About TC: Primal Survival (Primitive Realism)
From Steam WorkshopWhat is Primal Survival? An attempt to bring a more realistic, balanced & primitive survival experience to Ark Survival. Why Would You Want To Experience Primal Survival? If you want the island…
What is Primal Survival?
An attempt to bring a more realistic, balanced & primitive survival experience to Ark Survival.
Why Would You Want To Experience Primal Survival?
- If you want the island environment to be more fun and challenging on its own terms.
- When you prefer less grinding when it comes to the core experiences... building, taming, breeding and levelling up.
- If you're looking for a new and fresh Ark experience.
- When you rather a more primitive and realistic approach to survival... without C4, rocket launchers and minigun turrets.
Primal Survival Core Changes
The ark environment is and always will be dangerous. Forget taking a carefree stroll through the jungle.
- All damage has been increased, both creature, human & weapons. If a Raptor catches you by surprise in anything less than metal armor, it is over.
- Apex creatures are too unruly to tame, the wild giants will ALWAYS be king of the land. Don't expect your stone walls to keep them out.
- Tamed creatures are tougher than their wild counterparts due to rigorous training, though they are FAR from invincible.
- Herbivores will not simply ignore you now. If they are timid (parasaur etc) they run away at the sight of you and if they are aggressive (trike etc) they will attack if you get too close.
Your animal companions are your greatest advantage in surviving, but you must master your environment before its inhabitants. However, don't expect to be able to collect them as easily as Pokemon.
- Taming has been reworked to allow for a more natural progression without the required grind/time sink. For more information, check out the Taming Guide.
- Breeding has gone through an overhaul, with the baby & egg stages (which required attention) taking much less time and mating intervals & juvenilie/adolescent stages (which don't require any/much attention) taking longer. For more information, check out the Breeding Guide for more info.
- Tamed creatures require attention, you can't leave them for months on end without food. Just as an example, a tamed Saber will need 5 raw steaks per day to stay full. However, you can use stale food to keep them fed for days at a time as it lasts longer.
Humans are not worthless in a fight.
- With increased damage and more balance between health pools, an unmounted human wielding a bow or sword and shield can make a big difference in a fight against humans riding dinosaurs.
This is primitive survival, where the extent of changes goes beyond simply removing advanced engrams.
- Stone structures and metal tools/weapons are your final tier.
- All engrams have been reorganised to support primitive gameplay.
- Low-mid tier engrams (such as wood, leather/chitin armor, metal tools) are easy to acquire, making solo play more appealing. However, the final tier of engrams will be costly, so spend wisely.
Survive, not grind.
- Health and yield has been increased for most resources (gathering will be much faster).
- Most resources have had their stack size increased.
- Weapon & tool durability has been doubled. No more repairing your tools every 5 minutes.
Click here for other changes not listed on this page.
The world is much less forgiving. Though if you tread carefully and treat it with respect, you will survive and prosper.
Planned Features
- New content added since 236.2 (Dinosaurs etc) balanced into the world of Primal Survival.
- Dinosaurs specific kibble made easy to craft, for imprinting.
- More Alchemy... Stamina Tonic, poisons
- Resurrection sickness (no more suicide to avoid eating :P)
- See more upcoming changes here.
Tips
[olist] [*]The best way to level early is to go hunting! You will need the food regardless. [*]Raw hearts can be used to heal carnivores and Tinto (red) berries & vegetables can be used to heal herbivores. [*]Stale food is still effective food for creatures to eat and very useful if you need to leave them for a long period of time. [*]Stone is not impervious, large creatures, deod, anky, Carno & Argentivis can damage it. [*]Healing tonics are very useful, especially in-between tough fights. [*]Sickles gather berries faster than by hand. [*]You can't tame most large dinosaurs, sea creatures or insects. See the Taming Guide. [*]See more tips here. [/olist]
Server Guide
Servers Running This Mod
(Post here to have a server added to this list)
Highlights
From source dataFootprint
Rated a light load on a server.
Last update
Its author last shipped an update 10 yr ago.
TC: Primal Survival (Primitive Realism) on Nxeon
From our catalogue- One-click install
- Supported on Nxeon ARK: Survival Evolved servers. We download it from Steam Workshop, place it, and restart the server.
- Server load
- light
- Smallest plan we suggest
- ARK — 8 GB (8 GB RAM). This follows our own load rating above, not a benchmark.
- Latest build
- 2016-06-26, released 2016-06-26
Game versions by loader
| Loader | Game versions | Newest |
|---|---|---|
| Workshop |
From 1 recorded build of TC: Primal Survival (Primitive Realism).
Run TC: Primal Survival (Primitive Realism) on a ARK: Survival Evolved server
Pick a server or deploy a new one above; it is installed in one click.
What kind of mod it is
From the catalogGameplay & overhauls
New mechanics, content and overhauls that change how the game plays.
Compatibility
- Game
- ARK: Survival Evolved
Verified at the source
- ✓Steam WorkshopOfficial listing, checked 2026-11-01Open ↗
- ✓AuthorEzcro, as published on Steam Workshop
- ✓LicenseNot published by the sourceFree

