Hello, dear experts GG Classic!
The progress in my strange game (I will definitely show the community when I decide what I can and I will be happy to accept ratings and criticism ) ...went before the optimization ideas began.

I have a strange question:
There is one tree model. I want to scale it in 4 options: small, medium, default, large, very large)
I can change every model in FragMotion, accordingly, there will be 4 different models.
Or I can write scaling in FPE (Scale=50, Scale=120, Scale=200, etc) which (in theory saves memory for 4-5 Mb, but the consequences are unknown).
I conducted experiments, put about 500 trees (FragMotion edits vs FPE Scaling), the difference 0-2 fps. The results are almost the same in test mode.
And the story is about stones and rocks. This can be configured in FPE, or it can be changed in FragMotion.
Just want some advice from those who understand the GG engine. Which is better - do each option as a separate model, or scale through FPE ?
( I focusing on the call optimizer ( drawcalloptimizer = 1 ) I have many objects, reasonable forest) ).

I would assume scaling in the FPE would be better because you're not having to load unique models for each scale. Each unique model you load will have a small cost in VRAM, although since they all share the same texture this cost will be negligible.

A third option might be to use Game Guru's own scaling widget. Drop four copies of your original tree into your level, then resize each one using the widget (I know, it's not precise, but does it need to be?). Then you've got four differently-sized tree you can use throughout your level, and you've only had to load one mesh and one set of textures.

You'd only want to edit FPE files if it was very important to you to have those trees available to you at those specific sizes in multiple levels.

AE

Avenging Eagle, thanks for the advice. I also think that scaling through FPE will save some memory. And if you set up collisions (collisionscaling = xxx), it should be fine .. in theory.
however, I'm a little afraid of the behavior of the NPC, can they ignore the collision boxes prescribed in the FPE ...
in 2018 there was such a problem, now I hope it is solved. I checked yesterday on a test map, seems to work well ... but who knows.

I just want to start filling the map with trees, and if something goes wrong ... it's easier to start over than deleting the already placed trees.
After all, the model and textures can be changed at any time and the map will accept the changes. But with FPE, the changes will not work, you will have to delete and re-place objects again.

Probably from this point of view, it's better to have a separate model for each tree variant... albeit at a cost of 5-10MB in total for all 4 ...
Thanks for the answer, in communication I think better

I marked my own answer as a solution after some thought. Because if something goes wrong, then in the same FragMotion (or in another 3D editor) you can insert an extra +1 animation between each frame. So I advise you to set in FPE: animspeed = 200 or 300 (if you bought a package from BSP or another set of Animated trees ) .
My advice - this is my very personal IMHO.

PS. If I understand correctly, then the animation of any plants(trees) is always played at a speed of 20 fps per second.
Excluding the grass, if I understand correctly, there the shader does the animation (or rather, scrolling ).

PPS.
I apologize , but.. By the way, if someone from the GG Experts reads this .. is it possible to make a shader (basically) , what will give a little illusion of movement in non-animated trees? So that the trunk is not affected, but the branches are affected by the shader? ..If the trunk has its own unique texture. (I'm sorry if this is a stupid question).

A fourth option could be to apply a script to randomize the scale for each tree.

Something like:
Scale( e,math.random(90,300) )

Not sure if the collision mesh scales with it though. Have not tested that. Best advice though is to scale it with the widget within the editor as AE has mentioned.