I know there’s probably no single “correct” way to handle this, but I want to figure it out before moving forward.
Basically, I’m juggling two somewhat conflicting goals for the character models in my project:
- A pixely, low-poly style (early PSP / late DS vibes, like SM64 DS, Megaman Legends, etc);
- Player customization (like a typical MMO).
My current compromise is using a kind of “second layer” system for clothes—shirts and pants sit on top of the base body, adjusted per body type. Then I handle most of the appearance variation (face, hair, facial hair) through textures.
The problem is that this setup is already resulting in about 2,184 polys just for this particular character!
If players go wild with asymmetry and details, it could easily climb closer to 3k.
That feels like a lot, especially since I was originally aiming for around 1,500 polys max for non-custom creatures in the game.
So now I’m wondering:
Am I overcomplicating this? Is there a better approach?
I know I could bake clothing directly into the base body textures (like GTA: San Andreas), but the separate “second layer” just looks way better. It follows the body silhouette while adding a bit of deformation, which helps sell the slight bagginess of clothes.
Still, I’m not sure if the tradeoff is worth it.
Can anyone shed some light on this?
