Thanks. Yep, 20k vertices is very nice considering the original scan was 500k vertices. This is not a so simple shape, but a quite complexe stone, that is a real stone with borders and deformation due to its ruin, not just a cube. I guess we can probably go to 10k but we will lose some relief that cannot be put into the normal map.
Inspecting it in NifSkope, I see what you mean. The vertices are doing real work, defining quite a complex shape. Its not that 20K is terrible either. Roughly 3-4 HLT trees. Its just that the location, by the Riverwood bridge, is already a graphically taxing site on many LOs. So every little bit of optimisation would likely help.
Quick update: having tried the stone in-game, my impression is that the texture or model has too much lighting baked in. The stone is too bright in many lighting conditions, with far too dark and defined shadows. Moreover, because of these, it reacts strangely to differences in Skyrim's ligthing e.g. from changing angles of sunlight. Its still a gorgeous model, but it ends up looking out of place in my game.
Agreed, I will see if I can do something darker, but as it is a real model, I must respect the real stone or else I will have all Scandinavia to fight :).
We Scandinavians are a fairly mellow bunch these days... :)
Thanks for the update. I think the new texture is an improvement, but it still has a lot of shadowing baked in. I had a go at further reducing these by adjusting shadows, contrast and hue, and will test in-game to see the results.
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Thanks for the update. I think the new texture is an improvement, but it still has a lot of shadowing baked in. I had a go at further reducing these by adjusting shadows, contrast and hue, and will test in-game to see the results.