The Build Size for an empty standalone project is so big

Question

Dear Community,

When I create a new 2D template project in Unity and deploy a build for MacOS, that build is 60mb large.

I have spent the last 2 days researching ways to decrease the size of Unity builds. I have found a lot of information on how to compress textures, sprites, sounds and other assets but no (up to date) information on how to decrease the overhead that comes with Unity itself. I think 60mb is very big for nothing in it.

Using the Compression options LZ4 and LZ4HC specified in the Build Settings Window had no effect. Deleting all unused packages (like Timeline and TextMeshPro) had no effect. So I am out of ideas.

I would greatly appreciate some help with my problem. Is it possible at all, to decrease that empty project build size? Where do all those megabytes come from?

Thank you

Answer 1

Answer by Llama_w_2Ls · Feb 08, 2021 at 11:05 AM

I've found that the build executable file is actually very small, but the folders and data that it needs are quite large.

First of all, the UnityPlayer.dll, is a couple of megabytes large on its own. For one of my smaller project, it's around 19mb. This size is huge, regardless of what's inside your project.

Next, if you've built to PC, you'll see the folder, MonoBleedingEdge. This folder varies in size from my experience, but it is also a few megabytes large.

Finally, there is the data on the project itself. Such as textures, assets, models, etc. This accounts for a larger portion of your project relatively, as it scales.

To sum it up, the Unity game engine provides powerful tools for rendering game objects and organizing your development workflow, at a cost of having large dll's, altering your file sizes. If this bothers you, I would recommend having a look at smaller game engines, such as Godot maybe, which might provide less engine data, making your project file sizes a lot smaller. @Capricornum

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Capricornum · Feb 08, 2021 at 11:41 AM 0

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Thanks for your feedback!

True, Unity is powerful and comes at a cost. I'm still hoping there is a way to decrease that cost. Researching articles about this problem from 8 to 10 years back, I learned that empty projects at that time only had about 20mb. They were still empty and you had a scene and a camera I assume.

So I will keep looking. Trying other engines would make sense. But I think I'll rather live with those 60mb if I have to. I am really way too dumb to learn yet another engine. :)

The Build Size for an empty standalone project is so big

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