Comments on: How many polygons in a piece of string?

By: universal poly count??? - Game Artist Forums

universal poly count??? - Game Artist Forums — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:34:24 +0000

[...] props can do with insane low poly counts… Rick Stirling wrote two articles on polycount too rsart - Rick Stirling, games artist � Blog Archive � How many polygons in a piece of string? rsart - Rick Stirling, games artist � Blog Archive � Yes, but how many polygons? cheers [...]

By: Questionnaire for people working in the games industry

Questionnaire for people working in the games industry — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:12:06 +0000

[...] I think you should read my other article, How many polygons in a piece of string [...]

By: Reference Thread - Game Artist Forums

Reference Thread - Game Artist Forums — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:19:26 +0000

[...] Reference Thread I’ve seen this type of thread in many other forums and thought it was a good idea to start here. Use it as an organized collection of reference links on any subject matter. Feel free to add posts with any links you find. I’ll start things off with some links from around the forum and will update with more stuff later. Environment Reference http://www.opacity.us/ - Abandoned Photography and Urban Ruins Thanks to snake85027 for the link. Ornamental Building Trim Rubble - Demolished Buildings Thanks to vkirchner for the links. Inspirational Buildings Thanks to swartsz for the link. Sci Fi Reference http://cyberpunk.liber-mundi.org/index.php?lng=us - Cyberpunk 2021 Thanks to snake85027 for the link. Weapon Reference Personal photo album gallery of DeicideNBF Thanks to Deicide for the link. http://www.modelguns-worldwide.com/ - Model Guns Worldwide Thanks to conman441 for the link. http://www.deactivated-guns.co.uk/deactivatedguns.htm - Deactivated WW1 and WW2 guns Thanks to conman441 for the link. http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn26-e.htm - Modern Firearms Thanks to conman441 for the link. http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php? t=42409 - Colt 1911 Reference BAR 1918A2 .30 Ref Pics Thanks to Headshot for the links. 1865 Navy Colt Reference Thanks to uber2002 for the link and reference. Heckler & Koch References Veretta CX4 Storm .45ACP Mossberg Model835 12Ga Camo Shotgun Henry Golden Boy .44 Magnum Winchester Model1300 12 Gauge Shotgun Sig Saur P239 .357Sig M1 Garand Sheridan BlueStreak Pellet Gun Mac 10 .45 Caliber Colt Trooper .357 Magnum Fiocchi Target Pistol K38 Masterpiece Taurus 9MM Kutrz Thanks to vkirchner for the links. G36C References Thanks to bardur for the link. Armour Hundred and One Antiques Thanks to firestart for the link. An article on the History of Medieval Armour Thanks to armorjohn for the link and article. Articles How many Polygons in a piece of string - �How many polygons should I be using in a character/vehicle/environment?� Thanks to Talon for the link and Rick Stirling for the Article. Fabric Reference http://www.henrikc.dk/camouflage/all.asp - Camourflage uniforms of the world Thanks to Alchemist101 for the link. Face Reference Turnarounds Expressions Details Character Reference Thanks to Alchemist101 for the links. Muscle Reference A collection of images and links Human Reference All the Human Photo References and Textures 3D Artist Wants Female Reference Thanks to Alchemist101 for the link. Vehicle References Belgian F16 fighter jet - High Resolution images Thanks to doylle for the link and images. I’ll edit in a large selection of vehicle links later today. __________________ .: Looking for entry level position :. [...]

By: rsart - home of Rick Stirling, games artist, designer, egotist and raconteur » Blog Archive » Yes, but how many polygons?

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:10:21 +0000

[...] Previously, I’ve explained that it is very difficult to answer the question “How many polygons should I be using in a character/vehicle/environment?” This doesn’t stop the question being asked however, so I thought I’d approach it in a different way - how many polygons have other games used? [...]

By: Game Polygon Counts - Game Artist Forums

Game Polygon Counts - Game Artist Forums — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:42:35 +0000

[...] rsart - home of Rick Stirling, games artist, designer, egotist and raconteur � Blog Archive � How many polygons in a piece of string? Thanks, Rick __________________ > My Portfolio > Hull-Breach Lead Modeler > Supporter of good crits. [...]

By: The_Pete

The_Pete — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:07:16 +0000

“A short answer is “as few as possible without sacrificing the minimum quality bar that’s expected for the game”, but even that’s pretty long.”

One could also argue that, while having a min./max. quality bar is great in establish framework, the design should include functionality. There is no point in having a 30,000 polygon static object that is seen once, never interacted with, and is a background element (not the focus of a given stage/area). This, of course, is harder when creating a “sandbox” type game, where you can see an object from any angle and any distance.

Are there complete hard and fast rules for this? I doubt it, as it’s completely reliant on the design and technical limitations being placed on the artist.

By: rsart - home of Rick Stirling, games artist, designer, egotist and raconteur » Blog Archive » Game makes blog carnival

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:20:54 +0000

[...] Game producer.net has started a carnival for people who make games, and I submitted ‘How many polygons in a piece of string?‘, which is an attempt at explaining why some questions are very difficult to answer when it comes to game art. [...]

By: Nathan

Nathan — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 17:30:19 +0000

I may not have much experience with large scale video game production, but cannot this be reduced to almost a formula? Perhaps, as oddly as this may seem, the polygon counts and texture resolutions should come from the game testers.

It could be possible to add debugging code which keeps track of the average time an object is visible, it’s size on screen, and other statistics while the game is actually being play-tested. These values coupled with the known graphical limitations of the target machine (polygons per second, texture memory, etc.) could be used to potentially determine the optimum polygon count and texture resolution per model. An object which is only shown momentarily from a distance does not need as much detail as one shown frequently at close range.

The problem with this, of course, is that you could not really know exactly what the mesh statistics would be until there is working game engine. This might be better than nothing though, and meshes may need to be tweaked a couple times during game’s development because of changes and additions to the game.

By: GameProducer.Net » Archive » Carnival of Game Production - First Edition

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 09:18:30 +0000

[...] Rick Stirling gives the right answer to question: How many polygons in a piece of string?. Very practical and informative article. [...]

By: Dino

Dino — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:17:11 +0000

I think Rick has hit the nail on the head (again) by identifying a cause of debate in many a games company. I’ve worked on many games where the answers to questions like that are not known at *any* point during development, mainly because it’s an impossible question to answer.

It’s rarely *just* about polygon budgets either, it’s about texture budgets, bone numbers (for animations), material types (which governs how many draw calls there are for the model) and re-usability of that model / material within the scene (usually zero, but it can be a mitigating factor.

A short answer is “as few as possible without sacrificing the minimum quality bar that’s expected for the game”, but even that’s pretty long.

Ultimately, it’s *very* easy to do great looking high-polycount models, and *very* hard to do great looking low-polycount models and the success or failure of adhering to poly limits set by your lead art (or code in some cases) can seriously affect the quality of the art you produce and the performance of the game as a whole.