Gaming

Still no Diamond medals in Trials.

But I did beat my record and get a Platinum on "A Pretty Good Wall". Took off at least three seconds by accidently managing to complete a tricky jump near the end but the rest of the run was atrocious. It wasn't slow (I did beat my record after all) but it was so ugly and embarrassing. I slipped the back wheel at the start and did an inadvertent backflip then later on I was bouncing around as if I was riding a rocking horse!
None of those cool, smooth moves you see from other riders.
And the sad thing is that seeing as it's my fastest time, that replay is now saved to the server for other people to see.
I hope I beat it again soon cos I'm ashamed of it already.

It happens a lot now I think about it.

One day I'll be able to win because of my skill but until then I'll just keep randoming my way through.

Now that it's daylight again I'm able to see how close I'm getting to the big mountains...



And you know what, this seems like a decent place for my next outpost. Flat area of beach, lots of trees and rocks, Dodos strutting around and... What's that on the left in the distance?
Three big birdies circling and attacking things. Things like Stegos. And they're not nearby either. They're faaaar away which means they're massive!
(There's a good Father Ted reference to go with that but Charlotte will pretend she doesn't know it. )

But back to the birdies. I think they're the Argentavis, aren't they? And they look scary from this distance.
So it's almost the perfect place for my new base if it wasn't for those birdies. Oh, and the big Sarco behind me- Whaaat?!
It's OK, I killed it...



...got a bit of help from the two Trikes that it attacked so when I got on the scene it only actually took one swing of the sword.
And I still think it's a decent place to build here so I just moved a little further back from the Argies, I vaguely remember reading that they're just territorial rather than predatory, and at a safer distance I constructed my new place...



Yes, it's a little bit boxy and unimaginative but it now has a bed, a cupboard, campfire, torch and a forge.
I'm hoping there might be some metal nearby a little further inland and if so then I'll build a Smithy too. I really miss that near-infinite metal production line I had on Herbivore Island so it would be nice to be able to craft some deadlier weapons just in case those birdies start getting angry.
And now that I have a safe bed and storage I may dump all my stuff in the cupboard and risk a free death to have a closer look at them.

I believe you.

Once I'd finished playing ARK and stopped being scared and cowardly my thoughts did wander to the subject of taming one of those birdies. They are the best flyers in the game and it's obviously a long term goal. But not having my rifle is a bit of an issue. Don't even have a crossbow here so any attempt would currently have to be with a normal bow and tranq arrows and I think they'll be a bit too quick for that, plus they're too big for bolas and the fact that there's a flock of three of them means that I'd probably never survive the attempt anyway.
Perhaps being scared and cowardly is the right choice on this occasion.