Vertices,Faces, etc.

[orangemittens]

I know that some items are too "big" for the game in terms of making the game run slowly. I am wondering if it is the number of vertices or what it is that makes an object like this.

I also would like to know if there is a list anywhere of acceptable sizes for various types of objects to keep people's games running smoothly.

Last, I would like to know how to make my new mesh items conform to accepted "standards" for making objects work well in the game in terms of their size. I'm sorry to keep using the word size...I really mean whatever characteristic it is that makes objects slow the game or not but I am not positive what this characteristic is.

Thanks for any help!

OM

[khakidoo]

this post has a lot of info :
http://www.modthesims2.com/creator/showthread.php?t=217408

[orangemittens]

Thanks...that was most helpful. How do we determine the poly-count of an item we have made? I use Milkshape to make and map stuff...is there somewhere in there where it tells me? I have used the object stats function to see the number of vertices...is there some way of calculating polys from that?

OM

[khakidoo]

Im not sure about milkshape.... but in SimPe if you open the particular package and click into the GMDC there should be a spot that says "faces 1234 vertices 1234" - I'm not sure what sort of math it takes to determine the actual "poly count" but in most uploads you'll see people just list the faces and vertices...
-- I use UVMapper Classic instead of SimPe to get the numbers.... when I click File>Load Model a little info box pops up with the faces vertices info.... it's just quicker for me than opening up SimPe....

[xanathon]

SimPEs import routines may change the Vertexcount, so don't rely on other programs too much.

"Face" is just another name for "polygon".

[orangemittens]

Thanks so much...so the face count is the number I am worried about right? This number is the equivalent of poly count?

Is there anywhere here at MTS2 forum that has a list of what acceptable poly counts might be for any given item? I have made several items I would like to share but I first want to be sure they aren't going to screw up anyone's game. My card is very good so I don't want to just go by how my game handles the items...especially since I only design and don't play. I imagine that playing puts a lot more stress on the system than just designing does so I want to be sure that I am well within the right number of polys.

Thanks again!

OM

[khakidoo]

I don't think there's a list like that here...
Here's a page at parsimonious with some more helpful info...
http://www.parsimonious.org/faq/helpo2polycount.shtml

And if you click around on parsimonious thru their objects, they have their poly counts listed alongside each individual item.... looking thru them might give you an idea of some "acceptable" counts...
good page to start on: http://www.parsimonious.org/furniture2/bedroom/k8-Amicus_Curiae_Bedroom.shtml

[orangemittens]

Thank you very much...that was most helpful :)

OM

[IgnorantBliss]

I'd say compare your mesh to a similar Maxis object to get an idea of a reasonable polygon/vertex count. Some objects, even Maxis ones, have more vertices than the recommended 800 per tile, especially items like showers and such. Therefore, rather than having a strict limit to cover all objects, it's better to compare similar objects to each other.

[orangemittens]

This makes good sense and I think it is what I will try to do when creating new things. I am trying to learn to make things using Milkshape and it is always so tempting to have a gazillion polys...lol! Thanks for your help!

OM