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Lesson 812 of 88011. Performance Profiling and OptimizationFree lesson

Auditing Final Build Footprint for Platform Constraints

Students will generate and interpret size maps to identify and remove unused assets, ensuring the final build meets strict platform memory budgets.

In this lesson, you will learn how to generate and interpret Size Maps to surgically prune your project’s memory footprint before shipping on constrained platforms.

When targeting hardware with strict memory limits—such as consoles or mobile devices—the total size of your cooked build is a critical bottleneck. Even if your game runs smoothly in the editor, redundant assets or "zombie" references can bloat your final executable size. The primary tool for this audit is the Size Map.

Using the Size Map

To identify what is consuming your disk space, right-click any asset or folder in the Content Browser and select Size Map. This opens a visual node-graph representing that asset and everything it references (or is referenced by).

  • Node Size: The physical size of the circle represents the asset’s footprint.
  • Dependency Chains: You can clearly see if a 50MB texture is being pulled into your build by an obscure, unused UI element or a forgotten developer test map.

If you find a large asset that you thought was orphaned, the Size Map reveals exactly which persistent classes are holding a "hard" reference to it. If an asset is appearing in your build but shouldn’t be, it is usually because it is sitting in a folder that is being cooked, or it is linked to a Primary Data Asset or a Level that is included in your packaging settings.

Auditing Workflow

To clean up your build:

  1. Identify the Culprit: Use the Size Map to find top-heavy assets.
  2. Verify Dependencies: Check if the asset is referenced by your GameInstance or DefaultGameMode.
  3. Refactor: If you must keep the asset but don't need it loaded immediately, switch to Soft Object References (TSoftObjectPtr). This allows you to keep the asset in the project without forcing it into memory during the initial load phase.
  4. Remove Unused: If the Size Map shows zero incoming references, delete it. If it’s a dependency of something else, move the unused asset to a "Do Not Cook" folder and exclude that folder from your Project Settings > Packaging > List of maps to include in a packaged build.

Key Takeaway: The Size Map is your most effective diagnostic tool to move from "bloated package" to "platform-compliant build" by visually identifying and eliminating heavy, unused dependencies.