The Nintendo Switch Version of Doom Is Locked at 30fps, 720p

[Megalith]

Bethesda has reportedly done a fantastic job porting Doom over to the Nintendo Switch, but as expected, performance and visuals took a hit: regardless of whether the console is docked or undocked, the game will run in 720p at 30fps. They say that the experience remains consistently fluid and smooth, however.

…a Bethesda spokesperson confirmed that Doom runs at 30 frames-per-second on Switch, adding: "The game and rendering technology underlying Doom is extremely scalable. In bringing Doom to Switch, we targeted outstanding visuals at a solid 30 fps and by maintaining a consistent 30 fps, the experience remains consistently fluid and smooth. We’ve been thrilled with the feedback that Doom is among the very best looking and performing games on Switch."

 

[D4rkn3ss]

well cool, at least it runs on that little thing

 

[MaZa]

What about an option of sacrificing those visuals and get 60fps? Doom is so incredibly fast paced that I have hard time figuring how anyone can even see what the hell is going on at 30fps. :/

 

[Stoly]

I think its actually quite good. Thats what.the xbox 360 ran Doom3 at iirc

 

[Nukester]

What about an option of sacrificing those visuals and get 60fps? Doom is so incredibly fast paced that I have hard time figuring how anyone can even see what the hell is going on at 30fps. :/

Got that right about it being rediculously fast paced. Lol

 

[tetris42]

What about an option of sacrificing those visuals and get 60fps? Doom is so incredibly fast paced that I have hard time figuring how anyone can even see what the hell is going on at 30fps. :/

I think the idea is if you want options you don't get a console.

 

[dvsman]

Kudos for them getting it to run at even 30FPS. I thought the Switch was based on some modified tablet / phone CPU in the first place. 720 (which is still HD) at 30FPS really is not too shabby.

 

[XenIneX]

What about an option of sacrificing those visuals and get 60fps? Doom is so incredibly fast paced that I have hard time figuring how anyone can even see what the hell is going on at 30fps. :/

Not a chance. The CPU is too much of a bottleneck.

 

[MavericK]

The tablet itself is 720p so it should look great mobile. Sad that it can't be higher docked.

 

[horrorshow]

While Skyrim on a handheld sounds AWESOME, a fast-paced fps like Doom?

Not so much.

 

[DrezKill]

Saw this a few days ago: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2017-hands-on-with-doom-on-switch
Can't imagine playing this game at 30 fps (or with the shitty Joycon analog sticks in handheld mode, gonna need a Pro controller for dis shiznit). Gameplay and player movement were designed with the game beiing a minimum of 60 fps / 16.7 ms. Still, amazing they could port idTech 6 over to the Switch. I wonder how Wolfenstein 2: TNC will turn out. I think I'll stick to PC, where I get a mouse, a keyboard, and 9-12 ms frametimes (sometimes lower). I've tried it on XB1 and PS4 as well, pretty amazing job they did there too.

 

[deaedius]

For that screen the visuals look great, then again Doom is one amazing looking game in general.

 

[oldmanbal]

Honestly, I don't care about any of the hate for this release. Being able to play a fairly modern shooter like DOOM on a HANDHELD device is something I would have given a kidney to do 10 years ago. It's not a Boutique PC spec but honestly you're not buying it to make the other team jealous. This is delivering something that was virtually inconceivable a few years ago to a MASS AUDIENCE in excellent quality for the platform. Kudos to Bethesda for making this happen. I will buy this when i get my son a switch just to support development like this in the future.

 

[Merc1138]

Honestly, I don't care about any of the hate for this release. Being able to play a fairly modern shooter like DOOM on a HANDHELD device is something I would have given a kidney to do 10 years ago. It's not a Boutique PC spec but honestly you're not buying it to make the other team jealous. This is delivering something that was virtually inconceivable a few years ago to a MASS AUDIENCE in excellent quality for the platform. Kudos to Bethesda for making this happen. I will buy this when i get my son a switch just to support development like this in the future.

But... if you think about it... it's not that impressive. Look at benchmarks involving doom on PC, the game still gets decent performance with a potato for a videocard.

That's not a slam on Doom, it's actually quite good that they optimized it that well. It's not not impressive that the switch is running it at 720P@30

 

[alxnet7227]

I think the idea is if you want options you don't get a console.

Don't see why they couldn't nowdays. PS4 Pro has an increasing number of games with 30/60 option. It usually sacrifices resolution/quality but I'm glad the option is there finally in the console world.

