‘ARK: Survival Evolved’ The Center Redwood Biome Beta Test Hits Steam

Fans of The Center map in ARK: Survival Evolved have been waiting for the Redwood Biome to be added since The Island map received it a week ago. Studio Wildcard Designer Ben Burkart has been diligently working on adding the biome as an all new landmass and released it for beta testing on Steam today. PC users can now test it out themselves.

The Center beta is available for PC gamers of ARK: Survival Evolved to subscribe to via the Steam Workshop. It is important to remember this is a beta, so you will likely to run into issues with the updated map, such as invisible barriers and missing or odd geometry. For example, Burkart acknowledged an issue with the mountains in the Redwood on the community page that he said he will fix.

“Looks like a very large portion of the mountains are currently missing, they didn’t get cooked properly,” he explained.

The beta is meant to help Studio Wildcard polish up the map before it is officially released to the PC and Xbox One approximately at the end of July. If you do spot an issue, report it in the comment section on the Steam beta page for the map.

As previously covered, this is the largest and “most ambitious” biome Burkart has made yet. It is an all new island that will be added to the south of the existing Jungle South island and runs from almost the eastern edge of the map, past Skull Island and the Tropical South island, all the way to the waterfalls that go off the edge of the west side of the world by the Snow South biome. The existing map for The Center has been extended by 100 percent to accommodate the new land mass, which Burkart says is about 10 times bigger than players will expect.

A land bridge connecting the South Snow biome to the Redwood Island does exist and can be seen in the image at the top of this article. This bridge is past the location of the waterfalls that go off the edge of the world. It extends directly south before cutting east towards Redwood Island. Those Survivors already scheming to block the land bridge should know Burkart stated it is possible, but would take “a ton of behemoth gates.” Watching the development of the bridge, and the entire addition to the ARK map, on the developer’s Twitch stream has been impressive and the bridge is but one of many centerpieces.

Expect to find new caves and ruins in the Redwood biome along with some stunning new vistas. There are towering cliffs, split waterfalls, hidden alcoves, and running rivers. The Titanosaur will eventually be added to this location, while most of the creature spawns will be similar to the ones currently found in The Island’s Redwood Biome.

Note that a boss arena is still to be added to the top of the gigantic cliffs that mark the end of the southern section of the ARK: Survival Evolved map. The arena is actually above the world and players will only be able to reach it via teleportation using one of the three Obelisks on The Center. The monstrous cliffs actually tower past the top of the world boundary, so you can’t reach them otherwise. A glowing and wavy barrier awaits to block the progress of those that attempt to fly to the top of the mountains in the Redwood Biome.

The next major ARK: Survival Evolved release for the PC is targeting a July 28 release date. This includes the launch of Primitive Plus as an officially supported mod, the Pelagornis, the Allosaurus, fishing, Industrial Grinder, spiral staircase, and much more. You can check the planned patch notes at the game’s website. It will be interesting to see if Studio Wildcard is able to get all of this out on time along with The Center.

More immediately, Studio Wildcard plans a special patch 244 release for Monday, July 4, to add sparklers and Firework launchers to ARK. The Xbox One 738 update that adds the Redwood Biome to The Island, the Titanosaur, and other items is also planned for the same day.

Have you tried the The Center’s beta for the Redwood Biome? Share your thoughts on the new area in the comments below.

[Image via Twitter / @EvilMrFrank (aka Ben Burkart)]