Seems indie games mostly use Unity or GameMaker, but I may be totally wrong about that.
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UE4 graphics setting presets for the Switch found on GitHub
- Thread starter Hermii
- Start date
Seems indie games mostly use Unity or GameMaker, but I may be totally wrong about that.
That's the general issue. moving to a full PC like scenario. Switch also doesn't have the leeway in its portable mode to just have the weakest mode upscale like PS4 to Pro, so having significant graphical changes like this essentially means far more of an effort needed on the devs part to change assets themselves between the same title. Something devs are very unwilling to do with the current nature of iterative hardware outside of actual remasters.
I liked it better under the assumption that the portable mode was the standard for development and all that was necessary was res boosts.
The thing to keep in mind is that UE4 went free to download in early 2015, so we're only now getting into the giant wave of them.
I can post up a listing if you like when I get to my computer.
It's 720p.
Actually, the need to use the UE4 screenPercentage setting makes me think the actual framebuffer is always 1080p, even in handheld mode (this would make the transition between console and handheld modes easier for devs). What UE4 does is simply reduce it's internal rendering resolution from 100% (1080p) to 66% (720p).
There would be an 720p->1080p->720p upscale-dowscale process going on, but I just tested it on a 5.5" 720p phone and it's not really noticeable (actually, it makes the jaggies a bit less pronounced).
Actually, if a dev targets handheld mode specifically, they do have a leeway to go from 720p to 1080p without changing any other graphics setting. What these settings show is that to go from console to handheld mode you need to more than simple drop the resolution. The other way around is a much easier road.
The difference between handheld mode and console mode is similar to the difference between the PS4 and PS4 Pro, the difference being that the Switch can change modes on the fly.
Maybe because they had previously announced to the whole world their next platform was codenamed NX? I assume that stuff didn't suddenly end up in UE4 in October.
It was my understanding that most phone games run in a nonnative resolution.
I can see there's a bunch of upcoming UE4 titles on the wikipedia page. We'll see if Switch gets some of them...
DQ XI, FF7 Remake, KH 3, Tekken 7, and Marvel v.s. Capcom Infinite would all seem to make sense.
Maybe throw in Ace Combat 7 & Dead Island 2.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
Even if that was good for screens I don't know that it'd be any good as example video since scaling down visual settings on the same hardware will jack up the frame rate.
Yeah, I really don't see Nintendo in a position to enforce this.Enduin said:
S-E: Hey, we were thinking about bringing FF VII remake to Switch.
N: Great!
S-E: To make it work we might only be able to reach 720p in docked mode.
N: Get lost.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is definitely going to be one of them.
Yeah good luck running those games on the Switch hardware.
But the disparity between the two modes means in many cases that such huge sacrifices will be neccesary.
Again, i think first party devs will just code for handheld mode and increase internal res as necceary. But third parties will try and get cute with their ambition and cause problems for handheld mode, which i don't think Nintendo should allow.
The 3DS to New 3DS issues in Xenoblade allowing exclsive games to even run despite being the same hardware and the cutbacks needed for Hyrule warriors doesn't have me trust third parties to do the right thing
I don't think they'll have a problem with 720p in docked mode. It's sub-720p in handheld mode that can be a problem.
Oh, I'm sure we'll have some 3rd party games that are really meant to be played in console mode and run "laptop-ish" in handheld mode. I don't think it's the end of the world, really.
Eh, sub 720p wouldn't be so bad on a small screen, would it?
LordRaptor
Member
I guess paradoxically the smaller the resolution you're working with the more noticable dropping below that resolution becomes.
Some people are way more sensitive to that than others, but it always looks terrible in screenshots (see sub-native Vita games).
That is true. I was testing UE4 on a Shield Tablet (1920x1200) and it took me a while to notice the game was actually running at 720p.
So, basically, UE4 supports a kind of dynamic graphical adjustment on Switch depending on whether its in dock or portable mode? That seems like a pretty sensible solution, which seems to point to some kind of priority of maintaining performance between both modes, though I wonder just how many other middleware solutions will put this into practice.
