Where Do I Use My Pixels?

One of the challenges in texturing for video games is that you need to create textures that end up being relatively low resolution (larger and fewer rocks to work with) while trying to make the scene look as detailed as possible. The bottom line is, with the memory limitations of real-time rendering, you have a set number of pixels with which to make your game. The trick is to make intelligent decisions about where to use those pixels.

Two important aspects to think about when choosing the resolution of a texture are:

• Physical size—The actual size of the object in relation to a character.

• Distance—How far away is the object and how close can the player get to it?

Here is another example: Let’s say we are texturing a small room with a cardboard box on the floor, a clock on the wall, and a window that shows a lighthouse in the distance (see Figure 3.12).