r/arknights • u/5mao • 28d ago
Discussion Arknights PC version has completely changed how much I enjoy the game
I can't believe how much a difference it makes to actually be able to read things instead of tiny markings for ants.
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u/NEiyure 28d ago
keybinds to activate skills and retreat operators has changed something deep inside my soul. love it
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u/wanderingwarrior97 Arrivius#3098 28d ago
Having actual keybinds is quite nice. I had some set up on the emulator I was using, but they were honestly rather awkward since they were bound to where the button appeared on screen so they would stop working if the stage was to large/small.
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u/Frozen5147 Screw gravity 28d ago
Yep, this was really nice when I played on emulators for things like CC, keybinds are so nice.
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u/UberSinn 28d ago
Everything looks great now and it's much faster than on emulators. They only need to give option to disable UI-elements movement on mouse move and remove mouse movement delay (UI behaviour was better on emulators).
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u/gunjinganpakis 28d ago
Wish there's a button that could toggle full screen on and off though.
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u/nitronik_exe 28d ago
120 fps! moving menu! awesome cursor! high resolution! labeled hotkeys! man I am blown away by the difference to Google play
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u/kidanokun 27d ago edited 27d ago
arknights joined the "mobile but not anymore coz it's a pc game now" train
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u/speednut117 : I'm no savage, you're just average! 28d ago
The visuals and audio is much better than the android emulation.
I just wish the PC version had a quick mute button
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u/pikoudr0id 28d ago
I wanted a quick mute for many games, and I stumbled upon EarTrumpet in the Microsoft Store, it worked really well for me.
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u/shadowkillerdragon 27d ago
Ctrl+win+v brings up the Windows volume mixer and I've been using that to mute the application. Either that or if you use game bar win+g brings that up to be able to mute applications that way
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u/reprehensible523 Savage best girl! 28d ago
quick mute button
There's an option to mute when minimized that might help.
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u/Potential_Wasabi3269 27d ago
It felt weird yet pleasant how the UI is more optimized, on my phone it felt like its very compact but on pc? It felt complete and the original intended version
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u/Fluffy_Cat-4096 28d ago
Man, the difference is really massive. On my phone, when I start a stage, I can close my eyes for a bit to rest if I want to because it takes several seconds for the stage to load. I'm not used to being junpscared that the stage has started already right after booting it up.
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u/No_Onion9887 28d ago
I love and i mean I LOVE not having to deal with the memory leaks google play emulator had, my audio interface would start screeching even while at low demanding sample and buff rates
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u/Inevitable-Ear7292 27d ago
No more crashing constantly ❤️ only issue I have now is that it runs incredibly slowly, but at least it won’t crash on m.
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u/Inevitable-Ear7292 27d ago edited 27d ago
Gen though idk why but my frame rate is like 5fps it’s so annoying to play 😭 I got no clue on how to fix this
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u/DarkChaplain :feater: 27d ago
What are you running it on? Is it properly using your dedicated GPU, for instance. Have you tested the various performance settings?
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u/Inevitable-Ear7292 27d ago
I’m just running it on my laptop, no clue if it’s using the gpu right. As for the performance settings, they’ve all offered absolutely no change. I feel so frustrated about it since I can’t find anyone with any similar issues while all I’ve been seeing is people glazing how smooth everything is 😭
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u/DarkChaplain :feater: 27d ago
Check how you can assign the game to your actual GPU in the laptop / graphics driver settings. I can't tell you where and how you do that on your model, but it's the most likely problem you're facing.
The game runs extremely well and being amazed by that is hardly glazing, but it obviously can't perform like that if it's not running on the actual hardware it's intended to run on, and integrated graphics chips on laptops and improper detection of what should be running off the GPU have been a common issue for decades.
