The text is standardized for your HDTV, not the tiny Switch screen, and it shows.
Ark latest update screwed up portable#
The touch screen is active on the menus, which can be a boon in certain cases, but the text and touch targets in portable mode are far too small. Worse, the optimization of the game for the platform is hit or miss. I think the iPad version of the game looks better, even if it performs worse. These cuts were made to preserve the frame rate at a target of 30fps, but ARK on Switch still chugs hard if too much is happening onscreen. Effects like shadows and reflections load in as you're moving and seeing a tree's shadow pop-in is a frequent sight. The graphics are a blurry mess, with poor textures up close and shapely blobs in the distance. Booting up ARK had me asking this question again and again. Both titles have their definite fans on the platform, mostly for the portability, but I tend to wonder when "optimization" goes too far. We've had Switch ports like these before, for games like Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. From Acura NSX to Honda Civic to Honda Fit it gets you where you need to go, but you probably won't enjoy the rider. The engine is tiny, the materials have been downgraded to their cheapest versions, and the styling is gone in favor of a utilitarian design. The Nintendo Switch version of ARK: Survival Evolved is the stripped down model. Each version asks, "What can be cut to get as close to the original experience as possible?" It's all a matter of compromise and sacrifice. The PC version might be the GT model with all of the luxury extras, the Xbox One X and PlayStation 4 Pro versions are sporty tuned coupes, and the base systems are the basic sedan. įor the purposes of our conversation, the production model are the released versions of a game. A concept car can live on a show floor or demo reel, the production model has to perform in real life. The reality is the production model, which takes that concept car and whittles it down for practicality and safety.
Ark latest update screwed up full#
A concept car is sleek, sexy, and full of promises for the future. The development version of a game is the concept car, using the best technology and the most innovative styling to showcase an upcoming product.
The final product is the collison between development time, available resources, developer expertise, and current hardware. Nearly every released game is a compromise of the developer's vision.