How important is filesize. poll

[WarKirby3333]

In case you have not had the fortune to stumble upon it yet, the Mod this refers to is here

 

 

 

The results of this will directly influence the next version of My Castle

 

 

 

If you pick the third option please state your solution.

 

 

 

WarKirby

[WarKirby3333]

If you pick the third option and don't post anything, your vote will be ignored completely.

 

 

 

So quit it

 

 

 

WarKirby

[Vagrant0]

At the moment, I'm trying to download your mod. I'll post back with anything I can think of to reduce the file size. In the meantime, you might want to look into some mirrors or something so that you don't cause too much of a strain on TESSource. You might even want to find that guy who was doing torrents for Oblivion mods as your mod is large enough to almost need a torrent.

 

*edit*

You might want to see about only including the capes and cloaks that you plan on using. Having fewer textures included with the mod makes the mod a smaller download. If you aren't using edited textures for your meshes (like the archers platform) you should just link the .nif to the location of the standard files, instead of including a copy of them within their own download.

 

Also, since your .esp is already over 1mb, you might want to start releasing it as an .esm instead so that it is easier on other people's computers. .esp's are loaded into ram, .esm's are loaded just like the whole game which makes some things faster.

[Povuholo]

The unlisted option: When the filesize is increased because the mod is bigger, or new items are made, that's fine with me.

 

I DON'T want mods who have a large filesize because they are "dirty" . Recompiling all scripts, moving a billion trees that you didn't want moved... My quest mod was 3 MB before I cleaned it. Now it's 0.6 MB.

So when the size is increased by content, it's ok. But not when the reason is a diry mod.

 

I hope you cleaned it as much as you can. ;)

[WarKirby3333]

Also, since your .esp is already over 1mb, you might want to start releasing it as an .esm instead so that it is easier on other people's computers. .esp's are loaded into ram, .esm's are loaded just like the whole game which makes some things faster.

 

If this is the case, why are all mods not esm's. Is there some other downside to an esm over an esp?

 

Povuholo: I accidentally did compile all scripts once, but I spent a few hours going through undoing it and it cut the filesize in half.

 

WarKirby

[Abramul]

I hit the third option pretty much right after you posted...at the same time I had started Oblivion.

 

I would say that you should:

 

Have two versions, one with everything included, the other with dependancies on source mods, with a link provided. Possibly offer a third version without extra (external) stuff, or only what is absolutely necessary, such as architexture pieces.

[SickleYield]

Third option:

 

Streamline the floorplan.

 

The castle is great, but except for the great hall there are far, far too many hallways to run through. My suggestion would be that most of the lower level doesn't even need to be there - except for the dungeon and pool (which obviously has to be down where the water is) I'm not sure why you didn't just run a hallway up each outside of the great hall and line it with doors. The gate room is cool, but its purpose is almost eliminated by having it take longer to run there than it takes to run outside and fast-travel. The mannequins and giant storage boxes are cool, but they're far too hard to find when wanted.

 

And why, given the guards all sleep in one cell, are all those bedrooms downstairs when there are already guest quarters upstairs?? Servants?

 

It might not be a bad idea to take another look at the plans of castles existing in the game. Yes, yours is larger and grander, and that's what we love about it, but it's always a good rule not to put a huge hallway when you can just put a door.

 

I know that sounds harsh, but I love your mod, I'm using it, and I'll keep on using it. I just think it could be even better. :)

[WarKirby3333]

Third option:

 

Streamline the floorplan.

 

The castle is great, but except for the great hall there are far, far too many hallways to run through. My suggestion would be that most of the lower level doesn't even need to be there - except for the dungeon and pool (which obviously has to be down where the water is) I'm not sure why you didn't just run a hallway up each outside of the great hall and line it with doors. The gate room is cool, but its purpose is almost eliminated by having it take longer to run there than it takes to run outside and fast-travel. The mannequins and giant storage boxes are cool, but they're far too hard to find when wanted.

 

And why, given the guards all sleep in one cell, are all those bedrooms downstairs when there are already guest quarters upstairs?? Servants?

 

It might not be a bad idea to take another look at the plans of castles existing in the game. Yes, yours is larger and grander, and that's what we love about it, but it's always a good rule not to put a huge hallway when you can just put a door.

 

I know that sounds harsh, but I love your mod, I'm using it, and I'll keep on using it. I just think it could be even better. :)

 

 

 

I could maybe reduce some of the hallways.

 

Why not halls alongside the great hall? Because that space is already taken up by the east and west wings. I put as much hallway as I could alongside the great hall. There is no room left.

 

Why the lower level at all? Guess you didn't notice the huge arena entrance. The lower level circles around the arena.

 

The gate room is provided as a mystical and logical alternative to those who (like me) find that fast travel ruins immersion.

 

The mannequins are not designed for storage. they are for display. If you can't find them when needed, just use the castle awhile longer. Memorise the floorplan.

 

Yes. Downstairs is servant's quarters. Will be utilised in future updates.

 

Finally, the actual esp is only about 3mb. Even if i remove the entire lower level, it would barely knock off 100Kb. The huge filesize comes from textures from incorporaterd mods.

 

Thank you for the feedback though.

 

WarKirby

[Vagrant0]

The disadvantage of .esm is that you can't edit them, which means that you need to keep both an .esp and a .esm for your mod. You edit the .esp, and you release the .esm. The reason why most people don't do this is because they don't need to, 90%-99% of all mods are small enough as to what is added to the game (the file size of textures or meshes isn't counted as these are seperate from the .esp/.esm) The size of the .esp is based on all the definitions of npcs, scripts, and all the statics and references. I do however believe that there is a more definite limit to how many .esms you can have loaded, so it is best to only use this format for larger projects and total conversions. On the plus side, .esm files can be used as a basis for other mods, so someone can make sideplugins for your mod without the whole duplication issue happening.

 

The main thing which adds to the file size of a .esp are all the accidental changes to cells, like moving trees, placing objects, then deleting them, adjusting pathgrids where you don't need to, and so on. Since most of the cells you're using are new, this isn't as common of a problem. When I was looking at your .esp it looked fairly clean, but had alot of references and such. Removing just one part won't make that much of a difference, it isn't that long empty hallway that requires alot of information, it's the room full of stuff, and the dozens of NPCs that go with that room that do.

 

If you want to make the download smaller, try focusing on the textures, and seeing what you don't need to include, or what you can shrink down. The textures right now make up most of the current filesize. Instead of including the textures and meshes with the main download, you might want to just require that they download those other mods in order to use yours. Or provide those meshes and textures in a seperate download so that those who don't want to use those other mods still have a way of getting a hold of them to use your mod. Having it all in one forces even those who already have the textures to redownload them every time you update. This is where problems can occur.

[Povuholo]

Povuholo: I accidentally did compile all scripts once, but I spent a few hours going through undoing it and it cut the filesize in half.

 

You cleaned it in "details" ? There you can delete all the entries you don't want. Scripts that you didn't change (but accidently compiled) , new items you created but later on decided not to use...