Any Unreal game development company is a place where your gaming ideas get converted into real life immersive gaming applications and the game app developers bring their imaginations to life and create amazing products for end-users. We know that everyone likes high-quality, visually amazing games. However, making such applications is not an easy task.
It takes a lot of computing power. As you continue working on your project, you will realize performance begins to suffer.
Don’t worry though. In this guide, we will show you how to optimize game performance in Unreal Engine. You must understand how to tweak everything from assets to settings to make your games more user-friendly and even make money from it.
Keep reading to discover more.
Introduction to Unreal Games Optimization
Modern technology has changed everything so much that consumers are no longer satisfied with just the normal. Game players, in this case, want something more. They want better graphics, faster response, and safety while enjoying the games.
While Unreal game development services expose one to excellent results, optimization is often a weak spot for many. It’s not just in the games, but everywhere else where such tools are required.
In many cases, one may be tempted to develop a product and just hope all users have the latest hardware to run it effortlessly. But we all know that is hardly ever the case. You must plan your games with every player around the world in mind. And this is where optimization comes in.
Think about this. Most people today want to play their games using mobile phones. In 2022 and 2023, the mobile gaming market grew exponentially, especially after the pandemic. Game revenue reveals that the global gaming market generated over $184 billion in revenue in 2022, a figure projected to reach $211 by 2025. Out of this, $92 million, which is 90% of the revenue, came from mobile games.
With that in mind, it’s crucial to hire Unreal Engine game developers who understand optimization. This will help you meet the demand while gaining from the investment.
In Unreal 4, performance optimizations mean modifying an engine and a project to achieve more efficiency and rapid execution. It’s all about improving certain aspects of the game’s performance. For instance, you can tweak the frame rate, improve memory usage and disk space, optimize bandwidth, and do so much more.
Why Use Unreal Engine
There could be so many ways to optimize games. However, not every tool on the market will give the results desired. One of the major challenges of in game optimization is getting real-time rendering.
The best practice requires that performance should not exceed the maximum limit of time required to render a single frame. Targeted frame rates may change depending on one’s hardware.
Specific pieces of the hardware require a specific amount of FPS. If for instance, you are using VR headsets, you must have 60+ FPS, or else the player will get motion sickness.
Unreal has special visual effects that can be utilized to fully impact performance. These features include high-quality settings for image resolution, lighting and shadowing, and miscellaneous effects.
How To Optimize Game Performance Using Unreal Engine
Now that you know the importance of proper optimization, it’s time we look at some of the practices that will get you there. The Unreal game development company itself offers insights and tools for such tasks, but there is always something more you can do. Here are some of the best tips for you.
Know Your Profiling Tools Well
Understanding the profiling tools provided by Unreal Engine is crucial for identifying performance bottlenecks and optimizing your game. Tools like the CPU and GPU profilers can help you pinpoint areas of your code that are consuming too much processing power or memory. Top practices include:
- Creating levels of detail (LODs): LODs allow developers to create multiple versions of a mesh, each with a different level of detail. This helps reduce the number of polygons rendered on screen, improving performance without sacrificing visual quality.
- Culling: Culling refers to the process of determining which objects are not visible to the camera and therefore do not need to be rendered. Proper culling techniques can significantly reduce the amount of processing power required to render a scene.
- Defeaturing: Defeaturing involves simplifying complex geometry by removing unnecessary details. This can help reduce the number of polygons in a scene, improving performance without affecting visual quality.
- Proxy Geometry Tools: Proxy geometry tools allow developers to create simplified versions of complex objects that can be used for collision detection and other tasks. Using proxy geometry can help improve performance by reducing the computational overhead associated with complex physics simulations.
Set Your Performance Optimization Budget
Before starting development, it’s important to establish performance optimization goals and budget accordingly. This involves determining the target frame rate, resolution, and graphical fidelity for your game, as well as allocating resources and time for optimization efforts.
Create Reliable Performance Testing
Regular performance testing is essential for identifying and addressing performance issues throughout the development process. This involves testing your game on a variety of hardware configurations and optimizing it to run smoothly on each platform.
Start Optimization from Step 1
Optimization should be an ongoing process that begins from the early stages of development. By designing your game with performance in mind from the outset, you can avoid costly rework and ensure that your game runs smoothly on a wide range of hardware.
Scene Components Will Cost You A Fortune
Be mindful of the number of scene components in your game, as each one comes with a performance cost. Minimizing the number of unnecessary scene components can help improve overall performance and reduce rendering overhead.
It Would Be Best to Keep Away from Blueprint Tick
Avoid using the Blueprint Tick event excessively, as it can introduce unnecessary overhead and impact performance. Instead, use more efficient alternatives like event-driven programming or custom C++ code to handle game logic and updates.
Optimize Texture Resolution
Texture resolution has a significant impact on performance, especially on lower-end hardware. Be sure to optimize your textures by using appropriate compression formats, mipmapping, and texture streaming techniques. This will minimize memory usage and improve rendering performance.
Packaging Size and Boot-Time
Consider the size of your game’s installation package and its impact on download times and storage requirements. Minimizing the size of your game assets and using efficient packaging techniques can help reduce download times and improve the overall user experience.
Don’t Use Post-Process Effects Too Much
While post-process effects can enhance the visual quality of your game, they can also introduce significant performance overhead. Use post-process effects judiciously and prioritize performance over visual fidelity to ensure smooth gameplay on all devices.
Conclusion
Unreal Engine game development company offers a great platform for optimizing game performance. However, it’s a process that requires careful planning, testing, and iteration. We have discussed several practices that will help you get the desired results. Follow them and you can be sure of a smooth and immersive experience for any hardware configuration.
