@Failentin normal maps are used in game development specifically on assets/characters e.t.c.
they give you the fake details and depth in png or jpg
so instead of using a billion polygon mesh with details you bake all the juicy details of billion polygon model on a pretty much low poly model which is lets say 5000 polygons so at same time you win in terms of details and optimization
jpg
the devs probably used jpg
in terms of file size jpg is nice to use but you may face loss of quality
png gives you max out of texture
png is actually pretty shit for a image file format, but it yields the best quality for its size
I remember when I played Viva Pinata (2006 game), I noticed that the ground seemed to have roughness, making it look more natural. But if I looked at it at a specific angle, it seemed flat.
Asterix OG on XBox 360 uses normal maps on almost everything, unlike the PC/PS2 version. But it did look great.
First normal maps were used on Xbox in 2004 if I remember correctly
Although XXL2 already had normal maps and even AO in 2005
I think OG X360 was their way of preparing for Dawn of the Dragon. This was a big step for them, to get into shaders. They had open positions for shader programmers for a looong time on their website back then.
It shows though why ELB would eventually go under in 2012 - they were already late to modern graphics pipelines, their engine was outdated. They could survive for a few years, drawing from the Wii's low graphical fidelity and the PS2's long lifespan...
Also the fact that their engine relied on Renderware which was already dead years ago, bought by EA, and never got updated for next gen, and I guess ELB wasn't able to replace it or make a graphics renderer themselves :/
Before DotD, they also made Arthur and the Invisibles tie-in, which is on par on quality with OG, perhaps more. I wonder tho if it was made first.
Because chances are the engine was upgraded for the Arthur game thanks to a big enough budget ( the movie was apparently a success ), and then these upgrades helped making the 2 later games.
And that shows how impressive ELB was, making 3 games in just about 2 and a half years!
Yes, it was impressive. But they would have had to either rewrite or ditch Renderware at some point (DotD would have been a good time), but due to being a license studio alone and the tight deadlines that come with that, they eventually missed that boat.
How to Train Your Dragon came out in 2010 I think... And when they closed shop in 2012, one of the reasons cited was that they couldn't get any more licenses. I always wondered why they didn't try and make their own game during that time.
.
In fact, shortly after, there was a news article making the rounds that some former employees of ELB had founded a new studio focused on building their own IPs and that they were making a 2D platformer about a dragonfly (😉).
Does anyone know what ever happened to that? 🤔
GeneralXXLXXL 2XXL 3Olympic GamesXXL SpeedrunningXXL Romastered SpeedrunningXXL 2 SpeedrunningXXL 2 Remaster SpeedrunningOlympic Games SpeedrunningRecent StratsOther Asterix GamesOther GamesAsterix MediaSpoofy GoofsCreative ShackVideosHelpBot SpamRetro GamesModdingStreamsPatchesModsToolsResourcesDownloadsWikiUnfair XXLCaesar's ChallengeIntroductionsVC TextAnnouncementsVillage GatesRulesFeedback ☰