Oh yes, I've also trying to make a dynamic shadows for models, using simple prerendered flat sprite. Rotate, tilt, stretch the sprite based on light source "The sun" location and direction. This method is also quite costly.
Good luck, i’ve been trying to figure out a good way of doing that for years.
The only way i can think of is spawning 8 dummy actors around the spot (one in each cardinal direction), checking which one is lowest, then making the bloodspot face that direction and adjust its pitch downward accordingly. Very hacky and math-intensive.
IMO it would be nice if MODELDEF simply had a “adjust model’s pitch based on floor slope” flag. :P
Some of my models are already neatly optimized - combining models with sprites, adjusted by distance ... etc. Most of the optimizations don't hurt visuals and increase FPS by a whole lot.
For example, I have huge 15000 x 17000 MP map and it has about 5000 models (grasses, trees, bushes)
Spoiler: Screenshot (Open)