How do you make good looking low polycount models with out odd shadows n all ?
is it in the pong shading some how or maps like normal maps etc etc
Does it matter which render engine you use ?
I want “1” to look like “2” but the problem is I have no Idea how to get it to do that.
Thanks for your help 
some edges need some crease
may be add some edge smooth
last one would be to add some edge split modifier
did u tried these ?
happy bl
let me re phrase that
I want “1” to look like “2” with out razing the polycount or subdividing “1’s” mesh.
some how they make low polycount meshes in games look good and I want to learn how to do that.
“Edge crease” is for subdivided meshes.
I don’t know what you mesh by “edge smooth”
I couldn’t reely see any difference between “edge split modifier” & smooth/flat.
did u looks at some basic tut on how to smooth things ?
can we look at the blend file
and do some modifications!
happy bl
I have been trying to figure out how to make low polycount meshes look good for a few weeks now.
I have terrorized google and you tube looking for tutorials to tell me how to do that.
I’ve asked on renderosity blender forums and zBrush forums.
XXR_B_1402.blend (658 KB)
just adding a edge split does look better
is it close to what you want !
forgot
in edit mode select all face then recalculate all normal outward
also add some material diffuse and spec in bl
or do it in cycles
XXR_B_1403.blend (680 KB)
happy bl
possible that you may have too many loops near the base of the top part
you could reduce the bevel a little compare to the fig 2
happy bl
Where getting closer 
The node editor was open but there weren’t any nodes.
Did you add nodes ?
The mesh in the .jpg & file is one of 100’s of peace’s for a mech tank.
I know it’s not the best modeling but the original was going to be a subdivided mesh but when I realized the final mesh polycount was going to be 100,000’s polycount.
Then the idea was to modify the mesh so it works subdivide or not subdivided.
Since low polycount meshes is new to me I don’t know how important topology is but I’m learning.
Hopefully after learning all this my next low polycount meshes topology will be a little better ,hopefully
Edge split modifier generally can be used to reduce polycount, because it does separate the mesh in parts and you can keep it separate (applying the mod).
A separated mesh is common in lowpoly, if you look at lowpoly characters, everything is separated. For non-organic models, you can convert everything to triangles and check for wrong shadows (and fix them with rotating edges).
Another common thing in organic characters is reduce tris until the silhouette is no more conserved.
Cheers.
I re use your own file so it is still in normal blender not cycles
but it would be easy to add nodes for cycles
but depends what type of material texture you need for this
happy bl
I can see a difference with Faces: Smooth/Flat
I CAN NOT see a difference with Edges: Smooth/Sharp or Vertices: Smooth/Sharp
So how do you get Edges: Smooth/Sharp & Vertices: Smooth/Sharp to work ?
zBrush sent me here ,Even thou it for Max ,Maya is this more or less what your talking about ?
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107196
well if you have edge split on
the tool panel smooth functions don’t really work anymore!
check also in edit mode in the data panel on the right
you have the other option for smooth and set the angle
happy bl
It’s the same mesh with a normal.Think it looks good and I’m making some progress.
At least I have a clue now ,only 1,548,259 questions left to answer 
Thanks a lot for the Help
Was bumming around polycount and saw Gmanx AXE 6th post down
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41232&page=534
Made in Blender and has Blender Render showing in .jpg
Any idea how he textured,rendered it with out the odd shadows n all ?
Smoothing uses normals to determine the appearance and there are ways to affect those. One common thing is to use normal maps. Bump also helps to hide the imperfections in the shading.
I don’t think Gmanx AXE has any normals or bumps.Think Gmanx AXE is in WoW style they say WoW don’t use normals eather.
So any ideas how he textured,rendered it with out the odd shadows n all ?
shadows have to do with light set up
shadows can be modified on lamps
but could also use shadeless material
or use some AO scene lighting to minimize shadow effects
happy bl
