Acceptable Game File Size

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Socoder -> Blitz -> Acceptable Game File Size
Fri, 02 Apr 2010, 10:14
Mog	I've been working pretty hard on my adventure game, finally getting the world loader in place with a happy map portalling system. The world, as it turns out, is now a 256,000x256,000 sized map that's loaded through a grid system comprised of over 30,720 tiled heightmaps in an 8x8 "master grid" with smaller 16x16 subportals within it to load the maps as sort of an LOD-type deal. Pretty huge numbers, but all of this comes at another huge price. I'm currently choking down 2.7gb of media files, and that's with some creative packing and unloading. All together, these add up to 9.9gb (!!!!) uncompressed. The world is damned huge- maybe even perhaps too expansive in the realm of indie game development. I like that i have such a large canvas to finally work with, but with that filesize, even i'm clenching certain parts of my body when i have to think about that number. So in perfect honesty - Is this acceptable in the very least? To me, I'd say not; that's a huge huge download. What do you guys think? And what's the max limit I should keep under to stay comfortable? -=-=- I am Busy Mongoose - My Website Dev PC: AMD 8150-FX, 16gb Ram, GeForce GTX 680 2gb Current Project: Pyroxene
Fri, 02 Apr 2010, 10:29
JL235	So is it 2.7gb when compressed? Or do you not have a number when the whole thing is compressed? The only practical way you could distribute your game will be via bittorrent. If it's an awesome game, then people will download it. But your still limiting yourself. I think you really need to ask 'is all this content worth the extra hassle for the end user?' If the answer is yes, then don't worry. If it's a no, then I'd start chopping away at stuff. I would also say that large maps tend to be bad rather then good. I've seen plenty of indie games and RPGs where the developer makes massive maps because they can, and as the user your just bored wondering around them all. Bearing in mind I haven't seen your game or your maps, I'd also ask yourself 'are my maps interesting enough, across all of them, to warrent them being this big?' Again if the answer is not a yes, cut it down.
Fri, 02 Apr 2010, 10:45
Jayenkai	whhheeeww! I'd usually say no, I hate big filesizes. Heck, 75% of my games are <2Mb zips, and the whole lot'll comfortably fit onto a CD! But, in this case. hmm.. This is the luvly tree thing from the other day, right? It might be big, but if the "Wow, this is in Blitz!?" effect is good enough, it might be worth it. Is it "THAT" good?! -=-=- ''Load, Next List!''
Fri, 02 Apr 2010, 11:11
Mog	I wouldn't say it's good enough to warrant 2.7gb, no. JL had a good idea with torrenting it but still, 2.7gb arghhhh... I'll sleep on it and see what comes out. And yah, it's the tree thing from the other day. I'm pushing for under 200mb but with the terrain how it is, it's a pipedream unless i get really creative with more compression. -=-=- I am Busy Mongoose - My Website Dev PC: AMD 8150-FX, 16gb Ram, GeForce GTX 680 2gb Current Project: Pyroxene
Fri, 02 Apr 2010, 16:46
Phoenix	Unless the game is ultra kick-ass, I'm not downloading it. There's been a select few times when I've downloaded large indie games, and I've never been pleased with what the file size has brought me.