Why is a Texture in Stage3D limited to 2048 × 2048?

Question

The biggest Texture you can create in Starling, which uses the Stage3D API, is limited to a maximum size of 2048 × 2048. Why is there such a size limit? I've read somewhere that a texture of this size should only consume ~16-17 MB of memory, which doesn't seem a lot to me. Is this limit based on limits on the most common devices? (impractically slow to load if any larger) Or it's a lower-level technological limitation? (It cannot get any higher even with the best GPU)

Answer 1

You can use 4096x4096 in starling but your application will only be supported by some devices. 2048x2048 is generally the best target for a good range of cross platform support. If you are targeting desktop or web you should be ok to use bigger textures. You should also avoid using multiple spritesheets, it is possible to have an entire game in 1 or 2 2048x2048 spritesheets. You could also look to using videos in starling (See Starling 1.6) if you want detailed animations.