I assume it is for disk space thing or a limitation of whatever database they are using to store the arcs. There is more overhead to a single arc than the size of the arc itself.
Obviously I don't know for sure, but considering the 3 arc limit and the size of custom critters, I really wish it was at least doubled.
Costum critters will be filling a good deal less in I15.
That should help.
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Custom critters will be filling a good deal less in I15
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Wait, what? Where is that annouced? I think at this point each CC takes up like...6.25% or something. How much less? Sources, man, give me sources!!
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I had heard that. I'll be interested to see how much smaller my current 97% full arc will be... will I be able to put the 3 custom critters I cut out back in?
We'll see.
I still want more space too 
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will I be able to put the 3 custom critters I cut out back in?
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Probably not. Maybe one?
Here are the results of a little test I just did:
Bare bones mission creation. Standard contact, small map, standard group (5th Column), minimum text, no details:
Live: 0.36%
Test: 0.37%
Added 'Defeat Boss' Detail:
Live: 0.74%
Test: 0.76%
Added custom boss:
Live: 7.81%
Test: 7.97%
So far, a little disheartening. But here's where it gets interesting. Switched the standard group for a custom group:
Live: 49.02%
Test: 41.79%
Note that this custom group has 3 minions, 2 lieutenants, and 2 bosses. All the critters have detailed descriptions, and most have extra costume details like wings and auras.
While it's not a huge savings, when you're bumping up against the file limit, it can be substantial.
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Custom critters will be filling a good deal less in I15
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Wait, what? Where is that annouced? I think at this point each CC takes up like...6.25% or something. How much less? Sources, man, give me sources!!
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There hasn't been any announcement that I'm aware of. People have learned this by observing the decrease of reported arc sizes in the I15 beta on the Training Room. Recent patches report smaller sizes for arcs than they used to.
Also, it's not actually the input file size that's limited. It's the size that the MA computes that matters. One day, before a patch the reported size was 98%. After the patch it was down to 68%. The file itself was about 120K. During the beta process reported sizes have fluctuated between being much smaller and much larger. Right now, the computed size of an arc is usually smaller than the size the live system reports for that same set of input files.
Thus, the computation of the internal size is what matters, not the actual size of the input file. That means you can't say for sure what the effect will be on any one of your files, it depends on what's in them. The devs may be "giving us more space" by computing the internal size differently, upping the internal limit, or doing something totally different.
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I had heard that. I'll be interested to see how much smaller my current 97% full arc will be... will I be able to put the 3 custom critters I cut out back in?
We'll see.
I still want more space too
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As of the latest (6/16/09) build on Test, My 89% full arc (with two custom groups) on Live is at 67% full on Test (EXACTLY the same arc, I saved the arc from Live, then coopied and Publish the file on the Training Room server).
Apologies if this has been discussed already, but if so I can't find it. Which seems odd, considering the obvious aggravations file size causes.
Is there any chance the file size limit will ever be raised a little? And why does the limit exist in the first place? Is it actually a disk space thing, or some genuine technical limitation of the mission engine, or what?