this is a mapmaking PSA.

[papayatoot]

Hey guys. Now i'd like to start by saying that I have created and seen and explored a good share of maps made for this community. This isn't my first rodeo. I've been joining mapped groups for years and somehow nobody has even mentioned the problem I come across time and time again.

I see these big, huge, beautiful maps and I'm here for it and I really appreciate the art, but there's still a huge problem that gets constantly overlooked.

These maps crash my computer because they are so extra, and often times for no good reason. How many times have you seen an absolutely gargantuan map with 10 ferns per square inch (looking at you, warrior cat maps), only to consistently stay in the same one spot for 90% of the roleplay? I don't know about you guys, but I'm done having my PC get crashed by hundreds of ferns in a map that I will literally never see. And, hey, don't get me wrong, i ADORE these maps for their beauty and the time and effort that was put into them. However, for the sake of practicality, the practice needs to stop. I've had to leave groups because I couldn't even get into the map. This is a brand new thousand dollar i7 core pc. This shouldn't be happening.

Now, furthermore, I'm not gonna be a little debbie downer. I want to be helpful by offering solutions and alternatives to this problem.
for starters, a lot of lag can be avoided by turning view distance all the way down and turning off water reflection. That's often not enough, though. FELLOW MAPMAKERS, i encourage you to find creative solutions. Try using more default meshes, or just less meshes altogether. Try thinking about what parts of the map people will see the most as opposed to the parts they'll never see. Another great idea is to make densites and camps into mini-maps and then link them to a main map. This way, you can go crazy with the meshes near camps, and it won't fart on your PC because it's such a tiny space.

TL;DR, be smart when making maps. nobody can appreciate your creative genius if the map crashes on them before they can even get into it. Go forth and be artists, my loves :*

[Jango_Fett]

easy.

ask what the map is like

if it sounds like there are too much detail/stuff/meshes/whatever on it
dont
join the group.

Some people already do the whole 'sub-map' thing where they linked 'em all together in order to increase performance. This issue has been well-known for years and is not exclusive to FeralHeart.

[Hooli]

I personally am glad you made this post.
Unfortunately I am a culprit when it comes to overly detailed maps. I'm a sucker for detail, but I do agree with your solutions.

Like Jango said, people have been doing the sub-maps for quite a while though not many people have resorted to it and still choose to make one giant map instead. I want to start doing this as well, I believe it'll be a huge help..

I also sometimes have a problem deciphering whether or not a map is too detailed or not because my graphics card is more suited for strong games such as ARK, so I often don't have lag with a bunch of detail. (Though sometimes because of this I forget that some people don't have the luxury of having a strong graphics card and it results in a bunch of lag.)

Thank you for making this post, though. More makers need to be aware of just how much FeralHeart and its players can handle, these solutions are definitely helpful.