Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3

Chapter 11. Level Optimization

OK, you’ve worked hard to build all these digital assets. You’ve put’em all together. You now have a level—congratulations. You’re done, right? No way. Just throwing everything together is a good way to deliver a level that won’t perform well during gameplay. Not everyone has 64 gigs of memory, a super-mega-32-core processor and a state-of-the-art video card—and even if they did, it’s all too easy to create a game that’ll transform their hardware into cold molasses! You need to understand how your game level will perform on real-world systems. If you’re building a PC game, you need to set realistic hardware requirements (ideally, without disqualifying 99% of your potential customers!) Above all, you need ...