Question for the model and graphic experts

[BulletSix]

Hi there :)

 

i have some (noobish) questions regartding the best use of resources, mainly for the Fallout 3 engine if thats a concern.

 

If i have a weapon model that consists of several parts (e.g. grip and slide of a pistol) would it be better, resource wise, to pack them onto one larger texture file or more smaller? Or doesn`t that matter at all and only the size of the data is important, no matter how many different files (speaking in the range of 1 to about 5 files)?

 

In other words: is it better to use one 2048x2048 size texture or four 1024x1024 textures?

And: does it matter if i have different parts of a model mapped to the same texture or should i use one texture for each object (no overlapping uv-maps in either case)?

(in the term of: is the texture loaded seperately for each object that refers to it or only once?)

 

thanks in advance

BulletS

[neok182]

i don't think it really matters though i could be wrong. Most weapon come in 1 texture. 2 at the most (not counting glow and normal maps).

 

But i have armor that ive downloaded that has 5-6 different textures so i don't think that theres any problem one way or another.

[TheChan]

In other words: is it better to use one 2048x2048 size texture or four 1024x1024 textures?

I imagine having less textures to deal with would be the obvious choice here.

 

Let's say you are rendering normal maps from your regular diffuse maps. One texture map is going to better than four, am I right?

 

(in the term of: is the texture loaded seperately for each object that refers to it or only once?)

The textures are loaded separately. If you have three version of the same texture that are each different colors, you can make each individual part of the weapon a different color, using a different colored texture. All of the objects can use the same texture source.