Hard Light Productions Forums

Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sandwich on July 21, 2001, 05:24:00 pm

Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: Sandwich on July 21, 2001, 05:24:00 pm
Ok, I try to make any models I make out of 3 sided polys (a.k.a. triangles...  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/tongue.gif)) just to be safe. I've encountered many a face in my models which has four or more sides (rectangle +) and is flat. What is the complete story with trueSpace, all those conversion utils and FS2 concerning flat multisided polygons? Can all those squares be left as squares or should they be split into 2 triangles?

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Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: Taristin on July 21, 2001, 05:26:00 pm
Both do work... But people complain...  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/wink.gif)
Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: QXMX on July 21, 2001, 07:17:00 pm
Keep those squares that are nice and flat.  It will help cut the poly count down.  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)

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Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: Sushi on July 21, 2001, 08:47:00 pm
As far as I know, it doesn't matter- rendering engines only understand triangles anyways, so what matters in the end is the FACE count, not the poly count. So you can go either way.  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)

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Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: morris13 on July 22, 2001, 12:24:00 am
As long as they're perfectly flat its probably fine. A lot of the V ships have un- triangulated faces, so its probably not going to cause much trouble. On the other hand, if you're not running close to the poly limit, why not triangulate?
Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: Bobboau on July 22, 2001, 12:42:00 am
3D cards can render a polygon a hell of a lot faster than the system buss can tell it to, so a square that gets spliced up buy the card will be rendered faster than two triangles.

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Title: 3+ sided polys question
Post by: Sandwich on July 22, 2001, 01:22:00 am
Dernnit! I just had to ask a question to which there's no solid answer, didn't I?  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/rolleyes.gif)  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/tongue.gif)  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/lol.gif)

Thanks for all the answers, folks.  (http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~freespace/ubb/noncgi/smile.gif)

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"He who laughs last thinks slowest."
"Just becase you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
"To err is human; to really screw up you need a computer."
Creator of the Sandvich Bar ("http://michael.randelman.com"), the CapShip Turret Upgrade, the Complete FS2 Ship List and the System Backgrounds List (all available from the site)