Can't remove assets from file...

[briano]

I'm working on a level for UT3, my first for this engine. I'm developing with all assets in a separate file, rather than in the map file itself. I'm planning to move most of the assets to the map file when things are close to being finished.

I'm having a number of annoying problems, but the worst is that I can't seem to delete unused assets from the asset file (.upk). If an asset was previously referenced, it seems to be permanently referenced. I move (rename) the obsolete assets to a "Junk" group so I don't have to see them all the time, but they're starting to accumulate and needlessly increase the size of the file, save time, etc. For example, I have terrain layers and materials for a terrain that no longer even exists, yet I can't delete these assets from the file. I always get the pop-up "in use" panel. Can anyone clue me in to what's going on here and how to resolve this problem?

Thanks!

[Secret_Squirrel]

I am also having this problem currently and hope that my bumping this will get it answered.

[Mr Evil]

Rename them into a new package and then don't save that package.

[Wormbo]

It seems the editor creates some kind of redirector object when renaming objects. I don't know what that thing is supposed to do, but it definitely prevents deleting the renamed object, even if you tell it to "delete with referencers".

[Mr Evil]

It seems the editor creates some kind of redirector object when renaming objects...
I noticed that too, and it made me wonder: How many other objects are there floating around inside my packages? Is there any way to see them in UEd?

[warby]

jo have plenty of undeletable unused objects as well ... D: what to do what to do ....

[briano]

For the record, when a map file is first loaded into the editor, it only loads the assets it actually uses. All those "undeletable" assets which are no longer being referenced from the .upk file don't show up in the browser. So the question is - if Epic's code can figure out which assets are referenced at load time, why won't it let you delete unreferenced assets? Just one of many questions I would love to get answered. In general, I have found the software quality (not to mention ease of use, feature set, etc.) of UT3 to be generally worse than UT2004. Much worse.

Yes, a solution to the problem (albeit a stupid one, Epic are you listening?) is to rename the unwanted assets to a separate file and either don't save that file, or delete/rename it so on the next launch of the editor it can't be found. What I'm wondering is, how many unused null references are left in my map after doing this proceedure multiple times, and what consequences does that have over the long run? No idea...

[Wormbo]

For the record, when a map file is first loaded into the editor, it only loads the assets it actually uses. All those "undeletable" assets which are no longer being referenced from the .upk file don't show up in the browser.

Well, the assets are not be referenced by that map, but they might still be referenced by other maps. That won't prevent them from being deleted though as long as that other map isn't loaded.

[briano]

Technically correct, and a good point. But practically speaking, this can't be managed. As you stated, the editor can only manage assets for maps which are currently open. Since no-one (:D) is ever altering factory resources, or even resources created by another third party developer, but only one's own resources, this should never be a problem. I know what map(s) use the assets I have created, and while I'm in the process of developing those maps, those are the only maps which can possibly use my resources, since they haven't been offered up to the community yet. If I delete an assets from a file which is used by another of my own maps (not loaded in the editor) that's just my own stupidity. The editor should not prevent me from doing so however.

If I were removing assets from a cooked .upk file developed by someone else, well, that's just another example of my own idiocy, and I get what I deserve :eek:

[spermplant]

if your asset is not used by any of your maps then run this commandlet from a command prompt:
"C:\Program Files\Unreal Tournament 3\Binaries\UT3.exe" editor.fixupredirects"
Replace Program Files\Unreal Tournament 3\ with your installation directory if you are not default and on 32-bit.
I had trouble getting this to run from a CMD box, so I just temporarily added .fixupredirects to the end of my UT3 editor desktop shortcut...
If the program executes properly, then you should be able to delete the asset.
There is another commandlet that is supposed to automatically remove unused assets but I am scared to try it that way, so I forgot what it was.

[Malachor]

Was it this perchance?

[CutDownContentCommandlet]
HelpDescription="Removes unused content from packages. Processed packages are output to the UnrealEngine3/CutdownPackages/Packages/ directory"
HelpUsage="gamename.exe cutdowncontent <package.ext> [package.ext...]"
HelpParamNames[0]="package.ext"
HelpParamDescriptions[0]="The name of the package to process. Multiple packages can be specified on the commandline by separating each package name with a space"

in here 'C:\Games\Unreal Tournament 3\Engine\Localization\INT\Editor.int'

[Wormbo]

Try it. That's what we'd have to do as well to find out.