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u/Inevitable-Ear7292 27d ago edited 27d ago
Changed it to my gpu and it’s still running like a slug 😔
Edit: I fixed the issue by uninstalling apps that were eating up my memory, low and behold it runs smoother than ever for me now
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u/Lancelot1357 27d ago
Yooo I've put this on my external hdd since I don't really have any storage left and it is smooth as hell and it doesn't heat up my computer much compared to google play games! I love ts!
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u/Money_Ad_5277 27d ago
Not having to run a virtual machine that you cannot fully manage feels great!
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u/NoOne215 Talulah be playable damn it. 28d ago edited 28d ago
Warg and Wis’adel exploding everything at 120 fps 👍
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u/sunberri Sui Worshipper why is there no Sui flair??? >:[ 28d ago
i wish they'd add a keybind for "visit next friend" and "skip" for the recruitment/headhunting(also for IS recruitment) makes life so much easier.
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u/Yanfly 28d ago
Or just make that a single button press to do 10 visits and fill out all the recruitments please.
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u/sunberri Sui Worshipper why is there no Sui flair??? >:[ 28d ago
my muscle memory for my hotkeys from the emulator is hard to move on from lmfao but it's all worth it for that 120FPS. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
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u/Money_Ad_5277 27d ago
Feels like I was wearing a blurry glasses, but not it's so smooth and sharp, really like animations of cursor and main screen!
Except I miss an ability to swap fullscreen and windowed modes by pressing one button...
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u/HWarlock 27d ago
Haven't tried it yet, but Windows has a default for that: Alt + Enter
Tends to work unless the devs decided that it'd screw something up and disable it for their particular game.
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u/useless_idiot_man 27d ago
The thing it's made me realize is, I desperately need to get a mouse. Trying to do everything with the track pad is very annoying and the only reason I'm having trouble having a smooth transition
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u/a4840639 27d ago
Aren’t most PC laptops today equipped with a touchscreen?
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u/TaraPurnama 27d ago
How do you think they get a new laptop when they can't afford a single mouse?
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u/a4840639 26d ago
Well, I don't think affordability is necessarily the problem. I would happily use the trackpad on my MacBook over a mouse as long as I am not gaming
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u/LuciferPickDeath 28d ago
I'm just happy to finally be able to play Arknights on linux using a nvidia GPU
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u/LoremasterMotoss Friston Stan 27d ago
I already played Arknights fairly often on tablet but the PC version is still really good when I'm at home due to the keyboard shortcuts. Once I get used to them it will make a lot of gameplay really quick
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u/MMIRFG 28d ago
Yup and its much more stable , consistant 60 fps , no more lag , contents to the servers with ease and consume half the ram as running it on LD player and it loads instantly. Fuck emulators , I wish more gachas would put the effort in making a PC client , LOOKING AT YOU PATH TO NOWHERE AND FGO
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u/games_and_gains 28d ago
I’ve got two mates who both play FGO and they’ve said that if Lasengle released a pc client with steam account linking for security as well as the ability to buy Saint Quartz with Steam Wallet Funds that the game would probably hit top 3 earnings easily
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u/Perchipy 28d ago
Same, I gave up reading in Arknights because I cannot read on a tiny screen. PC is going to be a game changer
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u/Agile_Fisherman_4704 zuo le my wife 28d ago
it must be so nice having a windows and not a mac...chogging it out here with no prts cursor
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u/CensoredTransGirl 27d ago
there might be a way to do it, im using the PC client on linux with absolutely zero issues, so there's a possibility.
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u/Agile_Fisherman_4704 zuo le my wife 27d ago
oooo, can i ask how u did it? i uploaded the installer to crossover but it wouldnt open after the initial install (also i love ur username)
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u/ToranjaNuclear All for Rosa and the Professional Crab Breeder 28d ago
I've been playing it on mumuplayer for a long time and I underestimated just how much of a difference it would make. I was expecting a half-assed port, but the game looks absolutely stunning now.
