“Diesel, at the time especially, played a very large amount of ARK,” said Stieglitz. “In the Survival Evolved days, he played it as much as any ARK pro player would. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hours. Him and his kids, his partner, [they were] really good at the game. They played all the maps, they knew all the bugs, they knew all the exploits. They had their own tribe.”

As for ARK 2, Stieglitz has revealed that Diesel’s role has largely revolved around the narrative of his character – Santiago – and how he would fit into the overarching story. Interestingly, Santiago was originally conceived as “a nerd” before Diesel got involved.

“The character of Santiago existed before we started collaborating with Vin Diesel, but frankly, we kind of retconned the character a little bit to fit his archetype. The character was originally written as, like, a nerd, and we’re like… yeah, that ain’t gonna work,” Stieglitz explained. “He’s gonna be a really buff, awesome nerd who can punch out anybody?”

“So we retconned the character a little bit, but it fit because the character was also originally written as a gear head. We’re like, that tracks well enough. And so he helped us rewrite the character’s backstory a little bit.”

As for how much of Diesel’s character work has been completed, Stieglitz revealed that it has only been “a little bit”, largely for Genesis 2 and teasers for ARK 2, as well as a few lines for a planned animated series.

Since the release of ARK 2 has been pushed back all the way to 2028, Diesel’s silence on the matter was also curious. When asked about this, Rapczak said that the actor simply offered no comment on the matter.

“I think they’re used to it in Hollywood,” Stieglitz said. “I presume projects get delayed all the time, and you have projects sit on the shelf for decades, sometimes. Not that ARK 2 would sit on the shelf for that long. But we did tell them, yeah, we want to make Survival Ascended first. They were cool with it.”

Studio Wildcard had announced the 2028 launch window for ARK 2 back in December. In a statement, Stieglitz spoke about the studio needing to learn about newer technologies and gameplay mechanics for its development.

“One of the things about doing ARK 2 was that we felt we had to learn a lot more about how to make the kind of game we wanted to do, and to do it kind of in phases,” he said. “Learning about both the technology and the mechanics seemed, to us, safer than to just try to go and release a whole standalone product called ARK 2.”

Stieglitz, who also works as creative director, lead designer, lead programmer and development director at Studio Wildcard, spoke about wanting to get player feedback for some of the new gameplay mechanics that we will see in Legacy of Santiago. Much like the last time he spoke about this, he noted that this helps the studio with reducing risks for ARK 2.

“We’re taking a lot of the systems developed for ARK 2 and moving them into Legacy of Santiago because we’d like to get player feedback on them and prototype them to reduce risk,” he said. “Every game can have an expansion pack that’s a ‘miss,’ and you just move on, but if you have a whole new game that’s a miss, it can be a company-ending thing. Legacy of Santiago is a way to see how features like the new combat perform in a live environment over time.”

Just last month, Stieglitz had spoken about some of these new features coming to ARK: Survival Ascended with the release of Legacy of Santiago in Q4 2027. He noted that, while the expansion won’t feature the narrative things we can expect from ARK 2 when it finally launches, it will bring with it things like Soulslike third-person melee combat. He also noted that these systems being received well could lead to ARK 2‘s major selling point becoming its worldbuilding and narrative.

“My general view on it is that it probably comes down to content. Legacy of Santiago is going to involve a lot of the new fighting and combat mechanics that we want to experiment with, with ARK 2: Soulslike third-person combat, melee combat, and so forth,” he said. “But it’s not going to have all this like crazy narrative world build out content that we want to do with ARK 2, if the mechanics seem to work well with Legacy of Santiago, then the key selling point of ARK 2 could be that there is this giant campaign narrative that sits as a standalone product.”

Stieglitz had also spoken about the lessons that Studio Wildcard learned when it had decided to stop development on ARK: Survival Evolved to instead focus more on ARK: Survival Ascended and ARK 2. He noted how fans of Survival Evolved got angry at the developer because they wanted more content and they weren’t ready to move on to a new game just yet.

“One thing we learned is to not say goodbye until your players want you to. To be honest with you, we kind of just hard-stopped updating ARK: Survival Evolved, and we’re like, ‘OK, we’re done with it.’ And actually, players were kind of mad about that, because they weren’t ready, they wanted more content at that point,” he said.

Announced during Snail Games’ Investor Day in Times Square (reported by the Epic Games Store), Stieglitz confirmed that a 2028 launch was indeed “our intention.” “One of the things about doing ARK 2 was that we felt we had to learn a lot more about how to make the kind of game we wanted to do, and to do it kind of in phases. Learning about both the technology and the mechanics seemed, to us, safer than to just try to go and release a whole standalone product called ARK 2.“

Legacy of Santiago, an expansion out in Q4 2027, is one such route that the studio is taking. “We’re going to be introducing a lot of the mechanics and features that we wanted to kind of test out in ARK 2 as an expansion for ARK: Survival Ascended.

