they're both 6000 and some polys , the third link of each building is the info for the buildings. You can also buy them , the first building I posted is $65 and the second one is $80. There's some really nice art on that website for sale , my only critic of the site would be it's limited amount of content.

First building info:
FANTASY BUILDING and tree.
Fantasy building: 6417 polygons, 10239 vertices. The model includes game-ready textures with opacity maps: 512x512x32b, 512x512x24b, 256x256x24b, 512x256x32b, 512x256x24b.
Tree: 646 polygons, 1208 vertices. The model includes game-ready textures: 256x512x24b; 512x512x32b. File format: 3ds max 7. Ready for rendering and real-time engines.

Second building info:
FANTASY BUILDING, rock, trees, bush and sky-box.
Fantasy building: 6718 polygons, 10317 vertices. The models includes game-ready textures with opacity maps: 512x512x32b, 512x512x24b, 256x256x24b, 512x256x32b, 512x256x24b.
Rock: 204 polygons, 229 vertices. The models includes game-ready textures: 1024x1024x24b.
Tree 1: 728 polygons, 1296 vertices. The model includes game-ready textures: 256x256x24b; 512x512x32b.
Tree 2: 494 polygons, 843 vertices. The model includes game-ready texture: 256x256x24b, 1024x1024x32b.
Bush: 56 polygons, 126 vertices. The model includes game-ready texture: 1024x1024x32b.
Full scene: 8256 polygons, 12937 vertices.
File format: 3ds max 7. Ready for rendering and real-time engines.

Dont forget you can use differing models for walls, ceilings and so on that are created when needed and destroyed when not needed so that your house looks fine from any camera view but isn't really a high poly count soup.

A bit more work and an increase in the distributed files but good frame rates.

And then doing the same for complete rooms that are only single level structures created when your player enters and so on.

Look for work-a-rounds in every conceivable situation or think about how athers may have acheived the very same effect you are looking for.

Personally, I would create a very high poly count to test for looks and maybe keep using it without a LOD system untill I was sure the coding worked flawlessly then and only then would I look at creating true game assetts as my previouse posted test files has shown in the Borderline Conflict and Middle Earth series.

Being astute in the use of a LOD system like above can actually be incorporated to make levels look bigger too...and such a system was once posted so could still be in archieves yet.

Dont think I'm offering the only way to do things here, its just another approach to consider.

well at 6000 polys on just the exteriors on those seems a tad high, with the interior modeled i`m going to be around that mark, the whole mesh is nearly done and i`ll post a few renders when it is.

You should use a Parallax Shader on your house. here is a sample.

thats ok for stone walls and the like but if you look at those beams they are modeled not mapped.

This is true. If you use Quark, you can use the poly reduction tool.

...Besides, parallax mapping is slow without SPHERE...


I always feel like I'm advertising Matt's SPHERE. lol. I always find myself saying that it would be too slow without SPHERE.


I need to write a parallaz shader just to see how fast I can get it to run... lol.

Its hard and easy to tell at the same time: the less the better, the more the better.

everything depends on your needs. and detail should only be put where it makes a difference and where it can be seen.

Example:
+usually the shoes of player characters are less detailed then their heads. harldy anybody looks at them anyway.

+ceiling textures are about 50 or 25% of the size of the wall textures in fps shoters. you dont often look at them, so you dont need lots of details.

+houses in fps games have usually different level of quality depending on their height. 1floor = full details, second floor = only outlines and structures are made (frames for windows, parts of the wall aso), 3rd and above most things are texture painted or just basic shapes.
The further away your view is the more waste would it be to use polygons and texture space for it.

Highest floors in hl2 buildings (outside walls of it, 5th, 6th aso floor) also used a second texture space on the uv-sheet.
they basicly placed the same texture just in very low rez on the same texure sheet and used it for floor higher above the ground. safed them lots of power

+interiors for cars and vehicles only if you can enter them


the reason why developer games look usually a lot better then indy games is simple: its their dayjob
if every indy could work 10h a day on his stuff he can create the same things.
If you can collect enough indies you can even get the ammount of content a developer game has.


one thing i add to every of my starting levels: "the chunck"
The chunck is a 15.000 polygon, animated "thing" that is placed into every view.
This usualy leaves enought space for enemies or code. I also place enemy placeholder into the level where they will alter on act.

one feature i would love to have is a polycounter in WED.
not only for the whole scene but arround a defined sphere from the middle of my mouse pointer.
Move your mouse onto a point, press a button and every face arround it will be counted and diplayed in WED.

cheers

I fully agree with blattsalat, he's got the right idea.
some people are taking this wayy to far, and thinking completely wrong.
You shouldn't think like "1000 polygons looks better so I will use it, computers today can handle it" you must make changes for each situation.
do you REALLY need a high polygon house? 90% of the cases the polycount can be cut drastically with OUT losing details.

Dont "waste" by just maiking all models higher polys, even if they are not needed. So what if computers are capable of handling it.


Now I do agree that 50 polygons is WAY to small for a house in a FPS. being creative with a limit is one thing, but with 50 polygons no amount of shaders, textures, or other lighting effects will make up for the lack of detail.