I have been lurking on this post for a few days and I feel it is about time I actually comment. Although I am not a huge map-maker, I can honestly say this is possibly one of the most interesting and well-written tutorials I have seen on the forum. It is obvious you spent a fair amount of time discovering and attributing the technical aspects of maximizing file efficiency and Ogre scripting to Feralheart map-making. The inclusion of mathematical descriptions also are extremely useful to those wondering why the game works the way it does, and how the Ogre engine incorporates trigonomety and other simple equations to help Feralheart run.
I especially enjoy that you explained that shrinking textures is an important part of optimizing objects & maps. While as the higher resolution may be a better quality, constantly using large resolution textures for minor objects is simply not efficient. Maintaining an appropriate balance is key to helping at least alleviate lag issues for some folks. You should also bring up how high-poly meshes can also create lag issues—maybe also touch on the difference between of quad and tri meshes, and maybe even how to convert back and forth between them, as—from personal experience—I found this is another great way to help minimize lag issues when coverting/making one’s own custom objects for maps.
Although this may not be for the average Feralheart user, there will be people that find this a very inspiring read—just as I have.
Thanks for your feedback Alpha,
Indeed High poly count in meshes is a very good and important topic. I should soon write information about it.
About quads, as far I know Ogre doesn't have a concept of quads, it's all triangles.
So if you do quads in blender I believe it's all converted to triangles in Ogre. Unless you know how to create a mesh with quads.
I have no knowledge of any performance or difference between them two in ogre.
Also, Camino commented that saving maps on a Zip file can avoid Windows restore to touch your maps when restoring windows.
