EDIT: Incoming wall of text. If you don't want to read what I wrote, then you can basically get the gist of it from here:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/...lesize-through-imports-map-optimizers-167574/
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It is possible to reduce the number of polygons with MDLVis:
http://wc3modding.info/4264/mdlvis/#.UI4sj2nuXxA
However, it is not an automated process. You will have to manually merge them where you see fit:
- Open the model in MDLVis
- On the right side, you'll see "Geosets" followed by numbers "1", "2", "3", etc. That controls which vertices are displayed in the workplane. I recommend selecting them all, but if you working on just one geoset (aka, a part of the model) then you only need to checkmark the geoset you're working on.
- Click the "Selecting" button. It is on the right, above the "Geoset" listing. It should look like a mouse cursor with some vertices around it.
- Select some vertices on the model that you want to merge.
- Once you have them selected, they should appear as red. Click "collapse" on the right side if you want to merge them. If you want to delete vertices, click the recycling bin icon.
I haven't experimented with it much, but that is one way to reduce the number of polies.
Now, there are alternative methods of achieving a lower file size for models. One way is through using MDX Squisher:
http://www.wc3c.net/showthread.php?p=800246
This method
is automated. If you run a mdx through that program, it will zero out the least useful bytes, allowing it to be compressed better within the map. Note that there won't be an apparent file size change.
You can only see the difference after you've imported it into the map. For example, an unsquished model (1000 kb), when imported into the map, may take up 800 kb after mpq compression (just an example). A squished model (still 1000 kb), when imported into the map, may take up 550 kb after mpq compression (again, just an example). You won't notice a file size difference between the two files, but you will notice a file size difference between the map with the unsquished model and the map with the squished model.
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BLP compression is fairly easy through BLP Lab:
http://www.hiveworkshop.com/forums/tools-560/blp-lab-v0-5-0-a-137599/
It is built in with some compression methods. Of course, these methods are lossy (they aren't going to end up with the same quality), but you can tweak the options so that it still looks nice.
- Open up the file in BLP Lab.
- Go to "File -> Save As".
- You'll see options of "Paletted" and "JPEG". The "paletted" option restricts the image to a certain number of colors (max 256), kind of like with GIF files. While this option tends to lead to larger file sizes on your computer, it compresses very well in the map. A 400 kb paletted blp may end up taking something like 100 kb in the map. A 100 kb image with just 1 color will probably take up fewer than 5 kb after it is imported into the map.
JPEG compression has better color preservation, but it doesn't receive as much help from the map's compression. The resulting file size you see is pretty much what you get. Usually you can set the quality to 40-60% and you won't notice much of a difference in-game (unless you are very close-up).
The mip map count also takes up a chunk of file size. If you use paletted, you can safely choose a low number like "2" or "3" (I don't recommend 1, it may cause weird things to happen with lower graphic settings). If you use the JPEG option, then you should just set the value to 16 so that BLP lab will decide for you. Otherwise it may cause the map to crash on a mac (if the number of mip maps isn't enough). Windows computers can load it just fine with lower mip map counts + JPEG's, so it is really up to you.
- Click the "..." and choose a destination. After it is done, just import it into your map.
