ARK: Survival Evolved Gets a Devkit and New Mode
Studio Wildcard has launched an official dev kit for ARK: Survival Evolved, as well as a new game mode called Survival of the Fittest.
The ARK Dev Kit is a "streamlined version of the Unreal Engine 4 editor", which allows simple creation and sharing of ARK: Survival Evolved mods. It's available to download for free via the Epic Games Launcher.
To celebrate the launch, Studio Wildcard is running a modding contest, with the best and most creative mods winning prizes.
The Witcher 3 Now Has Mod Support
CD Projekt Red has released an official Modkit for The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.
According to the CD Projekt,the kit can "modify several aspects of the game" thanks to texture import and export. In-game objects can be changed, and new models can be substituted into the world in place of existing ones. Users can also get access to script files, allowing things like item statistics to be altered.
The Modkit can be downloaded at nexusmods.com, where you can also download existing mods for the game.
Eagle ‘Punches’ Drone Out of the Sky
A Wedge-Tailed Eagle took down a drone mid-flight in Australia earlier this week.
The camera perfectly captured footage of the bird with a 2-meter wingspan as it swooped in and attacked the drone.
The owner of the drone wrote this to accompany the video: "Eagle was fine - she was massive, and used talon's
to 'punch' the drone out of the sky. Hung around overhead so I got a really good look. Eagle's health was my main concern also."
There's a surprising lack of eagle related news on IGN, so check out some of our Total War: Warhammer coverage, which features the part-lion, part-eagle Demigryphs.
Dying Light: The Following Offers Cars, Cults, and Crossbows
The zombie apocalypse would make anyone a little crazy. So it makes perfect sense that rumors of a god-mother worshiping cult have surfaced throughout the countryside surrounding Harran in Techland's zombie-survival followup expansion Dying Light: The Following.
Word has spread that these cultists may be immune to the outbreak, turning every colorful hand-drawn mural of their celestial mother into a clue for a cure to the zombie plague. But uncovering that information isn't about following a list of guaranteed steps. Dying Light: The Following will give you a starting point, and vital story points to hit along the way, but the vast majority of your time through the countryside will be spent winning over the locals for vital information.
World of Warcraft is Embracing the Past to Secure its Future
It’s been just over a week since Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Legion - and just under a week since I caved and decided to reactivate my account. I doubt I was alone - World of Warcraft will always have a special place in many gamers’ hearts, and the reaction to Legion has been largely positive. Certainly, the in-game buzz I’ve seen since jumping back in has been one of optimism and excitement.
It’s a good thing too, as the most recent expansion, Warlords of Draenor, seems to have evoked a rather mixed reaction in the playerbase. Upon launching in November 2014, World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion saw the biggest leap in subscriber numbers in the game's history… Only for the biggest drop to follow just six months later. Though it’s hard to pin down why this happened, it certainly seems that while players were unanimous the more streamlined and interactive quest-lines were a great addition, there were others that simply weren’t fleshed out enough to create the stickiness that keeps players parting with their cash month after month.
Want to See a Lord of the Rings City in Real Life?
A team of British architects and Tolkein fans have launched an Indiegogo campaign to try and raise funds to build Minas Tirith in real life.
They want to start building the famous white city from Lord of the Rings at the end of 2016, with the goal of finishing by 2023. All they need is £1.85 billion ($2.89 billion).
Two locations in southern England are being considered for the tiered city, where the team is planning to build both residential and commercial properties. "Residential properties will be categorised by tier, quality and size. Tiers vary from 1-5, quality varies from 2-5 stars, with the higher star denoting higher quality, and size varies from 1-4 bedrooms."
This is England 90 “A Full-Stop, Written in Pencil”
The first episode of what’s supposed to be the final season of This is England screened in London last night, followed by a Q&A in which writer-director Shane Meadows then hinted that it might not actually be the end, calling it “a full-stop, written in pencil.”
This is England 90 concludes the story that started with a movie in 2006 and continued with series set in 1986 and 1988, following the efforts of a group of friends to navigate life and the various dramas and tragedies that Meadows and co-writer Jack Thorne throw at them.
The 1990 gang in their Madchester get-up.
When Recasting Goes Right… And Wrong
Greetings Podpeople! It's Friday, which can only mean one thing - the IGN UK Podcast crew return to dribble themselves lovingly into your lugholes. Don't fight it - it's meant to be like this.
This week sees Chris, Rory and Luke in mourning following the tragic news Peter Dinklage has been ruthlessly culled from Destiny's upcoming expansion - sleep well sweet prince and all that. But rather than wailing and gnashing their teeth, the team quickly opts to turn this into an opportunity to chat about the best and worst recastings in recent memory! What a resourceful bunch they are.
There's also analysis of the all the week's news, including the tragedy that is the Floptastic Four, and the great news that Warcraft 4 may indeed be on the cards one day.
Twitch Plays Dark Souls is Death Over and Over
Last year, Twitch impressed us by beating Pokémon Red in sixteen days. Now it's trying to take on Dark Souls.
Unlike the adventure across Kanto, From Software's action-RPG is a whole other beast. Death is a common theme in Dark Souls. In fact, it's nearly unavoidable. Players die over and over again, but it's part of Dark Souls' genius. Ultimately, death is education which leads to progress and each victory is truly momentous.
As such, the game is notoriously difficult. Compound that with thousands of Twitch viewers taking the helm to control one character through a journey where everything and everyone can kill, we will undoubtedly be greeted by Death over and over again.
Guillermo Del Toro Vows Never to Work on a Video Game Again
Guillermo Del Toro has sworn off getting involved in video games ever again following the cancellation of two successive projects.
Speaking to Shack News, the legendary director revealed the cancellation of Insane in 2012 following the demise of its publisher THQ and the more recent death of Silent Hills has become too much to bear.
“I have proven to be the albatross of video games,” he said. “I joined THQ, and THQ goes broke. I join Kojima, and Kojima leaves Konami. I have decided, in order not to destroy anyone else’s life, I have decided I will never again get involved in video games. Otherwise, I’ll join someone and his house will explode, or something."