Color Bench
Building a beautiful base in ARK: Survival Ascended often comes down to one thing: color. You can have the perfect floor plan and the most defensible location, but if your walls look like a mismatched patchwork of default textures, the magic fades. That is exactly where the Color Bench add-on steps in. This mod transforms your building palette by introducing 495 carefully selected colors, all based on the real DMC embroidery thread color standard. It is a professional-grade system used by artists and crafters worldwide, and now it is available for your dinosaur-filled survival sandbox.
What Makes the Color Bench Special?
The core idea is simple yet powerful. Instead of relying on the limited paint options in the base game, you craft specific colors at a dedicated workstation. Each of the 495 colors requires its matching base color item, plus berries and vegetables, to create. This adds a fun resource management layer to your building projects. You are not just clicking a button; you are actively preparing your palette. To get started, you must first unlock the eight base colors—Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Purple, Magenta, Black, and White—via the engram menu. These serve as the foundational ingredients for every other shade in the collection.
Once you have your ingredients, you can apply your chosen color directly to quarter walls. This is perfect for detailed work, like creating pixel art, intricate patterns, or simply adding a subtle accent stripe to a room. The precision is remarkable, allowing you to treat your base like a canvas. Whether you are replicating a real-world logo or just want a specific shade of teal for your bedroom, the Color Bench delivers.
Full Wall Skins for Larger Builds
While quarter walls are great for detail, larger structures need a different approach. The Color Bench also offers Full Wall Skins for the big wall pieces. A single Full Wall Skin automatically adapts its appearance across the Wall, Doorway, Short Doorway, Double Doorway, Window, and Secret Door forms. This means you can color an entire wall segment without worrying about which specific structure piece you are placing. The visual consistency is maintained effortlessly.
This feature is a lifesaver for big projects like warehouses, arenas, or castle keeps. You get a clean, uniform color across the entire surface. Just keep in mind that due to the larger surface area, Full Wall Skins are not ideal for pixel-perfect artwork. They are designed for clean, consistent color application, not for intricate diamond-painting-style designs. For that level of detail, stick to the quarter wall skins.
Wallpaper: Interior Design Freedom
One of the most requested features in ARK building is the ability to have different colors on the inside and outside of a wall. The Wallpaper structure solves this problem. Unlike a skin, Wallpaper is a standalone structure that snaps onto quarter walls. It colors only the interior face while the exterior retains its original material. This allows you to create cozy, distinct rooms inside a utilitarian exterior, or vice versa.
All 495 DMC colors are available for Wallpaper, crafted at the dedicated Wallpaper Bench. A textured variant is also available under the "Textured Wallpaper" category. This adds a subtle raufaser-style surface relief that catches the light, giving rooms a more tactile, lived-in feel. It is a small touch that makes a huge difference in the atmosphere of your base.
There is one known limitation to be aware of. Due to a hard engine restriction on the wall's snap point offset, Wallpaper sits slightly further from the wall than a skin does. This can create a visible edge where the wall's cross-brace shows through, especially when placed directly next to a skinned wall. For the cleanest look, use Wallpaper consistently across full wall sections rather than mixing it with skins on adjacent panels.
Installation and Mod Compatibility
Getting started with this mod is straightforward. To download Color Bench, you simply subscribe to it on the mod page and ensure it is enabled in your server's mod list. The mod is designed to work seamlessly with the current versions of ARK: Survival Ascended. It is always a good practice to check for updates after major game patches to ensure compatibility. The mod is lightweight and does not conflict with other popular building mods, making it a safe addition to your collection.
For players looking for a more streamlined experience, the foxygame.net launcher simplifies the entire process. It offers a one-click install for Color Bench for ARK: Survival Ascended, bypassing the usual manual steps. The launcher also maintains an updated add-on catalog, ensuring you always have the latest version without hunting for patches. This is particularly useful if you manage multiple mods across different servers.
Future Plans and Final Thoughts
The developer has hinted at future updates, including artifact pedestals as colored gems or diamonds and more structure types. This shows a commitment to expanding the mod's utility beyond just walls. The Color Bench is more than just a color pack; it is a complete building philosophy. It empowers you to create the base you have always envisioned, with the precision and consistency of a professional artist.
If you are tired of dull, monotonous bases, this add-on is a must-have. The combination of quarter wall skins for detail, full wall skins for large surfaces, and wallpaper for interior design covers every building scenario. The use of the DMC palette ensures that your colors are always accurate and beautiful. Upgrade your building game today and see what a difference 495 professional colors can make.