 

[vegeta535]

Don't see why they couldn't nowdays. PS4 Pro has an increasing number of games with 30/60 option. It usually sacrifices resolution/quality but I'm glad the option is there finally in the console world.

How much more of a hit to the visuals do you take tho. It is not like Doom will running at equivalent ultra settings. It will probably be at low-med setting with little to no AA just to hit 30FPS.

 

[oldmanbal]

But... if you think about it... it's not that impressive. Look at benchmarks involving doom on PC, the game still gets decent performance with a potato for a videocard.

That's not a slam on Doom, it's actually quite good that they optimized it that well. It's not not impressive that the switch is running it at 720P@30

I'm not blown away by the switch hardware, nor vying for bleeding edge graphics from this, I just appreciate that they were able to deliver a playable experience on a hand held platform. The switch is a niche product, and for what its worth, I think it's fantastic that you can play Doom on it ANYWHERE ANYTIME. To me this also signifies that important commitment of delivering 3rd party titles on the switch that will pave the way for better content in the future. Having studios like bethesda release skyrim and now doom is paving the way for MORE of their content in the future.

 

[misterbobby]

What about an option of sacrificing those visuals and get 60fps? Doom is so incredibly fast paced that I have hard time figuring how anyone can even see what the hell is going on at 30fps. :/

Um it has nothing left to sacrifice as it took everything it could just to attain 30 fps at 720p.

 

[Meeho]

Honestly, I don't care about any of the hate for this release. Being able to play a fairly modern shooter like DOOM on a HANDHELD device is something I would have given a kidney to do 10 years ago. It's not a Boutique PC spec but honestly you're not buying it to make the other team jealous. This is delivering something that was virtually inconceivable a few years ago to a MASS AUDIENCE in excellent quality for the platform. Kudos to Bethesda for making this happen. I will buy this when i get my son a switch just to support development like this in the future.

So, it runs like shit but it's better than before so we should be happy. Even though it's still 30 FPS shit. Got it.

 

[Merc1138]

I'm not blown away by the switch hardware, nor vying for bleeding edge graphics from this, I just appreciate that they were able to deliver a playable experience on a hand held platform. The switch is a niche product, and for what its worth, I think it's fantastic that you can play Doom on it ANYWHERE ANYTIME. To me this also signifies that important commitment of delivering 3rd party titles on the switch that will pave the way for better content in the future. Having studios like bethesda release skyrim and now doom is paving the way for MORE of their content in the future.

Ok, first of all, as I said it's not particularly impressive to be running Doom on crappy hardware.

Second, so what if skyrim runs on it? It should run on it, skyrim came out in 2011. There is absolutely nothing impressive about hardware available on store shelves today running a 6 year old game.

Old game, runs like shit, tiny screen, crap controls. There's nothing amazing about that unless you've never noticed that even lower end hardware over time is still better than previous lower end hardware. And skyrim? Really? Yeah, bethesda has ported it to everything they can, to squeeze every last dollar they can get out of that tired game. I liked skyrim, when it came out in 2011. If anything people should be wondering about the next game and hoping that bethesda didn't go all in on that elder scrolls online crap.

I bet the switch could also run duke nukem 3d if someone bothered to port it.

 

[Derangel]

Ok, first of all, as I said it's not particularly impressive to be running Doom on crappy hardware.

Second, so what if skyrim runs on it? It should run on it, skyrim came out in 2011. There is absolutely nothing impressive about hardware available on store shelves today running a 6 year old game.

Old game, runs like shit, tiny screen, crap controls. There's nothing amazing about that unless you've never noticed that even lower end hardware over time is still better than previous lower end hardware. And skyrim? Really? Yeah, bethesda has ported it to everything they can, to squeeze every last dollar they can get out of that tired game. I liked skyrim, when it came out in 2011. If anything people should be wondering about the next game and hoping that bethesda didn't go all in on that elder scrolls online crap.

I bet the switch could also run duke nukem 3d if someone bothered to port it.

Just a few years ago something like Doom, and even Skyrim, would have been impossible on mobile hardware. Even at 720/30. Mobile hardware is advancing at a huge pace, far exceeding the speed at which desktop hardware developed. It IS impressive that in the relatively short amount of time since there has been a push for improved mobile hardware we have already reached this point. Hell, the Switch is going to be able to run Wolf 2. Probably also at 720/30, but we're still talking about it running a modern AAA game. How many people said we would never see modern AAA titles ported to the Switch or that it wasn't possible to run them?

 

[KazeoHin]

It's more impressive that this is essentially a tablet.

