marconelly!
Veteran
Wait a sec - isn't that called Displacement map?
randycat99
Veteran
I would like to enter into the record, that it seems to me that it really depends on the scale of the bumping where you could potentially substitute specularity and gloss maps to good effect. If the bumps are fairly small and shiny (such as that ice road) or perhaps a glittery rock, then that would seem to be a good candidate. At that point, you really can't discern the height of the bumps (especially if they are zooming by at speed), but you can see how they play on the light (essentially a bumpy specular effect). If the bumps are not shiny, then the bumpy effect is dramatically toned down (there's nothing for the light to play on), unless the bumps are fairly large or you are looking at them at very close proximity. At the other extreme, large bumps or intentional displacements would have to be done via genuine bumpmapping technique to properly exhibit the deformation of the textures (which would be visible at that point and remains as the primary cue in the absence of any specularity effect).
CaptainHowdy
Regular
marconelly! said:
not that much, just to where it really looks like grooves, those shots look more like great textures than bump mapping, mainly because I havent seen what BM looks like in game enough to tell which is which.
randycat99
Veteran
MrSingh said:
Essentially, that is all that should matter to the end user.
Couple of points.
Halo's got bump maps on every surface, except for: Select ground terrain (not night level). Master Chief (he's just specular and a detail map), special effects (duh), and various foliage. Where cybamerc thought there was no bump mapping, it was just bump-mapping in a highly ambient environment, where it is less pronounced.
The ralisport ice surfaces are bump-mapped. The way to tell is that gloss maps have a fixed specular multiplier, so the surface appears to be completely matt in areas, regardless of viewer angle. You can clearly see the ralisport surfaces are completely washed out from above, yet have very pronounced variations from angles. Once you've used both methods you'd realise they are unmistakable.
Halo's got bump maps on every surface, except for: Select ground terrain (not night level). Master Chief (he's just specular and a detail map), special effects (duh), and various foliage. Where cybamerc thought there was no bump mapping, it was just bump-mapping in a highly ambient environment, where it is less pronounced.
The ralisport ice surfaces are bump-mapped. The way to tell is that gloss maps have a fixed specular multiplier, so the surface appears to be completely matt in areas, regardless of viewer angle. You can clearly see the ralisport surfaces are completely washed out from above, yet have very pronounced variations from angles. Once you've used both methods you'd realise they are unmistakable.
