Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitman
Having learned a good deal of modeling in the last years, I was wondering about the specifics of SH4 submarine models, in case I had some time to crank out one. Can someone help with these questions?
1- What is the desirable amount of polygons for the hull and for the conning tower? (I know guns, rudder, periscopes etc are separate objects as well as the conning tower)
2.- How many textures can a model have linked to, and what is the proper size for them?
3.- Do textures accept alpha channels f.e. for railing or holes?
4.- If I provide a model in 3Ds or Ligthtwave format complete with textures, would anyone be able to port it into SH4 adding the animations for torpedo doors, peris, rudder, screws, etc?
Now I'm not saying I will start modeling something tomorrow, but I want to know how the models should be, so I can gauge the work needed and see if I find the time for it.
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1) Maximum number of polys for the hull as an individual object is about 32,000 polys when working with S3d Editor. Once you reach about 33,000 polys the editor crashes. You can get around this limitation by subdividing the hull into several components (each no more than ~ 32,000 polys). My U-31 Class WWI submarine is almost exactly 117,000 polys. Hull and conning tower are each right at the limit (32,000 polys). The other polygons are masts, rigging, rivets, hatches, etc.
2) I haven't found a limit on the number of textures yet; I've had ships work fine with about 5-6 different textures. The largest textures I use have been 2048 x 2048. For some reason terrain textures bigger than 512 x 512 crash the game, but ship textures bigger than that are fine.
3) Yes, I have created my own damage layers using alpha channels.
4) I work with Wings3d; I know you can convert 3ds to obj in wings3d for S3d editor to use; not sure about other formats. Can't tell you much about animations; I'm not good at them.