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[jjunkers87]

Hey guys,

Now that I can start modeling with Maya, I have gotten a group of people together of about 8 and we're creating content for a mod now.  My question is, what is the max count of tris I should have on an object??  I don't want the game to start chopping up, and I know "the fewer the better" but I was wondering if there was a magic number cut off point?

Thanks!

[Meathead]

It really depends, Is the model going to be in your face or away out at a distance, With the SDK I would stick to about 4000 tris per a object, if it is going to be seen up close. Aswell another tip is that you would have to use 1024x1024 texture size for your textures source does not like anything higher, Its a old engine what can I say :) If you guys need extra help can add me on skype at meat_helix

Regards Meathead

[wallworm]

Ahh... the age-old-question... :)

I'm not truly qualified to give any concrete answer. But I'll give my my own guidelines.

• Don't worry about it too much to begin with.
• Make Models
• Make Textures
• Repeat above steps an arbitrary number of times
• Test model in game
• Test model in live multiplayer server
• Apply a MultiRes or ProOptimizer modifier... reduce tris... restest in game and see how it looks... if looks the same use lower poly...
• Tweak if need be, repeat, etc
• Don't worry about it too much*

*Unless, of course, you are doing it professionally and your paycheck depends on it :)

Anyway, I don't think there is a magic number. Some models can look high detail with exceptionally low-poly because of texturing. Some need more geometry because of what they are. So really it's all about getting some experience making models and finding the right balance. I think you just develop a "feel" for how much detail you need over time.

Because you can add LODs to models, you don't have to worry too much as long as you make it such that when the model is tiny in the screen... that tiny model doesn't have a lot of geometry. Also, for static props utilize the max viewable distance in Hammer's entity properties... and you can make sure that models don't even render ... so there are more things to consider than simply tri-count.

In the end, it is often making the balance between how much time you have to devote to this specific prop and how prominent it is in the scene.

Again, this is just my observation and opinion. I'm very confident you'll get a much different array of answers each time you ask the question :)

[jjunkers87]

Right on, I'll keep that in mind.  I'll start posting some of our mod groups stuff in the models section soon to liven up the place haha.