Steam Version vs Game Pass

[Toiletzombie]

So I was playing ARK through the Microsoft Game Pass on PC, which apparently is more alike the console product than the PC. I spent a good 100 hours on the island and was having fun so I decided to come to steam and buy it and all the expansions. What a mistake. I am 10 hours in on steam and have had countless d3d device lost crashes already, I believe I had 1 crash using the Microsoft store version. Somehow, on the exact same graphical settings the Microsoft store version looks WAY better than what I have on steam and now apparently the only way for me to stop these d3d crashes is running in DX10 and my god this game gets ugly quick. The only saving grace, and one of the reasons I decided to buy outside of the game pass, is the mod support. S+ is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing and each time I keep figuring out new things it offers it makes it more difficult to think about going back to the game pass version. Can anyone else relate?

[zerassar]

So what you're actually referring to is the console UWP version. So keep that in mind re the quality of the graphics.

If you have a less than capable PC then it will handle the UWP version better because simply put it's made for lower end hardware.

Re d3d lost there are countless threads discussing this. So give the forum and Google a search. Even if it's not an ark result because this is common to other ue4 games.


Things to try.

Make sure your drivers are up to date.
Turn off overclocking.
Do not use software such as msi afterburner.
If you have a laptop with an integrated you try forcing that off in the bios as a test.

[Toiletzombie]

Thanks for the info Zer, I was able to find the DX10 work around, and others have speculated that the post RTX drivers are whats causing the issues but I have not tried it or seen people in the threads I looked at say it cured the issue.

I'm running on a 1080TI, so I am able to pull max graphics with good FPS, but for some reason it just doesn't look as good as the game pass version.

[Secret_Squirrel]

The RTX drivers issue Only effected RTX cards.

So if you are using post 400 series drivers.... time to update.

[Secret_Squirrel]

You should post your specs as seen by steam... you never know if someone will spot something you've missed.

[zerassar]

Ok I'm home from work now and have my standard spiel for this error :-P

D3D device lost is a problem that has been affecting multiple UE4 games for years. Epic has yet to get a meaningful permanent fix out for it. Essentially what is happening is that your GPU takes too long to reply to the engine and so the engine gives up.

As far as what users can do as workarounds in the meantime is a damn long list of things that may or may not work for each individual. You can google "d3d device lost ue4" to find some other things to try. But as a starter:

1. Update your graphics drivers.
2. Turn off overclocks.
3. Do not use software to manage your graphics such as MSI after burner.
4. Change the UE4 timeout detection
https://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/9/1741134597888708637/

[MaryJane]

takes less to run windows version but no mods
steam has mods and runs like ♥♥♥♥ on max
take your poison id also say the console players are more toxic in general

[Marshall_maz]

- Savegame and ini file management is easier on the steam version as well. ( Well imo anyway )
- Steam version gets updates more regular and quicker
- Steam version has way smaller download sizes on updates