Visible polygon count / polygon maximums
by Keith Johnston · in Torque Game Engine · 02/17/2003 (12:24 pm) · 7 replies
Is there a way to see the number of polygons in view?
Also - does anyone have some guidelines as to the maximum number of polygons per scene? I know it varies based on the card you have. So what would be a good number to use for say a Geforce3 card?
Also - does anyone have some guidelines as to the maximum number of polygons per scene? I know it varies based on the card you have. So what would be a good number to use for say a Geforce3 card?
#2
So any guidelines as to the number of texture per scene then?
02/18/2003 (6:41 am)
That's interesting - I have noticed that fill rate problem in MMPORG games - when lots of spell effects are on the screen.So any guidelines as to the number of texture per scene then?
#3
Some things to remember with texture size:
- no matter what format your textures are in on the hard drive, they are uncompressed on the video card. So every 32-bit, 256*256 texture will take up the same amount of room, be it JPEG, PNG, or TIFF.
- since the memory you need for a texture = height*width*bpp, smaller textures take up a lot less room. One 256*256 texture takes up 1/4th the room of one 512*512 texture. Most people have found so far that it is better to have lots of different 256*256 textures for variety than 1/4th the number of hi-res 512's. However, others feel that its now safe to start using 512*512 for certain critical applications, such as player skins. Personally, I'm wondering if we should keep the players at 256 and move the terrain up to 512, but perhaps I'm the only one...
- I'm not an expert on any of this graphics stuff. But look around -- look at the poly counts on other people's models, how many they put in a scene, what particle effects they throw on the screen, and what problems they have when they actually try to run their games. And as always, YMMV.
02/18/2003 (10:20 am)
Well, your textures have to fit into your video RAM. So if you're targeting a 64MB GeForce 3, then all of your textures better fit into 64MB of RAM.Some things to remember with texture size:
- no matter what format your textures are in on the hard drive, they are uncompressed on the video card. So every 32-bit, 256*256 texture will take up the same amount of room, be it JPEG, PNG, or TIFF.
- since the memory you need for a texture = height*width*bpp, smaller textures take up a lot less room. One 256*256 texture takes up 1/4th the room of one 512*512 texture. Most people have found so far that it is better to have lots of different 256*256 textures for variety than 1/4th the number of hi-res 512's. However, others feel that its now safe to start using 512*512 for certain critical applications, such as player skins. Personally, I'm wondering if we should keep the players at 256 and move the terrain up to 512, but perhaps I'm the only one...
- I'm not an expert on any of this graphics stuff. But look around -- look at the poly counts on other people's models, how many they put in a scene, what particle effects they throw on the screen, and what problems they have when they actually try to run their games. And as always, YMMV.
#4
When you say 'complexity of the model' is important, you are not referring to the number of polys - are you referring to the number of joints or sub-objects in the model then? What's a good guideline there?
Thanks again.
02/18/2003 (4:52 pm)
Thanks for the info on the textures!When you say 'complexity of the model' is important, you are not referring to the number of polys - are you referring to the number of joints or sub-objects in the model then? What's a good guideline there?
Thanks again.
#5
C'mon. This guy is nice, and uses decent grammar. How often do you get that? :)
02/18/2003 (6:53 pm)
Could someone who knows ANYTHING about computer graphics please respond to this stuff? I'm already at the edge of what I think is probably true based on my experience playing games -- I'm totally not qualified to answer any of these questions.C'mon. This guy is nice, and uses decent grammar. How often do you get that? :)
#6
I have been using the metrics function - and it gives me a nice fps counter - but I'm looking for a deeper picture of what time the engine spends doing what...
02/18/2003 (6:58 pm)
Hm, I hope I don't come across as a complete idiot asking these questions. I have read a lot about graphics - and the interesting thing is - I haven't really noticed any framerate problems yet, but I'd like to avoid them if possible in designing levels and models.I have been using the metrics function - and it gives me a nice fps counter - but I'm looking for a deeper picture of what time the engine spends doing what...
#7
If I know the maximum number of polys I can display per scene, then I can plan levels to include a certain number of models with a certain number of polys, etc.
But it sounds like this just may be a matter of trying it out and then seeing what the framerate is like. I was hoping there would be some experienced users of Torque that could help out - as with the textures earlier in this post.
02/18/2003 (7:21 pm)
Just to clarify - this question originated with a modeller asking me "How many polys can I have".If I know the maximum number of polys I can display per scene, then I can plan levels to include a certain number of models with a certain number of polys, etc.
But it sounds like this just may be a matter of trying it out and then seeing what the framerate is like. I was hoping there would be some experienced users of Torque that could help out - as with the textures earlier in this post.
Alan Kantz
- total texture size
- total complexity of models stored in memory
- number and size of particles and particle effects on screen
- physics calculations that must be performed at any given instant
Really, most videocards today can spit out a somewhat ridiculous number of polygons. But give the camera a couple dozen screen-filling particles, and watch your framerate drop to a crawl as your fillrate is saturated.