deleting un-seen polys + unreal

Eltrex06

so ive been wondering, been told several different things so i wanted to ask you all and get an idea. been trying to look it up but haven't found any useful information.

so in max can you delete faces youll never see (back or bottom of an object) and have it work correctly in UDK when exported?

ive been told yes by some people and at the same time ive been told no, that it causes LOD and shading issues.

im not sure what to believe... any thoughts?

s0id3

in my personal experience it hasn't been a problem exporting models to UDK w/ deleted(hidden) faces.

Ben Apuna

I agree deleting unseen/hidden faces shouldn't be a problem.

Just make sure to bake your normal map after deleting those faces not before, that could potentially have an impact on shading.

One thing to keep in mind however is that deleting the bottoms or backs off of props that can be flipped over or turned around reduces their possible use. Flipped over furniture, a crate or barrel on it's side, etc...

Grimm_Wrecking

Thats how a number of the columns that come with the UDK are. No top/bottom on the body of the column. I've done it a number of times, with LOD's, but yeah, you just want to make sure you're bakes/uv's etc are all set up after the fact or compensate for the loss.

The best way to find out for sure if its for you, is just to experiment it doesn't take too long to make a quick lod column set and import into the udk.

Eltrex06

ok awesome, thanks for the information guys this will help me out greatly!

Mark Dygert

I don't think its a problem but if you run into issues with the object incorrectly casting shadows you might need to cap some things to get a solid shadow.