Advanced Electrics
Lighting your base in ARK: Survival Ascended often feels like a puzzle. You have the vanilla generator, but its range can leave dark corners and awkward shadows, especially in sprawling bases or outposts. The Advanced Electrics mod steps in to solve this specific frustration, offering a suite of new, functional items that feel like a natural extension of the base game's electrical system. Instead of overhauling everything, it simply adds more tools to your kit, letting you illuminate your builds with greater flexibility and style.
What Does the Advanced Electrics Mod Add?
This mod focuses on expanding your lighting and power distribution options without replacing any vanilla files. It is a pure addition, meaning it works alongside the standard ARK items without conflicts or remaps. For those eager to enhance their building capabilities, the core additions are a new power outlet and a family of electric torches.
Power Outlet: Extending Your Generator's Reach
The standout feature is the new Power Outlet. In the vanilla game, a generator's radius is often a limiting factor. This mod introduces a buildable outlet that acts as a range extender. You can place a generator, connect an outlet within its range, and then power devices from that outlet's own, new radius. This allows you to chain power across a large compound, lighting up distant pens, watchtowers, or resource hubs without needing multiple generators. It's a simple concept that provides immense practical value for base architects.
Electric Torches: Versatile Illumination
Beyond the outlet, the mod introduces three distinct electric torch variants, each designed for different placement needs. They all run on electricity, meaning no more refilling with sparkpowder or worrying about fuel consumption.
- Electric Standing Torch: A full-sized floor torch that provides a classic, warm light source.
- Small Electric Standing Torch: A compact version of the standing torch, perfect for hallways, tight corners, or bedside lighting.
- Electric Wall Torch: Mounts directly on walls, ideal for illuminating corridors, crafting areas, or the exterior of your base without taking up floor space.
Key Features and Customization Options
What makes these torches stand out is their level of customization. They aren't just static light sources; they offer several options to tailor them to your aesthetic and gameplay needs.
Automated Lighting Schedules
One of the most convenient features is the optional auto-activation function. You can set your torches to turn on automatically between 7 PM and 9 AM. This simulates a realistic day/night cycle for your base, ensuring your lights are only on when needed, which can save on generator fuel and reduce power load. It adds a layer of immersion and efficiency that many players appreciate.
Flame and Color Control
If you want to change the ambiance, the torches have you covered. You can change the flame type to the AnglerGel flame, which gives a different visual effect. More impressively, you can change the flame color entirely. The available options include Standard, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Silver, and Ice. This allows for incredible creative freedom, letting you color-code different areas of your base, create a specific mood, or simply match your tribe's colors.
Full Vanilla Functionality
Despite being modded items, these structures support all standard vanilla functions. You can pin them, pick them up, and integrate them into your building system just like any other structure. This ensures they feel like a seamless part of the game world, not a clunky add-on.
Compatibility and Installation Guide
Advanced Electrics is designed for ARK: Survival Ascended and works with the current supported versions of the game. It is a client-side mod that is easy to add to your server or single-player world. The mod does not replace any vanilla files, which significantly reduces the risk of conflicts with other mods. However, as with any mod, it's always best to check for updates to ensure compatibility with the latest game patches.
To get started, you will need to download Advanced Electrics from a mod repository. The process is straightforward. If you are using a launcher that supports mod management, you can often find it directly in the add-on catalog. For a seamless experience, the foxygame.net launcher simplifies the process by offering one-click install for mods like Advanced Electrics, automatically handling version compatibility and updates so you can spend more time building and less time troubleshooting. After downloading, you'll need to how to install it, which typically involves subscribing to the mod on the Steam Workshop and enabling it in your server's mod list or single-player settings. Once activated, the new items will appear in your engram list, ready to be learned and crafted.
Current Limitations and Future Plans
It's important to note that the mod is currently in a state where all names and descriptions are in German. While the functionality is easy to understand, non-German speakers may need to refer to guides or the spawn codes to identify items initially. The mod author has stated that multi-language support for German and English is planned for the future. There is also a known bug where disabling the auto-activation function or changing the flame color doesn't always save after a server restart. The author is aware of this and it is slated for a fix. Additionally, there are plans to copy the settings from one torch to other torches in range, which would be a massive quality-of-life improvement.
Final Thoughts on Advanced Electrics for ARK: Survival Ascended
Advanced Electrics for ARK: Survival Ascended is a focused and practical mod that fills a clear gap in the vanilla building experience. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel; it just provides a better wheel for the specific job of lighting. The power outlet is a game-changer for large bases, and the customizable torches offer a level of aesthetic control that is rare in the base game. While the language barrier and the minor saving bug are slight drawbacks, the core functionality is solid and highly recommended for any survivor looking to brighten up their world. Whether you are building a cozy cabin or a massive industrial complex, this mod provides the tools to make your base feel more alive and well-lit.