what's the average poly count...

[dock]

for most aircraft in fs2004?

[Sterk]

From 3000 to 10000 triangles or from 1000 to 5000 quads on model-I suppose...

[Milton]

Up to 2000 poly's for AI aircraft  ::)

Nice exterior models can easily run 10-20,000 on multi-engine and/or complex gear aircraft, up to 40,000 depending on desired details which include cockpit and cabin features.

A good, detailed VC which includes cabin can be 10-20,000 if it includes wings, engines, and gear views (like on high wing aircraft).  :o

Check the xxx.mdl files of default aircraft and compare them to your resulting xxx.mdl sizes.  My aircraft .mdl's run about the same as the larger default aircraft, yet I usually have 68-78,000 poly's total interior and exterior.

It really depends on the kind of aircraft you want to do, and its intended use.  High poly counts with optimization, frugal yet practical use of polys, and a balance of optimized textures can still be frame rate friendly, but may hurt you when you pile on AI and major airports, and in multiplayer sessions.

Regardless of size, optimizing your model and textures should always be part of the design process.  

To establish meaningful averages, categories of aircraft, intended use, engine classes, gear complexities, and VC/cabin content must be considered.  Part averages would probably be more meaningful for new designers to use as guidelines.

With that said, it's all eye candy, and what most simmers want is a great panel and great flight dynamics.  These two things require almost zero polys.    ;)

[dock]

Thank you very much for all the info.

Milton, are your numbers referring to quads or triangles?

I made an F-16C awhile back, sticking to a strict 2500 tirangle limit.

[Milton]

Gmax's Polygon counter says 85177 but the Summary Info calls those same units Faces, so I assume they are triangles.

The plug-in is only available from FS2K2 PE until the new Makemdl SDK is released, as far as I know.

[Katahu]

Not ENTIRELY accurate.

The Gmax plugin is already installed when you download and install the latest version of Gmax from www.discreet.com

It may be a waste of time to download such a huge program [especially for 56k users] when you already v1.2 in the FS9 disk. However, if you use the disk version of Gmax, you'll still have to find the plugin. That's where the download version comes in.

[Milton]

Just for clarification, are you saying that the FSModelExp.dle plugin is available with the downloaded version of Gmax 1.2 from discreet?

[Katahu]

Never mind. I just checked the download version. It doesn't come with it.

I guess I'm the one who's inaccurate.

[dock]

Ah, interesting. Thanks again, looks like I'll be waiting a bit for it.

[anim8r]

Just to clarify,

All poly counts should be in tris.  Additionally, under the file pulldown in gmax is a choice called "summary info" which will give the face (tri) count and vert count totals for the scene (so if you have hidden or additional geometry it will be counted).  While I do not know the specific target counts that FS or CSF uses, since I make models for games as a job, I would be inclined to agree with the 3000-10000 mark (as the exterior plane model, not including cockpits etc.)

The reason for thinking in tris is simple....thats what the video cards see.  It also makes discussion of poly counts simpler if everyone uses tris as the standard.

[dock]

Right on.

However, my modeling has mostly been for cinematics, so in my field when people say polys they are usually referring to faces (quads).  That's why I ask specifically, as to be safe.   I also use Maya for all my modeling, and Gmax/3DS only for conversions.