A good machine makes a big difference. Though, look at what's been done up till now, Look at Flaks work....Amazing amounts of polys. Rochr combines object, texture, & light. hobbit & Beton design the story and use multiple tools with Bryce.....the list and methods are endless.

Learning the tools ie: hardware, software, & Synapticware(your brain)..........You can create anything.
The creativity also includes your ability for Work-a-rounds. (getting where you want to go no matter how you get there).

Crashed files: Yup...seen those, not all of'm have it though, sometimes they're white at the bottom.

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Ockham's razor- It's that simple