Optimization, Making Large Forts and Collections of Items Load Better

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Hello!

I use Unreal regularly, and had some suggestions that I thought you could address. I absolutely am loving the direction the game is going, but one of the funnest parts of this game is the building system. It is very tempting to build big. Like, really big. But you quickly come across issues with loading in those buildings when you are walking up to them. Being in a large base can be an infuriating experience. Below are some specifics;

-I imagine that you are already using LODs for the building pieces, but I am not positive of how far those are being pushed. I think those LOD values could probably be pushed a bit further, so the high res doesn’t load in until you are quite close to the building. Along with that, you can probably bring in the distance that the lowest quality of LOD is used. I think you can get away with cards as the lowest version and use that more liberally. Maybe you are already doing that, but if not I think that can help with performance a great deal.

-The chests and crates that are full of items seem to bog down the system the most. It seems like they are loading a lot more than the icon on the screen. I am guessing that they are tied to the blueprint of the item, that also contains the mesh and all the other properties of that item? I am wondering if you can not load all of that information until the item is equipped or loaded into your hot bar. I am just not sure why that bogs down the system so much currently.

If we can figure out a way to make building big a little less taxing on the engine, I think you can open the game up a ton! It’s already a great deal better then competitors, but why not push it that much further. Hoping this topic can gain some steam,

Thanks for your time!