Advantages of separate first person meshes?

I am currently working on a survivalesque changeable viewpoint game (1st and 3rd person), I see people often recommend having the hands separate. Why is this? Why not have just one mesh, in some games you can look down and see your body: I assume in these games it is a single mesh and not two separate meshes.
Thanks.

Hi strideynet,

Here’s a good article that explains the differences and advantages between the two:

True First Person Viewpoint

Let me know if you need further information or if there is something not covered in the article you wanted to know.

Thanks,

.

Thanks. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for. I had intended to use one mesh and this only reaffirmed my suspicions that it was a good idea.

tl;dr: “If you are creating a first person shooter with a humanoid based protagonist, there is no reason not to use a true first person view.”