Really hope this doesn't bode ill for native resolutions in handheld mode, though, since you are going to notice the hell out of anything sub-native on a screen that size.
Really hope this doesn't bode ill for native resolutions in handheld mode, though, since you are going to notice the hell out of anything sub-native on a screen that size.
Starchasing
Member
Could anyone render some demo at highest settings and then render it at the Switch settings?
Its a Youtube video bound to get many many views
Pretty please....
Its a Youtube video bound to get many many views
Pretty please....
Toadthemushroom
Member
It's not very similar to a full PC-like scenario. You've got two modes with the exact same architecture, with the only difference being GPU clocks, and most of the time the extra GPU power (250% in docked mode) is going to translate to a higher resolution. But developers have a choice in how they can scale their games up.
Switch does not constitute a wildly different set of devices with different CPUs, different GPU architectures, a whole range of resolutions and so on. At worst it's just two different, but common, hardware configurations, like going from an iPad Pro to an iPhone 6s.
Your sentence about how devs are "unwilling" to do this sort of optimisation is a bit contradictory to how you compare it to the PC - a platform most devs are already comfortable targeting and optimising for. Switch represents less work than fitting a game to a variety of PC platforms, and less work than making a PS3 and Vita version, or a PS4 and Vita version.
It's definitely more work than making just one fixed version of the game, (QC is going to have to test both modes for instance) but you're overblowing the situation.
I'm more surprised that Nintendo concluded that only one device would be necessary for the Switch platform, when it's clear they've basically built a device that can literally operate as two. Switch very much feels like it's an iPad Pro and the equivalent iPhone in one, in terms of how it scales between both performance modes.
Fro Anandtech:
iPad (A9X)/iPhone 6s (A9):
CPU:
A9X: 2x Twister @ 2.26GHz
A9: 2x Twister @ 1.85GHz
GPU
A9X: PVR 12 Cluster Series 7XT
A9: PVR 6 Cluster Series7 (PVR GT7600)
Memory Bandwidth
A9X: 51.2GB/sec
A9: 25.6GB/sec
Now recall what Iwata said about the NX platform in 2013:
Satoru Iwata said:
killatopak
Member
subnative on handheld does not look good.
Vita has a couple of it and while the games are great it really does not look flattering.
Vita has a couple of it and while the games are great it really does not look flattering.
Tekken 6 was ported to PSP and 3DS so I wouldn't doubt the Tekken team. You're probably right about the others though.
wonderful103
Member
You'd be surprised
I think what I should have asked is 540p on a 720p screen can't possibly look worse than the 3DS screen, can it?
BigEmil
Junior Member
Sub native resolution games on Vita looked bad noticabally, if running at native res 544p on Vita 5" screen it has a 220 PPI, decent for 2011 release
Native res 720p on Switch 6.2" screen roughly only 240 PPI according to google.
Not great in todays standards with a bigger screen it needs a higher PPI to look good nowadays so i wouldn't want sub-native resolutions at Switch at all, they should keep 720p standard
I think the main possibilities I would be looking at would be the relatively straightforward, singleplayer indie titles (especialy less horror focused ones) that might scrounge up a low five digit number like:
- Abzu
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Obduction
- Bloodstained
- Shattered
- We Happy Few
- Submerged
- Adr1ft
- Sea of Solitude
- Little Nightmares
- You could go on for a while...
Then there's also a lot of developers who switched off of Unity and GameMaker that might be good fits for a Nintendo system. Heart Machine (Hyper Light Drifter) is making their next game in Unreal Engine 4 for example.
I think people expecting every UE4 game to run at high settings are in for a bad surprise, but the fact that the console supports the full version should still be good news. I also can see why base settings not being low (0) can sound somewhat encouraging, even if it doesn't necessarily mean anything.
Skittzo0413
Member
Could anyone render some demo at highest settings and then render it at the Switch settings?
Its a Youtube video bound to get many many views
Pretty please....