“Legacy of Santiago will allow us to explore a lot of mechanics that we want to do with ARK 2, but it kind of derisks that. Essentially, if we don’t do it right, if we don’t do it perfectly, we’re able to iterate on it with a live game and get a lot more feedback than to just release something standalone. It’s much safer for us to get a lot of that feedback in a live game where we can react much more fluidly to what players are telling us.”

This is also a way to prep players for the sequel before bidding adieu to the original. “One thing we learned is to not say goodbye until your players want you to. To be honest with you, we kind of just hard-stopped updating ARK: Survival Evolved, and we’re like, ‘OK, we’re done with it.’ And actually, players were kind of mad about that, because they weren’t ready, they wanted more content at that point,” he said.

As for whether Legacy of Santiago could risk taking some of the sheen off ARK 2 by featuring some of its mechanics, it’s something that Stieglitz didn’t “quite” have the answer to yet.

My general view on it is that it probably comes down to content. Legacy of Santiago is going to involve a lot of the new fighting and combat mechanics that we want to experiment with, with ARK 2: Soulslike third-person combat, melee combat, and so forth. But it’s not going to have all this like crazy narrative world build out content that we want to do with ARK 2, if the mechanics seem to work well with Legacy of Santiago, then the key selling point of ARK 2 could be that there is this giant campaign narrative that sits as a standalone product.”

Of course, the expansion’s narrative isn’t anywhere near as massive in scope. However, much of that will rely on Vin Diesel, who was revealed in the sequel’s debut trailer.

“We have a much more ambitious narrative built out for ARK 2. But I’m going to be blunt, it’s really going to be highly dependent on just how involved Vin Diesel is actually going to be, which is still an open question.

“The question is: How much performance are we going to get from him?” Stieglitz said. “Are we going to get one day, five days, eight hours? You don’t know. And the scope of how much performance we are going to get determines just how the narrative is going to play out. We have a narrative that’s if we get a lot of Vin Diesel, this is what we will do, and if we get a little Vin Diesel, this is what we will do.”

ARK 2 is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC, launching on day one for Game Pass. It will reportedly be exclusive to the subscription service for three years.

In the interview, Stieglitz revealed that Studio Wildcard had made a vertical slice for Ark 2 that would showcase how its various gameplay systems would work together, the studio had since been busy with working on Ark: Survival Ascended. According to Stieglitz, “we felt that as a team, it would be very difficult to follow that all the way through to a complete game with both our experience level and [our scope] as a company.”

“We put the vertical slice on hold a couple of years ago to make [Ark: Survival Ascended], and we’ve been only nibbling at it since then,” Stieglitz explained. “A small portion of our team continues to refine the mechanics of [Ark 2‘s] combat… It’s very difficult to do soulslike combat in a multiplayer PvP context. You could probably count the number of games on one hand that have even attempted that in an actual PvP context.”

While the studio hasn’t yet been able to get back to work on the vertical slice, Stieglitz noted that it would take the team “18 months of hardcore team focus to [turn] that vertical slice into an early access game, when we get to put the vast majority of our team back on it.” Once the studio is able to break away from working on Survival Ascended, however, he noted that an Early Access release of Ark 2 might possibly come out over the next two years.

“We need to figure out how we kind of optimize all those resources to continue to generate the revenue to get all the way to the finish line with Ark 2, but also free up enough development resources to make Ark 2 at the exact same time,” he said.

Studio Wildcard has also been facing issues thanks to the constant forward march of technology, with new techniques and tools being created all the time. Stieglitz noted that, due to this, it can be easy for a game to come out that is otherwise decent, but feels outdated in some ways.

“Occasionally you’ll see a game come out where it’s actually quite solid, but it feels like it’s two or three years behind the curve,” he said. “You just feel like ‘man, if this had been released four years ago, it would have been a huge hit.’ You don’t want to be that game.”

In the interview, Stieglitz also revealed a few new details about the game, including the fact that it will feature “NPC antagonists” that were shown off in the trailer. He said that, while PvP will still be a focus of the game, more environmental threats could lead to more interesting experiences.

“Ark 2 has to have NPC antagonists, because that’s been implied by the trailer and has been part of our design for quite some time as an opposing force, so to speak,” Stieglitz explained. “We feel that could add a lot more threat level to the environment and the feeling of being able to enjoy a PvP-like experience, even without [fighting against other players].”