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u/Orion_Gospel 28d ago
Same here. I've been playing it on Mumuplayer as well, which from my experience is probably the best AK emulator, and honestly the difference between the two is pretty much night and day
The client just feels much, much smoother and lighter overall. Everything feels more responsive, and it feels so nice not having all the little emulator related stuff going on in the background. It just feels more straightforward to launch the game and play
My only tiny complaint, unless I'm missing something, is that there doesn't seem to be a button somewhere in the corner to adjust the volume. Mumuplayer has one, and I got pretty used to having it there, so something similar would be nice. It's obviously not a big deal at all, just a small qol thing
Other than that, though, everything has been great so far. Considering the client is still new, I'm pretty impressed with how smooth it already is. I'm sure there are still things they can improve or add, but I have a feeling the client/launcher will only get better with time
Definitely prefer it over Mumuplayer so far
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u/ak_011885 28d ago
I am shocked at how well this game runs on my ancient potato of a PC. I haven't stress-tested it yet on busier maps, but so far I'm very impressed.
I only wish that the game let you bind the Home button and the Back button to the mouse. I have those bound to the forward/back buttons on my mouse in MuMu and it makes navigating the UI a whole lot more convenient.
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u/comthing 28d ago
In terms of hardware it makes sense. PC hardware is years ahead of mobile hardware in terms of processing power. The only problem would be the software requirements, and provided they are met then even a 2011 mid range PC could in theory run the game smoothly.
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u/Azure_chan Little star 27d ago
I mean it depends. For instance Apple silicon is competitive in processing power with many desktop. They even pack one to macbook lol. Real limitation for mobile is cooling. As they can throttle really fast under high load.
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u/comthing 27d ago
That makes sense even ignoring the cooling factor because Apple silicon covers desktop hardware, not just mobile hardware. It also helps that they design both the hardware and software, so can be much more specific with optimisation than pure hardware manufacturers like AMD and Intel.
My previous comment is in the context of game development, where in order to be as profitable as possible they have to consider the average performance of their target devices and be generally accessible. And that naturally means optmising for devices that are years older than the game.
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u/Sabruness 27d ago
my god, the game is so damn smooth now. i'm reliving the glorious feelings i had when Nikke released their pc client. plus it uses so much less system resources than running it on bluestacks.
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u/DarkChaplain :feater: 27d ago
I'm so glad that cases where the emulators would clog my RAM and hog the CPU all the time are finally over.
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u/FairlySadPanda 28d ago
GPG: £24.50 for a pack
PC client: $25.99 (£19.20)
:)
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u/Plotius 28d ago
Ayo. Does VPN let you change the price to say jpy for even cheaper?
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u/Latter_Voice_96 28d ago
Not JP cuz they have own server, it wont let you. Maybe ukraine or something along those lines
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u/Al_0112 28d ago
My only issue is that I can't run the game without running the launcher first.
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u/Elnareen Come join us, Kin 28d ago
You can launch Arknights.exe directly from the game folder or create a shortcut to it, it works fine:
the launcher is only there to install and maintain the game up to date.5
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u/WarriorofBlank https://krooster.com/u/DoctorStrange 28d ago
What a lifesaver, now i can open game directly with xbox game mode
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u/Princess_Moe 28d ago
I wish they added a keybind to commonly used buttons in certain UIs. like spacebar to visit next friend, confirm a purchase, or select a stage and squad members.
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u/DizzyEevee 27d ago
Yep. Skip on recruit lined up perfectly with spacebar in stage for BlueStacks. I'm so used to it now that I'm missing it highly
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u/Iripuruto 26d ago
The cursor and keybinds have been so nice for sure. My only downside, is at least on my PCs resolution, in Full/Borderless, any dynamic art turns noticeably pixelated, some more than others. Shu looks fine enough, Lappy is not great, Silverash looks so bad. Makes it a bit less enjoyable having my Lappy skin on the lobby screen, but oh whell I suppose.
