BA2 - Topology Research

Topology Research

Topology can be described as the layout of a model, how the vertices and edges are placed to create the mesh surface. Having a good topology is both important performance wise and also very important to prevent rendering issues. Since the Topology is  what tells the game engine where the surface is on your model, if you have a bad topology you will encounter lighting and rendering issues.

Here is a good example of good and bad topology:

The reason why the lower ones are really bad is because the polygons are disturbed very badly. The artists have not taken in consideration to add more polygons where the face will move when being animated and the extremely bad one you cant even open the mouth. The good ones as you can see have polygons distributed so when the animators will animate the face it will not stretch. 

Most people learn to master topology by trial and error. You can read and study a lot but doing the mistakes yourself is the way most people learn. Topology does take time to master and once you understand it, it will make both the artists and the animators life easier. 

How high your polycount should be, totally depends on your situation. Are you creating a simple prop in the game world that won't be intractable then try to keep the polycount as low as possible. Is it the main character, then you will probably add a bit more extra detail to him/her. With new technology and improved hardware the polycount increases for every year.

References: 

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Category:Topology
http://www.thundercloud-studio.com/content/tutorial/ModelingTutorial/headModeling/article_graphic//08_bad_good_topo.jpg
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/008/d/c/evolution_of_tomb_raider_by_larreks-d71dpwz.jpg