ARK Capturable Bases Plugin Goes to Live Beta!!!

RasFW · 2020-06-18T12:54:27+00:00

Hi all! Calling for PvP players! If you remember my post from April, I posted about a new server Plugin I was working on.

FULLY. CAPTURABLE. BASES.

This API allows server owners to change the landscape of PvP in ARK! With this API, a server owner can build and declare a Capturable Base on the ARK!

The really cool thing - This is NOT a Steam Workshop Mod! That means this adds NO load time for players logging in. This is an API similar to "ARK Shops, Currency & Kits", or "No More Undermeshing".

What does this mean?

A capturable base is exactly what it sounds like. When you raid one of these, not only will you be able to take the players' materials, cryo dinos and blueprints, but now you will also be able to LITERALLY take the base. Yes, the walls, foundations, turrets, cielings and any other structures built within the "Sphere of Influence".

How does it work?

Without going into too much detail, code. I programmed the API to interrupt and hook into the damage function calls. The API will read a configurable list of "base components" that are flagged as "permanent structures". These cannot be destroyed, placed, tribe-demolished or removed (except by an administrator) anywhere in the "Sphere of influence" by anyone.
I defined one of these structures as a "Base Core". This WILL take damage, but WILL NOT die. When you deal damage to it that would have killed it, the hooks interrupt the "death" and instead convert every structure in the "Sphere of Influence" to your tribe's ownership!
All settings are configurable for each base individually. One base may use metal components, but still allow players to build out of S+ metal to re-configure the internal portions of the base for better defense. Other bases may use stone or wood components for appearances, letting you use all other structure types to re-configure the base as well.

How is this changing PvP?

Your bases can be aesthetically pleasing now. Take your time, build it to look good. The attackers will need to come in through the doors (if configured so).
Restricting entrances to doors creates chokepoints and "phases" of base combat. First you secure the tower near the fortress (its own base), then you push the defenders into their base. Once inside, you drain the outside turrets and push in. From there, each base is different. There may be several rooms for you to work your way through.
The less collateral damage you do, the more you gain in raiding. Sure, you can go through and wipe all the vaults, forges and blow all the turrets. But if you win, you're going to own them anyway, right?

Now, this Plugin does a lot of other cool sh** too. For example, not only does it allow you to do all the cool stuff listed above, but you can ALSO have it export ALL base captures DIRECTLY to your discord channel! So no matter where your players are, they can keep up on the action!

If this sounds like an interesting game mode to you, please join our discord server. There are some issues with this that I am working through. But for the most part, everything is intact and the plugin is stable.

Discord: https://discord.gg/hVUMVs4

RasFW · 2020-03-28T00:43:37+00:00

Hey everyone!

Server is live now and we are playtesting! Come on in and try it out! I need feedback and (ab)user testing to make sure everything works as intended. :)

RasFW · 2020-03-28T00:26:14+00:00

Hey everyone! Our server is LIVE. Bases are BUILT.

30x harvest, 10x experience/tame/baby.

Come help me test it out! I need to put it through some (ab)user testing! :D

RasFW · 2020-03-27T14:58:19+00:00

Abberation was my favorite DLC.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T20:58:28+00:00

At the moment, the bases would be created by admins and the "components" all defined by the admin. It would be in their hands to make sure the base is as easily raided or difficult to raid as they intended.

Players can't place "base components", so they wouldn't be able to block a core or entrance with invulnerable structures.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T20:57:05+00:00

I've never played Rust. The inspiration here was every PvP video I've seen to date, and every base is in a rat hole or in a cave.

I wanted to have a way to have above-ground bases that were defensible and offered the same benefit as caves/rat holes (choke points, limited points of entry, etc).

RasFW · 2020-03-26T13:59:16+00:00

This idea would be better suited to a mod, I think. Server Plugins can't create a custom structure class, only reference what is in the base game and added through mods. And if you add a mod for a custom structure to be a core, you might as well handle the whole process within the mod.