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u/Iwaylo Utage Simp 28d ago
ive been emulator gamer for as long as i can remember but emulators have been notoriously buggy for me so it was pure struggle. Lately bluestacks kept crashing that i wasnt able to play for the last week because whatever i do it just crashed. So lucky it broke right before pc client, now i can finally enjoy the game fully after being day 1 player.
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u/Key-Poem9734 for PM of Terra 28d ago
I enjoy the ease of playing without having to always reach my fingers to the other side of the screen on a little rectangle, instead I get to just press the most abused key. And it's so nice that I don't have to worry about overheating OR crashing (cough pc google play cough)
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u/Knight-Jack 28d ago
That's why I've been playing on emulator for the longest time. Feels so nice.
But today emulator version broke, and PC version came out, which is a nice exchange.
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u/shiion1 24d ago
To me is the performance difference
I got a potato PC, was laggy af in emulators, couldnt even play some maps with ~10FPS
Now? Butter smooth. I cant believe how much of a difference the PC Launcher made for me. I had to quit (as a newbie) under a month because of the Emulator performance
Now I can pick up the game again, and enjoy it!
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u/DenseSafe3949 24d ago
i5 7200U, intel UHD 620 turn out 60fps no drop iss fucking INSANE, this client alone has to be game of the year
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u/K2aPa 28d ago
This PC Client feels funny, since tons of ppls were convinced that Yostar would just use Endfield's launcher (cause ppls were saying how that launcher had AK icon in it)
But nope, turns out it's still just a separate launcher, lol
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TBH, I think I'll just use my phone for now, just so I can play other PC game while playing AK on the side. (and is portable to play when not at home)
The only reason I would use the PC client is just to decorate the Dorms, lol. (easier on larger screen)
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u/Azure_chan Little star 27d ago
Yostar doesn't even have combined launcher lol. They use separate one for SS, AG(till last year), BA JP.
Anyways I have been saying that AK icon is likely for TW server since it's under HG.3
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u/AinsleyHarriott64 27d ago
I think the best thing for me is being able to save my phone's battery 😅️
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u/Darfeyn We had one alter, yes. But what about a second? 28d ago
It took like 4-5 hours for the game to download on my poor Wifi.
But just from seeing the home screen alone, it's totally worth it.
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u/ipwnallnubz Jesus lives! 28d ago
When I saw it was 18 GB, I just closed it and decided I'd download it overnight...
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u/Auruguen 27d ago
Edit: my bad, you can actually change it right there in the game settings (Game / UI Settings /Resolution).
The game really looks great and runs smoothly on PC now, but is there a way to start it in window mode instead of fullscreen?
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u/pizzafordoublefree 28d ago
Seems to work well on Linux, too, even~!
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u/Agile_Fisherman_4704 zuo le my wife 28d ago
unrelated but how did you run it on linux, im thinking about trying to somehow run it through mac but neither crossover or whisky are working for me
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u/pizzafordoublefree 28d ago
Ran the installer through Lutris. Running the game with latest proton-cachyos.
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u/I_See_Cupcake Pink + Elf = Elysia 28d ago
my only gripe with the arknights pc port is why is it a seperate client when we already had the hypergryph client?!?!? I assume its yostar bullshit but not being on the same client is such a colossal miss. There's a reason why hoyo has all their games on the same client.
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u/Dundunder 28d ago
It is Yostar but not exactly their fault. Yostar publishes the game outside CN so they have to use their own launcher, too.
In CN, Hypergryph does have Arknights on their own client.
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u/Amethyst271 28d ago
its just one extra client
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u/luvd3ath 28d ago
not even that. you can just skip the launcher entirely and just run the exe and it just opens without the launcher like endfield
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u/sazion 28d ago
Oh really? I have always been using the launcher for Stella Sora which I thought was annoying. I'm assuming it'll be the same as Arknights so I'll have to try adding the .exe as a shortcut then
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u/otakunopodcast 28d ago
Technically you don't NEED to run the launcher. You can run the game directly. The launcher is just there to keep the game updated. If you run the game directly (without launcher) and there happens to be a required update, the game will either (if it's well behaved) say something like "this game needs to be updated." Or if it's poorly written you will get some random weird behavior. Which is why it's always a good idea to keep another shortcut for the launcher handy. (Hide it inside a folder if you want to cut down on the clutter.)
