The one thing about modeling a character I hate, and what seems like it can’t be controlled, is how quads will convert to triangles once the model is loaded into a scene.
My main character had some quads, which are two triangles, along the crotch area angling the wrong way. That is, the triangles were formed backwards (inward). I had to go in and manually set some quads to triangles early, in order to fix this issue. The change also fixed the way shading was applied to her crotch area.
I figured what the hell… Since I’m already down in my character’s lap, I might as well change her outfit in this area as well. One thing lead to the next and I found myself taking a few inches off of her waist line and upper thighs.
I gave the changes a test run and for the first time, I saw Rayne (from Blood Rayne/Blood Rayne 2). What I mean is…if you’ve played Blood Rayne 2 (PC), you know how flashy and “kewl” Rayne’s outfit looks, especially since it’s all black and red in color too.
My own main character’s outfit is more stand out flashy in the same way; elevated just by a texture change and body curvature change. It’s amazing when something that looks really good turns out to look even better.
I guess I out did myself, which is hard to do.
My Main also became more fitting to the game world’s era. Since feast of famine was the norm back then, combined with back breaking work… You can imagine how bodies were built back then. Princess’ body is more according to that way of life. She looks more skin bone, but in a healthy way.
The overall change was a win for me.
It is hard trying to balance graphics and performance both. Low polygon characters usually mean characters that appear to have a little “blockiness”, but still good looking. Completely smooth characters mean increased polygons and that equals fps drop when characters start filling the screen up.
That’s why I will most likely not create higher polygon versions for enemies and NPCs that make up the story. The main character will be the only character with a model alternate that can be chosen, if higher detail is desired.