When to use Unions vs Meshes

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#1

Hey Devs,

Right now I’m working on a large place and from the get-go I’m trying to keep everything organized and sorted (folders etc.) and optimize everything as best as I can.

On the note of optimization: I’m trying to figure out whether Unions or Meshes are more effective in terms of optimization and reducing lag. From what I’ve seen on the DevForum - one union won’t kill a game, but I am going to be dealing with many unions. Are there any good rules of thumb I should be aware of when deciding whether to use a mesh or a union?

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#2

I think meshes are more for lag reducing, but if union has a lot of parts so that might get it more lag.

#3

Hello there,

First of all, we have to understand want both of the things are, to work with them.

Union - Are just like meshes, given by the Roblox team, is a union tool, to make meshes out of it.
Roblox Studio, is basically just like blender, if you think about it, ‘‘Roblox Studio meshes’’, also known as Unions, are just harder to make and need more time. They also cause a lag.

Meshes - Models or parts, that count as one part. Most likely modeled in a program like Blender, etc. Don’t cause too much lag, and are just a little easier to make, depending on what you are trying to model honestly…

I’m not a 3D modeler, so I can’t use blender, I should ask one of my friends though for recourse, and check one of many Developer Forum posts, on how to use Blender

e.g: Blender Development Resources

I feel like you can use both, as long as there’s an appropriate amount of both, unions and meshes. You want to give players a smooth gameplay experience, so they stay longer in-game, without having technical difficulties and trouble. You can also test the game/place on mobile, and other devices to see, if the game lags for you or not.

I hope this kind of helped you, and I wish you best of luck in the future.

Regards,
CrashFacts

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#4

If, as you say, unions produce more lag than meshes - what are the advantages of ever using solely unions?

#5

Honestly, a lot of anything will cause lag… It really depends on what exactly you will be creating as well.

But Unions are time saving, considering meshes are more of a pain to get exactly how you want your model to look like.

Or It’s also more of a pain to work with unions because of the random walls it may create with negating.

With meshes you can either have clipless land formations or invisible walls.

Unions will also create lag in studio, because of the workings of Roblox Studio.

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