The last time we heard about Ark 2 was all the back in 2023 when the studio was aiming for a Spring 2025 launch window for the game. Since then, however, not many details have been revealed. In the meantime, check out details about how Ark 2 will be launching on Game Pass. Also check out details about Ark: Survial Ascended’s Scorched Earth update from last year.

Yeoh reprises her role as Mei Yin from ARK: The Animated Series, and you can check out some of the scenes in the trailer below. Other notable actors include Madeleine Madden (Amazon’s The Wheel of Time), who voices Helena Walker, and Auli’i Cravalho (Moana 1 and 2) as Meeka. Surprisingly, more characters will be voiced, including fan favorites.

As for new content, Lost Colony unfolds on Arat Prime with a new story that bridges Extinction/Genesis and ARK 2 (which still lacks a release date). On top of new Cursed tiers of gear and exotic tameable beasts, you can also harness new Lost ability trees. There are also various hostile factions to deal with. Stay tuned for more details and a concrete release date in the coming months.

Helldivers 2 PSN account backtrack

Sony came within a hair’s breadth of tanking their runaway success of the year with the perplexing requirement for PC users to link a PSN account to Steam to play Helldivers 2. If you didn’t already own a PSN account it’d be mandatory to make one to carry on playing. Sony’s act of self-sabotage caused widespread discontent, of course, but was also set to lock players from the 177 countries without PSN access out of the game. Fortunately, Sony put their collective heads together and reversed the decision, review bombing was ceased with sales – now eclipsing 12 million – continuing. 

]]> 606227 https://gamingbolt.com/ark-survival-ascended-scorched-earth-is-now-available Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:10:37 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=583389 After months of delays, Scorched Earth has finally come to ARK: Survival Ascended. Dubbed Scorched Earth Ascended, it sees players venturing into the desert and facing new challenges, dinosaurs and more. Check out the launch trailer below.

The desert realm has six biomes to explore, from extensive dunes and oases to ruins and ancient caves. Perhaps the biggest shift from The Island is the scarcity of water required for survival and new phenomena like sandstorms and heat stroke. There are new creatures to tame, including the Fasolasuchus, but you’ll also have to contend with the Death Worm.

Over 50 new items are available to craft, from heat-resistant gear and buildings to whips, boomerangs, chainsaws and more. Wind turbines and oil refineries further enhance one’s base, and a new apex boss – the Manticore – awaits. Studio Wildcard notes that only characters can be transferred in the first 60 days of release – no dinosaurs or items. Once that period ends, it’s open season.

Ark: Survival Ascended is available for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review of the early access version here.

However, the release windows for all other content have been pushed back. Scorched Earth was set to launch this month but is now out in March 2024. The Center follows in May, Aberration in July, Ragnarok in September and Extinction in October, with a “surprise” planned for November. The year closes with Valguero in December.

In 2025, Genesis Part 1 will debut in February, followed by The Crystal Isles in April, Genesis Part 2 in May, Lost Island in August and Fjordur in October. It’s a long wait, and that’s not accounting for Ark 2, currently planned for late 2024. Stay tuned for more details and updates in the coming months. You can check out our review of Ark: Survival Ascended here.

While Xbox Series X/S and PC players will be ahead, PS5 players can take advantage of bonus rates on the new servers to catch up quickly. Unfortunately, the “Join Failure” issue persists on PlayStation and won’t be fixed until the next patch passes certification. There’s no ETA currently, so stay tuned for updates in the coming days.

Check out our feature for more details on Ark: Survival Ascended for Xbox Series X/S and PS5. You can also read our review of the PC version, available in Steam Early Access. Scorched Earth is the next map to be added to the game and is currently planned for launch this month.

Bonus rates are also applicable and allow catching up to those on Xbox and PC. However, it’s worth noting that the “Join Failure” issue is still present in the PS5 version (while fixed on other platforms). Studio Wildcard hadn’t identified the cause when submitting the build, hence the lack of a fix at launch on PlayStation. It will instead be available after the next patch goes through certification. Stay tuned for updates when it goes live.

Ark: Survival Ascended in early access, with The Island available to play on. Check out our review of the PC version. Scorched Earth is planned for December, with other maps like Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1 and Part 2 coming later.

pic.twitter.com/EYWhpWbVg2

— ARK: Survival Ascended (@survivetheark) November 28, 2023

The join failure issue we previously fixed on PC/Xbox is going to be present on PlayStation until our next patch goes through certification.

We hadn't identified the issue at the time of submission so it won't be available at the time of launch.

We will keep you updated!

— ARK: Survival Ascended (@survivetheark) November 28, 2023