Size

[Michan]

Dear ARK.
Please FIX how much space this game takes. Its insane that not only do you have to download every map you own even if you uncheck the DLC´s to save space but also just how much space the game takes overall.
There must be some way for you to optimize the amount of space the game takes.
As it is right now I need 213gb for the game and thats without mods.

I dont want to buy a dang 500gb SSD just to be able to play Ark or have only ARK + 1 other game installed.

[Sloth]

I was debating on reinstalling and buying the new expansions but i saw it required 227 Gb.. nah, no way in hell.

[𝔇ave]

i love how people keep complaining about the size of the game.

the size is what it is for a reason. yes it's large compared to other games but it cannot be compared with other games. Ark has several large maps, loads of content and modding support. all these things combined make the install size large.

if you can't fit the game on your existing drive then that's a you problem. if you want to have all dlc available to play at once as well as mods then you will need a larger drive.

no amount of complaining will ever change that

[Dradiin]

Originally posted by 𝔇ave:

i love how people keep complaining about the size of the game.

the size is what it is for a reason. yes it's large compared to other games but it cannot be compared with other games. Ark has several large maps, loads of content and modding support. all these things combined make the install size large.

if you can't fit the game on your existing drive then that's a you problem. if you want to have all dlc available to play at once as well as mods then you will need a larger drive.

no amount of complaining will ever change that

One hundred percent.

[Public_Enema]

Buying a new SSD is exactly what I ended up doing. Picked a a 1tb drive on an Amazon sale for ark and conan exiles...

[Liralen]

Originally posted by Dradiin:

Originally posted by 𝔇ave:

i love how people keep complaining about the size of the game.

the size is what it is for a reason. yes it's large compared to other games but it cannot be compared with other games. Ark has several large maps, loads of content and modding support. all these things combined make the install size large.

if you can't fit the game on your existing drive then that's a you problem. if you want to have all dlc available to play at once as well as mods then you will need a larger drive.

no amount of complaining will ever change that

One hundred percent.

Me, too.

The primary reason for my lack of sympathy for the OP is because drive space is really cheap to buy compared to the other PC components required to play this game (don't get me started on the fact that Steam's listed requirements are wildly bogus, and if that's the OP's beef, I'm solidly with the OP.)

MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions)
Processor: Intel Core i5-2400/AMD FX-8320 or better
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 670 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or better
DirectX: Version 10
Storage: 60 GB available space
Additional Notes: Requires broadband internet connection for multiplayer

I don't really care about Steam's issues with modifying the requirements as Ark modernized. Those issues are clearly about about Steam's profit motives.

Edited Note: My secondary reason for agreeing with Dradlin and Dave is that the size of the game is huge because players and game modders have access to all the content whether you have paid for DLCs or not, depending upon your choices.

[ShaZZa]

Originally posted by Liralen:

Edited Note: My secondary reason is that the size of the game is huge because you and game modders have access to all the content whether you have paid for DLCs or not, depending upon your choices.

People may have access to all base files but the mod kit is a seperate thing in itself (that modders have to additionally download) and if people had to install that aswell they would die if they complain about the size an start up time of the game now.
The dev kit is an additional 360Gb and the start up time (at least on my rig which is way above anything most people have here) is around 10mins.

But to answer the OP get a bigger drive, SSD's aren't that expensive these days. Hell if you have to just get a standard drive.

[Liralen]

Originally posted by ShaZZa:

Originally posted by Liralen:

People may have access to all base files but the mod kit is a seperate thing in itself (that modders have to additionally download) and if people had to install that aswell they would die if they complain about the size an start up time of the game now.
The dev kit is an additional 360Gb and the start up time (at least on my rig which is way above anything most people have here) is around 10mins.

But to answer the OP get a bigger drive, SSD's aren't that expensive these days. Hell if you have to just get a standard drive.

No. Not if you want you want to use some of those mods. If you do, you must have the assets used in those mods. If there is an option to opt out, I am not aware of it.

If you don't need those assets, that's a valid complaint, I agree. I haven't a clue about the solution to that, since I do use mods that take advantage from it.

The solution to that is up to people who don't need all the assets but are required to download everything regardless. Hint: start with Steam's listed requirements.

While no doubt Steam initially got the information from the Ark devs, it's now woefully inaccurate. Steam needs to be held accountable for at least minimum requirements, if you depend upon that information before you buy a game using Steam. Which apparently a lot of people do, given the complaints on this forum, especially regarding how much drive space is required.

Just a data point, not a solution: I would not buy Ark without budgeting less than 400 GB of disk space (actually about 360 atm, but I'm sure that will increase soon. Because I'm used to the rapid increase in storage requirements.)

That's so far off from Steam's listed minimum requirements for Ark that it really ticks me off.

But my PC exceeds Ark's real system requirements despite Steam's bogus information and I have fun playing Ark, and that's what mostly matters to me when playing games.

If other people's systems meet Steam's minimum requirements, but yet they can't play Ark, they have my sympathies. It's not their fault, but rather Steam's.