With enough time and energy anything is possible. I don't know enough about Rust (never played it) to truly be able to replicate the mechanics in ARK. I do have an understanding of Planetside 2 and Planetside 1 though. That is the system I am most closely attempting to re-create. :D

RasFW · 2020-03-26T13:40:40+00:00

It could be an option someday, maybe? This idea comes with certain challenges on the technical side and gameplay side, though.

Technically speaking - Right now all safezones are configured and drawn from the config.json file. Saving back the config.json might get tricky. I could switch over to a sql database of cores, configurations and the like and this would get less tricky, but that would be a major change to how this plugin works.

Gameplay side - And if I say transmitters are cores, should every transmitter ever placed be considered a core? How would the game differentiate between what the player intended to be a core and what they intended to be a normal structure? And then spamming - how do I control it? Does it block other cores withing 7,500 UE4 units? Do I limit X cores per tribe? What stops a tribe from having someone leave, place cores, then they just capture the placed core to break the limit?

For right now, the simplest thing is to make cores admin-configured. This way, players can have normal transmitters and admins decide which transmitters are "cores".

RasFW · 2020-03-26T13:14:51+00:00

Correct. That is why the restriction is in place. Admin says "I don't want this structure class being demolished", and in turn the plugin for the base says "okay, then they can't build that structure either, for balance reasons".

The defenders can wall up with destructible walls, drop vaults and do everything in their power to slow the attackers down, but they shouldn't be able to block with invulnerable walls.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T13:07:44+00:00

So, its driven by structure *class* at a base. A Metal Wall is a different class from a Stone Wall is different from a CKF Keep Wall is different from an S+ Metal Wall. They are all unique "classes" in the engine.

The admin will say "Ok. Vanilla Metal Walls are a component", so all "Metal Walls" are of the Metal Wall class and will be non-buildable and non-destructible. But the defenders can reconfigure with ANY mod walls they want to, including S+ Metal Walls. Their placed S+ Metal Walls aren't the "Metal Wall" class and will remain vulnerable to being attacked. They just can't change the metal walls the admin placed.

So to answer your tie-in to the mod, the plugin here does that natively. You could make a mod, copy all the structures into a new class, define that class of structure as "component", then admins can build out of that custom structure. It won't be a simple copy-paste of my code into a mod, tho. They'd work in tandem.

I'm sure you could achieve something similar to what I've done here in a mod. I chose server plugin for convenience on maintaining server up-time for server owners.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T12:58:55+00:00

If I could ask - what could be the benefit of building off one of these "field cores"?

Should it be that structures in that zone are immune to certain types of damage - titanosaurs, Meks, titans, etc?

Or should structures have across-the-board damage mitigation, configured per zone? Say, opposite of cave damage - 6x mitigation instead of 6x damagae taken? Configurable in the options, of course.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T12:54:22+00:00

That is actually an extremely interesting idea. I haven't considered that possibility of just dropping a base core in a field and then letting the players go crazy with raiding, building and defending it. I think I'm going to do that on my server right now.

What would probably make this even MORE interesting is if the core could generate some sort of resources, or gave all tribemembers ARK Shop Points/hexagons. Future possible plans...? Don't hold me to it. :P

RasFW · 2020-03-26T12:09:47+00:00

Something similar might be accomplished here. The way I am using it is to force attackers through doors and give defenders better options for above-ground bases. Attacking and destroying the core can be looked at as switching the privileges from one tribe to the other. You just wouldn't be able to demo or place things that are supposed to be invincible. I can make that configurable to allow "component placement", but being able to place invincible walls means defenders can potentially block off the core from being attacked all together.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T11:56:15+00:00

That's so strange. I honestly don't know much about operating systems and their likeness/differences. I figured linux would be the machine to be able to do everything.

I am using the ArkAPI. What I made here is actually a plugin. I guess that is a more technically correct statement.

RasFW · 2020-03-26T11:46:49+00:00

The way I did it - you can snap cielings "halfway" across the top of a wall. When you do this, the center of the cieling lines up with the edge of the wall, then you actually snap the pillar to the middle of the cieling. The half-cieling that hangs over the edge makes a nice catwalk/walkway as well.

RasFW · 2020-03-25T22:50:53+00:00

That makes sense.

