I am working on a few materials which I plan on releasing onto fab, and I am unsure about certain things concerning efficiency and optimization. If anyone has the time, please also answer the following questions so I can get a better understanding of things - Thanks in advance!
A. Does the file type and compression even matter, or does UE5 automatically convert the files to its own format with appropriate compression?
(Assuming the engine doesn’t convert and optimize images automatically)
B. Are TGA files for every type of map an overkill? I’ve read that TGA files take up more disk space but are faster for the engine to load/render, while PNG files take up less space with the added cost of a bit of computing time. So (within the context of games / UE5) is it best to stick with TGA for better overall quality, go with PNG to save up disk. So far my TGA files seem to take up 16MB per channel which amounts to 160MB per material (Albedo, Normal, ORM, plus one grayscale mask for various uses).
From what I could find on the web, DDS files seem like the best format for game assets, but UE5 doesn’t support them unless are in one specific format of all the available ones.
C. About how expensive are additional math nodes in the material editor? For example, is it worth grouping two variations of the same material (let’s say dirt, and dirt wth tiny rocks) into a single master material with a switch, or would it be more efficient/better optimized if I were to make that example into two different master materials (assuming both would include parameters to control each type of map separately, tiling, etc.).
Any other optimization tips are appreciated, I would like to avoid putting low quality stuff on the storefront. Once again, thanks everyone.
Maybe years of playing on low-end hardware have made my a bit paranoid about optimizing stuff…