I'm currently working on some outdoor environments for this game that uses the torque engine which is rather limited compare to current engines 
. Here's a sample of the evergreen i've been working on. Leaves were created in Paint effects, and then mapped onto planes. Which i will reduce from 200 polys to a flat plane for the distant trees.
[Blocked Image: http://www.lee3dee.com/Images/env/tree_test01.jpg]
Not sure if this is the right direction im taking, but thought id get some input 
looks good. Something I noticed is people tend to split their planes in half making a little contour so noticing the flat planes is a little more difficulut. Dunno if you can fit that into your polygon budget though.
thanks von*ferret i did that for the 2 on the right. But thats a good idea. Another image before bed with varying polys.
[Blocked Image: http://www.lee3dee.com/Images/env/tree_test02.jpg]
once i figure this out, i have to make snow covered ones too, oh boy!
looks nice, but remember snow would only cover the tops of them. On these you see under the branches. So be clever in your texturing cause it'll make the difference in making or breaking the atmosphere.
also you can vary the two techniquyes you have. So you can have less polygons but still have some of the effect. Might help youl.
von*ferret: thanks some very good tips there, I'll try them out in a few mins.
May I ask what you're working on?
or is it top sekrit? 
trunk on the far right is a little thick in my opinion
The one on the left seems slightly too tall to me as well.
I think the branches on the tree at the left just start a bit too high, it's not too tall. Also, the tree on the right (less polies than the one in the middle) look more 'full' that the one on the middle, which is weird. I'd say make the one on the middle more full as well.
Hmm, this would have been useful for my doodling last night...
Only wish I had textures.
http://www.button-masher.net/wip/tree01.jpg
http://www.button-masher.net/wip/tree02.jpg
Might have to compare with some notes from here...
edit: sorry, not trying to hijack, just also interested in similar info!
Ooh, this is a good thread. I'm about to work on an amateur project that just so happens to be an RTS.
Love the style of that palm tree Andrew, would look great animated 
Looking again at lee3dee's stuff, then mine, I think I'm going to try splitting the planes in addition to the bends that are there already. Might narrow up the tips of the branches as well; I'm not sure how much I want to do with alpha and how much I want to do with the overall shape. I guess I'll see what the plane splitting does for me.
KungFuSquirrel: looks good reminds me of Hawaii. hehe this thread should be good for those looking to make real-time trees
Here's my current progress
[Blocked Image: http://www.lee3dee.com/Images/env/foliage01.jpg]
[Blocked Image: http://www.lee3dee.com/Images/env/pine01.jpg]
Even though im sure most companies use speedtree or another tree program to do their models. hehe
A few tricks I've developed and researched over time, dunno if you guys already discussed about it:
-In the same tree/sort of tree, the angle the smaller branches form with their parent branch is always the same, or very close. I'd say +/- 10. Nature made thing pretty mathematical, its very interesting. This is good for both Dead and healthy trees, except old and dead trees will have some of their branches having a tendency bending towards the ground.
-Not only the angle, but the subdivision is typical to each sort of trees. It will vary from 2 to 5, most of the time 2 or 3, but check to be sure if it's a tropical tree.
-Also the reduction percentage in a subdivision is typical to each tree family. Example: the 2 smaller branches coming out in the subdivision will be 30% smaller than the original branch they are coming from.
These are the main things to consider when making trees, dont think I just invented them to make it harder, my father is a plant specialist, I read a couple of his books before making my real first tree in 3D.
Well, this doesn't really follow those, but meh... 
[Blocked Image: http://www.button-masher.net/wip/tree03.jpg]
Wish I had a texture to have a better idea of how well this is working. Seems too droopy now that I think about it. Needs more poof to the top. POOF!
I guess I can add in the palm I am working on:
[Blocked Image: http://thefuture.dk/1/modelling.jpg]
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