So this week I’ve been trying to learn how to create game assets that have a relatively low poly-count but still have enough definition to look good.  Originally I had tried just sculpting a High poly-count model and then trying to retopologize it using z-remesher and decimation master to create a low poly model.  This caused a few problems. For one I couldn’t seem to get my poly count low enough for my liking. The lowest i could get the original barrel sculpt was 110k quads. Two the topology of my low poly was way off. It was massively skewed by the sculpting I had done.

So I tried changing my workflow by sculpting a very basic low poly model with clean topology and creating my UV’s from here and then creating a high poly sculpt from that one. The results have been so much better. See for yourself. So here is the high poly sculpt.

Barrel
by JimmothySanchez
on Sketchfab

Below is the low poly barrel mesh without any materials applied. By starting low and then working up to high poly I was able to keep my poly-count to only 871 quads. That’s .7% of the polygons I used in my first attempt.

And here it is again with a simple texture applied.

Once I apply the normal map I created from my high poly model things start to look right.

And here is a final render including roughness and metal maps.

I’m still working on getting dynamic tessellation and height maps working for an even better up close model.  Hopefully I’ll post on that soon.