Shooter Game: Highrise separated in many Maps

I was checking how the Shooter Game is setup and I noticed something weird that I cannot explain.

The default map is the Highrise.
Inside the Map folder, you can find the Highrise Map file, but also another 6 map files that are listed as follow:
Highrise_Audio
Highrise_Collisions_Temp
Highrise_Gameplay
Highrise_Lights
Highrise_Meshing
Highrise_Vista

As I see it, all these maps together compile the final Highrise Map.

The problem is that I don’t get the why and the how.
Is this done with a specific way? Is there any documentation for that? The pros of this process?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi ELRIIC,

This is common with a lot of the maps and projects that Epic and other developers build.

While I’ve not worked directly on any of these projects that Epic has released for free I can say that I do use this method in my own personal projects as well and this is mostly used for organization along with making loading easier without the need of loading a single map file.

For instance, by using the Levels Panel (UE4 > Menu > Windows > Levels) you will see a single level listed. This is your persistent level. This level holds all your assets and level BP logic that is setup along with storing anything else it may need. By having everything in a single level like this it can be hard to separate or track down things easily. By adding additional maps you can have ones that only hold Audio files, lighting, or specific static meshes like distant ones. This makes it easier to only have some things on screen that are needed.

As another examples, if you look at the latest free content release for Epic’s A Boy and his Kite demo world this map when everything is loaded in the editor can use up to 24gb of ram. This is an extremely large amount of RAM to be used! By having the world broken up in to different maps that are loaded into a single persistent level you can use the levels tab to only load the ones you need to work on for that moment. This will use much less RAM without making things sluggish to edit or work in.

As your world or scene grows it’s easy to use these levels for that extra bit of organization and performance grab while editing.

I hope this helps.

Tim

This was very helpful Tim!

After I played a bit around the Shooter Game Main Map, I see that the Level Panel works like Layers or Folders in Photoshop, a way to put different assets for your level to different Maps, for organization and as you mention, performance as well.

I think that also solves an issue we had, that only one person could work and commit to a level. With this, one artist can light the level while an audio guy will place the appropriate sounds.

Another great tool from Unreal.

Thanks a lot for your quick and detailed answer!