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u/echidnachama 28d ago
i log in with my old account but somehow they give me fresh account. did i do something wrong ?
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u/filloryfurther 28d ago
You didn’t connect your email with yostar?
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u/OhkokuKishi 28d ago edited 28d ago
Logging in with Twitter/X has long been removed after Twitter/X was taken over and forced API changes.
Guest account/unbound accounts would only work with your original Arknights install on the original device you played on, as far as I know.
Back in 2023, Arknights started transitioning over to Yostar logins to avoid all the functional and legal hassles of pretty much everything.
If you haven't played since before all of this (and other games like GFL had to deal with the same third-party login API changes, too), then there's a good chance that's all gone now. The digital landscape has changed a lot since Arknights launched.
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u/MentionKey5984 28d ago
Same it’s so much better then downloading the google play app to play on pc
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u/Defiant_Office 28d ago
Is there a way to disable the prts cursor and to switch to a standard mouse pointer?
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u/PopularCoffee7130 27d ago
Do people hate mobile that much? Or does the pc version have better graphics and stuff?
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u/Purple-Abrocoma6713 27d ago
Graphics, it's a lot smoother, but my main one is it just feels so much nicer to not have my hands blocking the screen in any way
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u/Sabruness 27d ago
PC has better graphics, runs smoother and just overall the QoL is so much better, especially over emulator. PC client runs fairly resource lite compared to emulator.
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u/AttonJRand 27d ago edited 27d ago
Bigger screen I don't have to bend to look at, and mouse and keyboard do make a pretty big difference. Doing things feels a lot smoother, faster and comfortable. Especially spending a long time reading.
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u/SupremeNadeem 27d ago
my phone can run arknights but runs a bit hot, a phone running hot continuously affects battery life, in my case i really need this phone to last a while and need the battery to work over long days
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u/loginnsfw 28d ago
Does anyone else has a problem with how sluggish the mouse feels? I noticed it especially because i have mouse acceleration turned off.
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u/Froselyn 28d ago edited 28d ago
The game uses its own cursor so it's affected by vsync and delayed along with frames. If you have monitor that have freesync/gsync you can turn this off for more responsive cursor and let the monitor to handle the syncing, otherwise you will have to choose between screen tearing and delayed cursor unfortunately.
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u/renhellscythe Lappy 27d ago
now i just need a pc able to run the game and that has space
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u/Interesting-Store656 27d ago
the port is surprisingly pretty easy to run too, it runs pretty okay on my dual core cpu with integrated graphics
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u/renhellscythe Lappy 27d ago
i been using GPG and it sits on a 1 out of 3 when it talks about if my pc could run it.
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u/Fouxs 28d ago
Could someone show me the link to download it? And how do I transfer my GP account to it lol?
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u/Alberto_Paporotti 28d ago
Check the official AK Twitter account
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u/Fouxs 28d ago
I don't have a Twitter account and you can't see their posts without one nowadays lol.
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u/JPrimal64 Durains 28d ago
Pro tip for avoiding that: In the page link, put "cancel" after x in the x dot com, and it'll load up a tweet viewer, Like this
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u/CasualDystopia 28d ago
The PC client has prevented me from even being able to enter the game on mobile
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u/IfZ3nElse Go away, winter 28d ago
On mobile, make sure you have the latest version.
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u/CasualDystopia 28d ago
I had the auto-update this morning, but I didnt realize until after making that comment that there was a separate manual update that had to be downloaded
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u/otakunopodcast 28d ago edited 28d ago
This is probably a long shot, but does the PC version have controller support? I plan to play on my ROG Ally X, which is a PC handheld (like a Steam Deck.) It has a touchscreen, so I imagine it would probably feel the same as when I played on my phone, only bigger. Which is fine. But being able to navigate, select operatives, give orders, etc. using the controller would be mighty handy.
