F
Firehawk
Deleted Due to Inactivity
Former MSFC Member
Having never built models directly for armada what are the poly counts you try to keep the models to?
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- 17 Apr 2006
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Well it's a rather grey area, however I use the following:
Small vessels: Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyers: 1500 at most.
Cruisers: Up to 2000
Battleships and the Like: 3000, preferably lower.
Stations can of course be higher.
But it all really depends on the factor of how many will be built or planned to be build. As the Storm3D engine that Armada uses, can only handle so many pollies on screen at one. So that is something that really should be considered however if you follow that guide above you should be right.
Small vessels: Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyers: 1500 at most.
Cruisers: Up to 2000
Battleships and the Like: 3000, preferably lower.
Stations can of course be higher.
But it all really depends on the factor of how many will be built or planned to be build. As the Storm3D engine that Armada uses, can only handle so many pollies on screen at one. So that is something that really should be considered however if you follow that guide above you should be right.
dinosaurJR
Biffy! Biffy! Biffy!
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- 1 Jul 2009
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- 654
Im somewhere between these two guys - I can use MS3D, but Majestic is waaayyy more experienced than me... and I can make / apply textures / alpha maps etc... but Jetfreak is one of the best around...
I agree though;
Mass produced units should be less than 1500, Larger units should be around 2000 - 2500 at most, and the biggest units, which are produced in small numbers, should be around 3000 - 4000 at the very most. Stations (especially research stations) can be much larger - but I try stay below 8,000, as thats just too much for the engine to handle...especially if you have alot of them...
As for textures, 512X512 resolution seems to give the best compromise between performance and looks and ideally there should be between 1 and 3 textures per model ...
You can go as high as 1024X1024, or even 2048X2048 (I have, once for a hero unit) resolution textures, but if you want to have a game that plays like an RTS (i.e. many units on screen at once, multiple battles etc... I would advise sticking to Majestics poly count guide, and using 512X512 texture sets.
Oh, and welcome to MSFC!
I agree though;
Mass produced units should be less than 1500, Larger units should be around 2000 - 2500 at most, and the biggest units, which are produced in small numbers, should be around 3000 - 4000 at the very most. Stations (especially research stations) can be much larger - but I try stay below 8,000, as thats just too much for the engine to handle...especially if you have alot of them...
As for textures, 512X512 resolution seems to give the best compromise between performance and looks and ideally there should be between 1 and 3 textures per model ...
You can go as high as 1024X1024, or even 2048X2048 (I have, once for a hero unit) resolution textures, but if you want to have a game that plays like an RTS (i.e. many units on screen at once, multiple battles etc... I would advise sticking to Majestics poly count guide, and using 512X512 texture sets.
Oh, and welcome to MSFC!
T
thunderfoot
Deleted Due to Inactivity
Former MSFC Member
Poly counts for models are important. I think the numbers and sizes of textures per ship and station are also important. A 1024 x 1024 texture with lightmaps applied has a 4.0MB file size. You can see where having three or more of these for a scout or small destroyer could be a problem. One other thing I have yet to see anyone mention are weapon sprites. There are usually a great many of these onscreen during a fleet battle. Sometimes nearly as many as there are ships involved in the battle. Then there are the starfield backgrounds. There will always be far more of these ingame than nearly everything else combined. And they will always be visible at maximum number regardless of anything else.
The poly counts listed above are very good guidelines. The suggestion for keeping texture sizes at 512 x 512 pixels is also good. With lightmaps applied, such a texture has a 1.0MB file size. These guidelines have been suggested and are used by people with far more mdding experience than I. I would add though if the only way to get that new light cruiser you are doing to look exactly the way you first pictured in your head is to make a SOD with 2200 polies, then do not be afraid to do so. I have some BSG ships I have done and released which violate nearly every single one of the suggestions made so far. But these will seldom be more than two or three visible at once.
I have not seen Chiletrek in here lately. I suppose he is very busy with university. He is a master of taking a ship model and reducing the poly count while retaining details. I would suggest D/Ling some of his work and examining it carefully for techniques. He is also a very fine person who is never so busy with his own projects he cannot take the time to answer a question or ten.
The poly counts listed above are very good guidelines. The suggestion for keeping texture sizes at 512 x 512 pixels is also good. With lightmaps applied, such a texture has a 1.0MB file size. These guidelines have been suggested and are used by people with far more mdding experience than I. I would add though if the only way to get that new light cruiser you are doing to look exactly the way you first pictured in your head is to make a SOD with 2200 polies, then do not be afraid to do so. I have some BSG ships I have done and released which violate nearly every single one of the suggestions made so far. But these will seldom be more than two or three visible at once.
I have not seen Chiletrek in here lately. I suppose he is very busy with university. He is a master of taking a ship model and reducing the poly count while retaining details. I would suggest D/Ling some of his work and examining it carefully for techniques. He is also a very fine person who is never so busy with his own projects he cannot take the time to answer a question or ten.