polygon limits

[matthew954]

Does anyone know of the polygon limits of fs9?  I am modifying a 3ds max 5 tutorial airplane (that looks like a cessna 402).  The aircraft itself is roughly 8000 polys.  But my landing gear is roughly the same amount.  I know I'm going to have to redo the gear.  But I have no idea how many polys are too many.  Any help will e appreciated.

[Gnome]

8000?  Pah, no worries.  :-)

My models are usually around 40-50,000 polys and my Micro turbine helicopter  at www.hovercontrol.com  is over 70,000!

Dunno how I got away with that one as it is still reasonably frame rate-friendly.

I set my personal limit (and am constantly trying to get WAY below it) at 50,000 polys with VC.

Kevin Bryan
Unreal Aviation

[matthew954]

Thanks, I thought that it might not work.  The only game engine that i've worked with is no one lives forever.  Poly counts in that had to be very low.  

[Felix/FFDS]

On landing gear - remember that a smoothed 8 sided tube is indistiguishable from a smooth 32-sided tube, especiually if it is inside another (as in compressing gear).

I am of the minimalist theory - enough polygons to fool the eye.

[Gnome]

I'm slowly coming around to that.
Looking at some of my early renders was a bit of an eye opener.  Nuts with rounded heads, washers with 36 sides etc.


Kev

[Abyss]

Sorry for my ignorance but how do I find out the amount of polygons in a file in 3ds max?

[FSEdge]

Open the Utilities panel. You will see a button called "More". Select it then look in the list for "Polygon Counter" choose it and hit Open.

FSEdge

[Abyss]

Ok thanks, err would 464668 be breaking any boundries?

[Travis]

Ok thanks, err would 464668 be breaking any boundries?

*Hiccup*!  That's a helluva lot of polys.  I don't think FS will run that without a good five minutes of loading time.  Have you tried it yet?

[FSEdge]

Ok thanks, err would 464668 be breaking any boundries?

Is this the poly count for the A-10? If so, you might want to consider building another one and chalk this one up to a useful learning exercise. Shoot for a count of 50K. You can use the Polygon Counter to budget you as your work progresses.

I have been in touch today with a couple members from the user group we talked about via email. Were going to take a look at it next Wednesday night, but from the feed back I've gotten back on it isn't promising.

I hate to tell you to start over. I know how long it takes a project to come together, but sometimes it's a necessary evil.

FSEdge

[Abyss]

Ok It sounds as though I will have to start over, or I could remover the weaponry. Apart from a glitch with the tail section it runs fine without those.

[Gnome]

That's a rotten shame having to start over (BTDTGGTS) but try removing surplus bits first.  Also, if it will compile then it will probably run OK....  I have also found using 'Optimize' quite useful too.


Kev

[Abyss]

After a little bit of work I have been able to dispose of 300000 polygons with hardly any loss of quality. I am currently at about 100000 and can keep going I think, although it does run fine in fs.

[Gnome]

That sounds hopeful.  :-)


Kev