Okay... highlights on skins... replaced by speculars and lighting?

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Just a query here: Does anyone know if the specular highlights and advanced lighting in the Source engine are going to remove the need for highlights on model skins?

Or am I once again misunderstanding the issue...?
 
Brian Damage said:
Just a query here: Does anyone know if the specular highlights and advanced lighting in the Source engine are going to remove the need for highlights on model skins?

Or am I once again misunderstanding the issue...?
mostly yes if you use normal maps. mostly no if you don't
 
Do we need some sort of specular map too?

If I understand correctly, speculars control reflectivity, yes?

Also, what is the exact difference between maps and shaders?
 
Brian Damage said:
Do we need some sort of specular map too?

If I understand correctly, speculars control reflectivity, yes?

Also, what is the exact difference between maps and shaders?
specular maps control the effect of specularity on a surface

reflectivity maps control how reflective the surface is

^^ both grayscale mostly, the brighter the map, the more specular or reflective an area is, the darker the map the less so


shaders are packaged materials basically. eg: a collective name for a bunch of spec, bump, diff, col maps

they are also the name of special DX effects
 
Ah, so what's the difference between Shaders and Pixel Shaders, then?
 
That article is heavy reading...

I've bookmarked it for when I have more time...

For now, I'll just assume that Vertex and Pixel Shaders are more powerful and flexible ways of altering model geometry and textures, yes?

EDIT: Or is a Vertex shader for general lighting?
 
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