Theres something I want to do that includes grouping a bunch of small meshes together to make one whole mesh but Im confused about the UV layout. Can there be multiple UV texture layouts for one grouped mesh if I do it like that because it doesnt seem like just one is going to be big enough. If it cant be done like that whats the biggest UV layout I can make without killing system memory? This is for a game.

thanks for any advice and sorry if this sounds like a noob question.

I think you are referring to a Texture Atlas or Sheet, where the packing of the textures and UVs should be done automatically, by a script or a tool.

I think you're asking to face more problems using an atlas than actually solving them (which would be the performance gain from not having to bind different textures). Perhaps someone more experienced could clarify in greater detail the benefits of using atlases.

If you're looking for optimizations, hearken back to the old consoles.

Some used sheets, such as "Crash Bandicoot" for the PSX, while others used separate textures, such as "Rayman 2: the Great Escape" for the N64. The latter, even being for an old console without much processing power like today's hardware, recoursed to separate textures.

"Exempli Gratia" - Textures from Rayman 2:


A sheet from Crash Bandicoot (ignore the noise):


These are Copyright by their respective owners and should not be used for any other reason than to look at!

I would agree that the Bandicoot optimization is a good solution to this issue. This will prevent your game from bogging down the processor and getting too slow, and the results are fairly robust.

well since you put it that way what I meant was using multiple Texture Atlas' for a single mesh. For example, you wanted to make a character consisting of lots and lots of pieces (best reference I can think of is a PS3 game called 3D Dot game heroes) models basically built the same way. The geometry exists inside the model as well as on the outside.


But what I want to do differently is instead of making the blocks single colored they will be textured, so for example a zombie made of blocks gets shot in the head to reveal his brain (which is also made of blocks) but those blocks have a brain texture on them to indicate that its a brain. Same goes for the rest of the body.
Or am I just thinking beyond my means as a designer?

I appreciate the responses though. thanks.

Oh, I agree that atlases would be the best for an art style like that.

If done properly, you could program a tool to join different textures into a single atlas, by packing into tiles and mapping the mesh accordingly. Should be very fast for rendering.

Quote: Original post by Kryzon
Oh, I agree that atlases would be the best for an art style like that.

If done properly, you could program a tool to join different textures into a single atlas, by packing into tiles and mapping the mesh accordingly. Should be very fast for rendering.

well there lies the problem Im not a programmer so I wouldnt even know how to go about it. I have a concrete idea for a game I'm trying to make but the biggest problem Im being faced with is this particular obstacle. Its putting a constant delay on it. At this point im thinking I might have to hire a programmer to get things moving.
but thanks for the encouragement :)

Well, this is most definitely not the only problem you'll face when making this or any game :)
It's a constant "trying, problem-finding, problem-solving" process.

Programming is [in a somewhat general view] a matter of knowing the syntax and visualization of the problem\what you want to achieve (in broader terms, knowing the tool you'll use and your goal(s)).
If you can grasp your problem and design the process to solve it (could be on paper really, with pen and everything), you can program things yourself, even for this one that you find difficult. You just need to take the time to try.

Not only you'll learn a lot from this, but you'll feel that little pride of making something yourself - one of which I love.
And of course, any time you find a roadblock, you can count on GameDev.Net.