General texturing based question

Frawmus

When creating textures for a game environment, I understand a lot of objects get independent textures (IE Weapons,Characters,etc) but I was wondering when I should SHARE the textures. Is that just when creating large buildings that use the largest textures? Or is it in general, IE this small lamp should try and share the same metal texture as this barrel to optimize game performance! Just trying to wrap my head around what needs to be shared and what can go with being its own individual texture. It can be tricky to make the texture feel different when in reality it is the same!

easterislandnick

My advice is to download UDK and Cry engine open up their demo levels and see what they do. Most assets now have bespoke textures, a desk will have a different texture to a chair and a barrel will have a different texture than a light. Walls and floors generally have tiling textures and are made up of modular geometry sets.

Frawmus

Im not sure how to view the different textureso n things. A lot of things seem to share the same materials but then the materials looks like stone on both but one has moss?
im so lost!

Brian "Panda" Choi

If you can share the texture, do it.

If you can't, don't do it.

Depends on what you're treating as a hero piece vs a spammable piece as well.

To be more specific, we'd have to see what your plan is, what you're working on, etc.

ZacD

Whatever works and seems most efficient. The best solution varies a lot depending on the project.

dpadam450

[Graphics programmer answer] Doesn't really matter. I would shoot for everything being separate. Should a metal barrel and lamp share the same texture? Not really, you should be fitting each of those as close to 100% UV as possible. If you want those to both be say 512 size textures and you only see a lamp in a house and barrel outside. If 512 is the prop resolution you want, then to fit them together would be 1024 size (IE 2 more textures need to share this, otherwise you would have to fit lamp+barrel into a 512 texture which they are both reduced quality). In both cases again while outside, why would you have your graphics card bind textures/pixels that aren't used for the current rendering frame (or the next 10seconds or so). If they are combined props that always stay combined, you would get a tiny tiny bit of performance in that you don't have to tell the gpu to bind a new texture, just use the same one and draw both models. (at that point though they should probably be the same model (in single model with 1 texture)).

"Is that just when creating large buildings that use the largest textures?"

If you are referring to try and smash an entire building (say COD level where you are inside a building), and you want to put almost everything into 1 texture, again if there are seconds/minutes worth of frames where only 20% of the 100% props used in the level, then why would you waste GPU time binding textures that wont be used. Not sure if this is what you meant. It also makes editing things a hassle. If they are truly separate props, what if a level designer only wants one of them? they have a texture that stores a 2nd prop that isn't used on their new level. How do you manage those assets as well. Do you call it LampAndBarrel.jpg?