ARK on iOS: Coding and Design Tips
summary
ARD on iOS targets iPhone 7-class devices (≈1 GB usable RAM) at 25 FPS by cutting rendering and memory tenfold: tiled mobile GPUs force many small render passes (≈12×), draw calls and foliage are halved, materials are reduced to under 50, and a full content rethink shrinks a 100 GB PC install to ~2 GB mobile assets. Engineers switch to PVRTC2, make Android Vulkan-only, convert hard refs to soft refs with an asset manager, rewrite movement with async traces, and ship a $4/month Primal Pass—the result: 10M downloads, ~300k DAU, ~$20 average buyer revenue, and a working live-service mobile port.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Start
- 10:52Tiled Renderer
- 13:20Graphics Reduction
- 17:09Memory Reduction
- 18:44CPU Reduction (Game)
- 20:15CPU Reduction (Rendering)
- 21:37CPU Reduction (Engine Optimizations)
- 23:22CM Integration
- 24:39Influencer Partner Program
- 27:11Our Buyers: Everyone!
- 27:44Broad Monetization Targeting
- 29:12Primal Pass
- 30:27Free-to-Play Technical Considerations
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