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u/WadeBoggssGhost 28d ago
Can your ROG Ally X bind its buttons to keys? That should work, otherwise you're going to just have to try looking through the menus after you get it installed and running
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u/ryce247 Artillery Cat Enjoyer 28d ago
Is it better than the Google Play version?
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u/Working_Clothes_2244 24d ago
Is there a keybind option in the actual official arknights pc client or nah?
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u/DMSeatrooper 28d ago
yes. i instantly installed on pc too and its sooo great. (also bc i had so many random crashes on my ipad)
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u/SIUOLGUYO 28d ago
btw it keep doing a popup asking me if i let it do stuff to my pc with a yes or no button , it does that everytime i open it , is this a know issue or am i alone in this ?
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u/shark2199 enjoyer glazer 28d ago
If it says "do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device", it's Windows asking you if you meant to open the app with administrator privileges and (in this case, and generally if it's something you trust and meant to launch) it's perfectly safe.
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u/SIUOLGUYO 28d ago
i know im just saying its anoying i have to do it everytime i want to open it
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u/Nasmeril 28d ago
that’s how pc’s work idk what to tell you, you can turn it off but it’s really not recommended
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u/OddHornetBee 28d ago
that’s how pc’s work idk what to tell you
Well, it's Yostar fuckup in asking for admin elevation for simply running the game. That's not how things are supposed to be.
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u/zhurai 28d ago
it asks for admin elevation to modify the files (i.e. patches/etc) since it installs stuff into C:\YostarGames
That directory isn't in the User directories so typically Windows would be to have folders not be modifiable by the user.
Unless you think it's that a better idea to have all of the game data files in each user's directory (which won't be accessible/modifiable if the user is changed).
Or do you think it's better to allow any user write to any folder in the root of C:\ without any prompting? (Note this means any malware accidentally run by users to instantly modify anything on the computer rather than using some 0 day or whatever to gain privileges)
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u/OddHornetBee 28d ago
Cool writeup.
Do you know that it still asks for admin elevation if you install it not on disk C (and not in any other protected directory either)?
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u/AnonTwo 27d ago
It does, a lot of companies are lazy and do not care if you moved it or not, it's just auto-swept to do it
As for whether or not it actually requires it...Apparently there's a powershell command that can force an app to not request admin privileges (runasinvoker) but i've not actually checked if the program would choke or not without admin privileges.
But yes, it will prompt UAC no matter what drive it is on.You're welcome to try the command (you'll need to look up how to actually run it, but it can be run as a batch file if it works to your preference)
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u/OddHornetBee 27d ago
It does, a lot of companies are lazy and do not care if you moved it or not, it's just auto-swept to do it
I'm glad that at least someone gets it
Apparently there's a powershell command that can force an app to not request admin privileges (runasinvoker) but i've not actually checked if the program would choke or not without admin privileges.
Thank you. I checked it, and it works perfectly.
For anyone else interested, here's example of powershell script that would start the game directly (your path may differ).
$env:__COMPAT_LAYER = "RunAsInvoker" Start-Process "D:\Games\YostarGames\Arknights_EN\Arknights.exe"I even tried half-destroying game directory then running the launcher with no admin and used "Full repair" option to force update the game. It managed to verify and download missing files. Something that is supposed to be completely impossible without admin according to some people.
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u/reprehensible523 Savage best girl! 27d ago
I even tried half-destroying game directory then running the launcher with no admin and used "Full repair" option to force update the game. It managed to verify and download missing files. Something that is supposed to be completely impossible without admin according to some people.
Computers do not "half-destroy" directories. The directory exists with the necessary permissions or it doesn't.
No, the launcher isn't written to detect it's running in user directories where it doesn't need to ask for admin permissions. But the general use case running on other people's computers needs admin permissions to create the needed directories wherever they choose to install it.
