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This ground-up remake of Ark Survival Evolved moves to UE5 with a bevy of new visual features - starting with Lumen, Nanite, volumetric clouds and updated physics. The performance cost runs deep on console though, leading to a 20-40fps range with full screen tearing. On the plus side, Ascended offers a small reprieve via a console command menu, letting us tweak select settings on PS5, Series X and S - so can we better optimise the game ourselves for 60fps?

00:00 Intro/Ark Survival Ascended Upgrades
03:28 PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Visual Comparisons
06:59 PC's Epic Settings Tested
08:13 Command Console Explained
10:04 Xbox Series S Frame-Rate Test
14:07 Xbox Series X Frame-Rate Test
16:19 PS5 Frame-Rate Test
19:08 Verdict

 

[mansoor1980]

n64 textures on xss

 

[adamsapple]

- Might just be the most poorly optimized game to date

The good:
- Ground up remake of Survival Evolved on UE5
- Developer uses as many UE5 features as possible
- New gen consoles only, no release on PS4/XBO
- Layout of the island is similar but Nanite makes the world fuller, denser etc
- Lumen RTGI and reflections + volumetric clouds + improved physics present

General:
- DF's 4080 GPU at 4K and max cannot reach 60 natively without needing DLSS from 1080p
- PS5 / SX aim for 60 fps but fall very short. 30 to 50 FPS with V-Sync disabled causing tearing on non VRR displays

Consoles:
- PS5/SX 1440p DRS. Lowest bounds at 720p. Mostly running 720p reconstructed to 1440p during testing
- Series S DRS 900p but mostly sticks at 450p
- PS5 / SX use the same visual settings, Series S drops almost every setting by comparison
- Series S: Lower quality texture, shadow quality, AO, alpha transparencies, physics effects like water ripples and animated foliage
- Series S uses SSR on reflections where PS5/SX use Lumen RT. However Series S still retains a lower quality of Lumen GI
- PC w/ 4080 GPU comparison: PS5/SX are generally 'middle of PC's quality settings'
- SX and PS5 push respectably decent Lumen compared to PS5. Series S is a notable step down comparatively

Performance:
- PS5/Series consoles have ability to open PC style command console if you connect a keyboard. Can be used to modify UE5 settings to improve performance
- You can even disable effects like Lumen GI etc to claw back even more performance and enable V-Sync or 30 FPS cap for a more stable experience (but introduces framepacing judder)
- These settings reset every time you reboot the game

Series S:
- Default Settings: Series S generally runs 30 to 35 in busy areas with some drops even below 30, one segment dropped the game to 13 FPS in specific settings
- Using command console DF were able to check different resolutions. 600p (w/ DRS to 300p) gets the performance closest to stable 60 but it can still see drops
- Using default resolution and dropping visual settings like Lumen and Volumetric Clouds, it makes the game look very barren but claws back lots of performance

Series X:
- Default setting: Closer to 60 FPS by default. Generally operates between 35 to 45 with stress areas dropping between 25 to 35
- "Optimized" settings: 900p with DRS lows of 450p gets the game closest to a consistent 60
- Keeping original resolution: Reducing the volumetric clouds and GI gets closest to a consistent 60

PS5:
- Default settings: Runs 5 to 10 FPS lower than SX by default on same resolution / visual settings
- "Optimized" settings: None of DF's testing were able to get close to consistent 60, even 720p with DRS 360p
- Keeping original resolution: Removing shadows, GI and volumetric clouds gets closest to 60 but still not locked
- Consistent 60 FPS is generally unreachable on PS5 in anyway

 

[Imtjnotu]

Has ark even ran well on anything

 

[DenchDeckard]

Another unoptimised mess!

 

[winjer]

So it runs even worse than the original.
Great job...

 

[LordCBH]

I’m not surprised this is a piece of shit. It’s a bad game that has ran like ass on absolutely everything it’s ever released on.

 

[lh032]

a shit game with shit performance. no thanks.

Meanwhile, im having fun with grounded.

 

[SomeGit]

I love it when absolute rush jobs leave the console open.

 

[poppabk]

Finally cross gen is behind us and the true power of consoles and UE5 is unleashed. Shame the XSS is still around, imagine the insane visuals they could have pushed without having to make them work on the XSS.

 

[FoxMcChief]

And yet this mess of a franchise has an insane following. I just don’t get it.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

And yet this mess of a franchise has an insane following. I just don’t get it.

I don't get it either

Checks my play time in it...

 

[FoxMcChief]

I don't get it either

Checks my play time in it...

That’s ok. I’m at nearly 300 hours in Starfield. And I still haven’t beaten it once.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

That’s ok. I’m at nearly 300 hours in Starfield. And I still haven’t beaten it once.

 

[Crayon]

Did they play around with the foliage interaction settings? That shit is ridiculously heavy.

