What is the maximum number of details supported?

Are details created by concave objects?

If that is the case, how are even moderate buildings being made, we have a small keep and its details imported is 20 and it wont' export, a wagon is 6 and it does export.

Shapes used as ‘interiors’ or buildings to enter and exit are ‘typically’ constructed with BSP math in mind, and this is the ‘DIFF’ format; converted from .MAP files. This format has it's own set of caveats and workflow. The ROP does NOT support this fileType.

The DTS format is more typically used for animated or ‘nonStatic’ shapes. Houdini's Torque ROP will generate this type of file output. DSQ format is the animation counterpart of the DTS file and stores pertinent animation data for the DTS shapes to load and play at ‘runtime’.

You can have quite a few ‘Detail’ levels per mesh object, it depends upon your approach to optimization. I am uncertain as to a ‘maximum’ of levels of detail the DTS format will support. 20 seems excessive, even for large poly/complex shapes. I use about 8 ‘Detail’ levels in a human avatar shape.

It sounds as though you are using the DTS format to provide ‘interior’ shapes, and while this approach may work for certain types of gameplay, for a FPS or MMORPG, this may prove hard on optimization at a later point. Lighting, portalization…will prove a challenge, unless you have all this sorted from the start.

Can you give a few more specifics on your HD workflow and intent of the shape to help focus where you need the help?

Well we are very new to Houdini, if you would like to see the keep in question maybe I could email you the houdini file for it so you can kind of see what we are trying to accomplish?

My thought was to break the keep down into several DTS files and place them in the world one at a time.