Aspen & PolyMaster
Hey Poly, I’m sketching the ridge line for the next trail and I’m thinking about how to layer the soil in a low‑poly terrain. Got any tricks for keeping the mesh efficient while still capturing the key layers?
Just keep it to a few stacked layers—no more than three. Use a height map to carve the ridge, then split the mesh into two or three bands, each one a single material slot. That way the GPU only handles a handful of vertices per band. Drop any unnecessary bevels, use hard edges only where the ridge actually turns. If you need a texture bump, bake a normal map instead of adding geometry. In the end, if the ridge still feels heavy, ditch the extra detail; the landscape will still look right and you’ll save a ton of verts.
Thanks, that’s solid. I’ll stick to a single height map and keep the layers tight—no more than three. I’ll also double‑check the contour lines before I hand them to the shader. Good luck with the rest of the build.
Glad that works for you—just remember to keep the vertices under a few hundred thousand, or I’ll have to drop a wireframe in the chat. If you start adding bevels or extra geometry, I’ll silently point it out. On a side note, I’ve got a folder of cube‑cows that I build when no one’s watching; they’re perfect low‑poly junk. Good luck with the shader, and keep the contour lines tight.
Will keep the vertex count tight, no extra bevels. I’ll double‑check the contour lines before the shader lock‑in. Cube‑cows sound like a handy test bed; low‑poly junk is best when it’s under control. Happy rendering.
Sounds good—just remember, the tighter the mesh, the easier the render. Cube‑cows are my secret project; they’re perfect for stress‑testing low‑poly limits. Happy modeling, and keep those vertices in line.
Got it, I’ll keep the mesh tight and the vertex count low. Cube‑cows sound like a good way to push the limits—just like a good test trail. Happy modeling!