Hi, I'm just curious on what the acceptable poly count for a mesh is. Specifically, swords and other weapons. I'm used to playing Morrowind, where it was good to keep it to under a 1000. Any help?

That depends. Is it over 9,000?

In all seriousness though, I'd look at some of the vanilla Skyrim meshes. They are a pretty good match for today's PC capabilities, but the poly count can always go much higher. It just depends on how big of an audience you want. More detailed meshes would be a big hit for those with powerful desktop computers, but you might exclude some of those with lower end setups.

That said, if you're only using a mesh once or twice, you can go pretty high on the poly count. (Giant statues are an example, so long as it doesn't go into the LOD. Ouch... Might want a lower poly version for anything going into LOD...)

There's really no realistic limit. Modern GPUs can handle almost any polycount you throw at them. What is the current polycount for your model?

For single meshes, yes, but when you start adding textures and a bunch of other crap, the game can slow down a bit.

I would say no more than twice what vanilla Skyrim would use for a given task, unless you're aiming for people with powerful GPUs...

Textures and polycount do not really interact with one another as far as impacting performance.

A fight with five actors each using a 20k poly weapon will not slow down any PC that is capable of running Skyrim comfortably.

I'm just making a simple warhammer, Right now I'm at about 800 on the shaft/handle, and am still working on the hammer part. Seems I'm fine though. Thanks guys!

You're limited to 64k polys. I am not sure if that is across a whole NIF or per NiTriShape though. The most complex meshes in the game barely approach 50k (Hrothgar) and I think the next one below that is 30-40k (Markarth's main gate)

I'd like to see someone actually create a weapon that justifies an insane amount of polys. I think realistically you will run into your own limits (how much detail you can add) before you run into hard limits.

I think it's probably per NiTriShape. CuteUnit was working on a sword that was 80-90k polys.

64k seems like a decent amount, although I thought I had saw a weapon someone that has like 1 million. Can't remember though.