Thank you for the feedback! Those stairs have been a nightmare to create, but I’m really happy with how they turned out to be.
Instancing is something that is extremely important when working in large environments like this one, you’re absolutely right. It’s something I speak a little bit of in the documentation, but ultimately I didn’t have the chance to test it myself.
To give an idea, several modules are used well beyond the three digits. Some modules are used almost 500 times in the scene - instancing is something that should be done if it’s possible. In the case where it is not, merging become the second option, but it comes with a few downsides - more poly to render, which is not too bad with baked projects but quickly becomes overwhelming in real time projects.
I’m curious since I didn’t get the opportunity to try it myself - Can you bake lighting with instances? If so, that’s an incredible gain in performance all around.
PS: Epic have the project in their hands and are currently Q&Aing it. I should get feedback soon enough and apply some fixes (if necessary). I’m really excited to finally be able to release this project, it’s been one hell of a ride.