Ydnar: How does ET handle tri-stripping?

(Matt) #1

I’ve heard that proper tri-stripping can have a slight advantage, performance wise in many engines, yet in some (depending on how the engine handles it) it can be a bad effect in the end.

Simply put, for ET (Or basically any Q3 engine based game) should we be taking the time to tri-strip our ASE models, or not? Can ET/ASE handle tri-lists?

Edit: Do they get stripped if they’re under 1000 verts and are lightmapped or, is it just when they aren’t lightmapped and under 1000 verts that they’re not stripped? Would there even be a difference?

(ydnar) #2

The triangles aren’t stripped. They are discretely indexed triangles into a pool of vertex data.

Q3Map2’s meta code code some vertex/edge coherency, and recent versions optimize triangle order for vertex-caching cards with hardware transform.

y

(Matt) #3

So manually ordering the tris around into a neat fashion really isn’t doing anything but making it neat in the 3D application, since it all gets changed around by meta anyway?

ie: It’s just a waste of time?

(ydnar) #4

Q3Map2 doesn’t change the triangles, just puts them into what it considers the best order.

y