Skybound: Airships & More
ARK: Survival Ascended has always been about pushing the boundaries of survival, but what if you could take that ambition literally into the clouds? Skybound: Airships & More is a groundbreaking mod that transplants the beloved shipbuilding system from ARK's pirate-themed sister game, Atlas, directly into ASA. However, instead of charting oceans, you are charting the sky itself. This is not just a reskin; it is a complete paradigm shift in how you approach base building, exploration, and mobile fortification. For players who have ever dreamed of a floating fortress or a nimble sky-cutter, this mod delivers that fantasy with a level of depth that feels native to the engine.
Currently in Alpha development, the mod is a work in progress, but the core mechanics are already incredibly robust and functional. The developers have clearly focused on making the building process intuitive yet deep, allowing for a staggering amount of customization. Whether you are a solo survivor looking for a mobile base or a tribe seeking a war-ready dreadnought, the system scales to meet your needs. The mod is designed to be compatible with the latest versions of ARK: Survival Ascended, ensuring that you can integrate it into your existing save files without worrying about version conflicts, provided you keep the mod updated alongside the game client.
Constructing Your Skyward Vessel
The heart of Skybound: Airships & More lies in its modular building system. The process is designed to feel rewarding and logical, taking you from a bare framework to a fully operational airship. It is a departure from standard ARK building, offering a guided yet flexible construction experience. To begin your journey, you will need to locate and construct a shipyard, which acts as the dry dock for your aerial creation.
Once your shipyard is placed, the building process begins in earnest. The system is broken down into a clear sequence of steps that allow for creativity while ensuring structural integrity. Here is a breakdown of the core process:
- Frame Construction: Start by building the skeletal frame of your ship within the shipyard. This defines the overall shape and size of your vessel.
- Planking: Fill the ribbing of the frame with planks. This is the essential step required for the ship to become a functional entity.
- Decking: Place a deck and fill it with ceilings wherever you like. This provides the walking surface and allows you to customize the layout of your ship's interior and exterior.
- Steering: (Optional) Place a steering wheel somewhere on the ship. This allows you to pilot the vessel after it is released from the shipyard.
- Launch: Once everything is complete, release your ship from the shipyard and sail the sky. Only filling all planks is necessary for release; you can continue to build and modify your ship even after it is airborne.
The Atlas-Inspired Structure Set
Beyond the airships themselves, the mod introduces a comprehensive wooden ship structure set, also ported from Atlas and meticulously adjusted for ASA. Unlike the ship-specific components, this structure set is separate and can be used anywhere on the map, not just on your flying vessels. This means you can create a pirate-themed coastal base or a rustic woodland cabin using these aesthetically pleasing and functional pieces. The structures come with their own special functionality that integrates seamlessly with the game's existing vehicle logic.
If you place any ship structure—such as ship walls, ceilings, or doors—on an airship, it allows you to access the ship's inventory and options as if you were interacting with the vehicle itself. This QoL feature extends beyond airships; it also works on rafts and dinosaurs with platform saddles, making inventory management significantly easier while on the move. This integration is a testament to the mod's polish, ensuring that the new content feels like a natural extension of the base game's mechanics.
Building Kits and Adaptive Sizing
One of the most innovative features of Skybound: Airships & More is the introduction of building kits. These kits replace the different small, medium, and large plank and deck items from Atlas with a single, smart item. The system is designed to reduce inventory clutter and simplify the building process. You craft one or more of the item, and the placed structure will automatically adjust its size based on the ship it is getting attached to.
This adaptive system means that bigger ships consume more items when placing structures. For example, placing a plank on a sloop will cost 1 item as usual, but placing the same plank on a schooner will require 2 items, and 3 for a brigantine, and so on. The system is intuitive and ensures that the cost scales appropriately with the size of your vessel. Furthermore, any additional items or resources are returned to you when you pick up or demolish the structure, preventing waste and encouraging experimentation. This makes it easier than ever to plan your ship's expansion without the fear of losing precious resources.
Mod Compatibility and Installation
As with any mod, ensuring you have the correct setup is key to a smooth experience. The mod is designed to work with the current builds of ARK: Survival Ascended. For the best experience, you should always ensure your game is up to date. The mod's development status is Alpha, meaning mechanics and models are still WIP and subject to change, so it is wise to check for updates regularly. The mod is highly compatible with other structure mods, though you should always test for conflicts in a single-player session first.
To get started, you need to know how to install it correctly. The process is straightforward: navigate to the Steam Workshop for ARK: Survival Ascended, search for the mod, and subscribe to it. Once subscribed, the mod will automatically download and install. After that, you simply need to enable the mod in your game's mod list when you launch the game. For those looking to streamline their setup, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install for Skybound: Airships & More, ensuring that you get the correct version every time without the hassle of manual file management. This launcher also provides a curated add-on catalog, making it a great hub for managing your ASA mod list.
Known Issues and Future Horizons
Being an Alpha mod, there are a few known quirks to be aware of. Players have reported airships experiencing weird lurches while flying if they have dinos on board. Additionally, there is a basegame bug that can cause all structures on a ship to despawn after loading a save; this can also happen to structures on rafts. Until Wildcard fixes it, you can get your structures back by riding and dismounting a dino close to the ship or by going out of render distance. Walking into a steering wheel on servers might glitch the player's character around a bit, though this is purely visual. Missing zeppelin textures are also a known issue, as they are still in development.
Looking ahead, the roadmap for Skybound: Airships & More is exciting. The developers have planned improved flight mechanics and a movement rework, additional utility structures for airships, higher tiers of planks and decks, and even cannons and gunport plank variants for bigger ships. This will undoubtedly add a layer of naval combat to the skies. For the latest news and to report bugs, joining the official Discord is the best way to stay connected with the community and the developers. The future of skybound survival in ARK looks incredibly bright, and this mod is leading the charge.