- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
We need more nerds here.
More pixels != (don't) lag, well directly. More pixels could slow down your system which could slow down you network part of the game. Think of it on a super high end pc, 1600x1200 doesn't get more lag than a 640x480. It's all your internet connection and system speed where pixels are delt with the GPU.
Here is a common misconception I have seen on the internet, normal maps are NOT normal textures that are bitmaps. Normal maps are basicaly A BETTER bump map. You take a dense mesh, then you get it to a point where it has a low amount of polygons, then you create the normal map that reads the dense mesh, then makes the texture, and when applied to the low poly mesh, makes it look much more detailed. The unreal 3 engine is using it has the best graphics I have ever seen, and it is a next generation game. The reason why normal maps aren't on xbox is because it is so old, it has somthing like direct x 6-8 or somthing around that era when normal mapps weren't used. They are shader intensive and new cards/games are finally starting to use shaders which add a lot to graphics. The point of a normal map is to get MORE detail without using so many polygons.
Bump mapping is just an illusion, kinda. In terms of lighting it reacts like it is 3-d, but it is just a flat surface.
Normal Mapping = much much better than bump mapping, expect normal mapping on next gen games(o jebus i hope halo 3).
Links:
Here Is the unreal 3 engine, 6/7 to 7/8 of the way down the page is a good example of before and after of normal mapping.
Here is an example of bump mapping, as you can see in the picture, although it looks like the bricks are geometry (real 3d), if you look closley along the edges you can see that it is a texture.
Here is some info on normal maps, it has some examples, fun read.
[Edited on 6/4/2004 8:55:40 PM]