Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

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Sonicx9
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Joined: April 27th, 2015, 6:37 pm

Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby Sonicx9 » August 29th, 2019, 2:28 pm

I ask because this game is an internet meme for it terrible optimization by UE4 standards. It so bad that even on powerful PC rigs it runs like ASS! Unless you have a overkill gaming PC Rig. And on the consoles and Mobile it not much better as the PS4/Xbox One versions run just as bad if not worse unless you use PS4 Pro and Xbox One X skus and even then runs bad on them just like PC version on powerful rigs. And the cut down iOS and Android versions you need a top end iOS/Android device to run ok by Ark standards and even then they run sub par like the many other versions. And the worst version is the infamous Switch port which looks like a bad N64 game lazyle ported in UE4 and like the other it runs bad as well.

Why is this game such a dumpster fire in terms of optimization?

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » September 2nd, 2019, 8:49 am

Because they didn't care about optimization at all while making it. "We can do that after we're done adding in new features." was their overall gameplan, plus they also have an attitude of "Our game is fine. Your computer is just too weak to contain all of the awesome. Meet the new Crysis, you cucks."

Basically. they're immature as Hell, and their ambitions were bigger than their ability to actually pull them off. Especially with all of the feature creep.

Porting their final mess to consoles was always going to end badly.

Sonicx9
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Joined: April 27th, 2015, 6:37 pm

Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby Sonicx9 » September 2nd, 2019, 1:54 pm

ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:Because they didn't care about optimization at all while making it. "We can do that after we're done adding in new features." was their overall gameplan, plus they also have an attitude of "Our game is fine. Your computer is just too weak to contain all of the awesome. Meet the new Crysis, you cucks."

Basically. they're immature as Hell, and their ambitions were bigger than their ability to actually pull them off. Especially with all of the feature creep.

Porting their final mess to consoles was always going to end badly.


No wonder Ark: Survival Evolved is the way it is in it current bad state, and your right even on PC, it runs poorly unless you get a way overkill PC rig which can be very expensive. And yes the game on consoles, Mobile or Switch, is going to end badly regardless given the game on PC was a mess. And what interesting to note, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is well optimized and demanding game on everything and plays much better by comparison. Even on the weakest link the Switch, it amazing they pulled off this monster being as close to the original source material as possible. So yes if the game is badly optimized on everything, expect bad on everything, if well optimized expect gold on everything.

And on a related note, how come the more demanding The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt gets a far better port on Switch then less demanding games like SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. Could it be the budget as CD PROJEKT RED has more money then SNK and ArtPlay case as one of them is a crowdfunded game (Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night case). Or could it be lazy devs as 60FPS on those two less demanding games was far more feasible as if MK 11 was 60 on Switch, so can those less demanding games.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » September 3rd, 2019, 5:56 am

The issue with Bloodstained is that they're unfamiliar with the engine, and they're splitting their focus. A limited budget isn't helping, sure, but can you imagine if they'd created Symphony of the Night this way?

"Okay, we're aiming for release on PC, Saturn, and PS1. Plus the most powerful handheld, the Sega Nomad!"

It's not a 1:1 exact comparison, because the GBA, with a 32 megabyte cart, is closer to the problems the Switch brings to the table. With its ability to create limited polygons and software based transparencies, you can actually see how it might actually work. At least if the developer knows what they're doing, and has time to optimize the experience. (Aria of Sorrow is under 8 megabytes.)

But optimizing a game for every platform is the exception, not the rule.

In the real world, Symphony of the Night even struggled on the Saturn. The same Saturn that outperforms the PS1 in every way when it comes to 2d performance.

So to attempt to put this thing on the Switch, this soon? It's bloody madness. Sure, you''re optimizing as you build it, but you're still optimizing after you've already created the assets, on an engine designed for a more powerful platform.

By contrast, look at Astral Chain, which shares a similar aesthetic. Yeah, it's sometimes a bit under 30fps, but it makes a joke out of Bloodstained, while being fully 3d. Sometimes, it pays to specialize.

Sonicx9
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Joined: April 27th, 2015, 6:37 pm

Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby Sonicx9 » September 3rd, 2019, 8:28 am

ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:The issue with Bloodstained is that they're unfamiliar with the engine, and they're splitting their focus. A limited budget isn't helping, sure, but can you imagine if they'd created Symphony of the Night this way?

"Okay, we're aiming for release on PC, Saturn, and PS1. Plus the most powerful handheld, the Sega Nomad!"

It's not a 1:1 exact comparison, because the GBA, with a 32 megabyte cart, is closer to the problems the Switch brings to the table. With its ability to create limited polygons and software based transparencies, you can actually see how it might actually work. At least if the developer knows what they're doing, and has time to optimize the experience. (Aria of Sorrow is under 8 megabytes.)

