December 2023 with a new Roadmap With The Base Game and SOTF Being unaffected by this.
Gallery
External links
References
- ↑ PS5『ARK: Survival Ascended』 | スパイク・チュンソフト
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Community Crunch 369.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Community Crunch 356 - Roadmap update.
- ↑ Community Crunch 355 - ARK Survival Ascended Announcement.
- ↑ Community Crunch 416: Summer Bash, Roadmap Update, and More!
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Community Crunch 419: 'Steampunk Ascent' Cosmo Concept
- ↑ Extinction Ascended and Bob's Tall Tales: Wasteland War are now live!
- ↑ Community Crunch 441: Astraeos Official Partner DLC!
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Community Crunch 440: ARK: Survival Ascended Content Roadmap!
- ↑ Jeremy Stieglitz on X
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Community Crunch 451: UE 5.5 and Roadmap Update & Astraeos Contest Winners
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 Extra Life 2023 Recap
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Dollie comment in official discord
- ↑ Community Crunch 375: Introducing Yi Ling