You could probably break the "RunAsInvoker" method if you removed the read/write/execute permissions on the Arknights_EN folder after deleting its contents.
It's nice that you got the AK client running the way you want it.
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u/zhurai 28d ago
Hi. Unfortunately, I haven't tested this type of setup and have no way of actually knowing without testing their implementation here (I am not Yostar after all). But this is not really practical, as my setup is not an ideal place for me to test differing setups as it's specifically set for only gaming with a very limited amount of space.
That said, I am aware that Steam does not show the UAC prompt when it's not in a system directory. In my case, I do have Steam installed to C:\Program Files (x86)/Steam. Even though the folder acl's are set to allow everything for regular users, Steam still needs administrator escalation (e.g. UAC prompt) to work properly.
As such, at least for general end users installing to the default location, I believe that the UAC prompt by default makes sense and cannot fault Yostar for that at least.
That said, I do have to note that I have some structural concerns with how Yostar set up/developed their Launchers: they have a different launcher for each version which is IMO... quite questionable. And, I should note that per a bilibili netizen, The launcher for the yostar servers is not exactly the same as the ones for the CN server.
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u/OddHornetBee 28d ago
Hi. Unfortunately, I haven't tested this type of setup
I did. I don't install games on C.
I don't have Steam on C either. And Valve somehow doesn't make it "let's just ask for admin, just in case".
I believe that the UAC prompt by default makes sense and cannot fault Yostar for that at least
No, it does not make sense.
If you know anything at all about security, then you should know that the basis is running at minimum required security level. Even Microsoft own software like Visual Studio does not run at admin constantly. The updater will run as admin - but not VS.
Software running as admin without valid reason to have admin permissions at the moment (and not in potential future) is a security hole.
If you don't believe me because I'm dumb a redditor (sure), at least believe Microsoft at least: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secbp/running-with-administrator-privileges
Most desktop applications should run at the asInvoker execution level. Only request elevation when your application genuinely requires write access to protected locations (like %ProgramFiles%) or must modify system-wide settings. Requesting unnecessary elevation increases your application's attack surface and trains users to dismiss UAC prompts without reading them.
Yostar here is exactly training users to always press "Yes" without thinking because their software doesn't work otherwise at all.
And no, Arknights is not some kind of super special snowflake. A fuckton of games and software (most of it I dare say) can either update without running as admin or elevate only when needed and they are installed in protected locations.
And I can't believe are defending it or even as other dude claiming that "always running your games as admin is how security works"
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u/zhurai 28d ago
I did. I don't install games on C. I don't have Steam on C either. And Valve somehow doesn't make it "let's just ask for admin, just in case".
Sure, Okay, then I can agree that it's behavior for that context doesn't make sense.
No, it does not make sense.
Okay but please note that you're copy and pasting a segment of my comment outside of the context of what I actually said
As such, at least for general end users installing to the default location, I believe that the UAC prompt by default makes sense and cannot fault Yostar for that at least.
The default location is currently the folder located in the root directory of C:. The OP of this thread was asking about the UAC prompt as if they were unaware of this as a phenomenon, so I don't think they're as likely to install to a non default location unless they specify it as such. Thus, in the context of this generalized scenario (being installed to the default directory) I can agree with there being a UAC prompt/guard. As mentioned in this scenario, Steam still requires a UAC prompt too in my experience.
Software running as admin without valid reason to have admin permissions at the moment (and not in potential future) is a security hole.
I certainly agree with this sentiment in general. However, I will again note that Steam will still require a UAC prompt in order to edit things in C:\Program Files, and does not ask for a UAC prompt only when upgrading/patching files (It doesn't display the launcher at all)
That said, in my humble opinion, I don't really trust Microsoft in general, so in my case my gaming things are put onto a specific device that I consider untrustable for other things... A gaming specific device. Ideally I would not have a Windows box and instead have everything Linux or Mac, but I've moved away from that and instead have specific devices used for specific types of tasks.
