Those are subpatch objects, so they are low poly and you only see it so round just because i've got subpatch on. Polycount is under control, cockpit is now 14k tris (15k for exterior, with no details). update with seat and some poly fix: View attachment 3336 View attachment 3337
Is it possible that the software your using to model with deals with smoothing differently than 3dmax? 'cause all those extra poly's you have added for roundness are not necessary, let the smoothing do all the hard work.
I was mainly referring to the seat, but the buttons on the wheel are a bit too high. Remember the extra edges on corners technique? (like you have on that 1/4 circle thingy) That's just the base of it, you can use that technique in a few different ways. Realise how it utilises the smoothing and as you have already done, using it for tight corners, you move the edges closer. You can also use this technique to make bigger rounder corners by spacing them out some more. Like the seat for example, you have used the poly flow to create the curve. Instead of using the poly flow to create the curve, use the smoothing. Here is a very quickly done rough example of what I mean.
I think the seat isnt so important because when you are driving you dont see it. Maybe in the showroom but mostly you see the hand of your drivers on the steering wheel and the dashboard and so on.
That's the challenge when modelling for games, with experience it gets easier. I mentioned once before that when you get to know how the game engine treats the models, you will be able to model with the game in mind. This is where it is good to do a lot of exporting and viewing of the model in game. You will be surprised how good something like this will look in game when it has a bump and spec map along with an AO render mixed in with the diffuse. You see the way the smoothing takes care of the roundness on the sides? In this case, the roundness is now there, there is no need for me to model in any extra roundness. Of course you have to use your own initative here, this is just a very basic example demonstrating the possibilities. Yes this model will need a few extra poly's in some places, but in general it shows what I mean.
Yes, I understand what you're saying The difficult is because i usually model for architcture so I need fairly high polys models and I use less smoothing as possible because of reflections precision ecc.. But i understood that model for game is a bit different and I need to convert my workflow Thanks for reply, I don't wanna bother you more eheh.
Good luck with shadowmaps Keep in mind that shadows are casted by actual geometry while lighting is performed based on normal vectors. If you use smooth shading, but sharp geometry - you will have too much difference between these two and will start to see artifacts. Additionally - extra polygons increase control over how that smoothing will look like. You may distribute it so it will progress faster near edges and corners while being "calm" in the middle of a surface. These two green objects posted by maniak are a good example. As far as cables go - yes, you could get away with square profile of cables and just smooth it. They're too small to be subject of such artifacts, because they're below shadow precision anyway. On the other hand, it's just for cockpit, and you only see one at a time. It's not the same as seeing 20-30 high-poly cars in front of you while driving, so it will not have such an impact on performance. I would keep all the stuff in cockpit at the level it's currently at. Of course you will need less detailed cockpits for external view, but for close up cockpit this seems just right.
I usually spend a bit of time tweaking the mesh and increasing the detail when I bake AO maps (same goes for normal maps). If the mesh is like that seat for example, then I'd make it much like Tommy's seat, bake the AO map and apply that map to the lower poly model. But if it's a squarish, sharp edged building, then usually the low poly model is good enough to bake an AO map. Extra poly's do increase the control, but the goal is to achieve that control with less and that control 'can' be achieved with less. As you see in my example, a square edge in the same smoothing group for the right angle, mixed with the other right angle having a different smoothing group, gives you a perfect arc in the smoothing. if your after a perfect arc in a right angle, then there it is right there, there is no need to add extra edges in there to make it smoother, because its already that perfect arc you wanted to achieve. However, when that arc bends like it does at the top middle and bottom as it follows the shape of the seat around, you will need to add extra stuff in there and because triangles effect the flow, you can't just add in an extra vert on the ends, you will need to add an extra edge throughout the whole row. So that would probably end up being 3 edges instead of 1. but only because it bends, if it did not bend then it wouldn't need them, which gets us back to only adding poly's if the model needs it. ps, I see you edited your post KS, but I already typed this out, so I will leave it in anyway. I see your point about controlling the flow of the edge and that is another good example of when you 'need' to add extra stuff in, although it can also be controlled with normal mapping, your make the higher poly mesh for rendering that shape and there you would have it. pss, i agree with the cables, even going down to 3 sides will be good enough in most cases.
I've downloaded this great tool to check smoothing, maps and all kind of object designed for game engines, it's really helpful and now I can understand if my model is correct or not And it's a bit more fast than test it in rf2, as it takes too much to export, open ecc..and I need to convert for max and assign materials. Maybe you already know it, it's Marmoset Toolbag. Bb
I'm just popping by to say I'm looking forward to driving this car! It'll be great around Sebring. Lookin' good, Tommy.
I stopped working on this project. I joined some guys and gonna release something soon on classic mod thread