[Michan]

Originally posted by 𝔇ave:

i love how people keep complaining about the size of the game.

the size is what it is for a reason. yes it's large compared to other games but it cannot be compared with other games. Ark has several large maps, loads of content and modding support. all these things combined make the install size large.

if you can't fit the game on your existing drive then that's a you problem. if you want to have all dlc available to play at once as well as mods then you will need a larger drive.

no amount of complaining will ever change that

I was wondering how many fan boys would come out and defend the game.
The size of this game is inexcusable. You have games with way more dialog, better graphics and larger maps (Any of the new AC games, GTA5, Conan Exiles, Division 2) that take half or less then ARK. Just the fact alone that you cant save space by not downloading the DLCs should be a hint to you that something is very wrong.

This is not a "me" problem but a problem for everyone that dont have the money or dont want to run to the store to buy a new computer part to play a game released in 2017.
It needs to be orimized and fixed properly instead of releasing new content.

[retsam1]

Originally posted by Michan:

Dear ARK.
Please FIX how much space this game takes. Its insane that not only do you have to download every map you own even if you uncheck the DLC´s to save space but also just how much space the game takes overall.
There must be some way for you to optimize the amount of space the game takes.
As it is right now I need 213gb for the game and thats without mods.

I dont want to buy a dang 500gb SSD just to be able to play Ark or have only ARK + 1 other game installed.

Dear Michan,

1. Devs intentionally do not interact on these forums in this capacity. Addressing a thread to them is pointless.

2. Space for playing the game is a player issue. The majority of the player base do not have this issue because they either A: opt to have larger drives. B: The choose to not play all dlc. Blaming the devs for this is silly.

3. If you are unwilling or unable to reconcile your wants not matching the reality of your situation with point 2, then you you either have to choose to adapt, get a bigger drive, shelve the game until it matches your delicate sensibilities (that never by the way), or shelve the game indefinitely.


Thus all in all this is a user end issue.

Originally posted by Michan:

Originally posted by 𝔇ave:

i love how people keep complaining about the size of the game.

the size is what it is for a reason. yes it's large compared to other games but it cannot be compared with other games. Ark has several large maps, loads of content and modding support. all these things combined make the install size large.

if you can't fit the game on your existing drive then that's a you problem. if you want to have all dlc available to play at once as well as mods then you will need a larger drive.

no amount of complaining will ever change that

I was wondering how many fan boys would come out and defend the game.
The size of this game is inexcusable. You have games with way more dialog, better graphics and larger maps (Any of the new AC games, GTA5, Conan Exiles, Division 2) that take half or less then ARK. Just the fact alone that you cant save space by not downloading the DLCs should be a hint to you that something is very wrong.

This is not a "me" problem but a problem for everyone that dont have the money or dont want to run to the store to buy a new computer part to play a game released in 2017.
It needs to be orimized and fixed properly instead of releasing new content.

Except it is a user end issue as was stated.

Ark is considered one of the most demanding games on rigs even still now on the market. All the games you cited are not. Again see points 1-3 and then make your choice.

Good luck to you.

[Stephen]

Originally posted by Michan:

Originally posted by 𝔇ave:

i love how people keep complaining about the size of the game.

the size is what it is for a reason. yes it's large compared to other games but it cannot be compared with other games. Ark has several large maps, loads of content and modding support. all these things combined make the install size large.

if you can't fit the game on your existing drive then that's a you problem. if you want to have all dlc available to play at once as well as mods then you will need a larger drive.

no amount of complaining will ever change that

I was wondering how many fan boys would come out and defend the game.
The size of this game is inexcusable. You have games with way more dialog, better graphics and larger maps (Any of the new AC games, GTA5, Conan Exiles, Division 2) that take half or less then ARK. Just the fact alone that you cant save space by not downloading the DLCs should be a hint to you that something is very wrong.

This is not a "me" problem but a problem for everyone that dont have the money or dont want to run to the store to buy a new computer part to play a game released in 2017.
It needs to be orimized and fixed properly instead of releasing new content.

Frankly, I was also wondering how many more complaints are there for something that will never change? Forum is flooded with posts like "Game is too large, reduce the size WC!", while devs reads none of the post in the steam forum.

The DLC map itself is not very large, but the assets. The intention of keeping DLC assets in the base game is people with that DLC can transfer stuff to other servers so others can still use, or see the DLC contents even if they don't own it. Guess what, if WC decides to take all shared DLC assets away from the base game and we are no longer allowed to transfer those between the servers, more people will jump out with even more complaints.

Also as Liralen pointed out, devs sacrifices game size with easier modding, they keep all files original with no compression. Your example games share no similarity with ark. Correct me if I am wrong since I haven't launched some of those games for nearly 2 years, Division 2 is not moddable, GTA5 requires so much extra work to install and update a mod. Not to mention the number of DLC available in ark although each map is smaller than said, and the fact you can use the stuff even without owning it. No playtime on Conan Exiles so I shall put no comment on it. I do agree steam should allow devs to modify the system requirement so people won't be misled, but, that's on steam, and we can't control it.

Lastly, it might sound very harsh but gaming is not a cheap entertainment. SSD nowadays are not as expensive as back in the days and I don't agree with the excuses of "don't have the money" or "don't want to go to the shop", at least if you want to play properly you have to invest.

Who knows what ark 2 will be like, hopefully better in terms of size, yet I am with Dave for ark 1, "no amount of complaining will ever change that".