It's a shame that there doesn't seem to be any improvement when docked: the GPU runs at twice the speed when docked, so it makes me wonder where that extra speed goes...

 

[Red Falcon]

It's more impressive that this is essentially a tablet.

It's a shame that there doesn't seem to be any improvement when docked: the GPU runs at twice the speed when docked, so it makes me wonder where that extra speed goes...

The game settings are probably locked in software to the lowest clock speed performance (undocked clocks), as there might not be a way for them to up the settings/fps on the fly with this port of DOOM on the Switch, or not enough to make a difference, so they left them at the one setting.
Just a guess, though.

 

[Merc1138]

Just a few years ago something like Doom, and even Skyrim, would have been impossible on mobile hardware. Even at 720/30. Mobile hardware is advancing at a huge pace, far exceeding the speed at which desktop hardware developed. It IS impressive that in the relatively short amount of time since there has been a push for improved mobile hardware we have already reached this point. Hell, the Switch is going to be able to run Wolf 2. Probably also at 720/30, but we're still talking about it running a modern AAA game. How many people said we would never see modern AAA titles ported to the Switch or that it wasn't possible to run them?

And again, when we already know that the modern AAA games you're talking about can run well enough on a potato, running like crap on a switch is not impressive.

 

[vegeta535]

I'm not blown away by the switch hardware, nor vying for bleeding edge graphics from this, I just appreciate that they were able to deliver a playable experience on a hand held platform. The switch is a niche product, and for what its worth, I think it's fantastic that you can play Doom on it ANYWHERE ANYTIME. To me this also signifies that important commitment of delivering 3rd party titles on the switch that will pave the way for better content in the future. Having studios like bethesda release skyrim and now doom is paving the way for MORE of their content in the future.

It won't pave anything if it sales are shit and developers abandon it like the Wii and Wii U.

 

[zkostik]

What about an option of sacrificing those visuals and get 60fps? Doom is so incredibly fast paced that I have hard time figuring how anyone can even see what the hell is going on at 30fps. :/

From what I can tell in the video they already have. Nonetheless, game still does look good for a portable and most importantly framerate doesn't appear to be a problem. Looks like and smooth without significant drops which is far too common in other games I've seen such as Zelda.

 

[Domingo]

Sigh. I hate when developers do this. Give me 60 fps and turn the details down. Motion blur overload doesn't fool me. Nor do interpolated YouTube videos.

 

[ZeroAlligator]

And again, when we already know that the modern AAA games you're talking about can run well enough on a potato, running like crap on a switch is not impressive.

Here’s the thing though, 720p/30fps isn’t crap, it is just lower specs than the high end systems that DOOM was previously played on. If Bethesda stated that DOOM was going to be playing at 15fps on the Switch, I would agree with you, but I’ve personally played DOOM on both consoles and PC’s, and some of the systems I’ve used were lower specs and couldn’t churn out more than 30fps; I still had a blast playing it.

You may not have any interest in the Switch, portable gaming, or “old games”, but believe it or not there are many people who are. And, many of those people are willing to sacrifice some graphical fidelity, resolution, and frames per second in order to play the games they love anywhere they want. That means on the bus, while waiting at the doctor’s office, and yes even while sitting on the porcelain throne. The Switch is an amazing piece of hardware, and the fact that we now have some major 3rd party developers jumping on board makes me very happy. Even though I own several consoles other than the Switch, my go to system as of late has been the Switch, it is simply too cool to be able to break out this tiny home console and play games like Zelda BOTW whenever I want. I’m also going to purchase DOOM and Skyrim for the Switch on release day – it’ll be the second time I’ve purchased both.

I’m always confused when people feel the need to disparage awesome pieces of kit like the Nintendo Switch. I don’t get angry when people post how cool a new game is on their IPAD or Android phone, I don’t feel the need to laugh at how underpowered their system is, and how much better my PC is at running a particular game. There are many different ways to get enjoyment out of video games, and none of them is “wrong”. Now we can have a legitimate discussion about the pros and cons of each system, and if you read the Digital Foundery article that was posted with this topic, that is exactly what they did.

-ZA

 

[Lifelite]

Here’s the thing though, 720p/30fps isn’t crap, it is just lower specs than the high end systems that DOOM was previously played on. If Bethesda stated that DOOM was going to be playing at 15fps on the Switch, I would agree with you, but I’ve personally played DOOM on both consoles and PC’s, and some of the systems I’ve used were lower specs and couldn’t churn out more than 30fps; I still had a blast playing it.

