In addition to the multiplayer servers, you can also play ARK in single-player mode. You can use mods and even modify the time it takes to tame and breed. These features can transform the overall experience as you won’t have to wait on the incubation and breeding timers anymore.
There are plenty of activities to go through in the single-player mode. So, if you can’t join an online server then starting a single player would be the best option.
Usually, players want to restart their game after playing it for a few weeks because they learn so many things that they can improve if they can get another chance Let’s discuss how you can restart ARK single player.
How To Restart ARK Single Player
Even though there is no option in the game to directly restart the single player, you can still reset your map or character data from the saved files. That way when you launch the game again, there won’t be any saved files for the game to access and you will be able to start fresh.
You can also copy the saved files somewhere else as a backup and if you ever change your mind and want to access the old map again then moving those saved files back will do the job. The majority of users just clear the world data to get the new dinosaurs to spawn on their map.
To restart ARK single player, you need to first exit out of steam and then head over to the steam folder. Depending upon where you install your games, they should be on your system drive. You need to open the ARK game folder and then access the saved files folder.
Here you will find a list of different saved files depending upon how many maps you currently have in the game. Choose the map you want to reset and then delete or move all the files to start fresh on the same map. You can also choose whether you want to delete the player data or the map data.
Usually, players would only remove the map data files from their PC. That way you will be able to keep all the different engrams along with the experience that you’ve racked up. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to respawn after deleting the old map data.
Otherwise, your game can glitch out which will cause some complications for the restart process. But if you want to reset the progress on your character as well then make sure to remove the player files from your PC along with the Island files. That will ensure that you start from scratch on the new map.
After doing that you can launch the game again and choose the map, you want to play on. If you’ve deleted the game files already then you can just select the map and it will show you a message that it is populating your ARK. Now you just have to wait and make a new survivor.
Select difficulty levels and other configurations from the map and your single-player game will restart. As mentioned before, it is always best to keep the character files as you won’t have to grind for the experience again. But if you’re bored then there is no harm in starting from scratch.
To Conclude
To restart the single-player mode on ARK you will have to remove the island and character save files from your PC. After that, you can launch the game again to create a new island and character. However, most players just reset the island and don’t mess with the character save files.
That way they can still keep the experience and engrams without having to farm for them again. So, if you also want to refresh the layout and bring some new dinosaurs into your Island then remove the island save files only.
But if you’re bored and want to start everything from the beginning then you can do that by removing everything from the save files of Island you play on. That way you will start a new character that has nothing. You also have the option of saving the old files as a backup and then you can potentially cycle back to the old save files if you change your mind about the whole reset.