The modding community has always been a large part of the beating heart of ARK. We’ve celebrated your creativity through contests, official mods, and even abducting some of you onto our little team. We’ve always dreamt of an ARK where players and modders could unleash their creativity, not just on their own servers, but on the official stage. Where dino-riding adventures could be dynamically splashed with unlimited customization reshaped by fantastical mods.
That dream is finally a reality. Player-created cosmetics have finally landed on both Official and Unofficial Servers and the Simple Game Framework is live!
We know you’re itching to get started , and we want to make onboarding as smooth as possible. The Custom Cosmetic Mods approved for use on Official Servers will be “Featured” on the Mods List UI. That way, everyone can more easily discover what’s allowed on the Official Network. While we’re cooking up a longer-term solution to indicate which Custom Cosmetics are approved for use on Official Servers – and more will be dynamically added daily as they are submitted by creators.
Currently you will need to manually install Custom Cosmetic Mods in order to see and use them (they don’t need to be manually activated – just installed), but in Phase 2 by April 1 they will automatically download them in the background whenever you encounter them during gameplay. Note: automatic downloading will be an option which servers and clients can respectively disable, and clients will also be able to selectively block individual cosmetics.
Of course, we’re not just going to throw tools your way and say “good luck”! We’ve included the Steamboat Willie Cosmetics, Clean Glass Wall, Party Lamp Post, Tic Tac Toe Table, and Gun Rack examples that you can download and use now on Official Servers and we’ll be releasing the source content for this so creators can see precisely how we’ve set things up! We will be releasing a ‘Custom Cosmetic Weapon Skin’ example shortly as well.
Find out more by looking at the featured mods or reading more about the custom cosmetic system in our previous crunch! If you’re interested in using the Custom Cosmetics system on your own server, check out our patch notes for some helpful settings. As this system continues to advance (still to come: the ability for authors to add new hairstyles, emotes, etc), we’re looking forward to the infinite variety of visual and functional customizations that the creative authors will be adding for use on all Servers 🙂
We put some resources into building a powerful, flexible framework – the Simple Game Framework – that enables creators to build entire new games from scratch inside of ARK, using the Unreal Engine Blueprint foundational classes (without being limited to our own classes). Custom maps, game modes, even entirely new experiences within, or outside, the ARK universe! To get those gears turning, we’re including a fully playable platformer built with the framework, along with the source for that in the ARK Dev Kit, and it’s just a tiny glimpse of what’s possible. The resources we dedicated to this system? Worth every byte. Now, those resources are back on ARK: Survival Ascended, and we’re laser-focused on getting Scorched Earth to you in April!
Get started by downloading the dev kit or check out the platformer example for inspiration!
The day has finally arrived! You can now move items, creatures, and characters onto the map without restriction!
Transfers are only for Official Servers at the moment, but we’re working to expand the functionality to Unofficial Servers as well. We’ve also launched some new non-transfer Official PvP servers that will permanently have transfers disabled. You can find a list of those servers below:
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So, what are you waiting for!? Unleash your creativity, explore the boundless potential of custom cosmetics and the Simple Game Framework. The ARK universe is bigger and more vibrant than ever, and it’s now yours to shape. We hope you dive in, experiment, and let your imagination run wild!
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