Nintendo Switch: Console Hits 1080p Preset; Unreal Engine 4 Version Includes Portable Switch Settings [Video]
Changes to the Unreal Engine 4 master branch were spotted by eagle-eyed Neogaf user M3d10n. The said user had noticed some weird codenames in the device profiles ini file while updating the Unreal Engine 4 branch to version 4.14.
"This file contains graphics/performance settings overrides for specific devices, so devs can make adjustments that are applied automatically based on the GPU, iOS device, Android device/GPU or console (XB1, PS4, PS4 pro)", user wrote on Neogaf.
Three settings that used to be named Wolf, WolfSea and WolfAir have been renamed to the Switch, SwitchConsole and SwitchHandheld respectively. When it is set to SwitchHandheld mode, not only graphical settings reduced, but the screen is scaled down to 66%, which fits the 720p handheld display/1080p docked resolution rumor.
The developer also mentioned an "FXAA" setting, referring to a type of anti-aliasing, when the Switch is docked that will shift to a "Faster FXAA" mode when the device is operated in portable mode. The settings are listed as follows:
"In 4.14 there's a new platform called "Wolf" with two variants, "WolfSea" and "WolfAir". The latter has a resolution scale set to 0.6666 along with slight reduction in shadow quality and other effects. I couldn't find anything about any device with "Wolf" in its name and the 0.666 resolution change between the variants got me wondering if these profiles are meant for the Switch docked and undocked modes (that's the exact ratio between 720p and 1080p). A code name, perhaps?"
Apparently, the "Wolf" codenames in the file have now all been renamed to "Switch", "SwitchConsole" and "SwitchHandHeld". The settings for "SwitchConsole" are somewhat lower than Unreal Engine 4 defaults used for PS4, Xbox One and PC.
Other interesting tidbit in the Switch Handheld profile, is the screen percentage that has been set to 66. According to the M3d10n, this setting "aligns exactly with 1080p docked and 720 in handheld mode, but it will reduce other settings is necessary to account for the clock speed changes".
According to the display profiles we can expect the Nintendo Switch to hit relative performance of 1080p Medium settings while docked, and 720p low settings while in handheld mobile mode. For comparison, the PS4 and Xbox One typically render games at High graphics preset.
The Nintendo Switch is likely to launch in March 2017, possibly at a $249 and $299 price point.
