Should I delete unused assets before packaging the game?

[baobao4435]

Like the title says.
I imported a bunch of different resources.
But I used only a few of them.
Should I package the project directly?or delete the assets that didn’t use?

[SupportiveEntity]

Hey there @baobao4435! Unreal tends to avoid cooking any assets that aren’t used or referenced in code naturally, however this isn’t always the case. You can designate a folder in your settings for assets to never cook.

[baobao4435]

Hi,I just had a look at the option.
It lets me to assign the folders that I never wanted to cook.
But then I realized that I referenced some of the assets in the folders.
Should I move every asset I used out and put them to another place?

[SupportiveEntity]

I’d recommend placing all assets you’ll be using in regular game file locations inside your content folder and maintaining a specific folder for assets you plan to use but haven’t implemented. That said, in most cases Unreal can and does cook only what’s necessary, so you may not even need the “do not cook folder”.

[baobao4435]

Thanks for response .
I try not to use the never cook folder.
It seems to cook everything though .
Because it gives me a lot of errors while packaging.
And those errors are all inside the blueprints or show case map of the resources pack,which I am not used.
Sorry this is me first time trying to package,so I don’t know a lot about the flow

[Leomerya12]

Just to put your mind at ease, and corroborate @SupportiveEntity:

My current project sits at 130 GB.
But when it’s packaged, it’s 56 GB.

So, you’re fine.

[baobao4435]

Thanks for responding
My project is about 8gb,most of are the resources I got from market place.
and packaged is 5gb…
Because I didn’t use a lot the assets.
So I always suspect I missed something necessary to do…

[Leomerya12]

Bao, my pleasure.

Yeah, I think 5GB from 8GB sounds normal. Also, just make sure to pay attention to a “SAVED” folder (it may be named something differently if you’re not in the US).

This folder can be 2-3X bigger than your project.

So, if your project is: 8GB, your packaged is: 5GB, then the SAVE FOLDER may be: 20GB.

For me:

Project: 130GB
Packaged: 56GB
SAVE FOLDER: 450GB!!!

[SupportiveEntity]

One thing of note to add is that some plugins all get cooked with the engine if referenced at all (and may are by virtue of their nature) so to minimize project size you may have to work on minimizing plugins with larger resources (ie water systems) if you aren’t using them. This is common practice for mobile games as the engine itself is rather heavy as it is.

[baobao4435]

Well,I was wrong.
Thanks you reminded me,so I just checked the project fodder,it’s 27Gb now.
The last time 8gb was very long ago…
so the 5gb result is kind of acceptable.

and I do have a saved folder. Seems the file name is the same for anywhere…
though I don’t know how the file works .
I didn’t paid much attention at the folders…

[baobao4435]

Thanks for sharing.
The knowledge is getting more and more.
I have to digest and research for a few time.
If I have another question I might come back…