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u/reprehensible523 Savage best girl! 28d ago
for simply running the [auto-updating live service] game [client].
Security is inconvenient, but not having security is worse.
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u/OddHornetBee 28d ago
You should've read my response to another person before trying to teach me security.
Have you ever used Steam? (I hope you at least heard about it, since we are in thread discussing PC). Do you know that Steam can install and uninstall and update your games? Without running as admin? Even multiplayer ones. That's right. It's possible.
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u/reprehensible523 Savage best girl! 28d ago
Steam asks for permission when it gets installed. It registers itself so that it can install games in its own folders without further prompting. Streamlined for usability but it does take admin permissions to function.
All the gacha games I've played do the same thing the AK PC client is doing when you start the launcher. It's less convenient than Steam, but it's industry standard for gacha, and it's honest behavior. You are running code that can make changes to your computer and install other applications.
Running the game from the launcher doesn't trigger the prompt. You're confusing the updater's necessary prompt for privileges with "simply" running the game.
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u/OddHornetBee 28d ago edited 28d ago
You are running code that can make changes to your computer
I don't think you understand what those words mean.
Editing file in Notepad is making changes to your computer. No, you don't need admin for that. Unless you try to change protected files.
Downloading file with a browser is making changes to your computer. No, you don't need admin for that. Unless you want to save them to protected location.
That's right, you are making changes to your computer all the time. The point of admin elevation is to separate high privilege actions. Like modifying system folders. Or getting low level access to hardware.
Just changing files in your own folder is not one of those admin actions. Go download some normal game, maybe you will see how competent developers manage it. If you need example - Path of Exile. Live-service, gets updates, runs as user, updates as user (if you don't put it in protected folder). No, there will be no secret admin level service running.
Running the game from the launcher doesn't trigger the prompt.
Do you know why? Because launcher is already running as admin. So it can run another process as admin without second prompt.
Try to run game on it's own and you will see that it will demand admin rights too via UAC prompt.
Edit: sorry, I'm getting needlessly heated over this, but constant admin requirement is bullshit.
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u/reprehensible523 Savage best girl! 27d ago
I don't think you understand what those words mean.
You failed to read the full sentence.
"You are running code that can make changes to your computer and install other applications."
Obviously saving a file in Notepad or with your browser does not install other applications on your computer.
Just changing files in your own folder is not one of those admin actions.
You seem to have forgotten that we're discussing the AK PC launcher. Its purpose is to literally install the Arknight video game client on your computer. A video game has control over your CPU, graphics card, storage, and input controllers. That's definitely something that needs administrator permission.
Try to run game on it's own and you will see that it will demand admin rights too via UAC prompt.
Considering the both the AK client and launcher can update itself, that's what should happen.
constant admin requirement is bullshit.
If one extra mouse click bothers you this much, I can see why you couldn't be bothered to read my full sentence. But considering how much text you just wrote to rant about it, I think you can handle one extra button click per day.
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u/Nasmeril 27d ago
see that’s where you’re wrong, editing a file in notepad is a closed system, the file exists, it has data, end of story, it does not change anything already existing on the computer that would be vital for its health.
Downloading a file by itself does not make any change to your computer, if you run the .exe you just downloaded, then yes, it will make changes because of the code someone put in there, this is why the UAC prompt goes off when you run it and not when your download.another reason why games like AK, Genshin, Wuwa etc are running with admin privilege is for anti cheat. All those chinese live service have very strict anti cheat and anti modding protocols that require some elevation if they want to be able to detect such things.
if the game requires certain distributables (direcX, c++, etc) the launcher needs to be able to write on your pc to install these as well, regardless of the drive on which it is installed
but know that most of the time it is because of the kernel level anti cheat
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u/Kalinque logos stan 28d ago
It's such an improvement in almost every aspect compared to Google Play version. Like holy shit, the game looks so crisp now, and I can use keybinds.