I need help lowering the file size on my builds.

[TBHonest]

I am using RPG Maker MV in one of my classes but the file size is to big to post on itch.io. The file needs to be smaller then 1GB but it is always bigger.

I have one game already up on itch.io and it was bigger then the game I am trying to post. I have tried everything me and my teacher could think of. Is there something that someone can recommend to help lower the file size.

 

[caethyril]

It would be helpful to know what subfolders are present in your main project folder (audio, img, js, etc) and the file sizes, in MB, of each of those subfolders. Typically audio and img will be the largest. A typical new, blank project with default assets is a bit over 300 MB in total; the actual maps and game data take up relatively little space.

If one of the subfolders is www, you've deployed your project as a subfolder of your project, which will at least double the file size. For that reason it's usually a good idea to deploy to a different location (e.g. the desktop).

You may also want to double-check that you've removed all resources that you're not using.

 

[Andar]

check which version your MV is and which projectbase you're using. A while ago Degica provided a set of recompressed resource files that reduce the filesize of the default files.

However, to go from the 300MB original default to more than 1GB means that you added files with poor compression rates. You should try to find out where that is coming from and then recompress the largest files with better settings.

 

[Pix3M]

In case the sound and music folders are the most bloaty, one option you have is to downsample those sounds

 

[TBHonest]

In case the sound and music folders are the most bloaty, one option you have is to downsample those sounds

How should I down sample those sounds?

 

[Kes]

Did you check out the post I linked you to? That, and the thread it's in should give you plenty of ideas on how to reduce your file size.
And downsampling is neither necessary nor desireable.

 

[TBHonest]

Did you check out the post I linked you to? That, and the thread it's in should give you plenty of ideas on how to reduce your file size.
And downsampling is neither necessary nor desireable.

I have looked at the link. I made this thread before you linked the post to me.

 

[Pix3M]

Did you check out the post I linked you to? That, and the thread it's in should give you plenty of ideas on how to reduce your file size.
And downsampling is neither necessary nor desireable.

Can I see the link too?

 

[EthanFox]

Have you tried stripping out unnecessary files when you deploy your game? It creates some problems, but if it works, it can strip out a great deal of unncessary stuff.

The main culprits tend to be sounds, music and any video files. The next after that are battle-backgrounds, because the files can be quite big and there are many of them.

Obviously it depends how much stuff you actually use in-game, but for most people, this change will strip out a bunch of stuff and save you a great deal of space.

If it strips out anything you need (you'll get errors when you play your game), you can fix that by creating a common event with "play sound", "show image" etc. for the stuff you don't want to be stripped out. You never have to actually use this common event; just having it present in your game will make sure those things aren't stripped out.

 

[Kes]

@Pix3M This is the post I linked to. There are other posts in that thread which might be helpful to you as well.

 

[fallenlorelei]

If one of the subfolders is www, you've deployed your project as a subfolder of your project, which will at least double the file size. For that reason it's usually a good idea to deploy to a different location (e.g. the desktop).

Sorry, hijacking this thread! I'm publishing the demo of my project and trying to cutdown the filesize for a friend of mine, and saw this.

Could you explain what you mean by this? All projects I've deployed include the www folder. So I tried deploying straight to desktop without any folders as you mentioned here, but it still contains a www folder.

 

[Andar]

@fallenlorelei
The PROJECT folder should not contain a www folder, but all deployed versions NEED the www folder.

The problem mentioned above happens if you do a deployment and then select the project folder itself as deployment target instead of an empty folder. And if that happens, any future deployments of the same project as well as any playtests with versions 1.6.x or later will cause various problems.

 

[fallenlorelei]

@Andar Thanks Andar! I understand now Totally misread the comment!