yo dudes,
me n a few mates are doin a hl2 MOD, using SDK, im doin alsorts but atm im trying to model a gun, (socom style). Now im new to MODin but everyone has to start somewere, my m8s a pro at doin maps so hes handling that, but i have a bunch of questions n help would be awsome.
1) Whats the norm poly count for a model such as a small pistol for the souce engine.
2) How does animation work e.g. a reload animation? cos i need to modelthe whole thing so it works but i just wonna know whihc bits are not needed.
3) How does lighting work for in game models, im usin maya to create, and so maya has shaders/ lighting, but how does it work exporting to a game. Cos i havethe basic model done, i just gonne texture it, but as for shaders can i only use lamberts or will other things such as blinns be exported.
4) How do i get lighting to work in game, cos ill have a model with textures and shaders? but do i need a spec map to tell the engine how to light the model.
Any other info which will help/save time will be very cool.
Thanks guys.
Josh

nobody?
mike do you have any sugeestions i nkow u do like game models, what kinda polys you aim for. This is a render of my model so far still needs plenty of work. I think im dont it the very long way i think modelling guns is quite cofusing, cos i wont all the edges to go all the way around the model likeive seen in many tutorials here, but its hard to put higher detail in cos then it means loads more edges goin around the side from there. btw i know bout the crappy ring on the torch bit i need to fix that.

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wireframe
Thanks

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Nice models jhubbard

Your best bet is to find mods and forums relating to the game you're going to mod for. They will give you a good idea of what the poly limit is and maybe help with suggestions etc.

I think there are a lot of wasted polys in the gun there. Especially in the area below the trigger and on top of the gun. Also the barrel is nice and smooth but could you knock down the faces a little to lower the poly while not impacting the shape too much?

Some of the grooves and indents could be used to normal map onto a far lower poly model (unless this is what you're going to do anyways ) and give just as good detail.

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yer i see what u mean bout the area under the trigger its just i ned that may for it all to link up nice, cos i dont have any edges there which dont go all the way round the mode, i mean i could delete plenty of uneeded ones buti wso under the impression from the tuts that it was best to link em all up nice rather than just cut em off (like i had to in the area with the "grill" type thing just above the handle.