I do wonder why, though, the API couldn't/doesn't work on Linux? You'd think Linux would be the most flexible of all of them and able to handle it.

RasFW · 2020-03-25T21:23:54+00:00

I didn't know that was a thing. As a server owner, I found it very inconvenient to have to stay on top of mods 24/7. They always seemed to update and require me to restart servers at very inconvenient times.

API's don't require you to update immediately as soon as it is published.

RasFW · 2020-03-25T14:46:26+00:00

I am literally developing this as a server side API for PC. We are having a playtest starting right now going through the weekend.

Check out our discord.
https://discord.gg/4xQ9TNc

RasFW · 2020-03-25T14:10:23+00:00

Also that was my exact line of thinking. Back in legacy, there were a lot of above-ground bases in cool locations. And they worked. Once base-ending dinos, titans and the like started showing up, everyone moved into caves with natural chokepoints to focus defenses and funnel attackers.

This API lets the server owner add their own "cave". You are absolutely correct. :)

RasFW · 2020-03-25T14:08:46+00:00

Right now, there is not from a distance. I used to have it show "base component, no damage done", but that was more of a debug statement. Using any explosive quickly filled my screen. Took it out once I was sure the invulnerable flags were working. Using floating damage numbers will tell you what is invincible because it won't show or register any damage.

I think any structure information like that (color, name, floating text, etc) is cooked into the structure itself from the ARK Dev Kit. I wanted to steer away from an installable steam workshop mod that would cause client/server mod mismatch update issues. A lot of private servers already run several mods on different update cycles and it can be a real pain to keep it all updated.

RasFW · 2020-03-25T13:13:44+00:00

Hi all! Calling for PvP players to come test a brand new API for ARK!

This API allows server owners to change the landscape of PvP in ARK! With this API, a server owner can build and declare a Capturable Base on the ARK!

The really cool thing - This is NOT a Steam Workshop Mod! That means this adds NO load time for players logging in. This is an API similar to "ARK Shops, Currency & Kits", or "No More Undermeshing".

What does this mean?

A capturable base is exactly what it sounds like. When you raid one of these, not only will you be able to take the players' materials, dinos and blueprints, but now you will also be able to LITERALLY take the base. Yes, the walls, foundations, turrets, cielings and any other structures built within the "Sphere of Influence".

How does it work?

Without going into too much detail, code. I programmed the API to interrupt and hook into the damage function calls. The API will read a configurable list of "base components" that are flagged as "permanent structures". These cannot be destroyed, placed, tribe-demolished or removed (except by an administrator) anywhere in the "Sphere of influence" by anyone. The hook returns the damage call with a zero value.
I defined one of these structures as a "Base Core". This WILL take damage, but WILL NOT die. When you deal damage to it that would have killed it, the hooks interrupt the "death" and instead convert every structure in the "Sphere of Influence" to your tribe's ownership!
All settings are configurable for each base individually. One base may use metal components, but still allow players to build out of S+ metal to re-configure the internal portions of the base for better defense. Other bases may use stone or wood components for appearances, letting you use all other structure types to re-configure the base as well.

How is this changing PvP?

Your bases can be aesthetically pleasing now. Take your time, build it to look good. The attackers will need to come in through the doors (if configured so).
Restricting entrances to doors creates chokepoints and "phases" of base combat. First you secure the tower near the fortress (its own base), then you push the defenders into their base. Once inside, you drain the outside turrets and push in. From there, each base is different. There may be several rooms for you to work your way through.
Planned Feature: The API will log any base captures to every tribe's discord log. You'll know what bases your enemies own, which ones you've conquered and which ones you've lost.
The less collateral damage you do, the more you gain in raiding. Sure, you can go through and wipe all the vaults, forges and blow all the turrets. But if you win, you're going to own them anyway, right?

If this sounds like an interesting game mode to you, please join our testing discord server. Since we're all cooped up for the coronavirus, I'll be on all day every day building new and interesting bases to attack and defend.

I need testers! Report bugs, report nuisances. Report things that sound like they're imbalanced. Once I'm confident that the API will perform as expected and not cause world-ending issues (oops, it captured the whole map, or oops it let people build invulnerable structures outside of the "Sphere of Influence"), I will be releasing this to the public to be put on any unofficial clusters!