 

[Black_Stride]

 

[Mowcno]

The Ark developers had very poor technical skills and I guess they still do. If unreal engine didn't do so much for developers automatically ark wouldn't even exist.

 

[Fake]

Imagine using your NASA PC and not even reaching 60 fps.

 

[intbal]

Every single game should feature console command capability.

 

[Topher]

"PS5 / SX aim for 60 fps but fall very short. "

Shitty performance in Ark?

 

[Darsxx82]

Another case where XSX and UE5 are good friends...

About the game's shitty optimization, it seems that it can already be taken for granted that it is a sign of identity of the Studio. And I don't think they see any incentive to change as long as the game remains a success.

 

[skyfinch]

Xbox should cancel those new consoles this fall! OG series X is still killing it with smooth frame rates and sick resolutions!

 

[Bojji]

720p ~30FPS with screen tearing on PS5/XSX

Edit: It took them four years to finally show us the power of next gen consoles!

 

[blastprocessor]

Wow

 

[DeepEnigma]

720p ~30FPS with screen tearing on PS5/XSX

Edit: It took them four years to finally show us the power of next gen consoles!

Queue the Riky meme about the Xbox Series Shitbox making the PS5 sweat.

 

[intbal]

The great thing about this game's performance is how balanced it is.
Everybody loses.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Wow

I thought people said the new Avatar game looked good?

 

[Crayon]

They overdone colored bounce lighting in this makes it look like the dinosaurs have those 2000's underglow kits.

 

[Imtjnotu]

I don't get it either

Checks my play time in it...

 

[Bojji]

The great thing about this game's performance is how balanced it is.
Everybody loses.

Xbox has quite big advantage when it comes to framerate, with use of console you can get it to 60FPS without that much cutbacks compared to PS5. Not to mention much better system level VRR/120Hz support that makes it more playable than PS5 version out of the box:

 

[Audiophile]

Can't wait to play this in 1440p 60 on my PS6 Pro in 2032.

 

[Skifi28]

The great thing about this game's performance is how balanced it is.
Everybody loses.

DF wins.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

 

[adamsapple]

Can't wait to play this in 1440p 60 on my PS6 Pro in 2032.

With DRS to 720p.

 

[Zathalus]

Do they specify what version of UE5 this is?

 

[Imtjnotu]

Do they specify what version of UE5 this is?

judging by the screens and video,

not the good one

 

[adamsapple]

Do they specify what version of UE5 this is?

Not in the video, no.

 

[intbal]

A twitter post a few days ago says they will be upgrading to UE5.4 "later this summer".
So it's an earlier version than that.

 

[FoxMcChief]

"PS5 / SX aim for 60 fps but fall very short. "

Shitty performance in Ark?

I would love to fill that mouth.

 

[Snake29]

Does look a bit sharper on the PS5.

 

[Fake]

Imagine reducing the resolution to 360p and still blaming the consoles lmao.

 

[diffusionx]

Xbox has quite big advantage when it comes to framerate, with use of console you can get it to 60FPS without that much cutbacks compared to PS5. Not to mention much better system level VRR/120Hz support that makes it more playable than PS5 version out of the box:

Yes, all you need to do is drop the game to below the resolution of the original Diablo

 

[SKYF@ll]

Does look a bit sharper on the PS5.

I tried capturing it in 4K.
There definitely seems to be a difference.

 

[skneogaf]

I think UE5 is too much for consoles in general.

This game will be a great test for future consoles though and their performance improvements.

 

[Bojji]

I tried capturing it in 4K.
There definitely seems to be a difference.

It has dynamic res, while it spends most of the time in 720p it can go higher - maybe looking at the ground caused it on PS5.

 

[Fake]

I think UE5 is too much for consoles in general.

I wouldnt take this game as a metric for anything.

A 4080 couldn't reach 60 fps, so is really a matter of optimization.

Besides, Tekken 8 runs like a dream on next gen consoles.

 

[Bojji]

I wouldnt take this game as a metric for anything.

A 4080 couldn't reach 60 fps, so is really a matter of optimization.

Besides, Tekken 8 runs like a dream on next gen consoles.

End results is on developer, you can make UE5 game and don't use lumen for example - just bake lighting old school way, developers have many choices on this engine. It had shit CPU performance but they improved it in the newest version.

Devs of this game never cared about image quality or performance on consoles (even based on first Ark release), they just enabled new UE features and called it a day.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Sub DVD native res in series s with major cut backs in all settings. Little beast!

 

[diffusionx]

I think UE5 is too much for consoles in general.

This game will be a great test for future consoles though and their performance improvements.

ARK is too much for consoles. It's been one of if not the worst performing games on every single platform it's ever launched on. Now either ARK is the most advanced game we have ever seen... or something else is going on.