The ideal size of a texture tile varies based on a few variables:
  • The size of the object it's texturing—A small object will likely need a much smaller texture map than a large one, all else being equal.
  • The relative scale of the texture detail to that object—Blades of grass are much smaller than bricks, so the texture needs to be scaled such that its details are the right size, regardless of the actual resulting size of the texture map.
  • How much area the texture will have to tile over—The smaller the texture, the more obvious the tiling will be.
  • How much memory footprint is permitted—This doesn't really affect what you're doing, since you're laying a large texture over a sizable piece of terrain, and it's likely not spatially compressed, but usually there is a strict memory budget for textures in a video game. A smaller texture that tiles is often better than a large one that doesn't, even though the large texture looks nicer.
  • How close the viewer/camera gets to the textured object. If an object isn't likely to be seen close up, use a lower resolution texture.


There really isn't a hard and fast rule, other than if it looks right, it is right. And even that one is tempered by the technical requirements of the work.