Static Meshes

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b1skit

L1: Registered
Feb 6, 2009
21
4
Hi guys!

I was wondering if anyone could give me some information about TF2 (or the source engine in general) with regards to the poly counts I should aim for when creating custom static meshes?

I am building some custom meshes for my map - to feature as large objects within the level (ie. water towers, caves).

But before I start construction I need to know what poly counts I should aim for in my meshes? Textures sizes? Any tips or guidlines for importing my own poly meshes from maya?

Any tips appreciated! :)
 
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Jive Turkey

L3: Member
Jan 22, 2008
120
32
Your best bet really would be to load up model viewer from the sdk tools dialog and look around Valve's stock models. There are several tabs of information, including the model tab which displays polycounts and lets you view the different LOD models and their corresponding info. You can also poke around the gcfs in your Steam folder for information on texture sizes. No experience with Maya, but there are a few 3ds max plugins I couldn't live without. Look at the sdk docs wiki.
 
zpqrei

zpqrei

Theme Changer Extraordinaire
aa
Oct 19, 2008
1,067
1,150
b1skit said:
Hi guys!

I was wondering if anyone could give me some information about TF2 (or the source engine in general) with regards to the poly counts I should aim for when creating custom static meshes?

I am building some custom meshes for my map - to feature as large objects within the level (ie. water towers, caves).

But before I start construction I need to know what poly counts I should aim for in my meshes? Textures sizes? Any tips or guidlines for importing my own poly meshes from maya?

Any tips appreciated! :)
Click to expand...

If you want to know what sort of things Source can do, Ep2's Alyx has ~9,000 tris in her face. To be honest, as long as you don't go over the top in detail (which it's hard to do, given TF2's simplistic style), source can handle it.
 
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b1skit

L1: Registered
Feb 6, 2009
21
4
Thanks guys, great suggestions! :)

Zpqrei, I dont suppose you have a link to the info on Alyx's mesh?
 
SiniStarR

SiniStarR

L8: Fancy Shmancy Member
Mar 31, 2009
585
116
hey if you figure out uv maps and maya, please LET ME know! I cant figure it out at all when I do my models unfortanitly.
 
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b1skit

L1: Registered
Feb 6, 2009
21
4
SiniStarR, I would advise you to do a google search on UV Mapping. There are a lot of great tutorials out there that will walk you through the process, I would also HIGHLY recommend buying a Digital Tutors training DVD - The Maya UV Mapping Workflow is my favorite. You can find one for less than $50, and they cover EVERYTHING - you will be a Maya UV master :)
 
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b1skit

L1: Registered
Feb 6, 2009
21
4
Great link, exactly what I was looking for - thanks!

The best news is that it confirmed my model is very suitable :)

Stay tuned for "Bon Voyage"!
 
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