Sharing textures for isometric environments?

jordank95

Hi all. Creating a game and trying to figure out the best way to group textures and share texture maps between assets. If I’m creating an interior of an isometric building where most of the household items will be on screen together, is it best to fit as much on one 2K map, or split things up like furniture on one 1k texture, smaller props on another 1k texture. Or if all of these things can all fit on one 2k texture, should I just throw them all together? 

I have a fairly smaller scene where my texel density is set to 2.56 per meter. I can fit a lot on a 2K texture, but should I be grouping by object types or is having smaller textures ok instead of bigger 2k textures?

i guess having the smaller texel density is confusing me a bit, I’ve never made anything for isometric games. Should I just throw as much as I can on one big 2k texture if they’re all on the same screen no matter what the prop is?

I know it’s all about draw calls etc., but when does this become an issue? How many materials/draw calls in a scene is too many?

poopipe

Draw calls usually number in the thousands before you have a problem. Awkward Material switching order is usually more of a problem and without direct contact with the render programmers nobody can really tell you what's the best option for your given view. 

If you want stuff to run on consoles/old hardware I'd suggest sticking to 1k maps as that seems to be the sweet spot WRT streaming etc.
Obviously try to arrange it so that things that are going to be drawn together are on the same texture etc... 

RyanB

If you are using Unity you can use texture arrays instead of texture atlases.

Fewer textures = faster load times

To reduce draw calls, you also need to use the same mesh and the same material.  Combine smaller objects wherever you can.

Combining static meshes and materials is almost always a good thing.

Too many drawcalls depends on the hardware, engine and the type of game.  Doom 2016 would have around 1300 draw calls.  A typical mobile game might have 150 draw calls.  I've worked on stuff that was 60 draw calls for the entire game.