Large (as in total amount of data used) maps- fault mappa or no?

[Alhanalem]

should a map be faulted if weak performance is resulting from the large amount of memory some maps need? For example, CTF-December and Double Dammage periodically stutter for me because of all the swapping and hard disk access during hte map (cant keep everything in RAM). but between the swapping, the map performs fine. I'm asking if I should strike memory hogging maps against the mapper as a design flaw. Frankly, UT2k3 eats most of my 384MB as it is, so a large map can push over the top. I see people with more RAM than I and a worse vid card/processor tell me that Caverns runs smoothly for them, confirming to me that I dont have enough memory. What do you think about this? (all the low ratings complained of bad performance- but I still think its a great, although huge, map , and since it was approved with no change to the rating, i guess those who approved it had no cause to complain.)
but this is not specifically about this map, its about the future too.

(In order for me to get good performance on December/DDammage I have to terminate all nonessential processes including windows explorer- - that doesnt mean theyre bad maps, as many people dont have the issues I have with them)

 

[AMmayhem]

I don't think it should be a big deal as to the score. Other than the author could've shown more skill by cutting down, or making it more low-end friendly.

 

[TheRealFluffy]

Don't have any problem with my 256MB ram and My Radeon 9700 Pro

 

[Bot_40]

First thing is that I'd be very clear on whether system ram is the limiting factor, or whether it's the vram on your graphics card that is the problem. If you are trying to run at medium/high texture detail, and turn both word detail and player detail down to lowest, and then it runs fine, that would be a sign that it's not system ram that is the problem, it's the amount of ram on your graphics card.
(My friend has a GeForce4 Ti4200 64Mb so he can get high fps on most maps on max texture detail, but gets stutters like you mentioned when on maps like Face3 which use loads of textures because his graphics card doesn't have enough memory)

Then, I'd mention in the review that you marked it down slightly (maybe just 0.5 or so) and say why, because it is a fault in the map if it won't run on lower spec systems.
Obviously make it explicitly clear how much ram you are likely to need to run the map decently.
Then I'd mention that if you are using too much VRam in your map, then try using a smaller selection of textures, if it's got custom textures, make sure they are compressed. If textures could be compressed as DXT1, then that's the best, otherwise try to use DXT3. Only use DXT5 if you really have to since that compresses it the least afaik.
If the problem is system ram, recommend using fewer types of static meshes and using more instances of a single mesh. Try using less particles, or less particle systems. If a mesh has a simple collision model, use that, and dont' bother with blocking volumes, it's much more memory efficient.

Then if they start posting flames (as they nodoubt will) just point them here and tell them I told you to do it

 

[Bot_40]

Don't have any problem with my 256MB ram and My Radeon 9700 Pro

This implies that the graphics card's vram is the bottleneck, not the system ram.
Which is much better actually because then you can just turn texture detail down and play the map. You can't do much to fix it if you don't have enough system ram.

 

[Alhanalem]

i have a 128MB GF ti4200 (overlcocked) card and i reduced the detail from highest a while back on my quest to find the ideal balance between performance and looks. windows doesnt swap with video memory to my knowldge, and on DDam, december, and this map, my hard disk light was flashing like a christmas tree. the more memory I was able to free up, the less it happened.

 

[Bot_40]

ok, take it back!