‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ Biome Update Delayed, E3 Reveal, And The Center Updates Planned

Studio Wildcard had some news to share Friday night for ARK: Survival Evolved and the planned addition of the Redwood biome to The Island map. Lead Level Designer Damien Bull joined Primitive+ creator Ced in a Twitch livestream to discuss upcoming changes to the open world survivor game’s original map plus a change to the release date, E3 plans, and new additions to The Center map.

The original planned May 30 release date for ARK: Survival Evolved for PC patch 242 has been pushed back to Wednesday, June 1 while the Redwood biome will not be released until after E3 in June. This article incorrectly stated the patch was delayed longer due to a misreading of a Twitch comment from Studio Wildcard Co-founder Jesse Rapczack. We apologize for the error.

The studio will be at E3 in June to showcase both ARK: Survival Evolved and ARK: Survival of the Fittest. Expect to see a new trailer for Survival Evolved featuring many of the changes coming in the next patch, such as the new Redwood biome, Dragon boss arena, Ruins, breeding phase 2, and more. Lead Developer Jeremy Stieglitz also announced dedicated PVP servers can enable “offline raiding prevention” to make dinosaurs and structures invincible when the owner is not logged-in with the 242 patch.

As previously covered by Inquisitr, the most significant biome update changes will affect the Deep Island area of the map, which holds Grand Peak. This is the inland island just to the south of the Volcano. The entire area (highlighted in orange in the map above) is going to be converted to the new Redwood biome, and this will result in “substantial terrain changes,” according to the developer.

The actual geography of the central island is not changing much, but the addition of the Redwood Trees might destroy bases. Holographic style walls are being added around the island to warn players that anything built within the walls will likely be destroyed in the coming update.

We will be putting up biome markers into the game tonight to prepare for the biome changes. (PC The Island) pic.twitter.com/2kntqkDXMB

— Jennifer Stuber (@bubblywums) May 27, 2016

The central island was chosen for the biome change because it is in the center of The Island map and hasn’t received much love since ARK: Survival Evolved first hit Early Access release last July.

Bull confirmed Redwood trees cannot be harvested because they are too big to cut down. However, there will be some new features added for Survivors. Lead Developer Jeremy Stieglitz previously hinted at tree houses on Twitter, for example.

The Jungles on The Island may get some rework in the future because they were done as just a quick one to get them in. Bull considers them kind of messy and “hates” the way the jungle is currently set up. The developer may go back and reduce the size of the Swamp in certain places.

The Island map itself will not get bigger as it is maxed out in terms of size. Studio Wildcard does plan to add more surface area to the map in the form of new smaller islands, and new caves and caverns as well.

The Redwood biomes is the last planned update for The Island. Additionally, there are no plans to add more players to The Island. The current cap of 70 will likely remain while official servers hosting The Center will be 100.

As for the new The Center map (guide), creator Ben Burkart does plan to add the Redwood biome to the larger map eventually. He stated via Twitter this will be “an entirely new section” versus repurposing an existing area. There’s no timeframe on release, but expect The Center to be updated with the new biome at least a month after the PC version receives patch 242.

Burkart does have other additions planned for The Center. He has mentioned new Crystal caverns along with a massive ruins system, ARK: Survival Evolved‘s first jumping puzzle, and new underwater tunnels. These updates will not affect current player progress or bases, per the developer.

Here are the current 242 patch notes for ARK: Survival Evolved.

• New Creature: Diplodocus!
• New Creature: Leech!
• New Mechanic: Permanent Diseases & Cures (Player-Contagious Swamp Fever!!!!)
• Biome Update: Snow Extension & New Redwood Forests (this is a major environmental overhaul!)
• Tribe Groups Phase 2: Support for Limited Non-Admin Invites & Promotions per Group!
• Dragon Arena
• Ruins & Explorer Notes
• Added server option to override per-Item Crafting costs
• Added option for PvE Servers to disable building around critical resource node regions
• Added server option to override the loot tables for each kind of supply crate
• Added server option to limit number of members in Tribes. Default: no limit.
• Added ‘Follow Range’ (Low/Medium/Far) Setting Per Tamed Dino
• Multi-Seat Saddles (Galli, Diplodocus, etc) Dinos now have an option to Enable Public Seating. Dino Taxi service, ahoy!!!
• Servers can now optionally enable an “offline raiding prevention” mode which will make Dinos/Structures invincible if no owner is logged-in (indicated via the head whether the owner player/tribe is logged-in or not). Recommend that server owners utilize this with care, as it may have undesired side effects in a competitive environment.
• Breeding Mechanics Phase 2 (Random Mutations, Family Trees, & Interactive Baby Raising)

[Image via Studio Wildcard]