Imports = Bad?

I know that importing custom models makes the map much bigger and slower to download and that it also means that players with slower computers might have problems running it, but my map really needs custom resources to get the desired effect.

Is 3-4MB a bad filesize? Oh, and, does the 10MB limit apply to maps played over LAN?

Battlenet has a 4mb limit, and most people aren't willing to download anything larger than 2mb, however, that shouldn't really stop you. You can use good resources, keep the files to a minimum size, optimize it using Vex's optimizer and still come up with a 3mb map, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as some would have you believe. Almost everyone has broadband nowadays, so the filesize shouldn't present a problem to anyone who wants to play that map.

Regarding the lan thing, I don't know what you mean by 10mb limit.

> Is 3-4MB a bad filesize
For a multiplayer, made for bnet...very bad.
Reason? Most people out there have 64-128k upload, some even have that as their download.
At that rate a 4mb map can take 5-10 minutes to be downloaded by just one person. However most people usually lose their patience somewhere after 15-30 seconds...you figure it out.
If you want your map to be played then don't make it bigger than 1MB, preferably below 500KB actually. That way you get a higher chance of spreading your map as people won't consider it too troublesome to wait for downloaders. And, despite all the good map hosting sites, downloading from bnet is certainly the best way to spread a map.

To put it simple - screw good models/skins (not to mention high quality loading screens and music) if nobody's gonna see them.

Meh, generally below 2mb is a good thing, though I would suggest you shoot for 3mb maximum. True, below 1mb is good, but if imports are important to the look of the map, then that may not be possible.

Personally, I would rather wait 15 more seconds to download a map with an imported alien or something then to have that alien being represented by a grunt or something. As long as it's reasonable, of course.


I don't think there's a limit to the size for LAN games, though I could be wrong.

SFilip has a point, my 1Mbit ADSL would theoreticaly download a 3MB map in 24 seconds, which is bearable, but bnet's file transfer is never that fast. Besides, if I wanted to host, things get a lot worse with my 256kbit upload, which is 4 times slower. 24 seconds turns into 2 minutes for only a single player (assuming the connection between us is good enough) to get the map. If that player doesn't have his ports properly set up (meaning he can't host), then after he downloads the map, others won't be able to download from him.

I know 1Mbit ADSL is about the slowest DSL out there, but hey, it still counts as broadband, it's not dial up. I shouldn't have trouble being host with such a connection. But worst case scenario, if none of the players who join can host, getting 11 players to download a 3MB map from me would take 22 minutes. That's not all that little.

There are actually a bunch of tools that can compress models, maps, and generally a lot of things down to almost nothing.
You just gotta look for it in the Resources section.

you can use custom models.

Just don't import 50 models + skins.

Or those super high res skins that aren't rendered correctly by the engine anyways.

Or those huge poly models that just slow the engine down.

So, moderation is the key, are you surprised I said that?

can't forget about custom music hehe

Is there a way to dramatically reduce the size of added music that's generated from midi? I'm not talking about the midi trick in the tutorial section, but as in midi->wav->mp3 of small size

if you're not gonna use midi as music than why the hell would you turn a midi into mp3, that makes no sense.

No, mp3s with low bitrate are about 1MB for 1 minute of music. Custom music is not an option for BNet maps in general.