You may not have any interest in the Switch, portable gaming, or “old games”, but believe it or not there are many people who are. And, many of those people are willing to sacrifice some graphical fidelity, resolution, and frames per second in order to play the games they love anywhere they want. That means on the bus, while waiting at the doctor’s office, and yes even while sitting on the porcelain throne. The Switch is an amazing piece of hardware, and the fact that we now have some major 3rd party developers jumping on board makes me very happy. Even though I own several consoles other than the Switch, my go to system as of late has been the Switch, it is simply too cool to be able to break out this tiny home console and play games like Zelda BOTW whenever I want. I’m also going to purchase DOOM and Skyrim for the Switch on release day – it’ll be the second time I’ve purchased both.

I’m always confused when people feel the need to disparage awesome pieces of kit like the Nintendo Switch. I don’t get angry when people post how cool a new game is on their IPAD or Android phone, I don’t feel the need to laugh at how underpowered their system is, and how much better my PC is at running a particular game. There are many different ways to get enjoyment out of video games, and none of them is “wrong”. Now we can have a legitimate discussion about the pros and cons of each system, and if you read the Digital Foundery article that was posted with this topic, that is exactly what they did.

-ZA

Nice to see you pop in for your yearly message!

30fps portable isn't a big deal but playing on the TV would suck, I think. I hated destiny at 30fps and it wasn't near as fast paced.

 

[Merc1138]

Here’s the thing though, 720p/30fps isn’t crap, it is just lower specs than the high end systems that DOOM was previously played on. If Bethesda stated that DOOM was going to be playing at 15fps on the Switch, I would agree with you, but I’ve personally played DOOM on both consoles and PC’s, and some of the systems I’ve used were lower specs and couldn’t churn out more than 30fps; I still had a blast playing it.

You may not have any interest in the Switch, portable gaming, or “old games”, but believe it or not there are many people who are. And, many of those people are willing to sacrifice some graphical fidelity, resolution, and frames per second in order to play the games they love anywhere they want. That means on the bus, while waiting at the doctor’s office, and yes even while sitting on the porcelain throne. The Switch is an amazing piece of hardware, and the fact that we now have some major 3rd party developers jumping on board makes me very happy. Even though I own several consoles other than the Switch, my go to system as of late has been the Switch, it is simply too cool to be able to break out this tiny home console and play games like Zelda BOTW whenever I want. I’m also going to purchase DOOM and Skyrim for the Switch on release day – it’ll be the second time I’ve purchased both.

I’m always confused when people feel the need to disparage awesome pieces of kit like the Nintendo Switch. I don’t get angry when people post how cool a new game is on their IPAD or Android phone, I don’t feel the need to laugh at how underpowered their system is, and how much better my PC is at running a particular game. There are many different ways to get enjoyment out of video games, and none of them is “wrong”. Now we can have a legitimate discussion about the pros and cons of each system, and if you read the Digital Foundery article that was posted with this topic, that is exactly what they did.

-ZA

Because this is hardocp, not hardrungameslikeshit.

Retail hardware in 2017 running a 2011 game like skyrim is not impressive, period. Running a game that manages to get 1080p@60 as a seeming minimum no matter what you throw at it, running at 720p@30 is not impressive.

It's also hilarious that you even bring up sacrificing fidelity, resolution, and framerate... well yeah... and it still runs like crap at a low resolution and a low framerate. It's also funny you mentioned zelda botw, since that game also had framerate problems on the switch that didn't exist on the wii version. Dips into 20fps when docked and connected to a TV? Yup, that's a quality gaming experience

 

[ZeroAlligator]

Nice to see you pop in for your yearly message!

I read [H] daily but only very rarely feel the need & desire to input my 2 cents. When I do I try to provide a thoughtful and informed viewpoint. I'm glad to see that it's appreciated. You are very welcome sir.

-ZA

 

[ZeroAlligator]

Because this is hardocp, not hardrungameslikeshit.

Retail hardware in 2017 running a 2011 game like skyrim is not impressive, period. Running a game that manages to get 1080p@60 as a seeming minimum no matter what you throw at it, running at 720p@30 is not impressive.

It's also hilarious that you even bring up sacrificing fidelity, resolution, and framerate... well yeah... and it still runs like crap at a low resolution and a low framerate. It's also funny you mentioned zelda botw, since that game also had framerate problems on the switch that didn't exist on the wii version. Dips into 20fps when docked and connected to a TV? Yup, that's a quality gaming experience

If you read the initial reviews of Zelda BOTW you might be under the misguided assumption that the framerate dips while playing the game. Those issues were patched out long ago however. I play a couple of hours of BOTW a week and have not experienced any framerate issues since those patches. Most retail games have issues that are patched out, so this is not a Switch specific issue.

