I Thought Optimization Was Hard — Turns Out It’s About Cleanup

I used to think optimization was one big, scary task. But most fixes were surprisingly small. That mindset change made everything clearer.

This post is part of my daily learning journey in game development.

I’m sharing what I learn each day — the basics, the confusion, and the real progress — from the perspective of a beginner.

On Day 31 of my game development journey, I learned the basics of game optimization in Unreal Engine.

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What I tried / learned today

I learned that optimization is not one big feature.

It’s many small decisions combined.

Some things I learned:

• Deleting unused nodes helps performance
• Even unused Blueprints can affect performance
• Using fewer materials and material instances is better
• Merging meshes reduces draw calls
• LODs improve performance at a distance
• Turning off Tick when not needed saves CPU
• Using simple collision instead of complex collision helps a lot
• Optimized textures reduce memory usage
• PCG and instancing help place objects efficiently

All of these felt small individually, but together they matter.

What confused me

At first, I was confused why such small changes matter so much.

I didn’t understand:

• Why unused nodes affect performance
• The difference between CPU and GPU optimization
• When LODs are actually needed
• Why Tick is bad if nothing is happening

It felt like Unreal was too sensitive.

What worked or finally clicked

I finally understood that performance problems come from clutter. Unreal doesn’t ignore unused logic the way I expected. If something exists, it may still cost performance.

Once I saw optimization as cleanup, it felt manageable.

Clean projects simply run better.

One lesson for beginners

• Optimization is many small wins, not one big fix
• Disable Tick if it’s not required
• Delete unused assets and nodes
• Use instances instead of copies
• Profile before guessing

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Slow progress — but I’m building a strong foundation.

If you’re also learning game development,

what was the first thing that confused you when you started?

See you in the next post 🎮🚀