ARK: Survival Evolved, released in 2017, is a survival adventure game developed by Studio Wildcard. It takes players into a prehistoric environment teeming with dinosaurs, ancient creatures, and natural dangers. Players must survive, thrive, and explore the open-world landscape while collecting resources, crafting weapons, and taming beasts. One aspect that often gets overlooked by many new and even experienced players is the use of game icons and banners. These elements are crucial to mastering the gameplay, optimizing your experience, and even leading successful tribes.
In this article, we’ll delve into the specific significance of game icons and banners in ARK: Survival Evolved. Whether you’re a new player or a seasoned survivor, understanding these visual elements can greatly enhance your performance.
What are Game Icons in ARK: Survival Evolved?
In ARK: Survival Evolved, game icons are the visual representations of in-game elements like items, weapons, armor, resources, status effects, creatures, and much more. These icons are essential because they provide players with instant recognition of various gameplay aspects.
Types of Game Icons
Let’s break down the most common and important categories of game icons in ARK:
1. Item Icons
Item icons represent various objects and resources in the game. Whether you’re crafting weapons, gathering resources, or searching for tools, the item icons will help you identify them quickly. Each icon is designed with a unique color scheme and symbol, making it easier for players to distinguish between similar items.
- Weapons: Swords, spears, and guns all have distinct icons that quickly notify you of your combat readiness.
- Resources: Wood, stone, fiber, metal ore, and other crafting materials are represented by their own icons, making inventory management more intuitive.
- Consumables: These are items like food, water, and medical brews. Their icons are easily recognizable and indicate when they are ready for use in your inventory.
2. Status Effect Icons
In a survival game like ARK, managing your character’s health, stamina, and other vital statistics is crucial. Status effect icons give players real-time updates on the character’s condition. These include:
- Health and Stamina: An icon will change color or flash when you’re running low on health or stamina.
- Temperature: Icons indicate when your character is too cold or too hot, allowing you to take corrective action like seeking shelter or crafting suitable clothing.
- Poisoning or Injuries: Certain status icons will appear if your character is poisoned, bleeding, or otherwise incapacitated, urging you to administer healing or cure items.
3. Dinosaur Icons
Taming dinosaurs is a major part of ARK: Survival Evolved. Each species of dinosaur has its own icon, often reflecting their physical appearance. Understanding these icons will help you identify your tameable creatures from afar, manage your dinosaurs more effectively, and differentiate between hostile and neutral dinosaurs in the wild.
Importance of Game Icons in ARK
Game icons are not just graphical elements; they serve as essential tools for managing survival. By having a solid understanding of these icons, players can:
- Quickly identify needed resources: Scrolling through your inventory can be overwhelming, but icons make it easier to pick out specific items.
- Manage status effects: You’ll know at a glance whether you need to eat, drink, or heal.
- Recognize threats or allies: In the heat of combat or exploration, being able to identify a hostile creature or friendly tame through its icon can be the difference between life and death.
The Role of Banners in ARK: Survival Evolved
While game icons are essential for in-game management, banners offer an entirely different level of customization and tribal identity within the game. Banners in ARK: Survival Evolved are often used as a way to represent tribes, territories, and personal achievements.
Tribe Banners: Establishing Identity and Unity
In ARK, survival often becomes a team effort. Players can form tribes, allowing them to collaborate, build settlements, and defend against enemies. Tribe banners serve as the face of these groups. They symbolize unity and pride while differentiating one tribe from another.
1. Custom Banner Designs
One of the most attractive features in ARK is the ability to create custom banners. Players can paint or upload designs to represent their tribe, adding a level of creativity and personalization to the game. Many tribes take advantage of this feature to design unique symbols that are displayed on flags, structures, and even clothing.
- Custom flags and banners: These can be placed around your base to mark your territory or intimidate rivals.
- Vehicle flags: Some tribes design special banners to attach to their dinosaurs or rafts, making them more distinct during exploration and combat.
2. Tactical Importance of Banners
Banners in ARK aren’t just for show. They hold tactical significance in both PvP (Player vs. Player) and PvE (Player vs. Environment) modes.
- Base Defense: Banners can signal enemies that a well-organized tribe occupies a particular area, which may discourage attacks.
- Rallying Point: In PvP scenarios, banners can serve as rallying points for tribe members during raids, marking where to regroup or initiate an attack.
- Claiming Territory: In large-scale multiplayer servers, placing a banner is a way of staking your tribe’s claim on valuable resources or territory.
3. Competitive and Event Banners
Throughout ARK: Survival Evolved’s lifecycle, the developers have hosted various in-game events and competitions. During these, special banners are often awarded to players or tribes that achieve certain milestones or win specific events. These banners serve as both trophies and bragging rights.
How to Create and Customize Banners in ARK
Creating custom banners in ARK requires a bit of artistic flair, but the game provides easy-to-use tools for creating these symbols. Here’s how you can go about it:
- Paintbrush Method: You can use a paintbrush to manually design a banner. This method allows players to paint directly onto banners or flags. This is a more creative, albeit time-consuming, method but offers full control over your design.
- File Uploads: ARK allows players to upload images directly into the game to use as banners. This is an excellent option for those with design experience who want to create something unique using software like Photoshop or GIMP.
- Canvas and Paint Tools: The game also provides larger canvases and paint tools that players can use to create detailed designs, often used for more artistic tribe logos or even in-game artwork.
The Impact of Icons and Banners on Player Experience
Both game icons and banners in ARK: Survival Evolved are more than just cosmetic elements; they enhance the entire gameplay experience by serving practical and psychological functions.
Practical Benefits of Icons and Banners
1. Efficient Gameplay
Game icons streamline gameplay, allowing players to manage resources, combat, and exploration more effectively. Banners, on the other hand, help to organize and coordinate tribe activities, giving players a sense of purpose and direction.
2. Team Coordination and Strategy
Banners, when used effectively, help teams coordinate during raids and battles, while game icons ensure that every tribe member is well-equipped and aware of their surroundings.
Psychological Impact of Banners
Banners also play a significant role in the psychological aspect of ARK. For many players, a well-designed banner instills pride and boosts morale. This emotional attachment to the tribe’s identity can lead to stronger, more cohesive teams. On the flip side, rival tribes might feel intimidated by a banner that symbolizes a powerful, organized tribe, especially when the banner is displayed prominently during raids or defenses.
Conclusion
ARK: Survival Evolved is a game that thrives on immersion, and the use of game icons and banners plays a crucial role in this. By understanding game icons, players can improve their survival strategies and effectively manage their characters, resources, and tameable creatures. Banners, on the other hand, allow for personalization, tactical advantage, and tribe pride, transforming ARK into a game not just about survival, but about community and identity. For any serious player looking to excel in ARK, mastering these elements can enhance your gameplay experience, ensuring that you’re not just surviving but thriving in this prehistoric world.
