Where should I go looking for low-polygon 3D assets? [closed]

Question

The biggest problem for me as a game programmer (who isn't also an artist) is getting good quality 3D models. I have checked out some of the 3D model market places like The 3D Studio and Top 3D Models but I have had difficulty finding the artwork I am looking for and, when I do find something I like, getting the level of detail appropriate for my platform.

Do people have any suggestions for sites they have dealt with successfully in the past? Am I better off building a relationship with an individual artist?

Answer 1

I would suggest meeting artists and building relationships. One of my friends is big on asking them to do a trade off. He'll do some game programming for them and, in return, they give him some art or models he needs for his games. It's worth a shot.

Also, I've used TurboSquid to get some assets for prototyping and demos.

Answer 2

Making games is not a one man show. So doing it yourself you will always lack some assets, be it code, graphics, models, sound, animation, marketing, support.

So building a relationship with an artist is a good plan.

You can check out the polycount forums for some great modelers / artists

Answer 3

The whole problem is that good models is not a well defined term. A good model can be good for you and at the same time is be a bad model as per someone else's requirements. For you a good model is on which has appropriate polygon count and really nice looking textures with appropriate resolutions. So most of model websites will have high polygon models which you can use and convert to low polygon 'good'(appropriate poly count) models for your requirements. Follow the post below for more details on how to do this conversion. https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/2936/creating-game-models-for-android