Clunky building system

[Magnus]

Ark probably has by far the worst building system of any game I've ever played. Why not add something like a dedicated construction tool with a right click menu for walls, floors, ceilings etc like in so many other games. It works and is a lot more elegant than the current system. Any kind of upgrade would be much appreciated.
A friend outright refuses to build anything, because it's so clunky. Starting to play Ark again after playing other survival games immediately reminded me of how undeveloped the construction aspect of Ark is. It's a pity.

[Liralen]

I'm a builder type, but I don't know what you mean by a "right click menu" Please elucidate! I'm always interested in new building games.

For the record, I wouldn't be playing Ark at all without building mods.

And the only other survival building games I've played are Minecraft and Rising World, both of which are excellent.

Plus, I pretty much only play PVE multiplayer games, except for Alpha Centauri (which is multiplayer but not survival, but good luck finding anyone else interested in playing, and it's not what I consider survival, part of the Civilization series, after Civ II) and Tropico 4 (not multiplayer or survival, and I detest 5 and 6).

Edited Note: Forgot to mention No Man's Sky, but it doesn't have a "right click build menu" either. In fact, it's building system is much more annoying than Ark, but when when it's time for me to take a break from Ark, that's probably where I will go.

[Stephen]

Originally posted by Wan Wan:

Why not add something like a dedicated construction tool with a right click menu for walls, floors, ceilings etc like in so many other games.

I am not sure what kind of right click tool you are looking for, but if you really want better building experience, consider using mod like S+ or CKFR.

Vanilla ark has really horrible building system, the snap points are unpredictable and can sometimes be super annoying, image you are building from both sides to the center and when the structure meets they have separate snap points but in fact they share the same foundation and are at the same height and you need to redo everything. But with building mods, I have never encountered those issues again.

I guess WC just don't bother to change their building system since they realize there are already some pretty good building mods out there so they just mark those mods as "officially sponsored" rather than changing the game, and expecting everybody to use the mod.

[Liralen]

Originally posted by Stephen:

Originally posted by Wan Wan:

Why not add something like a dedicated construction tool with a right click menu for walls, floors, ceilings etc like in so many other games.

I am not sure what kind of right click tool you are looking for, but if you really want better building experience, consider using mod like S+ or CKFR.

My favorite building mods! I wouldn't still be playing Ark without them.

Edited note: But I suspect that the OP has another definition of "building game" and that its primary objective is not PvE building. If I'm wrong, I'd be delighted to hear about it. However, I suspect it doesn't relate to Ark.

[DarkFaceGlow]

Originally posted by Liralen:

I'm a builder type, but I don't know what you mean by a "right click menu" Please elucidate! I'm always interested in new building games.

For the record, I wouldn't be playing Ark at all without building mods.

And the only other survival building games I've played are Minecraft and Rising World, both of which are excellent.

Plus, I pretty much only play PVE multiplayer games, except for Alpha Centauri (which is multiplayer but not survival, but good luck finding anyone else interested in playing, and it's not what I consider survival, part of the Civilization series, after Civ II) and Tropico 4 (not multiplayer or survival, and I detest 5 and 6).

Edited Note: Forgot to mention No Man's Sky, but it doesn't have a "right click build menu" either. In fact, it's building system is much more annoying than Ark, but when when it's time for me to take a break from Ark, that's probably where I will go.

I think he means instead of having to put things in your hot bar. Just have a quick menu to select items to craft/build and place.

[Magnus]

Originally posted by DarkFaceGlow:

I think he means instead of having to put things in your hot bar. Just have a quick menu to select items to craft/build and place.

Exactly

Originally posted by Liralen:

I'm a builder type, but I don't know what you mean by a "right click menu" Please elucidate! I'm always interested in new building games.

Here is an example for Rust (Skip to 30 seconds) https://youtu.be/_DexzZHg_Q8?t=30
You hold a "building plan" (hotbar item) in your hand. Like in Ark, you see a projection of the thing you are trying to build, but right clicking will open a menu allowing you to change the type of structure you are trying to build. It allows for very fast and easy building as you can see.

The other game I was playing recently is Raft (Skip to 1 minute 45 seconds, not the best example, but you see the menu) https://youtu.be/QgdczxoJjug?t=105
Again, hotbar item and right clicking allows you to quickly change the structure type.

Not asking for it to be copied, but just quicker and more direct building system would be nice. Even if you dislike skipping the the step of having to craft it first, already simply having a menu that allows you to quickly change between all crafted structures in your inventory would be nice, without any hotbar dragging.


I too only play Ark PvE and this is also how I prefer to play most other games like this.

[Issen Nox]

Because Ark is a beautiful concept of a game. And at the concept it ends. Execution of that concept is messy, bugged, unfinished, unpolished, without any love put to it. Someone slapped pieces together and thought ''that will do, and it will sell, because people love survival and dinos''. And they are right. It sells. Sadly even people in this thread are a proof of the problem of this game. Only mods make it into a decent experience. Only modders can add that polish which is needed here. Developers don't care about the experience. Players do.