GojiBean
Your resident irradiated Kaiju King
Hoyo all!
ARK 2 was announced not long ago, and I'm a major ARK Survival Evolved fanatic with over 1,200 hours on PC alone, to say nothing of an extra 400+ on PS4.
However, I've been longing to do an RP of the ARK Survival Evolved story since the base game's story is kinda... non-existent. Unless, of course, you know ahead of time to find the lore boxes, jars, etc and actually seek out the artifacts to Ascend from one ARK to the next. And eventually, as you make it through the various ARK maps, you uncover more and more story. But it can take FOREVER for newer players.
So, I had it in mind to make some tiny tweaks to the story in order to simplify it to something more easily understandable, and alter some of the mechanics of the original game to more of a modded feel.
So! Does anyone wanted to go on a story-driven Dino taming ARK adventure with me!!
Here are the deets!
1) The ARK Survivor(s) awaken on the ARK with the HLNA holographic guide. HLNA informs the survivors of their situation. Element was a super resource that became a self-aware hive-minded intelligence that caused the collapse of human civilization and the death of the planet Earth through both its own unnatural proliferation, and the use of the Titans it created. HLNA informs us that it's been millions, if not billions of years since the ARKs were created, and they are beginning to malfunction which will mean the total death of all that remains of both humanity, and life on Earth as we know it since it's been preserved via the Genesis simulation.
The ARK Survivor(s) are instructed by HLNA to make the most of the simulation by learning how to survive and figure out a way to hop from ARK to ARK in the hopes of finding a way to reach and stop the primary antagonist, Rockwell. HLNA informs them that Rockwell is the now preserved intelligence (AI) of a former scientists gone mad who seeks to end the Genesis simulation and allow Earth, humanity, and all life as it was previously known to be extinguished while he uses his own creations in the Genesis simulation to populate a new habitable planet elsewhere in the galaxy.
2) The ARK Survivor(s) will learn all of the things ARK players do in the games. They'll learn to craft buildings, weapons, armor, etc by way of their implants in their left arms which are able to project holographic interfaces that help them create whatever they learn from the Engram system so long as they possess the proper materials. They'll also learn that it's possible to tame creatures to become our friends/family for the adventure! However, the methods for item creation and taming is somewhat different from the games.
- First, no magic inventory
Our Survivors have to gather all materials in a realistic way. For example, if we tear up plants for fiber then those plants are still whole and in our hands. We have to bring with us back to our storage boxes and/or crafting stations which can then be activated by touch and it will digitize the material for storage and/or crafting. Another example is chopping trees or smashing boulders for rocks and flint. The tree will fall down like a real tree in one whole piece, and we have to chop it up further or find a way to drag the whole thing back to camp and digitize it with the storage/crafting station for later use. For the rocks and flint, we have to use bags or our hands to transport them back to camp for the same purpose. For smelting metal, we will need to haul the raw metal to a forge of some kind and activate the forge to digitize the raw material. Over time, it will convert it to a refined metal resource we can use for crafting.
- Second, taming
Unlike the games, we can't just tranq an animal and shove food up its butt. What we can do, however, is take the following approaches.
For herbivores, they'll (mostly, with a few exceptions) be passive tames. We can simply walk up to them, cautiously, so as not to aggravate them, and offer them berries and herbivore food out of our hands. The more we feed them, the more they bond with us. And eventually we will build a powerful bond that can't be broken, and they'll be considered fully tamed and part of our tribe/family.
For carnivores, things are different. We can approach it one of two different ways.
One, we can tranq it out and build a trap/enclosure around it. While it's out, we place food around it so when it wakes up it will have something to eat. One of us will need to be present when it does, or the taming will not happen as the point of this is to help it visually associate us with food (that's not us). We monitor its condition as time goes on. And whenever it gets hungry we place more food into the enclosure until the Dino changes its views towards us and becomes tame enough that we can walk into the enclosure to feed it directly. When the dino begins not only allowing us to feed it inside the enclosure, but also lets us roam around inside it even after it's done eating, or before it eats, that will be the sign it's fully tamed.
This is very much like the mod "Immersive Taming," where you can throw/fire food at a dino in order to slowly raise its taming bar. The more you feed it, the more tolerant of your presence it becomes. If it's a Predator, you can't approach it until its taming bar is around 2/5 or 1/2 of the way full or it will still aggro on you. And this method will be the second option to the enclosure. Instead of trapping it, we simply find a safe place to deliver food to it like attaching bits of it to arrows or throwing hunks of it by hand. The dino will eat the food and take notice of our presence. It will still see us as prey at first, so we have to make sure we're safe. But the more we deliver food to it, the less it sees us as prey and it will see us as a symbiotic presence where it can simply leave us alone and we'll deliver food to it. Feed it more, and it'll start following us around. Feed it more, it'll start protecting us to preserve that symbiotic relationship. And finally, it will reach a fully tamed state.
