RPG Maker MZ won't deploy games when exclude unused files is checked

[Rose Guardian]

For some reason whenever I check exclude unused files to deploy my game it won't deploy and just gets stuck on the deploy loading screen. I am using the steam version of RPG Maker MZ and the latest version. It's a problem because I don't always know what files I will be using.

[DerVVulfman]

Not a user of RMMV. And I just did some searches here and there. It seems to have been reported since 2020 and with both RPGMaker MV and MZ.

One person did get it to eventually work after some time of it NOT working, and it turned out to be by the use of plugins. That is, one person who had the issue tried a fresh demo without plugins and found the feature working.

So, are there plugins within your project?

IF... that is an issue, might I suggest: Unused File Cleaner Its $10 apparently... but being ITCH... who knows if that's fixed.

[Rose Guardian]

Thank you DeeVVulfman. I'm going to save up and get the unused file cleaner. It seems like it's not plugins that are the problem that I am aware of it.

[Coyotecraft]

I had this happen to me once. I believe there's some kind of unspoken character limit to filenames and file paths when you deploy games.
MZ's resource manager allows for organizational sub folders; but I think they only intended it for pictures.
Audio files are already sorted into subfiles like BGS, BGM, ME, SE.
So the file path is already kind of long, something like "audio/bgm/10-melody-ArtistName.ogg"
Adding another subfolder like "audio/bgm/Fancy Fantasy Album DLC/10-m..." and the pathname gets cut off at some point.
Your project will playtest just fine with the full file path; until you try to deploy it. Then suddenly it's like "File not found: 10-m..." Because it's cutting off the full file path.

So getting stuck deploying with the "Exclude unused files" option could just be a warning sign. I'm willing to bet, even if you include all files, your players will eventually run into "File Not Found" errors.

And it sucks. Because, for me it was like, the "dead line is today" and if I rename the files or move the folder, I have to go into every map, every event, and fix every sound file. Tedious.