Is this feature something that pretty much all new video cards have? Mine must not have it(GeForce4 MX420), and I'm realizing now how much better most new games look with bump mapping. Total noob when it comes to new hardware, so if bump mapaping is only available on certain cards that'd be good to know.
Also, I'm looking for a new video card in the $100 range, so if anyone has an opinion on what to get and from where, I'd really appreciate it.
Bump mapping?
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Keverian FireCry
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Bump mapping is way to make surfaces look like they have "bumps" or roughness without actually changing the geometry of the surface. Ever seen an emossed font? Same idea.
MIP mapping is a way to handle textures so that when you are far away the texture is rendered in a lower resolution since you can't see all the detail anyways from a distance, and as you get closer it renders it at a higher resolution.
MIP mapping is a way to handle textures so that when you are far away the texture is rendered in a lower resolution since you can't see all the detail anyways from a distance, and as you get closer it renders it at a higher resolution.
When the world is mine, your death shall be quick and painless.
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Xanastik Fox
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Bump mapping
all you need is a directx 9.0 card, radion 9XXX are good, nvidia fx5200 are also good, but dont be fooled by a cheap radion 9200, its the only card that cant display certain textures, dont buy one.
[quote=Google] (n) A rendering technique used to add surface detail to a model. Bump mapping perturbs the normals used in shading the surface polygons in such a way as to give the impression of a regularly undulating surface (i.e., texture). A golf ball could be represented as a shaded sphere, with the dimples created through bump mapping.[/quote]
Essentially, each face on 3D wireframe (which is an approximation of a real world object) is checked for its angle relative to light sources to determine how is should be lightened or darkened to account for the shadows. What bump mapping does is replace the uniform shading of that triangle to make it irregular and more realistic by simulating the minor bumps and physical texture of the a real world object.
Real world objects are not generally made up of a flat triangular faces (dodecahedrons, and pyramids aside
), so our approximation of a shape as flat polygon surfaces will not have shading and texture that looks like the real object. Bump mapping allows a graphics engine to improve the model's appearance without increasing the polygon count.
Essentially, each face on 3D wireframe (which is an approximation of a real world object) is checked for its angle relative to light sources to determine how is should be lightened or darkened to account for the shadows. What bump mapping does is replace the uniform shading of that triangle to make it irregular and more realistic by simulating the minor bumps and physical texture of the a real world object.
Real world objects are not generally made up of a flat triangular faces (dodecahedrons, and pyramids aside
), so our approximation of a shape as flat polygon surfaces will not have shading and texture that looks like the real object. Bump mapping allows a graphics engine to improve the model's appearance without increasing the polygon count.[65 Storm Warden] Archeiron Leafstalker (Wood Elf) <Sovereign>RETIRED
