Combining multiple meshes with the HLOD tool

The amount of actors contained in a level affects the performance of the real-time experiences we create. Each unique model added to the scene represents another entity that the engine needs to track, and even though innovations such as Nanite have decreased the burden that having more and more polygons represents, we still need to tackle the problem we face when dealing with thousands of different, unique meshes.

The Hierarchival Level of Detail (HLOD) System takes center stage when trying to solve that problem. In essence, its function is to group different models based on how far we are from them and merge them into individual entities, thus reducing the burden that these objects have on the hardware that displays them. We’ll learn about this in the next few pages, so buckle up for the ride!

Getting ready

You should have a map that contains multiple static meshes within it in order to apply the techniques we are going...