Okay, since this thread has a lot of views and no replies, I will make it informative on what these things ARE to those of you who don't know.
A map (also known as texture) is an image that is a applied to a 3D model which changes the way it looks. I will start with the two basic ones. Diffuse and normal (bump) map. Diffuse is the color, and as the name implies, a bump map adds bumps to to the texture. A bump map does not change geometry, it only changes the way light reacts when hitting the texture. Here is an example:
Next we have the specular map, it changes the way light shines on a surface without actually affecting the depth of it. It's used mostly for scratches and other blemishes. Image:
Continuing on, we have have glowing materials. Basically it designates what appears to be glowing. Deus Ex HR had the best use of glow in my opinion.
Next we have reflections. For these, there are two main types. The most popular is using an environment map to create a reflection. This is essentially a texture that will reflect off of a model. It is often favored because it is not too hardware intensive. The downside is you do NOT get accurate reflections of your surroundings.
The real man way to do reflections is to ray-trace them, giving you perfect reflections as can be seen in GTA IV ENB series. The following are all IN GAME screenshots, in real time.
After you've gone and changed your underwear after those, we will continue on to shader effects. We'll start with a popular one lately, which is the sun shaft effect. I'll explain it with a picture:
Next we have good o'l depth of field. Here is the effect from Cryengine 3 (dx11).
Then we have parallax mapping, which is like bump mapping except more extreme in the sense that it actually occludes (blocks out) other pixels and 'can' cast shadows. Here is an example:
Tessellation is also similar, but this actually adds geometry to the scene via DX11 hardware. It is good for LOD and is not too bad of a performance hit considering how many more polys it adds. I believe Outerra does something similar, but not on DX11. This is still controlled by a map for depth. Here is the comparison screenshots:
For Ambient Occlusion, it checks to see how close things are together and then adds shadows depending on that. To compare, drag the slider back and forth like a mad man in this link:
http://international.download.nvidia.com/geforce-com/international/comparisons/skyrim-AO-comparison-6.htmlMotion blur is pretty self explanatory, if you don't know what that is... wave your hand in front of your face. Moving on.
Next we have shadows. To me, shadows are probably the 2nd more important thing when it comes to video game graphics. For the most part, shadow maps are used. Which is like a texture in the sense that it checks to see which part of the geometry occludes the light from a given point. Here is a comparison of a shadow map and it's blurred version.
The higher resolution your shadow map is, the more detail that is within it. It becomes more important when the shadow moves, because that is where you can really notice the jaggy-ness of them. Here is a comparison.
Because I know you all love being wet, I will move on to water comparisons. Here we have normal water that intersects with the coast line (like most games), and then a version of that with a fading edge, giving it a softer look. Here is the result.
Speaking of being WET, we can't have wetness without wet maps, now can we? Say it starts raining, you'd expect your game to look a little more... moist, wouldn't you? Well Wet surfaces are the solution to your moistness problems. It looks way better in game (I promise).
Next I would like to ask you a question. Do you prefer your particles to look like ass, or not? If you answered no, this next part is for you. What I'm talking about is soft particles (z-feathered). It's quite simple really, you blur the particle as it intersects with geometry so it doesn't look like it wants to cut everything in half. Here is the splendid comparisons.
And finally I will finish off with something that almost no engines have, which is global illumination. Do you notice how in real life, things blocking light do not leave the area behind it completely black? That is because light scatters and bounces off of things. That's why when you have a red room things appear more red. To finish off with the theme here, I will add comparisons... now.
Thank you for reading. I will add more as I get time or think of it.
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Topic: INFO - & Types of maps/shaders/effects will the engine will support? (Read 28114 times)