UE5 Level Editor Optimization for Sanctuary

The Sanctuary game's Unreal Engine 5 level editor was experiencing severe performance issues with large open-world scenes, causing editor lag, slow viewport navigation, and frequent crashes when working with dense environmental assets. Level designers were experiencing:

• Frame rates dropping below 10 FPS in complex scenes
• 5-10 minute load times for large levels
• Frequent out-of-memory crashes
• Inability to work with more than 100k instances without severe lag
• Viewport navigation becoming unresponsive in dense areas

This significantly impacted level designers' productivity and iteration times, with some designers losing hours of work due to crashes.

Developed a comprehensive suite of optimization tools and workflows specifically targeting editor performance:

Intelligent Asset Management:

• Automated LOD generation system that creates editor-specific LODs with aggressive reduction
• Smart proxy mesh system for distant objects in viewport
• Dynamic resolution switching based on viewport navigation speed

Advanced Culling Systems:

• Hierarchical Z-Buffer occlusion culling for editor viewport
• Distance-based detail reduction with customizable quality presets
• Frustum culling optimization using spatial hashing

Memory Optimization:

• Streaming volume optimization algorithms that dynamically adjust based on available memory
• Texture streaming priorities for editor vs runtime
• Automatic asset unloading for inactive viewports

Profiling & Diagnostics:

• Custom profiling tool showing real-time performance metrics
• Heat map visualization for performance bottlenecks
• Automated performance reports with actionable recommendations

The optimization framework transformed the level design experience:

• 75% reduction in editor viewport frame times (from 100ms to 25ms average)
• 90% fewer crashes related to memory issues
• Level designers could now work smoothly with scenes containing millions of instances
• Load times reduced from 5-10 minutes to under 1 minute for large levels
• The framework became the standard for all Sanctuary game levels

Technical Implementation

The system leverages both C++ engine modifications and Blueprint-based tools:

• Engine-level optimizations using custom viewport modes and rendering paths
• Editor Utility Widgets for user-friendly optimization controls
• Python automation for batch processing and LOD generation
• Performance budgeting system that warns designers when exceeding limits

This project demonstrated how targeted editor optimizations can dramatically improve productivity without compromising the final game's visual quality.