How detailed can a model be before it gets ridiculous?

[Fireheart318 194]

Basically what the title says. How detailed can I make a model and hitbox before it starts to negatively affect the game? In this particular case, I'm making a docking port with several animations and moving parts/meshes. How complex can the visual model get before it starts to hurt the game, and how complex can the hitbox/mesh get?

[Kerbart 4,603]

On a scale from 0-100, I'd say about 58.3

[wasml 371]

I've never seen any suggested rule of thumb - the more complex you make the part the more players will have problems with it. You can actually make fairly detailed models (see Squads 18K tris (if memory serves) Mammoth engine - what really eats processing is the colliders. And even here the mesh colliders are a lot heavier than the primitive (Box, Capsule, Sphere) colliders. So keep collider count down and use primitives if you can.

Edited November 27, 2020 by wasml

[/not/pol/ 125]

the answer is F-ing insane.

i put this thing in KSP with no problem about a year back, unfortunately it never saw the light of day because Western Digital.

For a more practical example you can go basically as far as anyones sanity could hold up detailing a model just for KSP, be mindful of potato computers though,

Edited January 18 by /not/pol/