Well I'm not using detail maps in my technique...so the affects might be different...but that definately looks good.

I don't know if there is an FPS loss because my PC is too good to feel hardly any hit at all from MW no matter what I do to it. I have a feeling it could be bad though, if used excessively - like my upcoming mod uses it on almost every single mesh. I think I do remember someone who tested my mod saying there was a hit, but I have no idea myself.

But detail maps, they probably aren't as bad as what I'm doing, which is a mixture of reflection maps and bump maps...for anyone who is wondering what I'm talking about (http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i201/Vality7/misc/fqr324rqw.jpg)
...btw, when you link to images it's best you link directly to the image http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2215/bumpmappingxk8.jpg

I wouldn't mind looking into this technique when I get back into weapons modeling - just need to look at reinstalling 3dsmax.

Any threads/ links with a lowdown on how the technique is applied and what (if any) external programs are required?

Regards,

Phil

It seems a kind of bump mapping ingame. Anyone know the results? A big fps loss? weirdness?
Vality7 i need your advice

Shot:
http://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bumpmappingxk8.jpg

does Morrowinds engine support parallax mapping?

EDIT: also, Vality, are you going to write a tutorial for bump mapping and reflection-thingies? or just one of them

As I have stated before I personally don't like the look of the Reflection map technique to get a bump in MW. It would be cool in certain circumstances but not on everything IMHO.

Is it a bumpmap like thing, or is it just a overlayed texture with a diffrent mipmap bias?

Its a detail map, in other words other texture applied over the texture base but im using a embossing effect and acts like a bump map with a excellent results.
The only complain for the moment is the blurry result of this detail map. The view of the effect in Nifscope its perfect but in CS its blurry .

I believe this can be solved, if anyone knows how, please lets go to work??

I'm sorry, I'm a bit out of the loop.
What are these detail maps, and (more importantly) how are they used?
Thanks for any help.

Its a detail map, in other words other texture applied over the texture base but im using a embossing effect and acts like a bump map with a excellent results.
The only complain for the moment is the blurry result of this detail map. The view of the effect in Nifscope its perfect but in CS its blurry .

I believe this can be solved, if anyone knows how, please lets go to work??

The Maps rollout panel for the NetImmerse Shader has been extended to support several NetImmerse specific maps. Examples of how to use the various fields can be found in the "Common Uses" section of this manual.

The "Base" texture map roughly corresponds to the "Diffuse Color" maps in the other MAX shaders. It is the base texture for the material and all the other maps will modify or add to it somehow.

The "Dark" map field is intended to hold a static light map for the material. In NetImmerse, the base map's r,g,b values will be multiplied by the dark map's values causing it to appear dark where the dark map is dark and the base texture where the dark map is light. This behavior also means that the dark map can only darken the base map (hence the name.) White pixels in the dark map will pass the base map's color through untouched but any non-white dark map pixel will darken the base map's pixel. Dark maps are commonly arranged so that a single surface has a dark map that stretches across its entire extent (i.e. the dark map is not tiled.) The base map applied to this surface is then tiled but in combination with the dark map the repetitions are less noticeable.

The "Detail" map field is intended to hold the texture that will provide fine grain detail for the base map. Whenever the camera gets very close to a surface the detail map will dominate the base map. Because of this behavior the detail map should be a highly repeated noise pattern. Additionally, the detail map is multiplied by two before it is multiplied into the base texture. Because of this the detail map can both brighten and darken the base map. A detail pixel value of 128,128,128 will leave the base unchanged. A pure white value will double the brightness of the base map while a pure black value will still make the base map's pixel become black. An artist should usually create a detail map so that its average color is 128,128,128.

The "Decal" map field holds a texture that will be alpha-blended on top of the base texture. If multiple decals are desired a "Composite" material can be placed in the "Decal" field. Each texture listed in the "Composite" material will be translated into a decal texture by MAXImmerse. Decal maps are usually used to add local detail to a base texture, common examples being bullet holes and scorch marks. Note that multiple decals specified in a "Composite" material will be added onto the base map in order - creating a layering effect.

The "Bump" map field is not currently supported but will be used for bump-mapping whenever NetImmerse supports that feature.(Sy: Not true apparently. My guess is the Max plugin didn't work but the graphics engine manages a stab at it.)

The "Gloss" map field holds a texture that will modulate the effect of the environment map. The environment map and gloss map are multiplied together so the environment map will appear wherever the gloss map is white, disappear wherever it is black and smoothly transition anywhere in between. Colored gloss maps can be used to achieve metallic looking reflections. Finally, not all graphics cards will support gloss maps. On such cards the environment map will appear full strength - as if no gloss map had been provided.

The "Glow" map holds a texture map that will just be added onto the result of all the prior maps. It should be used to create texture-based self-illumination effects. For example, luminescent patches on a creature's skin could be added via a glow map.

The "Particle Color" and "Particle Opacity" fields should only be used for materials that are applied to a particle system. Both fields will only accept a "Particle Age" material and together allow particles to change color and opacity as they age. For "Particle Opacity" the r,g and b values in the "Particle Age" material will be averaged together to yield the required alpha value.

The "Bump", "Reflection", "Refraction" and "Displacement" fields at the end of the maps sub-panel are added by MAX and are not translated by MAXImmerse. They should never be used.

The foregoing provides a brief introduction to the map fields provided by the NetImmerse Shader. More information on NetImmerse's multitexturing capabilities can be found in the NiTexturing.doc file.

This 4.0.0.2 Nif Documentation courtesy of Freedomforce and Irrational games might help:-

I wouldn't mind looking into this technique when I get back into weapons modeling - just need to look at reinstalling 3dsmax.
Any threads/ links with a lowdown on how the technique is applied and what (if any) external programs are required?
Regards,
Phil

How does that look in motion (video maybe)?
Also - If it does effect FPS - Then, maybe, it would be a good idea to actually have two tex packs - one with lower res.

Could someone please explain why this is bump mapping?

I thought bumpmapping, you change the normals based on the colour and the change from the surrounding pixels of a grayscale texture at is UV mapped point, thereby changing the lighting effect on the mesh and casuing it to look more detaild, and uh, I don't see this happening.
This seems to be exactly what it says it is on the tin. A detail map.