Can’t say what exactly is triggering rebuild in OP’s question, since i skipped this question and went for installed build from the start. Still updating it once or twice per year, when i updating an engine version or need to fix something there.
So, I gonna need to edit my .uproject and set the ID of the installed engine there and replace all my paths inside the project to the installed build. Did I miss something?
First, fyi, at 5.3+, you can set id during build with the -set:BuildIdOverride=MyCustomStringId , to make it static, not the random guid that changes from build to build.
For installed build you need to set id in *.uproject (btw, on windows there is an “switch engine version” under RMB that does this for you); I don’t remember doing anything about paths inside of project, so probably doesn’t need it. Only outside of project if you have some external building pipelines set up.
You also need to… idk about linux, so i’ll describe what i’m doing on windows:
On windows it’s “to register engine in registry”, so the UnrealVersionSelector.exe (UVS is the default associated app for *.uproject files, comes with EpicGamesLauncher installation) can make association between your engine id and its executable. This can be done by launching the UnrealEditor.exe(or whatever your editor executable is called) once from engine’s folder; Or by learning what and where should be registred.
Edit: Every time I build the engine, I spent 3-4 hours, so yeah, help is appreciated.
Not sure if you talking about inital problem or tuning the installed build, but my engine is built with -set:WithFullDebugInfo=false. I don’t remember what this is responsible for, but irrc it increase the build time\size drastically. But even without it the debug symbols will still be present.
Droping -clean is also an option, if you building engine from the same folder serveral times with almost the same settings.
Can also suggest to take a look at the following options:
//The options set possible target platforms for game packaging:
// I don't remember their default values, so i recommend to check content of `InstalledEngineBuild.xml`
// If they are enabled by default, then disabling will improve build speed\\size
-set:WithWin64=true
-set:WithMac=false
-set:WithAndroid=false
-set:WithIOS=false
-set:WithTVOS=false
-set:WithLinux=true
-set:WithLinuxArm64=false
-set:WithHoloLens=false
//or shortcuts to disable all of them besides the host-platform as target
-set:HostPlatformEditorOnly=true // for build that will be distributed among designers: no package-game capabilties, minimum unneeded stuff
-set:HostPlatformOnly=true `// same, host-platform only, but with building capabilities