I can model fine, it's restraining the detail that I have problems with. I do 3d animation also, so I am used to trying to go for detail over performance. How many vertices or faces is a good number for gaming? Is 10,000 faces too much? how about 9,000?

Cyrus

The C-Script manual available here has several workshops in it. Number 9 should interest you as they go into "polygon budget" and a simple equation that shows you about how many polygons per model you should have.

Uhm, any copy of that file I can find doesn't have workshop 9 in it at all. Any of em, even THAT one. Any links to where it might be?

Cyrus

AFAIK, the manual does not have the workshops in them, the AUM magazine does...

I'm not sure which has the [ideal] polygon budget in it, the manual or the workshop 9....


The budget isn't really to helpful, there are too many variables to be guaranteed a result. You should just keep testing your level, and adjust as needed.

If you click the "here" in my first post, it should download a zip file from Conitec's site. Inside you will find a readme.txt, a cscript.zip, and a cscript.chm. I'll post the full link for brevity...

http://server.conitec.net/down/cscript.zip

The chm file is the bulk of the information whereas the zip file holds all the examples used in the chm file.

I just tested it and it downloads fine for me. Although I had a problem in the past where I had to tell my browser to open the file instead of downloading to the hard drive.

I don't know how much the polygon budget will help though. I started using blender a few weeks ago and made some cool models only to realize that they have about 30,000 polygons too many to be useful in a game. I just bought A6 commercial, so I'll be able to get some real test info soon. This is after I find a way to reduce the polys in some of my models, that is.

Hi Cyrus,

Model poly count is a subject that generates quite a bit of debate here from time to time. Some are designing games for the latest and greatest hardware, have limited characters loaded at any time, and go for detail. Others (me included) are more stingy with their polys, opting for speed over detail, and looking to please a wider, less processor rich audience. It all depends on the environment you will be playing in, the largest number of polys that will be on display at one time, and how close the player will be to the entity you are developing.

As an example, I made a T-Rex years ago in a 3D modelling package, and decided to try it on in 3dgs just to see it spin. It was over 32,000 polys, and caused my frames per second to fall through the floor on loading or animation. Because it was built for detail and not gaming, some of the polys were so small that they disappeared when the player moved a few quants away. Not a very impressive lizard if he's all shot full o' holes.

I have just finished re-doing the model from scratch in MED, and it is now 2800 polys. It barely impacts my FPS when loaded alone in the same simple box level I used before, but I am hoping to optimize it further. My target was 2000 polys, so I'm not far off.

I will probably be able to squeeze another 100 or so polys out of of her, but will end up compromising by making use of LOD to keep the FPS running smooth anyway. If you can isolate your hi-poly models so that there are less other entities to view when they are encountered, you could get away with a fair number (6000?). Use LOD where you can AND where you have to.

Cheers!
Mark

What i would think of a good poly count is maybe 5,000 for a detailed character, but i make big big scenes for 3d movies so i dont need that much detail. If you want a fast paced game go a little low.
Detailed game go high!