Ark: Survival Evolved - Dinos and Leveling Survival Game

So you tested naked travel to Crystal Isles (character has no armor or items or any kind on them), as well as uploading items to ARK Data while on some other map, and then downloading them again once on Crystal Isles? If so, that’s great to hear. I guess I should test all of that also, using stuff/dinos I don’t care about.

From the little I’ve pieced together, it sounds like the transfer restriction is deliberate, to protect players from griefing on Official, and for whatever reason it applies to private servers as well. I’ve also read that it only lasts a month or two after a new map is released. What bugs me most is I can’t seem to find any statements from Wildcard about it, so everything I’ve read is basically hearsay.

I have but now is a good time to talk about the process. This method moves your current character, level and all, to another server in the cluster. You can take items, etc. Mods are the same throughout so you can transfer with inventory if you want, and items worn, if you want. You’re picking your path on the remote server as to how hard you want to make it. The same with dinos, cryo’d dinos, etc.

So that some of you can see what I’m talking about, there are three methods:

  • At a loot drop (aka Beacon)
  • At an Obelisk (aka the red/green/blue things)
  • At a Tek Transmitter, which I don’t think many have the engram for but it’s your own version of the above 2, requires no power and allows you to do all the same things.

Please note that because of this process, finding locations to build on a server should try to be near something above. Also note I cheated in the transmitter used here to show you. You can do that too, I don’t recommend it as you kind of ruin the fun of getting that engram eventually (which I had on the character I deleted along the way to Crystal Isles.)
In admin mode, that command is:

cheat GiveItem “Blueprint’/Game/Mods/StructuresPlusMod/Misc/Transmitter/PrimalItemStructure_TransmitterPlus.PrimalItemStructure_TransmitterPlus’” 1 0 0

Back to the process, this is a transmitter. It needs no power despite what it says:

You select a travel to another server:

Then select the server then join with current survivor (aka YOU):

Now you’re literally spawning anew (because it’s a new server) so you select a region, but you now have a new selection of using your current survivor (again, YOU):

Return trip on next post …

So now you’re on a new server, you have nothing. Or, you’ve been here before, you respawned AT YOUR BASE there and you need to hop back to some new server.

In this case we’re selecting to travel with an Obelisk. On Scorched earth, all of them are near water, so they are popular spots.

You spawn in:

You play for a bit and build up, etc. You find a beacon or Obelisk or build up and have a transmitter. Now it’s time to travel back.

You find an obelisk and select travel:

Then select your return server and, “join with survivor,”:

Finally you respawn somewhere you’ve been before, and get to select one of the beds you’ve got access to. This will spawn you with all your items.:

From those same three methods above, you can also select the following items:

  • Ark Data - lets you put items there to be downloaded on another server. You have 24 hours to do so before they disappear.
  • Creatures - lets you put dinos in or take dinos out, similar to above. The same 24 hour window applies.Note that anything ON YOUR DINO gets deleted, including the saddle. Take anything you want off the dino before this process.
  • Tribute is different and used for doing bosses. That’s a very different thing and we can cover that when someone needs to know more.

Great overview, Skip. Sorry for glossing over the details earlier and potentially confusing anyone who might have been fuzzy on cluster travel, or unaware that it was a thing. Given that this cluster has been running for some time, I totally assumed all of y’all were veterans in that regard. (I’m familiar with it from my days on other, public clusters.)

Just now I tested a trip from Crystal Isles to Extinction and back and it worked 100% as it should in both directions. Was wearing armor and carrying items (including a cryo’d dino) during both transfers and experienced no problems.

So, I haven’t played since I played with you guys a year+ ago and only on the original map… What server would you recommend for me to hop onto? I’d kind of like to see some of the new stuff, but when I hopped on before the wipe I was in some strange building like area with no water and rainbow dinosaurs and got a bit overwhelmed… Any suggestions?

I’m guessing that was Aberration, Fozzle, which is one of the best maps IMO but probably the most difficult to start out in. Also the most difficult to transfer out to other maps from.

Personally, I’d suggest starting out on Crystal Isles. It’s the newest map and (if you pick a recommended starting area) isn’t particularly overwhelming or punishing to newcomers. It’s also where the other players are set up, right now.

Note that you won’t be likely to see much that’s new, at first, until you build up enough to allow travel over to certain locations. Unless you decide to bite the bullet and start out in or near one of those locations, that is.

We’re all on Crystal Isles as of now (server info above.) Since all the other servers were reset, it’s where you’d be able to get help from us if needed. It’s a mix of a map with a little bit of all kinds of areas. Be sure and download that map off Steam, it’s free. Not knowing which DLC’s you own, the other maps are marked below:

DLC based - Scorched Earth, Aberration, Extinction, Genesis
Free or base maps - The Island, Ragnarok, Valguero, Crystal Isles

If you think you’ll get back into it quickly, join us on Crystal Isles. If you want a full re-intro to the game, you can’t go wrong with The Island. It’s the starter map, easy to navigate and most of us know it well.

Remember hit enter for chat and type out questions you have. The chat is cluster wide so we’ll all see it.

Not that I have the disk space/time to re-install at this moment, but how does Crystal Isles compare to Ragnarok? At a glance they both seem to be comparable “new map, with a mish-mash of critters and stuff from all the official maps”. Which is an idea I like - a big map with ALL THE THINGS! I am definitely a collector when I get into a game.

You got it in one, Calelari. I really like it for the reasons you listed. Plus it has at least one new, unique dino in addition to the new Wyvern variants, as well as easier access to certain dinos that are somewhat harder to reach/capture on their “native” maps. It also has a couple of very unique map features that I still haven’t fully explored. Note that it doesn’t actually have all the dinos from all the maps, though. A few will require visiting other maps on the cluster.

Valguero also falls into a similar category, I think, but it’s much more punishing to players in the beginning, in my opinion.

If for some unknown reason you spawn in in the very south east corner on the swamp beach, just suicide out. I was exploring there yesterday on a flier. That is the bottom corner of the swamp biome and it was nothing but sacro, kapro, & raptors.

I started on Crystal in the South West Corner I think? Lots of gators is what I see… I am treading lightly… =)

Cool! I am South, but sorta West also. If you come a bit more East there seem to be less predators, but up to you! There are Dilos and Titanboas, but no gators. Raptors if you get closer to the desert. Watch out for the wyverns about! a few in the south areas near the water.

I’m set up near the exact center of the map. Boring area to look at, but it’s worked out well. Abundance of argents, pteras, ankylos, doeds, beavers, mammoths and various other dinos.

I am to the north east. Just south of the snow line. Tons of resource and adventure to be had.

You misspelled “screaming and death” ;-)

Have any of you played through the “storyline” and is it worth investigating?

I’ve started and abandoned some bases along the way. I started on SW large white rock island, then migrated along the coast north way up to the redwoods. From there I went over to approximately NNW on the west side of a large glacial bay with redwoods on the west, arctic on the east and like open tundra to the south. Lots of resources there and that’s my home for now.

However, I jumped over to Scorched Earth server and have been trying to get a foothold there.

@Calelari Haha good point I was assuming everyone had read or experienced my Grem adventures :P

Ok just to get it out there…

Yes I was killed by a level 20 otter. Pretty sure it had some giga DNA.

I was attempting to tame a 140 otter when I hit a near by otter by accident causing several about 4 to swarm me as I swam for shore. Of course as we all know Ark hates me. So I ran out of stamina and was encumbered as this horde of otters picked my bones clean…

Pretty sure that’s an Ark first for our group of players…

Wait… I thought the otter story was Trip getting killed. Is there an otter conspiracy or are there killer otters on Crystal Isles?