Both systems use a different approach, and both are not as good as the original XL thermometer that was released back in 21. We cannot optimize maps as it is, and nothing has been done in this area for the past year.
Creative:
- Memory calculation works from the point a raycast from the mouse cursor will hit forward, instead of the player position. This is not communicated and is very confusing, as deleting a prop may actually show as if the memory increases because the raycast hits something behind. Also, it’s hard to know what is your top memory so you can optimize (I shouldn’t be treasure-hunting for the highest spot, the editor should tell me at all times). This brings me to the next point:
- Memory only shows where you point, but you never know what’s the highest memory. When building, a device or prop can be lock from editing (max memory), and there is nothing to tell you that, you just can’t place and you don’t know why, as memory on that spot may not be the highest cluster, so you see something like 92/100 and you cannot place a device, or you see 92/100, you place a prop, then the entire map locks because the render distance of that prop affects your highest cluster too. It’s currently very messy to know what is happening with memory and the biggest pain point is that IT USED TO WORK, but a design decision made it into what it is now, which is not useful, takes a lot of time to optimize maps, and you cant perform render-distance optimization anymore.
- The instance cost of various architecture has doubled in both Creative/UEFN and that was never fixed (an example is the floors in the Spire gallery, usually the instance cost is 3, but the instance cost of those assets is 6). This change alone caused a massive 20000 increase in one of my projects and killed 2 months of development.
UEFN:
- You never know what the memory is until you run a memory calculation tool, which also needs to upload a private test code, which also needs to launch live edit, which also needs no disallowed content weirdness to be fixed first, which also needs no verse errors to work. I think you understand the issue here, in Creative there is an instance cost of props/devices that shows before you place something (meaning the cost of that asset alone), so you know what it costs and whether it is worthwhile to add to your map or too expensive. You simply cannot do that with UEFN, and its very easy to memory bloat the map, because there is no memory visualization tool atm. No extra steps should be needed to see cost of prop/device, current memory and max memory.
- Some things cost more in UEFN than they cost in Creative. This makes it easy for memory to bloat even more when building, and you dont know about it (noticed that with devices). Creative already had this problem, and both modes now need to be optimized so we can build more.
Overall:
- We need to see selected actor memory, regional (or memory cell) cluster memory, and highest cell memory, all at the same time. This is absolutely crucial for optimizing XL projects with dense content in various cells.