But optimizing a game for every platform is the exception, not the rule.

In the real world, Symphony of the Night even struggled on the Saturn. The same Saturn that outperforms the PS1 in every way when it comes to 2d performance.

So to attempt to put this thing on the Switch, this soon? It's bloody madness. Sure, you''re optimizing as you build it, but you're still optimizing after you've already created the assets, on an engine designed for a more powerful platform.

By contrast, look at Astral Chain, which shares a similar aesthetic. Yeah, it's sometimes a bit under 30fps, but it makes a joke out of Bloodstained, while being fully 3d. Sometimes, it pays to specialize.


You have good points about Bloodstained optimization, the companies where working on a demanding/hard to optimize engine like UE4, and because they rushed Switch versions near the other version release. IT obviously was not ready for prime time. Heck, they wanted Bloodstained to be on Wii U and PS Vita, 2 underpowered systems that did not even natively support UE4. If those came out, it would have been way worse then the subpar Switch version.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » September 5th, 2019, 7:49 am

Heck, they wanted Bloodstained to be on Wii U and PS Vita, 2 underpowered systems that did not even natively support UE4. If those came out, it would have been way worse then the subpar Switch version.


Maybe.

Unless, of course, they just used the free Sony PhyreEngine instead, and built their polygon models in anything with a creation tool that features a cpu assisted reduction function. They're all tools designed to simplify cross platform releases. Code Masters even had a custom variant of the PhyreEngine, called Ego, running on the Wii U.

And the Wii.

But the real news is that they might have even gotten Bloodstained up and running on the PSP - Sony was that serious about making their engine compatible with everything. (Sure, it'd feature impractical load times, countless missing effects, and backgrounds that look suspiciously like PS1 worthy 2d backdrops, but c'mon, who wouldn't be tempted to at least put out a demo? Just to show off?)

The Vita would have been an easy conversion by comparison. At least, that's what I'm getting out of 15 minutes of research and no pressure from the internet second guessing how I'm spending their money, while my team wraps their brains around an unfamiliar engine. But hey, if my desperate gamble pays off, it'd be easy to port to Android and iOS as well. And Linux.

Nobody'd be able to escape this thing.

Sonicx9
Posts: 1818
Joined: April 27th, 2015, 6:37 pm

Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby Sonicx9 » September 5th, 2019, 11:17 am

ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:
Heck, they wanted Bloodstained to be on Wii U and PS Vita, 2 underpowered systems that did not even natively support UE4. If those came out, it would have been way worse then the subpar Switch version.


Maybe.

Unless, of course, they just used the free Sony PhyreEngine instead, and built their polygon models in anything with a creation tool that features a cpu assisted reduction function. They're all tools designed to simplify cross platform releases. Code Masters even had a custom variant of the PhyreEngine, called Ego, running on the Wii U.

And the Wii.

But the real news is that they might have even gotten Bloodstained up and running on the PSP - Sony was that serious about making their engine compatible with everything. (Sure, it'd feature impractical load times, countless missing effects, and backgrounds that look suspiciously like PS1 worthy 2d backdrops, but c'mon, who wouldn't be tempted to at least put out a demo? Just to show off?)

The Vita would have been an easy conversion by comparison. At least, that's what I'm getting out of 15 minutes of research and no pressure from the internet second guessing how I'm spending their money, while my team wraps their brains around an unfamiliar engine. But hey, if my desperate gamble pays off, it'd be easy to port to Android and iOS as well. And Linux.

Nobody'd be able to escape this thing.


Actually, it never ran on Sony free in house PhyreEngine, it was always UE4 from the start, and they said it was going to be the full fat UE4 version on Wii U and Vita only to be canceled. But also Wii U and Vita where mostly non-existent by then so that also did not help.

ThePixelatedGenocide
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Joined: April 29th, 2015, 9:06 pm

Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby ThePixelatedGenocide » September 6th, 2019, 9:56 am

? Never said Sony's engine was going to be used.

Just that it might have been a better fit for what they had in mind.

Sonicx9
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Joined: April 27th, 2015, 6:37 pm

Re: Why is Ark: Survival Evolved a badly optimized UE4 game on all systems?

Postby Sonicx9 » September 6th, 2019, 3:47 pm

ThePixelatedGenocide wrote:? Never said Sony's engine was going to be used.

Just that it might have been a better fit for what they had in mind.


That true to an extent as Yooka-Laylee was held back by running on Unity which is not well suited for a ambitious large scale game they where doing as it more of a UE4 type game then Unity and it shows. And meanwhile the upcoming Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is getting good first impressions using Unity shows that engine is better suited for simpler games not ambitious large scale games and it shows.


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