3) The ARK Survivor(s) are not going to be immune to death.
Yes, we can and likely will die in this RP. However, just like the games, there is a respawn system in place since it's a Simulation. Still, that doesn't make the pain of death any less unpleasant.
Respawning will require us to make beds, just as in the games, but we'll also have to activate the bed via our implant in order to Sync with it so it serves as a respawn point. Otherwise, the ARK will randomly spawn us somewhere on the map and we'll have to find a way to get back to each other. And if we're unlucky enough to get placed on opposite sides of the map... Well, that'll suck for a while.
4) The ARK Survivor(s) are going to have to fulfill basic food/water/waste requirements.
Even though it's a simulation, it's as real as it gets. We get hungry, thirsty, and need to relieve ourselves.
Take care of your needs, and you'll be okay. Don't take care of your needs, and you'll suffer for it.
If our hunger reaches 0, we start moving slower and fatigue much faster. If our thirst reaches 0, same thing. If both reach 0, we lose health until we either die, or fulfill those needs.
5) Neither the ARK Survivor(s), nor Dinos, will have stats in this RP.
Instead, we'll be relying on a more realistic experience where if we want to have our best chances at survival, we'll need powerful dinosaurs like T-Rex by our sides. We could build an army of Raptors to overwhelm larger opponents. But those Raptors are still in danger of being one-chomped by a T-Rex if they're not careful.
Same with us. We won't have stats to go off of. So, if we get gored by a Triceratops, well... Goodnight Irene. Ain't no Health stat that can buffer that kind of damage.
So yeah!
A slightly more realistic ARK story experience with the Dino taming we all know and love, and the chance to go on a lot of epic adventures as we find ways to advance through the simulation in order to find a way out of it and bring an end to Rockwell's plans of Earthly life extinction.
Let me know if you're interested!
I'm really excited to start on an adventure like this if anyone's game to join me!
Cheers!
~ GojiBean
ARK 2 was announced not long ago, and I'm a major ARK Survival Evolved fanatic with over 1,200 hours on PC alone, to say nothing of an extra 400+ on PS4.
However, I've been longing to do an RP of the ARK Survival Evolved story since the base game's story is kinda... non-existent. Unless, of course, you know ahead of time to find the lore boxes, jars, etc and actually seek out the artifacts to Ascend from one ARK to the next. And eventually, as you make it through the various ARK maps, you uncover more and more story. But it can take FOREVER for newer players.
So, I had it in mind to make some tiny tweaks to the story in order to simplify it to something more easily understandable, and alter some of the mechanics of the original game to more of a modded feel.
So! Does anyone wanted to go on a story-driven Dino taming ARK adventure with me!!
Here are the deets!
1) The ARK Survivor(s) awaken on the ARK with the HLNA holographic guide. HLNA informs the survivors of their situation. Element was a super resource that became a self-aware hive-minded intelligence that caused the collapse of human civilization and the death of the planet Earth through both its own unnatural proliferation, and the use of the Titans it created. HLNA informs us that it's been millions, if not billions of years since the ARKs were created, and they are beginning to malfunction which will mean the total death of all that remains of both humanity, and life on Earth as we know it since it's been preserved via the Genesis simulation.
The ARK Survivor(s) are instructed by HLNA to make the most of the simulation by learning how to survive and figure out a way to hop from ARK to ARK in the hopes of finding a way to reach and stop the primary antagonist, Rockwell. HLNA informs them that Rockwell is the now preserved intelligence (AI) of a former scientists gone mad who seeks to end the Genesis simulation and allow Earth, humanity, and all life as it was previously known to be extinguished while he uses his own creations in the Genesis simulation to populate a new habitable planet elsewhere in the galaxy.
2) The ARK Survivor(s) will learn all of the things ARK players do in the games. They'll learn to craft buildings, weapons, armor, etc by way of their implants in their left arms which are able to project holographic interfaces that help them create whatever they learn from the Engram system so long as they possess the proper materials. They'll also learn that it's possible to tame creatures to become our friends/family for the adventure! However, the methods for item creation and taming is somewhat different from the games.
