Master the UE5 World Partition Grid and MiniMap
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Changing the Minimap Properties
- Adjusting the Streaming GRID Size
- Using the World Settings
- Controlling the Grid Cell Size
- Understanding the Minimap
- Loading and Unloading Landscape Actors
- Adjusting Minimap Cell Size
- Changing Minimap Texture Size
- Creating a Smaller Resolution Minimap Texture
- Setting Minimap and Streaming Grid Properties to Match Landscape
- Importing Height Maps for Landscape
- Splitting Height Maps into Landscape Streaming Proxies
- Setting Streaming Grid and Minimap Cell Sizes to Match Landscape Proxies
- Issues with Display Grids in Unreal Engine 5
Changing Minimap and Streaming Grid Properties in Unreal Engine 5
In this video of the World Partition series, we will discuss how to change the properties of the minimap and streaming grid in Unreal Engine 5. These settings play a crucial role in optimizing your game's performance and ensuring smooth streaming of actors in and out of the world.
1. Introduction
The World Partition system in Unreal Engine 5 supports recommended landscape sizes ranging from 127 to 8129. However, resolutions larger than 8129 require a different sizing system for the world partition. This includes both square and rectangular dimension sets. It is essential to use the correct world partition sizing to avoid padding the map's height to the next larger valid resolution.
2. Changing the Minimap Properties
The minimap controls the loading and unloading of landscape streaming proxy actors and all the scene actors placed onto them. The minimap cell size can be controlled through the World Settings > World Partition > Advanced World Partition Editor cell size. By setting the minimap cell size to match the landscape streaming proxy, You can control the world visibility at that granularity. Adjusting the minimap cell size can also help reduce texture streaming pool requirements.
3. Adjusting the Streaming Grid Size
The streaming grid is used to specify the square regions for streaming actors in and out of the world. The grid size value is adjusted through the World Settings > World Partition > Runtime Settings > Grids Cell Size. This value represents the number of world units in centimeters that each streaming grid cell occupies in width and length. It is typically set to match the size of the streaming distance desired, often a multiple of the landscape component size.
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Using the World Settings
The recommended method for setting the grid cell size is based on the landscape component resolution. Load one or more landscape streaming proxies and select one to look at the properties. Set the grid cell size to the component size minus one or fifty percent minus one of the component resolution times 100.
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Controlling the Grid Cell Size
To ensure the streaming grid cell size matches the landscape component resolution, it is advisable to set the editor cell size to the landscape dimensions divided by the landscape streaming proxy count along the largest dimension. For example, if the width is the larger dimension, divide the width by the landscape streaming proxy count to set the grid cell size.
4. Understanding the Minimap
The minimap is an essential tool for navigating and understanding your game world. Loading and unloading landscape streaming proxy actors can be done through the minimap by selecting mini-map cells. The minimap cells should ideally match the landscape streaming proxy sizes for convenient selection and unloading.
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Loading and Unloading Landscape Actors
When importing a height map for a landscape, it is split into pieces called landscape streaming proxies. Each landscape streaming proxy actor represents the finest granularity that can be loaded and worked on for a landscape actor in your world design. The landscape streaming proxy count depends on the size of the landscape, and a larger landscape will have more proxy actors.
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Adjusting Minimap Cell Size
To align the minimap cells with the landscape streaming proxy size, set the editor cell size to a value that is close to but smaller than the landscape streaming proxy size. While the cells cannot match up exactly with the proxy size, each minimap cell may load from one to four adjacent landscape streaming proxies. This can be managed by setting the minimap editor cell size to half of the landscape streaming proxy size.
5. Changing Minimap Texture Size
By default, the minimap texture size is set to be the same as the landscape size. The minimap tile size property controls the size of the minimap texture. A default value of 1024 means the minimap will have the same near power of two Dimensions as the landscape. For example, an 8129 by 8129 landscape will result in an 8192 by 8192 minimap texture.
6. Creating a Smaller Resolution Minimap Texture
To Create a smaller resolution minimap texture, you can change the tile size property to a smaller value, such as 512 or 256. A tile size of 512 will result in a minimap texture that is half the size of the landscape. This can help reduce texture streaming pool requirements and enable the creation of minimap textures for landscapes larger than 16k without using runtime virtual textures.
7. Setting Minimap and Streaming Grid Properties to Match Landscape
To improve workflow and ease of use, it is recommended to set the minimap and streaming grid properties to match the landscape properties. This ensures the actor streaming cell size is Based on landscape component sizes, and the minimap cell sizes are based on landscape streaming proxy actor sizes. The default minimap and grid cell sizes may result in a crowded minimap interface, making it challenging to work with.
8. Importing Height Maps for Landscape
When importing a height map for your landscape, it is essential to consider the size and resolution of the height map. This will determine the number of landscape streaming proxy actors that will be generated and how the landscape will be divided into sections for streaming purposes.
9. Splitting Height Maps into Landscape Streaming Proxies
A height map is split into landscape streaming proxies, which are smaller sections of the landscape that can be individually loaded and manipulated. The size and number of landscape streaming proxy actors depend on the size and resolution of the height map. For example, a 16 321 by 16 321 height map will be split into a 16 by 16 grid of landscape streaming proxy actors, resulting in 256 actors for the entire landscape.
10. Setting Streaming Grid and Minimap Cell Sizes to Match Landscape Proxies
To ensure proper alignment between the streaming grid and minimap cells with the landscape streaming proxy actors, the grid and cell sizes should be set accordingly. The streaming grid cell size should match the landscape component resolution load, while the minimap cell size should be set to match the landscape dimensions divided by the landscape streaming proxy count along the largest dimension, such as the width.
11. Issues with Display Grids in Unreal Engine 5
It is important to note that there may be issues with the display grids feature in Unreal Engine 5. The grid lines may not display correctly at certain display resolutions, causing them to be imprecise and move erratically as the camera moves. This can make it challenging to determine the streaming grid that actors are located in, impacting the visibility and management of cells in the minimap.
In conclusion, understanding and properly adjusting the properties of the minimap and streaming grid in Unreal Engine 5 is crucial for optimizing game performance and streamlining the workflow. By aligning these properties with the landscape dimensions and streaming proxy sizes, developers can achieve better control over the loading and unloading of actors, improving overall player experience.