Can Quake 3 Poly limits be exceeded?
polycounter lvl 18
A couple of guys at work and myself have decided to get back into some old school Q3 fraging and set up our own server. We are planning on doing up our own personal models and since the hardware specs now exceed the software requirements I was thinking that instead of doing the hohum low poly requirements that I would push the engine to its limits by shooting for the maxim instead of the minimum requirements. Instead of a 1000 face limit Im thinking of doing some models in the 4000+ range and shooting for the extreme.
To test the idea out I mashed together a model with a poly count of 3500 and exported it to Q3 and was amazed at how good it looked. To test playability I loaded a map with 7 bots and myself and playability was still amazing good with little or no noticeable slow downs.
I figured that I would up the limit and see if I could get a seriously high poly model into the engine but it seems that there is a limit of 1000 faces or 620 verts per model segment. Not a big deal but kind of puts a damper on what I really want to do.
What happens is when I try to select the model the engine complains that the number of allowable faces exceeds 1000 polys for the torso for example.
Im sure that this is hard coded into the software but just as a thought I figured that it would not hurt to ask if there was some kind of command line function that would over ride this limitation?
To test the idea out I mashed together a model with a poly count of 3500 and exported it to Q3 and was amazed at how good it looked. To test playability I loaded a map with 7 bots and myself and playability was still amazing good with little or no noticeable slow downs.
I figured that I would up the limit and see if I could get a seriously high poly model into the engine but it seems that there is a limit of 1000 faces or 620 verts per model segment. Not a big deal but kind of puts a damper on what I really want to do.
What happens is when I try to select the model the engine complains that the number of allowable faces exceeds 1000 polys for the torso for example.
Im sure that this is hard coded into the software but just as a thought I figured that it would not hurt to ask if there was some kind of command line function that would over ride this limitation?
Replies
Also have a look for some of the q3 source projects going on, I know there is at least one with support for normal maps.
[edit] 10,000 vertex model
After messing around a bit its amazing how well this engine holds up. Id be interested in seeing what projects are being done to improve its capabilities so a few links or a starting point would be appreciated. Google is not as direct and to the point that it use to be.
Most OA models borderline the limit like this one. A female model that focuses on the face than the breasts (oh what rarity!)
Actually the limit is 1000 vertices (VERTICES, not polygons) per surface. You can usually cheat this by making additional surfaces but then your smoothing won't be so consistent (if it's a naked model for example where shape, smoothness and curvature is most important) then again your model is split at the torso and neck anyway, so
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes so Ive just discovered. I tested a head model by splitting into two parts and the seam right down the middle was way out of whack.
So far Ive gotten the model up to 5000 faces and Im going to push for 8000 with elements that can be masked out to make different and unique characters. Once Im done Ill pimp some in game shots and post a SDK for anyone that is interested in doing some extreme textures.