Setting up Materials for Low Poly Presentation // 3ds Max:
I have seen people make the mistake of not showing their characters or objects with 100% illumination.
Or in other words, they are allowing the software to shade the polygons which makes everything look like garbage.
Flat Shaded:
In 3ds Max: The simplest solution is to "right-click" next to the viewport title (usually next to "[Perspective]"In the top left part of the screen and you are clicking on "[Smooth + Highlights]")
Instead of "[Smooth + Highlights]" Choose: "[Flat]" like shown in the image below (see red circle).
Turning Off Texture Filtering:
Of course, don't forget to go to "Customize>Preferences...>Viewports (tab)>Configure Driver (button)>and choose "Nearest" at the bottom under "Texel Lookup".
Also, make sure "None" is selected under "MipMap Lookup".
This turns off texture filtering, which is the way many low spec game engines handle textures.
Turning On Full Size Texture Resolution, in the 3ds Max Viewport:
Lastly make sure that your viewport supports the texture size you are using.
Easiest way to do this... Go to: "Views>Show Material In Viewport As>Hardware Display With Maps"
Again, this will ensure that you textures are not compressed in the viewport, and you are seeing them at full resolution.
Hope this helps!
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at: BradM3D@hotmail.com ... or checkout my website for contact information and more Tutorials at: www.BradM3D.com