Retail handheld hardware playing a 2011 game like Skyrim is impressive to me but maybe I'm easily impressed. Or maybe the fact that Skyrim has never been available on a mobile/handheld platform before - and now it is - is actually impressive. That said, I realize that systems like the GPD WIN exist and can play games such as Skyrim, but if you look at the playability of those systems you'll most likely come to the same conclusion that I did: mini laptops are not quite there yet, while the Switch definitely is. By the way, I love my PS4 and my gaming PC as well, I just can't fit them in my coat pocket unfortunately.

-ZA

 

[Stoly]

Kudos for them getting it to run at even 30FPS. I thought the Switch was based on some modified tablet / phone CPU in the first place. 720 (which is still HD) at 30FPS really is not too shabby.

Actually its based on a neutered shieldTV.

 

[Derangel]

Because this is hardocp, not hardrungameslikeshit.

Retail hardware in 2017 running a 2011 game like skyrim is not impressive, period. Running a game that manages to get 1080p@60 as a seeming minimum no matter what you throw at it, running at 720p@30 is not impressive.

It's also hilarious that you even bring up sacrificing fidelity, resolution, and framerate... well yeah... and it still runs like crap at a low resolution and a low framerate. It's also funny you mentioned zelda botw, since that game also had framerate problems on the switch that didn't exist on the wii version. Dips into 20fps when docked and connected to a TV? Yup, that's a quality gaming experience

Yes, this is HardOCP, a site for enthusiasts. A site for people to talk about and be excited for hardware. Guess what, the Switch is hardware. It represents an advancement in hardware in specific markets. You have a pathetically narrow minded view of what hardware enthusiasm is.

 

[Master_shake_]

Sigh. I hate when developers do this. Give me 60 fps and turn the details down. Motion blur overload doesn't fool me. Nor do interpolated YouTube videos.

remember the SNES version of doom?

it was like Vaseline over a camera textures.

 

[Domingo]

remember the SNES version of doom?

it was like Vaseline over a camera textures.

I actually owned the Jaguar version of that game (along with the PC version) I had a friend with a 32X version, but I haven't ever played it on the SNES. Considering how well that system handled 3D, I can imagine what it looked like.

I'd still favor FPS vs. still visuals 99/100 times either way.

 

[ymer]

Ok, first of all, as I said it's not particularly impressive to be running Doom on crappy hardware.

Second, so what if skyrim runs on it? It should run on it, skyrim came out in 2011. There is absolutely nothing impressive about hardware available on store shelves today running a 6 year old game.

Old game, runs like shit, tiny screen, crap controls. There's nothing amazing about that unless you've never noticed that even lower end hardware over time is still better than previous lower end hardware. And skyrim? Really? Yeah, bethesda has ported it to everything they can, to squeeze every last dollar they can get out of that tired game. I liked skyrim, when it came out in 2011. If anything people should be wondering about the next game and hoping that bethesda didn't go all in on that elder scrolls online crap.

I bet the switch could also run duke nukem 3d if someone bothered to port it.

And again, when we already know that the modern AAA games you're talking about can run well enough on a potato, running like crap on a switch is not impressive.

Because this is hardocp, not hardrungameslikeshit.

Retail hardware in 2017 running a 2011 game like skyrim is not impressive, period. Running a game that manages to get 1080p@60 as a seeming minimum no matter what you throw at it, running at 720p@30 is not impressive.

It's also hilarious that you even bring up sacrificing fidelity, resolution, and framerate... well yeah... and it still runs like crap at a low resolution and a low framerate. It's also funny you mentioned zelda botw, since that game also had framerate problems on the switch that didn't exist on the wii version. Dips into 20fps when docked and connected to a TV? Yup, that's a quality gaming experience

The real question is: what are you going to do with all that salt?

 

[Merc1138]

The real question is: what are you going to do with all that salt?

Oh yeah, I'm so salty for pointing out that recent hardware running older games isn't some sort of miracle, and that running recent games like crap isn't particularly impressive.

FFS, you guys are here defending gaming at 720p at 30fps? That just reeks of fanboys. What would I even be "salty" about? That someone is running a game at a crappy resolution and framerate? Yup, I can just feel my blood boiling over that.

 

[InorganicMatter]

I think this is more a testament to how good of a job id Software did with programming for Doom. If only all games performed this well...

 

[Kinsaras]

The little system that could.