Introduction
The game I have chosen for this research task is ARK: Survival Evolved. I have chosen this task because this is a game I enjoy playing and I like how different it is compared to all of the other video games out there. ARK: Survival Evolved is a dinosaur-survival game with it’s own lore and it is one of the few games that has successfully pulled off a dinosaur survival themed game, with a wide range of different DLC’s and maps that are playable for the user. There are even bosses, dinosaurs with equip-able weaponry and creatures that never existed outside of ARK to challenge the survivor.
- Dinosaurs: Upon first glance, it is clear to say that ARK: Survival Evolved is inspired and influenced by the history of the creatures that roamed our earth. A large range of dinosaurs are accessible from the very start of the game. This features dinosaurs such as the skittish Parasaur, triceratops, t-rex, raptors, Allosaurus, Therizinosaurus and many more.
2. Style: The art style used in this game is almost semi-realistic. Some features are very detailed but some look strangely stylised – such as the scales and armour on the allosaurus seen in the image above (predator). The game also features elements of a more stylised dinosaur environment rather than a hyper-realistic environment with some of the randomly generated colouration the dinosaurs can have in the wild.
Here is an example of the ARK Spinosaurus, a large semi-aquatic predator. The colouration of this dinosaur isn’t the most accurate to scientific research, the bright purple sail, tail and fins make the Spinosaurus look as if it’s glowing. This makes ARK more unique in it’s own way.
3. Weaponry: ARK has a running theme throughout the game where as you level up, you can craft more advanced weaponry for your character, dinosaurs or even use as a base defence. You start with a simple spear and advanced through crossbows, rifles, cannons, chainsaws, siege weapons and more. In addition, different ARK DLCs add new weapons such as ‘TEK Rifle’ or ‘TEK Sword’ even railguns…
There are even weapons that can be fitted to mounts and large dinosaurs such as the Quetzal
Having weaponry such as this on your dinosaur is best for multiplayer servers. I think this is a good combination of human weaponry and technology and dinosaurs. This advanced weaponry could be influence by the current progress in advanced weaponry and weapon technology. This kind of take on weaponry is seen frequently in movies and other video games.
4. Survival: Of course the element of survival is a big one for this game. The longer you survive, the more you can succeed. The game takes an influence from decades of survival games and the basic needs and instincts of humans. It then puts human survivability up to a world of dinosaurs and just like that, game concept. In the game you have to stay on top of your hunger, stamina, thirst, health and weight capacity, as well as your fortitude which will allow you to survive against natural elements such as hyper/hypothermia more.
5: Technology: ARK: Survival Evolved has a very advanced style. Even when you initially load into the game, the survivor has some kind of implant on their arm. We don’t know who put it there, or where it’s from but it looks very advanced.
In a different ARK DLC known as ARK: Genesis the developers have explored the idea of advanced technology and human advancement even further. This DLC for the game adds items such as TEK gear like weapons and armour, or even TEK dinosaurs.
This new arsenal of weaponry can be influence by the inevitable advancement of weapon technology seen in movies, other video games such as Halo or Pacific Rim.
Here are a few examples of how the developers have infused ancient dinosaurs with futuristic technology;
6: The Future: Obviously, humans weren’t around to see the world ruled by dinosaurs. The game takes influence from the concept of time travel or a simulation to put ‘the survivor’ back in the time of the dinosaurs, the ultimate survival challenge to prove which species dominates. The game suggests that there is something or someone out there who is putting the player to the test. The game itself is also very future based. Despite the walking relics all over the map, there is a deeper meaning to the game that remains unknown to the survivor until you complete the challenge. (i.e. defeat the bosses of the game and the DLCs).
7: Creatures/Bosses: Every survival game needs to have a boss in some form or another. Some significant challenge that players can prepare and strive for in order to give the game a purpose and a goal. ARK, along with all of its DLCs has a lot of bosses. Some of the bosses from the first version of the game include:
Clearly these aren’t dinosaurs. The game needs to have bosses that are unique to the game itself, different and exciting. The first version of the game has three bosses that you can find and summon. The Dragon, Broodmother (spider) and Megapithecus (gorilla). However, the further into the DLCs you go, the more interesting the bosses become. For example –
ARK: Aberration, final boss fight – Rockwell.
ARK: Genesis, final boss fight – Corrupt Master.
ARK: Scorched Earth, final boss fight – Manticore
Clearly we see that ARK takes inspiration from animals such spiders, gorillas and myths such as dragons with manticores. It even could’ve taken inspiration from the concept of rogue, sentient AI (corrupt master).
8. Simulation: ARK Survival Evolved has a running theme that the survivor is put into this reality by something or someone else. We are led to believe that the game is a huge simulation where we can respawn and try again until we succeed. ARK is influence by the concept of a simulation to give the game more backstory.
9. Jurassic Park: ARK, alongside many other dinosaur survival games such as The Isle, takes inspiration from one of the most popular dinosaur movies, Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park features humans living in the same time as dinosaurs, similar to ARK’s concept. The game has a mix in time periods, where humans are at their highest as they introduce a new deadly threat to their world due to their own curiosity. They both also include the constant threat of dinosaurs and how dangerous they are.
I thought this task was a little challenging, as I hadn’t thought about ARK: Survival Evolved this way and I haven’t considered it’s points of inspiration up until now so I had to put more thought into it.
Here is a Photoshop poster or mood board I created for my chosen game, ARK: Survival Evolved. It features 8 different/same possible references or points of inspiration for the game. I am not fully accustomed to using Photoshop, so the text in some areas can be hard to read, This task put the game into a different perspective for me though, I enjoyed finding the appropriate images and explaining how they relate back to the game.
Conclusion
This task generated many ideas of how I could make a game and what to base my ideas on. I like the idea of dinosaurs/creatures that are extinct or mythological. I also like the natural environments and disasters, I feel like they can be adapted and scaled up into bigger and better things. I was heavily influenced by Ark: Genesis. However, since then I have found a new game called Horizon Zero Dawn that features mechanical replicas of animals. I really liked this idea.
Leah Morrell Games Designer 