[2019] Mod Spotlight: ARK Additions

Greetings Survivors! Zen Rowe here; for anyone that doesn’t know, I am the Mod Community Manager here at Studio Wildcard.

We’re starting a new segment where we will look at the mod authors and the projects that can add so much extra life to a game.

Today we’re going to be talking to Garuga123!

Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about the project you are sponsored for.

That's amazing, We don't have too many creators in the community that create new creature assets.

If you don't mind me asking, could you tell us a bit about your background? What do you do outside of modding?

Wow, so your background ties pretty heavily into what you do for your mods. It's always interesting to see how our history can impact our creations. Monster Hunter is a great game to take inspiration from as well.

For anyone that wants to find you, do you have any social media channels that you are active in?

That is fantastic, being able to see someone's workflow in action is an incredibly useful resource for new mod authors that might not be familiar with the particular medium they are trying to tackle. On top of that, attempting to stream while you work is incredibly difficult, there is so much trying to draw your attention. That's impressive.

What originally brought you to start modding for the first time? Was it for ARK or for another game?

Yeah, it's unfortunate, I know that a lot of people like seeing their favorite characters from TV and other games popping up in the world, but unfortunately that is an ever-present risk to such creations. Mods that use that content will probably get taken down at some point and copyright law is a messy thing that I don't recommend getting pulled into. I am glad that the experience did not discourage you from continuing!

Let's switch gears for a moment because I'd like to talk about your creations. In particular, I'd like to look at my favorite one, the Brachiosaurus.

(Credit to @UpFromTheDepths for this video)
This thing is fantastic. When you showed me some videos of the working creature in development, I was awestruck. The first time I saw it rear up I was thinking "What is it going to do? Is it afraid? Is it going to fall over? Will it do a trick?", and then those legs came crashing down and it was a great moment of suspense in the design of the creature. The taming mechanic was a fantastic touch as well.

Can you give me a bit of a high-level rundown on your process for creating a creature like this?

Would you say you managed to capture your original vision for what these creatures would be? Did you have to make any compromises along the way?

I think that's a great way to approach adding new creatures. And yours blend so well with the core game that if I didn't know better I would have a hard time identifying that they weren't.

Since I've got you here... do you have any super-secret content that you are working on that you would be willing to reveal for us?

That does sound interesting! Aside from balance, are there any other significant challenges you expect to face when creating it?

I look forward to seeing what you manage to create with this idea!

To wrap up, is there any advice you would like to give to any new mod authors that would like to make new creatures?

Sound advice for anyone interested in making mods for ARK! Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, Garuga.
Until next time, Happy Modding!

Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark

Greetings Survivors! Zen Rowe here; for anyone that doesn’t know, I am the Mod Community Manager here at Studio Wildcard.

We’re starting a new segment where we will look at the mod authors and the projects that can add so much extra life to a game.

Today we’re going to be talking to Garuga123!

Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about the project you are sponsored for.

That's amazing, We don't have too many creators in the community that create new creature assets.

If you don't mind me asking, could you tell us a bit about your background? What do you do outside of modding?

Wow, so your background ties pretty heavily into what you do for your mods. It's always interesting to see how our history can impact our creations. Monster Hunter is a great game to take inspiration from as well.

For anyone that wants to find you, do you have any social media channels that you are active in?

That is fantastic, being able to see someone's workflow in action is an incredibly useful resource for new mod authors that might not be familiar with the particular medium they are trying to tackle. On top of that, attempting to stream while you work is incredibly difficult, there is so much trying to draw your attention. That's impressive.

What originally brought you to start modding for the first time? Was it for ARK or for another game?

Yeah, it's unfortunate, I know that a lot of people like seeing their favorite characters from TV and other games popping up in the world, but unfortunately that is an ever-present risk to such creations. Mods that use that content will probably get taken down at some point and copyright law is a messy thing that I don't recommend getting pulled into. I am glad that the experience did not discourage you from continuing!

Let's switch gears for a moment because I'd like to talk about your creations. In particular, I'd like to look at my favorite one, the Brachiosaurus.

(Credit to @UpFromTheDepths for this video)
This thing is fantastic. When you showed me some videos of the working creature in development, I was awestruck. The first time I saw it rear up I was thinking "What is it going to do? Is it afraid? Is it going to fall over? Will it do a trick?", and then those legs came crashing down and it was a great moment of suspense in the design of the creature. The taming mechanic was a fantastic touch as well.

Can you give me a bit of a high-level rundown on your process for creating a creature like this?

Would you say you managed to capture your original vision for what these creatures would be? Did you have to make any compromises along the way?

I think that's a great way to approach adding new creatures. And yours blend so well with the core game that if I didn't know better I would have a hard time identifying that they weren't.

Since I've got you here... do you have any super-secret content that you are working on that you would be willing to reveal for us?

That does sound interesting! Aside from balance, are there any other significant challenges you expect to face when creating it?

I look forward to seeing what you manage to create with this idea!

To wrap up, is there any advice you would like to give to any new mod authors that would like to make new creatures?

Sound advice for anyone interested in making mods for ARK! Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today, Garuga.
Until next time, Happy Modding!

Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark

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There is a misconception that was spread at some point. Official conversion is not a part of the sponsorship program.
There is no strict criteria for when we decide we want to integrate a mod into official. We have a quality expectation and we have to assess the time and work necessary to integrate it, do any necessary polish, fix issues, balance if needed. Official integration isn't limited to the sponsored mods. Any mod on the workshop could be offered to become official, but not every mod is suitable for integration into the base game... where it will be forced upon every single player.
Sponsorship allows us to support mods that we think are doing really cool things, even if those mods would never be suitable for official integration.