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Low poly

Also said as Polygon count, Flat shaded, Poly count

Models built from few triangles, with the facets left showing. Once a hardware limit, it is now often a chosen style, because each flat face catches light as a single colour.

It is fast to make and to draw, and it still looks intentional, which suits small teams. The catch is that every triangle shows, so poor shapes cannot hide under textures.

“Low poly, flat shaded, no textures: each rock is under 40 triangles and each face a single colour. Keep the budget under 500 triangles per character.”

Star Fox (1993) drew flat-shaded polygons on a Super Nintendo with the help of a Super FX chip inside the cartridge, and its faceted ships still set the look many low-poly games now choose on purpose.

Polygon count is how many faces a model has. Resolution is how many pixels you draw it with. A game can be low poly and razor sharp.

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