INI Settings Are not Needed to Get FPS Boost in ARK Survival Ascended, Play without Stutters

Source: ARK: Survival Ascended, Developer: Studio Wildcard

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Dinosaurs are ancient creatures that once dwelled our planet and to this day they inspire our imagination. ARK: Survival Ascended build on this idea and lets us play in a world, where those critters are still alive and well. It is a remaster of already well-known ARK: Survival Evolved. Since the developers decided to level up their core technology from Unreal Engine 4 to 5, it poses many challenges and still leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to performance. Despite the fact that it is still in Early Access, fans are going above and beyond to cram even a single frame more to make the game run smoother. Here you will learn about ini settings that can help you squeeze out the last frame from your game.

• Optimal video settings for ARK Survival Ascended
• Additional ini settings for ARK Survival Ascended

Optimal video settings for ARK Survival Ascended

To start off, let’s tackle what can be managed from in-game video menu to make sure that settings there are in optimal condition. That means – the game runs smoothly while still not looking like a potato.

ARK: Survival Ascended offers several graphics options to choose from and adjust depending on your computer’s power. Bear in mind that the better your computer is, the higher the settings you can crank without hurting your performance too much. Try the settings below:

1. Resolution – Match the native resolution of your monitor. The most popular are 1920x1080 (FullHD), 2560x1440(QHD), 3840x2160(4K UHD),
2. Window Mode – Use the one that suits you best as it usually marginally affects performance,
3. Graphics Preset – That’s one of the most important settings as it decides the Resolution Scale of the game. The lower the scale, the lower the resolution that your GPU will have to produce thus gaining performance and frames though losing quality. It can be compensated by RTX settings, about which later. Epic settings mean 100 resolution scale, but it’s good to start with Medium (55 resolution scale),
4. View Distance – Set it to Medium or Low. The higher the setting, the farther you will see, though it can impact the performance significantly.
5. Textures – Put it on Epic, as their quality is very noticeable and affects experience greatly,
6. Post Processing – pick Low, as it affects performance and do not contribute as much to general visual quality,
7. General Shadows – Setting them to High would be a good choice. Poor shadow quality would make the game look very unnatural,
8. Global Illumination Quality – Under this setting there is usually hidden UE5 Lumen technology. As much as it can contribute greatly to quality of the game, it can be also very resource hungry. Leave it on Low,
9. Effects Quality – Can be set to Low, as it doesn’t have huge impact on quality of the game.
10. Foliage Quality – It would be beneficial for performance to set it to Low, though players have noticed that it can cause strange grass popping in in game, so you might want to go with Medium if your rig allows that,

On the right-hand side column of the Video settings, put everything to the lowest possible setting or turn the effects off completely, if possible, as they can be tanking your performance. In the Max Frame Rate, tick the box and in the bracket input your monitor refresh rate (usually 60, but can happen to be 144 or different, depending on monitor).

RTX menu is interesting one as it can upscale your resolution, while not hurting the performance. Bear in mind that it requires at least Nvidia RTX2000 series graphics card. If possible, turn it on and set Super Resolution to Ultra Performance. That will allow you to gain as much frames as possible. Nvidia Reflex Low Latency setting should be turned on, as it will minimise input lag from your mouse and keyboard.

All of those should put you in a good spot to enjoy the game with decent quality and playable framerate.

Additional ini settings for ARK Survival Ascended

If the settings from the previous point are not sufficient and you are still struggling with performance, don’t fret. There is still something that you can do to make the game run better.

In steam launch settings (right click on the game in your library, then properties and in General tab, there is a Launch Options field), add the following command:

If that is still not enough, launch the game, enable commands in Advanced Settings menu, and put in the following commands:

1. sg.FoliageQuality 0
2. r.VolumetricCloud 0
3. r.Water.SingleLayer.Reflection 0
4. r.shadowquality 0
5. r.ContactShadows 0

Bear in mind that this will significantly lower your graphics quality but has a chance of making your game enjoyable.

As ARK: Survival Ascended is still in Early Access, we can count on Studio Wildcard to optimise their game in the future, so more people can play it in the best quality possible and appreciate the enchanting world the developers have prepared.