The new Ark patch adds teleporters, fish armor, and unicorns, because why the hell not

Ark's new patch, v256, arrives today, and with it a grab-bag of new dinos, new items, new systems, and other assorted stuff. You can watch the trailer for the patch above, where you'll see tamable prehistoric horsies (one of them a unicorn), lassos, underwater bases, a teleporter, pirate ships, and a giant armored fish shooting lasers from its face.

Most importantly (to me, at least) is a new inventory UI, though I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. As an added bonus, the Early Access dino survival game is currently 67% off on Steam until April 3.

Okay, let's go over the major stuff. There are four new dinos including a horse-like beast, Equus Magnus, which can be tamed in the traditional video game horse way, by jumping on its back and letting it kick angrily until it decides it loves you forever. There's also the Iguanodon Vicissitudinis, a lizard monster that walks on its back legs but runs on all fours, and is also useful for harvesting fruit.

There's the Leedsichthys Conviviumbrosia, which an ichthyologist might describe as a Very Large Fish. Speaking of fish, meet the Ichthyornis Piscoquus, a seagull that will sit on your shoulder (when tamed) and can be dispatched to catch fish for you (only small ones, presumably).

Continuing to speak of fish, aquatic and amphibious breeding is now a thing, which is good news because I have a couple cool giant frogs and I want them to fall in love so I can make some more. For those into high-level Tek gear, you'll be able to strap armor and lasers to your Mosasaurus (it's another Very Large Fish), craft wireless power generators and teleporters, and build underwater bases. If sci-fi ain't your thing, let's get a bit more old-fashioned with a lasso, which you can use to snare creatures or other players. Yeehaw. There are also new sounds, new hairstyles (including ponytails and muttonchops), and new explorer notes to find.

Finally, there's a "flyer nerf" listed, which I assume means all your giant birds and airborne dino pets, which were awesome, now suck. Here are the full patch notes, and below you can check out some screenshots.