*** Project Size *** Please Advice !!

Biby

Hi all,
What can be the maximum size of a project ? 5 to 6 M.B is fine, or it will be too heavy ?
Any idea , please advice .
Thanks

Braydon_SFX

5 or 6 MB is a great size. I've seen projects that are over 500 MB large.

Socks

I have quite a few apps that are 300MB - 500MB, and even a few that are 1.5GB + (1,500MB) . . . . so I can't see 5 or 6 MB being an issue.

Gesundheit for iOS, which won numerous awards, IGN app of the year, Touch Arcade iOS puzzle game of the year, Apple Europe iPad runner up game of the year, number 1 in dozens of countries - etc etc . . . is around 500MB. FIFA 2014 is even bigger (1.4GB I think) which again didn't stop it dominating the number 1 slot in markets all around the world, which all suggests that people don't really have an issue with downloading games like this.

I think the idea of compromising your game to squeeze it below some arbitrary threshold - or even a real one like Apple's mobile download size limit) is becoming increasingly redundant in a world where everyone has access to faster and faster broadband, it seems like 'modem' thinking in a world where someone would think nothing of downloading a 400MB app using the free Wi-Fi in their local Starbucks, pub or café.

I'd even go as far as to suggest that with an increasingly sophisticated games audience putting out a game that is only a few MB could well be (depending on your audience / the app) somewhat detrimental, after having played FIFA 2014 a fan of football apps might be wary of a game weighing in at a paltry 3 or 4 MB.

Socks

So I was wondering why we have to use very low res. images like PNG 8 and loose the quality . . .

The bit depth of an image file has no bearing on its resolution, PNG files (8bit or otherwise) are not 'very low res' or very high res, they are exactly the same resolution as the equivalent 24bit PNG.

You don't have to use 8bit PNGs, you are free to use 24bit PNGs if you like . . . in fact even if you use 8bit PNGs they will still end up as 24bit PNGs when played on the target device.

Also, you can often convert a 24bit PNG to and 8bit PNG with no perceivable loss in quality if you really need very small file sizes.

I mean for example PNG 24 makes the image up to 100 or 200 K.B, so I have to make it PNG 8 to reduce the size of the image, I'm not sure if a 200 K.B image is fine or it will effect the game's performance later on ....

It will have no effect on the games performance, 8bit and 24bit file are the same size when the game is running (they are both held in 24bit colour space).

Example: (figures made up to illustrate the point)

24bit PNG = 200KB file
8bit PNG = 40KB file

Ok . . . . They were the 'file' sizes, now look at them playing in your iOS game . . .

24bit PNG = 200KB file
8bit PNG = 200KB file

. . . . in fact pretty much everything promulgated about images on the forum seems to be wrong ! ) Everything from files must be 72ppi (or else the world will end) to 8bit files are low resolution, better for performance, can't have alpha channels . . . etc etc . . .

Hopscotch

Although this thread already has the "Answered" tick, I would like to add my bit:

Don't be overly sensitised about image weight. I also came into GameSalad with this notion after studying the forums. Now I keep on being surprised at how much you can through at GameSalad and the modern Tablets/Phones.

My last two games have levels 8000px wide, 180 actors, of which about 30 images are 1024x1024, numerous animations, music and sound effects. The running footprint of each level is about 90MB.

Loading time is under 2 seconds and gameplay is smooth.

Added to what @Socks said,

follow the "divisable by 4" rule. That is, the height and width of images should be a number devisible by 4

- this makes for crisp scaling
- prevents tearing when making moving tiled backgrounds

be aware of the width and height pixel dimentions and how they relate to the memory allocation threshholds. These are 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048.

- Try to keep your image width/height to less than or equal to these numbers. For example, if your image turns out to be 260x260px, try to reduce it to fit the 256x256 threshhold, otherwise it will occupy 512x512 of memory (4 times as much).

Socks

@Hopscotch

Good advice >-

Don't be overly sensitised about image weight.

Agreed, like you I also use a tonne of large images, sounds and animations and my projects run smoothly, I never drop my animations (often long image sequences) below 30fps and often have lots of (in my most recent project) 2048x512 images vying for memory.

. . . to keep your image width/height to less than or equal to these numbers. For example, if your image turns out to be 260x260px, try to reduce it to fit the 256x256 threshhold, otherwise it will occupy 512x512 of memory (4 times as much).

Also agreed, with one small caveat, in an ideal world your images would hit one of these powers-of-two (2n) numbers exactly, if they are smaller ("keep your image width/height to less than or . . . . ") then your mobile device has to pad out the memory in real time, so just like the advice to change a 260x260 pixel image to 256x256 pixels where practicable, we should (ideally) also change a 252x252 pixel image to 256x256 pixels, again only where practicable.

This is not a memory issue (as our hypothetical 252x252 pixel image is already using a 256x256 pixel chunk of memory), it's a performance issue (real time padding) but ultimately memory itself is a performance issue as the device will struggle to throw around XXX sized images where it wouldn't with X sized images. Where the padding vs memory threshold lies is anyone's guess, but generally speaking if you are close (like 245 for 256) it might be best to pad the image yourself (extend the file boundaries / canvas size - rather than scale).

Socks

But what about images 200*220?

256 x 256

as well for 880*640 , it is not possible to make it 1024*512

1024 x 1024

or

1024 x 512 . . . . . + . . . . 1024 x 128

zypp1

i thought gamesalad had a limit of around 20mb

Biby

If a 100 to 200 MB project size is ok, So I was wondering why we have to use very low res. images like PNG 8 and loose the quality, I mean for example PNG 24 makes the image up to 100 or 200 K.B, so I have to make it PNG 8 to reduce the size of the image, I'm not sure if a 200 K.B image is fine or it will effect the game's performance later on ....

BBEnk

i thought gamesalad had a limit of around 20mb

Thats only if your going to upload your project to the Gamesalad arcade.

Biby

Thank you all, I appreciate your answers

But what about images 200*220 , you can't make 256 or 128 , it will be very big or very small, as well for 880*640 , it is not possible to make it 1024*512 .. in this case it still gonna work if numbers are divisible by 4 ? or still gonna effect the performance ?