Second update: The patch has been delayed one day, and is now scheduled for Friday, March 31.

Update: Here's a peek at the new menu, via Jeremy Stieglitz on Twitter (you can enlarge the image by clicking the top right corner for a better look):

Original story: I've chosen a picture of one of Ark: Survival Evolved's giant snails for this particular news story. That's because Ark's next patch, v256, will among other things apparently provide a long, long, long overdue 'total inventory menu redesign' according to recently added notes to the Steam discussion post and this tweet from Studio Wildcard's Jeremy Stieglitz:

Seriously, Ark's menus and UI are kind of the pits, and while I understand Early Access provides games in an unfinished state and while I'm sure there were bigger coelacanth to fry during the development process, a redesign of the menu is quite welcome, late as it may be. Hence, the snail. Snails are slow.

For the record, here's a list of what else planned for the update, which is (now) estimated to reach us on Friday, March 31:

  • Total Inventory Menu redesign
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign

Ho ho. 

Just kidding. Here's the real list:

  • New Mechanic: Aquatic & Amphibious Creature Breeding
  • New Dino: Equus!
  • New Dino: Leedsichthys!
  • New Dino: Ichthyornis!
  • New Dino: Iguanodon!
  • New Structures & Mechanic: Tek Underwater Bases
  • New Structure: TEK Teleporter
  • New Structure: TEK Mosa Saddle
  • New Structure: Tek Power Generator
  • Total Inventory Menu redesign (other UI's coming soon!)
  • Flyer Nerf

Please note: those aren't my exclamation points.