Is topology important for static meshes?

I usually try to have a decent topology but I also watch the polycount a lot, sometimes I model an object like this building and I need to make edge loops to cut out some parts for the windows in this case but obviously it goes all around the object and I get way more polygons than I need, I was starting to delete every single edge that I don't need but the topology seems wrong when I delete those extra edges, I don't know what should I do?
Keep them and have more polygons but have better topology or delete them have less polygons but bad topology.

 

As long as your not going into a sculpting package with this - this is what I'd do. No need to have unneeded geometry forming a flat plane. Reduce as much as you can without causing smoothing/shading artifacts.



If you are going into a sculpting package I would do this process after using this base mesh as starting for the sculpt. But then again I don't think I'd be taking a inorganic building into a sculpting package.

 

Thanks, I'm not sure what you mean by "Sculting package" this is an asset for my game for the environment.
Would you say that this topology is more acceptable ?

 

Google sculpting package. zbrush mudbox. They like polys not tris.
Anyway
Yes this mesh is acceptable - but might run into lighting/shading artifacts later down the line. You really should be testing in Unity to see if it's acceptable.
Actually the prior mesh is better - even though it's a little higher resolution.
But the issue mentioned with lighting/shading will come in this area in the image below. You have non 3-4 sided polygons. That really isn't optimal. And though this is a non deforming building I think it's better to either have polygons or triangles, not ngons.
Even though the edges are 'invisible' in maya they are still there and will triangulate once brought into Unity. Then you might start seeing some issues.
Collapse the verices/edges from the previous version and - since you are clearly not sculpting reduce down as far as you want, but you should still keep 3 or 4 sided polygons. It's just the rules!! Haha.

 

Sorry I drew that zoomed in.
This might be easier to see.

 

Yes I know that they prefer quads that's why I always try to get a decent topology, I imported both meshes in unity and I can't see any difference with shadows and no artifacts, the first mesh I showed has 1300tris and second one just 600, I really don't know which one to choose.
I'm doing a pc game, maybe 1300 tris is not that much after all, I don't really know, I would prefer to have a decent topology tho.

 

Someone mentioned the term "premature optimization" before. If I remember it was @Gigiwoo - though I believe he was speaking about coding. It's kinda funny.
Honestly - imo - I wouldn't worry about poly counts until it started to become a problem. I try to model consistently and consciously - but I think you might be putting too much concern into it at this point.

There are a lot of other factors to consider as well - is this building going to be in the scene with 1 million other polygons? Is it going to be set dressing that just passes by, is it going to be part of the main plot where the character is interacting with it up close?
I'd say both buildings are acceptable, but I would still watch out for non tri / quad meshes and long triangles are not good. Its old school rules that still apply today that come back and bite us on the butt when we least expect it.

I'm a character guy - so these issues are more important to organic modeling, but I try to follow the same guidelines for all modeling work.

 

1300 per object isn't crazy, until you have a lot of objects. The pro's often layout a budget - (ex 500,000 tris for terrain-buildings). That makes answering the questions much easier. When you have 500,000 tris, and each building is 30,000, you have a REALLY small city.

Gigi

 

Minimize where possible, but stop before it gets messy to reduce it further.

You have to draw a line somewhere (no pun intended) regarding how far you will reduce quality to make less poly's. You also have to think about maintainability, uv mapping, any animation/rigging, etc...

Early on it's not a big deal. I would leave extra poly's if you're just testing things out, then optimize where you can later. Eventually you'll learn where you can optimize and be able to make better models on the first pass.