Hi all, im working on a top down scifi game for android(think of a diablo/angrybots merger). And currently wondering about polycounts. My main player model has about 2400 tris and 1700 verts. That goes up by about 500 when the body armor bit is slapped on.
So my question is, is 2400-3000 polys too much for a game targeting tablets (im testing on my nexus 7 for now but plan to test on other simmilar tablets and ipads).
If it helps im not targeting mobiles and there wont be more than 20 characters onscreen at once and enemies will be 1200-1500 polys.
Welcome to the forums.
I think the target is 50K per frame on tablets, you got 33K in characters, leaves you 17K for environment. But this also depends on physics and draw calls, if you keep those low, you could push more polys. You should be fine if you only target tablets, smart phones go as low as 10-20K per frame.
Ah sounds good then 
ill see about reducing the mesh a bit more and ill look into lods to maybe lower the tris count further. I was also wondering about networking, i aim to have both an sp and coop mode. Im a novice as far as network stuff goes, I plan to do peer to peer though for coop. Reckon that could have much of a frame hit?
Don’t see the point in LODs for top down game as camera distance stays the same, unless you plan to do something like cut scenes that pan the camera to horizon, otherwise it’s a waste of time.
Focus on lowering draw calls by using atlas textures and section your scenes into large models. And make collisions simple and cover large areas.
As for networking, I’m scared to touch it, but my guess the host would take the hit if there is any.
managed to shave another 500 verts n tris off the main player model and its not 100% top down(like GTA2) more 70ish Degrees i guess but yeah i see your point. if nothing else, ill see how it goes but i could always make 1 extra lod state that can be dynamically loaded when the frames start to drop due to effects or w/e on screen. and as for texturing, enemies and such are gonna be on a singular Atlas as you suggested but my character (and coop buddies) will use a base model + a customisable helmet and an armour component (i.e. flack vest and shoulder pads) so as a minimum im gonna need 3 maps per player i think. and i have a feeling youre right about the host, though i thought peer to peer meant a distributed load? i think i need more study time lol