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   hazlin no plap pirate (hazlin@shortstacksran.ch)'s status on Friday, 13-Jun-2025 09:32:05 JST hazlin no plap pirate

   • binkle
   @binkle
   Mr. Binkle, I've got a question I've been wondering about for a long time.
   
   How "free" are textures in 3d?
   
   You see, I really like the idea of vertex color. I can add in a few more polygons onto my model, set the face color, and I don't even need a texture at all.
   
   But, I don't think anyone actually does this.
   
   The only explanation that comes to mind is... textures must be very cheap. But, I didn't know if that was true.
   
   I don't need an exact answer, but I'd love to hear your general opinion.
   • Embed this notice
     :ihavenomouth: (inginsub@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Friday, 13-Jun-2025 09:32:04 JST :ihavenomouth:

     in reply to

     • binkle
     @hazlin @binkle per vertex, vertex colors are cheaper than textures - you get them basically for free. textures are used because they allow adding the level of detail that's going to be a problem if you try to implement it by increasing the mesh density.
   • Embed this notice
     binkle (binkle@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Friday, 13-Jun-2025 09:39:47 JST binkle

     in reply to

     • :ihavenomouth:
     @Inginsub @hazlin this is about as good as I could've put it. Texture detail winds up scaling better than increasing vertices (and therefore vert colors) for increased detail. So the number of polys you'd need to add to your mesh to match even a low-res texture wind up being substantial
     :ihavenomouth: likes this.
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     binkle (binkle@clubcyberia.co)'s status on Friday, 13-Jun-2025 09:40:38 JST binkle

     in reply to

     • :ihavenomouth:
     • binkle
     @Inginsub @hazlin it also now occurs to me that mipmaps are just LoD systems but for textures I can't believe I never made that connection before
     :ihavenomouth: likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     hazlin no plap pirate (hazlin@shortstacksran.ch)'s status on Friday, 13-Jun-2025 09:46:03 JST hazlin no plap pirate

     in reply to

     • :ihavenomouth:
     • binkle
     @binkle @Inginsub Okay, thank you guys :D
     
     I'm just getting my bearings at the moment. I've done somethings using vertex color, some as textures, and some as shaders.
     
     Given, that all older games do all the heavy lifting with textures, I'd figured that was the cheapest.
     
     
     I guess my mental buckets now are:
     Low-Poly Very-Low-Detail -> Vertex color
     Medium-High Detail -> Textures
     Dynamic/procedural Effects -> Shaders
     :ihavenomouth: likes this.