Retopoing lots of chain links

Apheleion

Hey all i was wondering what you all would think is the best action for retopoing and unwrapping these chain links, so i made 2 links and fit them together like a chain and then i turned those 2 links into a curve so i could create a longer chain. I am just wondering what is the best action to take for it, or do you all think i should do fewer chain links by making the chain way bigger? Thanks again all for your help.

huffer

You can make a straight length of chain, only with the horizontal links, overlap a simple plane on top of it, and bake down on the plane the Normal and Alpha from the links. The resulting texture should be tileable horizontally (it can be 512x128 for example). Then you can conform the strip over your curves to create the game-ready chain. You can duplicate it, then move the vertices 90 degrees to create the vertical links.

If you want geometry instead of alpha cards, it's best to use Max or Maya to duplicate the links as instances when creating the high poly, so you can retopo and UV only one and see the final result on all of them.

Apheleion

Thanks a lot for the info huffer I completely spaced on doing that in 3DS Max also sorry for the late reply I crashed at my desk.