Pre-rendered Graphics: Low Poly vs High Poly

A bit of a weird question, and the more I type the more I feel the answer is pretty obvious. But if you wanted a fast game with pre-rendered graphics, say for 3D models in Construct 2, would Low poly models in pre-rendered graphics load faster?

I know the whole advantage is that it is quicker than high poly, but could the advantages help with mobile games, say? By that I mean a low poly pre-rendered model would only need to be so big as to show off the model. A High poly pre-rendered model would need to be larger (size and quality) to show off these details. This would be slower/larger and could cause problems with the run/download speed.

Another bonus is it has shorter development times.

Negatives being it can bring down aesthetics.

What do you think? Does the pre-rendered aspect completely negate the idea of low-polys? Or would the added smaller images and development times be a worth while boost?

In both cases, the 3d scenes, once rendered, become bitmap images.

The whole idea of low poly vs high poly is that low poly aims at polygon reduction while high poly modeling doesn't bother. They generally work together : an artist will build a low poly version of a detailed object in order to make it usable for animation and sometimes reduce rendering times. Yet it doesn't mean that the object will be blocky, or that it will significantly alter the visual result.

it depends:

<img src="https://lh3.ggpht.com/-UkMDLN_v_ck/T1vpDzXnntI/AAAAAAAAA9U/wAYLXKKEOaQ/s1600/donkey_kong_country.jpeg" border="0" />

prerendered is fine

3d is fine too:

<img src="http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/starfox.png" border="0" />

I'd be tempted to say that as far as C2 goes, it doesn't matter since in the end you are using sprite/bitmap.

Be sure to use the correct image compression to reduce the download time and be sure to not waste the resources, the difference will only result on the plan of your artistic direction.

DalekAddison

if you are speaking from the aesthetic side of thing, i think you should aim for visual style instead of the graphic side, since like Kyatric said construct is a 2D engine and all the graphic stuff will be sprites and bitmaps; unless you are just curious about design stuff... either way here is my 2 cents:

visual style: aesthetic, feel, impact, perception, mood...

graphic: number of poligons that can be draw on screen, number of particles/screen, size of the image file so more detail can be put on the texture...

if visually speaking you can "say" a lot more with low poly than pre-rendered graphics, then you should go for low-poly; i think the important thing is to make it on a way that your game could be played for ages without the feel it is dated. Ex: zelda wind waker, okami, jet set radio, katamari series, odin sphere, valkyrie profile

The only way Low-poly pre-rendered graphics are faster than high-poly pre-rendered graphics is the creation of them and pre-rendering time. That's only because it takes longer to make and render the model you're taking rendered images of. (which of course you're doing none of that with C2)

Anything pre-rendered draws at the same speed as long as the image resolution is the same.

In terms of aesthetics and workload lo-poly is the better choice imo but it depends on what kind of look you want. Me, I can't stomach hi-poly pre-rendered gfx most of the time. Unless it's done with great care to shaders and lighting it tends to look very cheap and plasticy to my eyes. That Donkey Kong image is a prime example. Just look at it! If you're doing a cartoony look I think lo-poly will work better, especially if you hand-paint the textures and don't go overboard with pre-rendered lights. Workload-wise you'll be a lot better off too.