The Static Mesh Validator has enforcement rules for the estimated memory required to cook a static mesh. This ensures that you can't use or upload static mesh assets that require excessive memory while cooking. To avoid errors associated with uploading memory intensive assets, review the requirements and guidelines below.
Reduce Static Mesh Cook Memory Requirements
When creating content in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), your static mesh assets must be processed, or "cooked," by Epic’s systems before they can be used in a published island. This cooking process requires a certain amount of memory (RAM) for each asset.
Our systems have a strict memory limit of 2 Gigabytes (GB) allocated for cooking any single static mesh asset.
If a static mesh asset requires more than 2 GB of memory to cook, the cooking process will fail and so will the validation of your Island. Additionally, there's a rule that warns you if the mesh has an LOD0 and is over 30,000 vertices. This is only a warning but alerts you that your mesh may cause memory problems.
Validation Failure and Error Reporting
The Static Mesh Validator in UEFN automatically checks the estimated memory requirement for every static mesh asset in your island using the GetBuildRequiredMemoryEstimate function.
If an asset exceeds the 2 GB limit, you receive an error message indicating which static mesh is causing the issue.
How to Reduce Static Mesh Cook Memory Requirements
The editor’s modeling tools, such as Mesh > Simplify, can help in cases where there are too many triangles or vertices. To learn more about the tools, see Modeling Mode.
You may prefer to modify the asset in your 3D modeling software (for example, Blender or Maya) and re-import it.
The memory required for cooking is primarily driven by the complexity and configuration of the mesh. To reduce the memory estimate, focus on simplifying the mesh data:
Elements to Reduce | Description |
Number of Vertices | The total number of points defining the mesh geometry. Reducing this often involves simplifying or decimation tools in your modeling software. |
Number of Vertex Instances | The total number of vertices that need to be processed, which is often higher than the number of unique vertices due to UV seams, material boundaries, and shading needs. |
Number of Triangles (Polygons) | The number of faces used to construct the mesh. Lowering the polygon count is the most direct way to reduce memory usage. |
Number of UV Channels | Excess UV channels (such as, for lightmaps, texture coordinates) consume memory. Only include necessary channels. |
Level of Detail (LOD) Settings | Ensure appropriate LODs are set up. If the base mesh is excessively high-poly, use the LOD settings within UEFN or your modeling software to generate simpler versions that can potentially reduce cook-time complexity. |
Collision Complexity | Use simple collision meshes (for instance, box, sphere) where possible, rather than "Use Complex Collision as Simple" settings, which can increase the memory needed for physics data during cooking. |
By simplifying the geometry and data channels of your static mesh, you can bring the estimated cook memory requirement below the 2 GB limit, providing a way to validate and publish your island successfully.
