Different settings for docked / portable Switch modes spotted in Unreal Engine 4

Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard more and more about different modes for Switch when it’s docked and when the device is being played as a standalone unit. That culminated with a report from Digital Foundry just a couple of days ago. The publication claims that Switch, when in portable mode, runs at 40 percent of the clock-speed of the fully docked device.

Unreal Engine 4 version 4.14 released about a month ago. One developer has now come across some interesting discoveries which lend credence to some of the recent speculation.

A file in Unreal Engine 4’s master branch shows names for Switch, SwitchConsole and SwitchHandheld. As the developer points out, “the SwitchConsole settings are a notch lower than the UE4 defaults used on PC, PS4 and XB1.” It’s thought that the settings “serve as a good starting point to get a PS4/XB1 UE4 game to run acceptably on the Switch.”

One setting – specifically ScreenPercentage – is set at 66 percent and matches up with talk about Switch displaying at 1080p while docked and 720p when being played as a portable (66 percent of 1920 x 1080 is 1280 x 720). However, instead of only reducing the resolution to 720p in handheld mode, the engine also reduces graphical settings. Unreal Engine 4 is set at “FXAA” in console mode, but changes to “faster FXAA” in handheld mode. It’s also worth mentioning that Switch uses the full Unreal Engine 4 deferred renderer path rather than the “mobile” renderer.

Here’s a look at the settings in case you’re curious:

[Switch DeviceProfile]
+CVars=sg.ViewDistanceQuality=2
+CVars=sg.AntiAliasingQuality=2
+CVars=sg.ShadowQuality=2
+CVars=sg.PostProcessQuality=2
+CVars=sg.TextureQuality=2
+CVars=sg.EffectsQuality=2
+CVars=r.ScreenPercentage=100

[SwitchConsole DeviceProfile]
DeviceType=Switch
BaseProfileName=Switch

[SwitchHandheld DeviceProfile]
DeviceType=Switch
BaseProfileName=Switch
+CVars=sg.ViewDistanceQuality=1
+CVars=sg.AntiAliasingQuality=1
+CVars=sg.ShadowQuality=1
+CVars=sg.PostProcessQuality=1
+CVars=sg.TextureQuality=1
+CVars=sg.EffectsQuality=1
+CVars=r.ScreenPercentage=66

There’s still a lot that’s unclear, but this helps to fill in a piece of the puzzle. Nintendo will hopefully fully explain how Switch works when docked and playing as a handheld during its big unveiling event next month.

http://nintendoeverything.com/different-settings-for-docked-portable-switch-modes-spotted-in-unreal-engine-4/

Basically for anyone who doesn't understand it means that the engine does the scaling itself, if you have a game using UE4 and it runs in docked mode the engine itself already has the coding for portable mode for your game saving developers any hassle, so developers only have to focus on getting it to run in docked mode.

As a home console only gamer this is good news, it means the system when docked won't be held back by the limitations of the handheld's woeful clock speed.

That's really good.

Does this go back to the rumor of how games can easily be ported to the Switch? 

Will all the APIs and engines the Switch support do this? Because this seems it can save a great deal of time and efford.

Oh, this is very good for Nintendo. If developers just have to create the docked version and runs some mode with small adjustments then this would be very smooth .

How are the Xbox one and PS4 default settings?

It isn't that simple. Both modes will have to be QA'd still, both by pre-submission tests and by the QA team. There are going to be mode-specific bugs that will need to be addressed. There are many aspects of console game development that will now literally be twice the amount of work. You cannot just assume that because one mode works the other will work fine as well.

QA still has to be done yes but it was a quick summary of what people are seeing with the two settings, it can't be argued that this move this saves developer a lot of time tinkering as the is already a base setting for them to look at rather than create the game and try to scale everything themselves. This shows the engine has base settings for each mode for the platform for performance much like high and low settings on a PC to make things easier for developers as then they can adjust portable base settings accordingly if the game requires it.