- First, no magic inventory
Our Survivors have to gather all materials in a realistic way. For example, if we tear up plants for fiber then those plants are still whole and in our hands. We have to bring with us back to our storage boxes and/or crafting stations which can then be activated by touch and it will digitize the material for storage and/or crafting. Another example is chopping trees or smashing boulders for rocks and flint. The tree will fall down like a real tree in one whole piece, and we have to chop it up further or find a way to drag the whole thing back to camp and digitize it with the storage/crafting station for later use. For the rocks and flint, we have to use bags or our hands to transport them back to camp for the same purpose. For smelting metal, we will need to haul the raw metal to a forge of some kind and activate the forge to digitize the raw material. Over time, it will convert it to a refined metal resource we can use for crafting.
- Second, taming
Unlike the games, we can't just tranq an animal and shove food up its butt. What we can do, however, is take the following approaches.
For herbivores, they'll (mostly, with a few exceptions) be passive tames. We can simply walk up to them, cautiously, so as not to aggravate them, and offer them berries and herbivore food out of our hands. The more we feed them, the more they bond with us. And eventually we will build a powerful bond that can't be broken, and they'll be considered fully tamed and part of our tribe/family.
For carnivores, things are different. We can approach it one of two different ways.
One, we can tranq it out and build a trap/enclosure around it. While it's out, we place food around it so when it wakes up it will have something to eat. One of us will need to be present when it does, or the taming will not happen as the point of this is to help it visually associate us with food (that's not us). We monitor its condition as time goes on. And whenever it gets hungry we place more food into the enclosure until the Dino changes its views towards us and becomes tame enough that we can walk into the enclosure to feed it directly. When the dino begins not only allowing us to feed it inside the enclosure, but also lets us roam around inside it even after it's done eating, or before it eats, that will be the sign it's fully tamed.
This is very much like the mod "Immersive Taming," where you can throw/fire food at a dino in order to slowly raise its taming bar. The more you feed it, the more tolerant of your presence it becomes. If it's a Predator, you can't approach it until its taming bar is around 2/5 or 1/2 of the way full or it will still aggro on you. And this method will be the second option to the enclosure. Instead of trapping it, we simply find a safe place to deliver food to it like attaching bits of it to arrows or throwing hunks of it by hand. The dino will eat the food and take notice of our presence. It will still see us as prey at first, so we have to make sure we're safe. But the more we deliver food to it, the less it sees us as prey and it will see us as a symbiotic presence where it can simply leave us alone and we'll deliver food to it. Feed it more, and it'll start following us around. Feed it more, it'll start protecting us to preserve that symbiotic relationship. And finally, it will reach a fully tamed state.
3) The ARK Survivor(s) are not going to be immune to death.
Yes, we can and likely will die in this RP. However, just like the games, there is a respawn system in place since it's a Simulation. Still, that doesn't make the pain of death any less unpleasant.
Respawning will require us to make beds, just as in the games, but we'll also have to activate the bed via our implant in order to Sync with it so it serves as a respawn point. Otherwise, the ARK will randomly spawn us somewhere on the map and we'll have to find a way to get back to each other. And if we're unlucky enough to get placed on opposite sides of the map... Well, that'll suck for a while.
4) The ARK Survivor(s) are going to have to fulfill basic food/water/waste requirements.
Even though it's a simulation, it's as real as it gets. We get hungry, thirsty, and need to relieve ourselves.
Take care of your needs, and you'll be okay. Don't take care of your needs, and you'll suffer for it.
If our hunger reaches 0, we start moving slower and fatigue much faster. If our thirst reaches 0, same thing. If both reach 0, we lose health until we either die, or fulfill those needs.
5) Neither the ARK Survivor(s), nor Dinos, will have stats in this RP.
Instead, we'll be relying on a more realistic experience where if we want to have our best chances at survival, we'll need powerful dinosaurs like T-Rex by our sides. We could build an army of Raptors to overwhelm larger opponents. But those Raptors are still in danger of being one-chomped by a T-Rex if they're not careful.
Same with us. We won't have stats to go off of. So, if we get gored by a Triceratops, well... Goodnight Irene. Ain't no Health stat that can buffer that kind of damage.
So yeah!
A slightly more realistic ARK story experience with the Dino taming we all know and love, and the chance to go on a lot of epic adventures as we find ways to advance through the simulation in order to find a way out of it and bring an end to Rockwell's plans of Earthly life extinction.
Let me know if you're interested!
I'm really excited to start on an adventure like this if anyone's game to join me!
Cheers!
~ GojiBean