Even just the elemental demo might be interesting to see. I can probably whip that up real quick after work but maybe someone can do that sooner.
killatopak
Member
I'd rather have a 3DS screen with native res games than a Vita screen with a subnative res game.
And I'm a vita fanboy.
Well, I mean, I don't know if it's a technical marvel or anything, but UMvC3 on Vita is quite an impressive port.
You can even cross play with PS3 people iirc. Considering the Vita hardware and how superior the Switch will be to it, I wouldn't discard anything.
True. There are always exceptions to the rule. But a general guideline that is partially enforced or encouraged would be nice. Given that they are now wholly behind one system, and not two, it would be great if Nintendo dedicated a decent number of people to provide serious support to third party devs in order to optimize their games on the system to meet such targets. Bring back that Nintendo Seal of Quality.
Sure 720p when docked isn't the worst, I mean it's not great, but outside of games that really have no reason to be 720p in the first place, like indie 8/16bit style games, wouldn't you have to do go sub-native in handheld mode if you top out at 720p when docked? I know it's dependent on the game but are there really enough effects and settings that could be reduced that would make a game be able to run at 720p in both modes?
Hell yes. This is all I wanted. I am fully satiated by this news if true.
Real UE4 development will be possible (even if severely watered down) on the device.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
Scaling up 50% and scaling right back down seems like it would be pretty bad on top of wasteful. Trying something similar with a bit of SNES,M3d10n said:
though it would differ based on how the scaling is done.
brochiller
Member
Do you know something we dont?
Toadthemushroom
Member
Thanks for this. So does Switch default to the "high" grouping for each category in both docked and undocked modes, and the only difference when going undocked is the switch (ha...ha) to fast FXAA?
I think it's more of an assumption than anything concrete, though it is based on the spec of the screen being 720p.
LordRaptor
Member
Scaling up 50% and scaling right back down seems like it would be pretty bad on top of wasteful. Trying something similar with a bit of SNES,
though it would differ based on how the scaling is done.
With deferred rendering, you're basically not drawing anything to the screen immediately, you're sending everything to a framebuffer of whatever resolution you want, compositing the data for that frame, and then displaying it.
I mean, yes, in some respects its wasteful because you literally must do that before displaying anything, but the savings you make elsewhere - particularly relating to how lighting is calculated - makes it pay off.
e:
I mean, laymans terms, every frame of your game is a 3 layer photoshop image of geometry, lights, and Z-position for sorting; from there, you can add as many extra detail layers as you want, do whatever photoshop filters you want and use whatever scaling you want on a per layer basis, but each layer adds to rendertime
Wowfunhappy
Member
Just put a 30fps limit on the game.
No, it defaults to "high" (2) for those attributes for console and to "medium" (1) for handheld, according to OP:
wonderful103
Member
I mean, a couple of those games are already slated for the console, either directly through the developer/publisher or through rumours.
Calm Mind
Member
I feel like I'm learning so much. More posts like these please!
Those Tekken 6 ports are bespoke versions specifically made for that hardware. If they make a Tekken game on the Switch they aren't just gonna take the arcade game and flip a few settings.
You say they're straightforward, but that indie game runs at 30fps with framedrops on PS4 and I have to use close-to-lowest settings on my PC to get it running at a stable framerate.
I certainly agree that it's good. I disagree on the "news" part
It running the full UE4 pipeline if required was clear from the moment we learned that it uses at least a Maxwell-level GPU.
From the profile posted in the op is seems that in undocked mode all of those profiles drop from high to medium.
I'd imagine it was for the very same reason we have this thread now. To basically hide these little details for the time being, until these things can be spoken about more openly.
I'm actually wondering what else could be discovered with some more digging. They obviously thought they needed to hide stuff, probably more than just those "template" UE4 Switch settings.
Also, what do those settings look like for PS4/XB1/PC? A "notch" higher would be 3, but I'd imagine PC settings could go even further up?
It's suggested that the Switch uses the full blown renderer. Well, how does the mobile renderer differ? I see an opportunity here to glean a ton of information, or plausible conclusions. Don't disappoint me now GAF!