Tips on Low Poly Artwork
by Craig Fortune · in RTS Starter Kit · 11/15/2004 (6:24 am) · 8 replies
After reading a thread where someone asked for some tips on how to create low poly artwork in regards to RTSs I thought I'd sit down and write up some tips.
1. First off its best advised to keep any animations simple and straight forward. You only have a limited number of polys that you are trying to deform so REALLY think whether that little flicking movement in the tail is vital... or can u not bother with that extra bone and thus save some processing resources? Remember when you have tens and hundreds of units on screen every poly and bone counts!
2. If a detail wont really be visible, then DONT DO IT. Sounds obvious, but at a distance of 200m can u see someones hand? or so u see a little blob? If its possible to do the detail in textures rather then polies then do so. But dont take this as an excuse to increase your texture sizes :P
3. Back on the animation side of things... dont do big elongated animations for things. Sure it may look kool at times, but in realiy a simple punch, fire, build animation etc will suffice in an RTS game. Dontcha think it'll just end up a big mess if all your units are performing black belt karate constantly? :-)
4. Maximise your texture space usage. As we are working within strict limits its vital to fully utilise anything you can. To be honest the building in the RTS pack actually wastes more texture space then I would normally accept, but I was hurrying the UVmapping on it. (I hate UVmapping just like everyone else... but ya gotta stick in there and do it well - it'll pay out ten fold)
5. People normally ask "whats the poly limit for this type of model" etc and to be honest there isn't one. Every situation and target machine spec means this value changes (often dramatically) But to give some general numbers regarding poly counts I would suggest these:
Unit: 600 polys TOP
Building: 400 polys TOP
6. Bones...
Unit: 2 bones per limb (no bones for hands... its not necessary)
Building: 1 bone per moving part. (Each chimney has a bone, each side piece has a bone and so does the front piece. Obviously none of them linked together)
Enough waffle for now =D I might spruce these up into some sort of resource if people want it.
-Craig
1. First off its best advised to keep any animations simple and straight forward. You only have a limited number of polys that you are trying to deform so REALLY think whether that little flicking movement in the tail is vital... or can u not bother with that extra bone and thus save some processing resources? Remember when you have tens and hundreds of units on screen every poly and bone counts!
2. If a detail wont really be visible, then DONT DO IT. Sounds obvious, but at a distance of 200m can u see someones hand? or so u see a little blob? If its possible to do the detail in textures rather then polies then do so. But dont take this as an excuse to increase your texture sizes :P
3. Back on the animation side of things... dont do big elongated animations for things. Sure it may look kool at times, but in realiy a simple punch, fire, build animation etc will suffice in an RTS game. Dontcha think it'll just end up a big mess if all your units are performing black belt karate constantly? :-)
4. Maximise your texture space usage. As we are working within strict limits its vital to fully utilise anything you can. To be honest the building in the RTS pack actually wastes more texture space then I would normally accept, but I was hurrying the UVmapping on it. (I hate UVmapping just like everyone else... but ya gotta stick in there and do it well - it'll pay out ten fold)
5. People normally ask "whats the poly limit for this type of model" etc and to be honest there isn't one. Every situation and target machine spec means this value changes (often dramatically) But to give some general numbers regarding poly counts I would suggest these:
Unit: 600 polys TOP
Building: 400 polys TOP
6. Bones...
Unit: 2 bones per limb (no bones for hands... its not necessary)
Building: 1 bone per moving part. (Each chimney has a bone, each side piece has a bone and so does the front piece. Obviously none of them linked together)
Enough waffle for now =D I might spruce these up into some sort of resource if people want it.
-Craig
#2
If your RTS has a smaller amount of units then a "standard rts" then feel free to umph the poly limits etc and vice versa.
11/15/2004 (11:14 am)
Ah yes, please dont take these tips as the be all and end all. They are tips, not rule sor absolutes and they should be taken only as tips.If your RTS has a smaller amount of units then a "standard rts" then feel free to umph the poly limits etc and vice versa.
#3
We're in a wierd position, because we want the best of ALL worlds (who doesn't?). We're going to be having full time RTS players that don't care what the units look like from afar, but we'll also be having RPG style players that only control their one player character at a time, who will need to see nice models, since they will be much more "upfront" with said RTSUnits.
And then we have the FPS style--well, wait, we'll worry about that later!
11/15/2004 (11:19 am)
Great stuff Craig, thanks a ton.We're in a wierd position, because we want the best of ALL worlds (who doesn't?). We're going to be having full time RTS players that don't care what the units look like from afar, but we'll also be having RPG style players that only control their one player character at a time, who will need to see nice models, since they will be much more "upfront" with said RTSUnits.
And then we have the FPS style--well, wait, we'll worry about that later!
#4
Of course there is always the option of really heavy use of LOD. Far distance (typical rts) and u have small low poly character, up close (rpg like u say) u have higher poly characters. Probably in situations like this is might be nice to think about possibly doing the LOD manually rather then relying on auto ganeration of LOD. Of course this is more work, but who said things were gonna be easy ey? ;)
11/15/2004 (11:24 am)
This is where your project's requirements become very individual. You have to decide on sensible limits for poly counts etc to suit your project and target machine spec.Of course there is always the option of really heavy use of LOD. Far distance (typical rts) and u have small low poly character, up close (rpg like u say) u have higher poly characters. Probably in situations like this is might be nice to think about possibly doing the LOD manually rather then relying on auto ganeration of LOD. Of course this is more work, but who said things were gonna be easy ey? ;)
#5
Hadn't considered manual LOD option. Once we get to that type of stress test (months at -least- from now), I'll that back out of my bag of tricks--thanks for the idea!
11/15/2004 (11:27 am)
@Craig: Ayep, hehe.Hadn't considered manual LOD option. Once we get to that type of stress test (months at -least- from now), I'll that back out of my bag of tricks--thanks for the idea!
#6
11/15/2004 (11:30 am)
No problemo, glad to help.
#7
11/15/2004 (11:34 am)
Hmm...actually, it made me think about something like "reverse LOD"--simply replacing the low detail model of the RTSUnits client side when the (other) client is playing in RPG/FPS mode with a more highly complex/animated model...
#8
11/15/2004 (11:45 am)
Theres no need to... simply have different LOD levels on the same model. Naturally when your are in RTS mode you'll have a low LOD, and in RPG mode as you'll be up close to the models you'll have a higher LOD. 
Associate Kyle Carter
And to all reading these - don't be afraid to break the rules if there's a good reason!