4:20pm EST - Spear throwing just got added!!

3:35pm EST - We are just one day away from the big update and things heating up (literally). Several new ammo types have been added along with a PvE server mode. Remember, the update tomorrow will force a map wipe on all servers. The next most common question is…

Will blueprints wipe?

Let me be clear: There is no forced blueprint wipe with this update. It is the server owners decision if they want to wipe blueprints or not. It’s been almost 4 months since the last (and only) forced blueprint wipe occurred. Last month, I ran a vote which resulted in the majority of people wanting blueprint wipes either once a month or with every map wipe.

Given how drastically the game has changed over the past few months, I think a completely fresh start would be refreshing for the community. Therefore, when the update hits tomorrow, I will be wiping blueprints on all the Rustafied.com servers.

PvE server mode

Garry added a new server mode today, player vs. environment. This means players cannot do damage to each other, only animals can harm. Personally, I think this mode would be boring as shit (especially given the lack of PvE adversaries). But, it could come in handy for people who are just trying to learn the game for the first time.

New ammo types

Helk has finished adding several new ammo types. Here’s a rundown of cost of each new type and a brief summary. We’ll be testing damage stats tonight, expect more info on tomorrow's update summary post.

12 Gauge slug
A large, powerful slug which fires from shotguns (or the Eoka)

• 20 metal frags
• 20 gun powder

High Velocity Arrow
Lighter, faster, deals less damage than normal arrows

• 40 wood
• 15 stones

Incendiary Pistol Ammo
Slower moving ammunition deals fire damage and small chance to start a fire

• 20 metal frags
• 20 gun powder

Incendiary 5.56 Ammo
Slower moving ammunition deals fire damage and small chance to start a fire

• 10 metal frags
• 20 gun powder
• 5 sulfur
• 1 low grade fuel

Explosive 556 ammo
Explodes on contact, dealing a small amount of fragmentation damage to nearby objects

• 10 metal fragments
• 20 gun powder
• 10 sulfur

Incendiary rocket
Creates flames upon impact which burn and spread

• 80 metal frags
• 250 gun powder
• 250 low grade fuel
• 1 explosive

Give bp all

Garry also added a new command, inventory.givebpall. This allows admins to give a blueprint of their choice to all players currently in the server.

A few words on Ark

Yesterday, Ark, a new game with dinosaurs and heavy inspiration drawn from Rust was launched. After generating so much buzz in the community, I wanted to try it out for myself and was lucky enough to get into the alpha testing team. Here’s a little on my experience so far:

My first impressions were not very good:

• Although it looks gorgeous on high settings, the lack of optimizations cause it to run like absolute garbage even on lower settings (I’m talking worse than Rust by a long shot).
• The player creation is cartoonish as hell (some may like that, I personally don’t).
• The UI is cluttered beyond belief and makes my eyes bleed.
• For a game which borrowed so much from Rust, I wish they had kept some similar key binds (tab for console, wtf?)
• Not surprising, the launch day experience was less than ideal. Servers dropping, client disconnects, and about 10 patches over the course of a couple hours, making it very hard to start your own server.

I almost gave up, however, once we actually got our own server up and I started playing with a group, my perspective started to shift. First of all, killing dinosaurs is refreshingly addictive, and this ai is surprisingly smart. In addition, once you get beyond the horrible UI, leveling up and getting engrams leaves you wanting to learn more; scrolling through the lengthy list of unknown items with yearning. The amount of things to unlock is very impressive, especially for an early access game.

Finally, the dev team has been very responsive to the community and alpha testers. It is clear they are passionate and committed to created a game that people love. That said, unless you’re running a stellar gaming rig, you may want to hold off till some more optimizations get in place (running a game at 10fps on low settings is annoying as hell). I’m excited to see how this game evolves and grows over the next several months.

Ark server owner community

Although I’m not starting a new site for Ark, I did spin up a private server owner community similar to the ones I’ve created for Rust and Reign of Kings. This is a place where people running Ark servers can discuss updates and issues which arise while hosting a server. If you’d like an invite, please email rustafied@gmail.com with your server info.

Question? Comments? Join the conversation at Rustaforum.com

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