Gaming

It was probably all that Vegetable Soup that I was spamming.
Not that it helped.

Anyway I've just been back to Ark. I'd been putting it off cos I knew my raft needed repairs and I suspected that it'd be a boring chore but I was completely wrong. I had it fixed up in no time.
I then tried that sailing trip again in search of better rocks and on the way found quite a few of those rubbishy rocks. Oh, well. Some metal is better than no metal so I went to chip away... and got poisoned by a Troodon.



Thankfully I killed it before the toxic stuff kicked in so I just had to hope nothing else turned up while I was "sleeping". Once I was awake again I continued on and chipped away at some more occasional metal and then got attacked from above by one of those pesky birdies that snaffled all the berries and cooked meat from my pockets.
I did manage to shoot it down!



First time I've successfully shot something out of the sky.
And I sailed on again right up the west coast but STILL couldn't find any of the proper metal rocks!
I've looked on the resources map and there's supposed to be some there but I just can't see them.

I may now give up on that particular location and try to sail eastward on the south coast. It's a longer journey near some deeper waters but the "map" says there are more of those rocks there and even some of the "richer" metal rocks too!
Is that about where your base was, Charlotte?

They're in the CAVES Val! I told you this!!!

And the birdie can steal from your pockets!? I've only noticed it knocking things from my hands!

My base was at the pretty much dead center most southerny peninsula. Only the most basic resources, but the safest place in the whole game, I suspect.

Valence wrote:

Thankfully I killed it before the toxic stuff kicked in so I just had to hope nothing else turned up while I was "sleeping".

Another of those really brilliantly thought out game mechanics which is probably not quite as bad in multiplayer as someone can come and revive you, but in single player you sit there looking at a virtually black screen for several minutes with nothing to do. It's even worse when you sit there with a black screen for several minutes and then just before you are about to wake up the creature that poisoned you catches up and eats you.

..or another creature since the one that poisoned you is actually dead (unless it respawns while you're waiting )

They are only dead after they poison you if you actually killed them instead of running away in the hope of avoiding dying yourself.

If I'd known it was one of those poison ones I'd have scarpered straight away but I have trouble recognising the smaller two-legged things. I always think they're Dilos, which I can kill easily, and I then get into trouble when they get closer and I realise that it's a Troodon or in some cases a Raptor.
In fact, while sailing back home there was a convenient supply drop on a beach and I was gonna hop off and grab it until I saw something stalking around it and couldn't quite tell what it was at a distance. And coming so soon after the poison thing I decided to let it go.

I just double checked on the resources map and those western rocks are indeed in a cave.
No wonder I couldn't see them. But those ones to the south east are above ground so it may be worth the journey.
But I am very scared of sailing too close to those southern deep waters. I definitely don't want to meet that huge Moby Dick thing that's over there. That's just guaranteed death and destruction.

I didn't even dare cross to the south/mid western side of the map, because I had to choose between deep waters or a bathing spino...

Did you ever get a flying thing to travel on?
The next major goal I've set for myself is to eventually tame and ride a pteranodon. I think it'd make travel a lot easier and maybe safer too(?) while also opening up access to the mountains.
200+ hide for a saddle is a bit too much at the moment so it'll have to stay as a long term "quest".

Like a magic carpet? Oh, Pteranodon, no, that was a long term goal for me too. It needs really high quality kibble that one, so I'd need to tame something else that gives eggs that can be used to make kibble to tame something else that lays eggs that can be used to make kibble to tame.... and so on.

Well, they don't "need" kibble, that's just the quickest way.
I still haven't made any of that stuff (don't even have a cooking pot! ) so if I ever get to taming one then my plan will probably be to just feed it raw meat and keep clubbing it for half an hour.