What is the poly budget for large aircraft? Thread - Vector Thrust

I thought it would be something like 10k-14k polys due to the size but the B52 model that comes with the game is only a thousand polys. This model has 12 thousand, am I over budget yet (And if so then what's the best way to model the undercarriage and cargo hold)?

For a big unit like that I think 15k-20k mighty be OK, assuming you won't have as many of it on screen as say, small fighters. When making a model you have to think about the final polycount of all models on screen.

Also I did import models that had over 20k polys and they seemed to work fine.

Someone wrote: And if so then what's the best way to model the undercarriage and cargo hold

Well, there really isn't a "right" way to model anything, I'd say, just try to avoid wasting polys on things that can't be seem from a certain distance, for example, my friend's plane that I imported into the game, the pilot I made for it only has 486 polys, it's really simple, doesn't even have textures, just colors, but looking from outside ingame he looks as good as the rest of the plane.

Pilot upclose
Img.photobucket.com

Outside
Img.photobucket.com

Edited by: XN-Sigma

Don’t take the B-52 that is in the game as example, that model is just a place holder.

There isn’t any specific rule for the poly count of the models, but the guidelines for “official” content are:
Aircraft: 5000 - 10 0000
Destroyer/frigate: 3000 – 6000
Ground vehicles: 1000 – 3000
Weapons: 100 – 300

There is no limit in poly count and the game takes in consideration the model size and poly count when generating LODs, so it will adapt if the model is too complex.

I’ll recommend for large aircrafts something between 8000 and 15000, although there is no problem in trespassing these limits.

The cargo hold doesn’t need too much detail as it will be difficult to see the inside even if the aircraft is controlled by the player

What's the recommended polycount for buildings?

Edit: and is alpha supported in textures? It would help save polys when making things like barbed wire fences and ladders.

Edited by: bornloser

For small buildings the poly count should be the same as weapons, medium buildings same as ground vehicles and super sized buildings (eg; Gaiuss Tower from ACX) same as destroyers etc. but that's just guide lines.

Currently at 22k and I still haven't added the doors/landing gear (which will probably be an extra 2000 the way I'm going.) I've finally got the engine casings attached to the wings and am trying to optimize the mesh some more before I start mapping/ animating it. I'll probably release a beta version and add the cargo doors/landing gear later.

Edit: I got some more renders for you, please tell me if you spot any errors

Edited by: bornloser