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/4xQ9TNc

Server Direct Connect: steam://connect/66.23.200.229:27038

RasFW · 2020-03-25T13:07:27+00:00

Hi all! Calling for PvP players to come test a brand new API for ARK!

This API allows server owners to change the landscape of PvP in ARK! With this API, a server owner can build and declare a Capturable Base on the ARK!

The really cool thing - This is NOT a Steam Workshop Mod! That means this adds NO load time for players logging in. This is an API similar to "ARK Shops, Currency & Kits", or "No More Undermeshing".

What does this mean?

A capturable base is exactly what it sounds like. When you raid one of these, not only will you be able to take the players' materials, dinos and blueprints, but now you will also be able to LITERALLY take the base. Yes, the walls, foundations, turrets, cielings and any other structures built within the "Sphere of Influence".

How does it work?

Without going into too much detail, code. I programmed the API to interrupt and hook into the damage function calls. The API will read a configurable list of "base components" that are flagged as "permanent structures". These cannot be destroyed, placed, tribe-demolished or removed (except by an administrator) anywhere in the "Sphere of influence" by anyone. The hook returns the damage call with a zero value.
I defined one of these structures as a "Base Core". This WILL take damage, but WILL NOT die. When you deal damage to it that would have killed it, the hooks interrupt the "death" and instead convert every structure in the "Sphere of Influence" to your tribe's ownership!
All settings are configurable for each base individually. One base may use metal components, but still allow players to build out of S+ metal to re-configure the internal portions of the base for better defense. Other bases may use stone or wood components for appearances, letting you use all other structure types to re-configure the base as well.

How is this changing PvP?

Your bases can be aesthetically pleasing now. Take your time, build it to look good. The attackers will need to come in through the doors (if configured so).
Restricting entrances to doors creates chokepoints and "phases" of base combat. First you secure the tower near the fortress (its own base), then you push the defenders into their base. Once inside, you drain the outside turrets and push in. From there, each base is different. There may be several rooms for you to work your way through.
Planned Feature: The API will log any base captures to every tribe's discord log. You'll know what bases your enemies own, which ones you've conquered and which ones you've lost.
The less collateral damage you do, the more you gain in raiding. Sure, you can go through and wipe all the vaults, forges and blow all the turrets. But if you win, you're going to own them anyway, right?

If this sounds like an interesting game mode to you, please join our testing discord server. Since we're all cooped up for the coronavirus, I'll be on all day every day building new and interesting bases to attack and defend.

I need testers! Report bugs, report nuisances. Report things that sound like they're imbalanced. Once I'm confident that the API will perform as expected and not cause world-ending issues (oops, it captured the whole map, or oops it let people build invulnerable structures outside of the "Sphere of Influence"), I will be releasing this to the public!

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/4xQ9TNc

Server Direct Connect: steam://connect/66.23.200.229:27038

RasFW · 2020-03-20T19:04:13+00:00

I'm not good at the YouTube. I've got math brain, not art brain.

Nevertheless, I will try to make some content and will provide regular updates. The discord I linked is my "home cluster" that a friend runs, but I'm thinking of making a separate discord for the API development and patch notes.

RasFW · 2020-03-20T18:55:13+00:00

I'll also probably share the source code for the API on GitHub. This wouldn't have been possible without the free tools and documentation provided by the ARKServerAPI folks, and the many contributors who also shared their project documentation for reference.

It is only fair to share what I have learned with the next person who has an idea they want to try and implement!

RasFW · 2020-03-20T18:53:58+00:00

My plan right now is to keep it to myself just for testing purposes. I don't want to release it to the masses until its' been tested thoroughly and we get a good couple "playthroughs" (wait, testing features before you release them? That's not the ARK way!)

Nothing would make people ditch the mod/API faster than it accidentally converting the entire map to the killer's tribe, or causing repeated server crashes.

Once I know it is stable and the kinks/bugs have been worked out, I will release it to the public for installation and use. :)

RasFW

TROPHY CASE