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1000 files limit on browsergame

A topic by Hanzler created Jul 30, 2024 Views: 463 Replies: 10

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There is a crafting system in my game. That's why I have a lot of items and crafting components as individual png files.
At the moment I have just under 900 files in total and will soon exceed 1000. The (small) files are loaded on demand, so the loading times are short.

I could combine items and components as larger sheets and thus reduce the number of files. However, this would greatly increase the loading time.

I would therefore like to ask whether I can count on an exception to the 1000 files rule in such a case, or whether it would be better to combine the files.

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hechelion172 days ago

You should ask support directly, however from a previous post, I have the impression that the number of files is a limit that they cannot modify (as it happens with the file size limit) and I would recommend that you combine the files in such a way as not to exceed the limit of 1000.

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Hanzler158 days ago

I asked the support team and got an answer.

The chance that the limits will be increased is rather small. You have to explain exactly why the game has to be played in the browser and why a download makes no sense.

Since I have developed my game especially for browsers (no game engine export) and it primarily runs on my own website, I will probably rely on additional pwa elements and use a wrapper for a download version.

I have combined graphics of the same size into sheets and reduced the number of files to about 500. All in all, I think Itch is the wrong place for complex browser games.

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No Time To PlayModerator158 days ago

Speaking strictly as a player: more than once I tried to load a browser game only for the browser to very quickly fill all the RAM, start swapping and bring down my entire system. So I'm very much in favor of this limitation. There's no right place for browser games over a certain size, except perhaps a dedicated site with a big banner across the top: "stop now and close the tab unless you have a high-end system".

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redonihunter158 days ago

Please clarify, is this about big browser games or browser games with many files?

And do you need to close the browser to run the download version of such games or is the web export just so bad from those engines?

I understand a size limit, but the file counter limit is quite Itch specific and a rather indirect explanation was given, that would have little to do with the browser filling up the ram. That can be done with a few files just as well.

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Hanzler158 days ago

I think the problems occur when you export games from game engines as browser games. But you can also develop games specifically for browsers (without game engines) and split the graphics into many small files so that the graphics are only loaded when needed and therefore quickly.

But I don't want to complain here, because I'm glad that I was able to upload my game to Itch. It's just a shame that I probably won't be able to update it before it reaches a size of 50mb.

My statement should only serve as information about what you should consider with Itch for larger browser games.

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redonihunter158 days ago (1 edit)

and split the graphics into many small files so that the graphics are only loaded when needed and therefore quickly.

... many small files is precisly what the restriction on Itch does not allow for arbitrary reasons. It is a 1000 file limit. The size limit of the zip is 500MB, individual files 200MB.

https://itch.io/docs/creators/html5#zip-file-requirements

The size limit is explained on the faq. The file limit is not. Very large HTML5 games tend to be a poorer experience

There is this box hinting that they want to discourage engine exports. But as you just showcased, many small files is actually the way it would be developed directly in html5.

Or is number of files really a hallmark test to distinguish lazy engine exports to html5 from hand crafted html5 development? My guts tell me, it is the engines that would handle packed ressources better. On the other hand, I did see extracted rpg maker downloadables with like 10k files. But this brings me back to thinking, file number does not say much about the quality or the optimisation for web.

Oh, and I believe, if your game is only 50MB, downloading the whole chunk in one go is better for performance, instead of retrieving every tiny bit on demand. The exact opposite as html5 games were intended once. The concept is outdated or rather not optimised for all gaming scenarios. For complex online multiplayer games or such, loading on demand is better. For any single player experience with a "small" size like 50MB, one download should be better.

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Hanzler158 days ago

I think it's more complicated than that. Downloading 50Mb at the start of the game is ok if you're on a PC with a reasonably fast internet connection. If you're on a cell phone (which usually has a slower connection), and you have to pay for the amount of data you download, it becomes problematic.

If you expand the game over time and it becomes significantly larger than 50mb, it will take too long to load on a PC too.

If you don't use spritesheets (as RPG maker does in some cases) and don't put thematically similar graphics in sheets, this increases the number of files significantly.

In my opinion, it is difficult to find a sensible solution for what is allowed and what is not. That's why I asked support how strict the 1000 files rule is. The answer was that exceptions to the rule are really exceptions.

As soon as the game reaches a certain size and you have a version 1.0, you should make it downloadable and installable.

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redonihunter158 days ago

Games on Itch are usually not "installable", they are unzip and run.

Commendable that you do use the html5 features for loading on demand. This is why I a voice my bafflement about the restriction. This is not the only thread about this topic.

I have yet to see a good explanation why the number of files indicates a lazy export from a game engine that results in a bad user experience.

Because as I understand it, you did not export this and had a lot of files because of that, but you developed for web directly. Making this explanation "many files = lazy engine export" be rather questionable.

Would not an engine developer quickly learn about such restrictions and have an option to reduce file number, but otherwise be as lazy an export as before?

I would understand it, if it was said that number of files puts strain on the servers or any other explanation. But I do not follow the chain of logic that is currently used. Or that is used as far as I understood the explanations.

In one of those threads the developer tried to pack the files only to find out that the packing method used could not be used over web, because the unpacking method is not allowed for security reasons and only works on a development build on local client. Did not sound like a lazy engine export either.

I do understand the discouragement of lazy engine exports that would work better as a download version. But I question the method of using a file counter as an indicator for this.

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No Time To PlayModerator158 days ago

I'm not sure, but either way it meant having to force-reset my computer, and not being able to play the game at all. So this is more of a general observation.

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Eldwood157 days ago(+1)

Each file requires opening a tcp connection, negotiating a tls connection, and sending a whole bunch of headers both ways. All of this costs network bandwidth and computational resources on both the client and server sides. Too many small files is definitely bad for performance, although how many is too many depends a lot on the context.

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