| lilbroex said
You would have to know it by looking at it. If you look at the very bottom angle of the boulderers they are flat but in all other angles you can see depth and shadows in the crevices. Consult the picture I posted earlier that shows the differences between various texture effects. http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/games/SteepParallax/compare.jpg
I can't find where it was stated in news but it was known before MG was even released that it would be using parallax mapping. This link is the best I could find as most news that is that old has either been archived or removed on a lot of sites. I can only find references to it on various sites and forum, but they all say that MG used parallax mapping. http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/25407082
Also, the predominant form of mapping used in Mario Glaxay and most GC./Wii games in general is EBEM/EMBM. Its the most natural texture effect the hardware does and its the easiest one to implement. |
I saw where the guy in that forum you linked said that the Galaxies would use parallax mapping, but frankly, I trust this opinion more:
http://handheldwii.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/72944782/
Scroll down to where he talks about EMBM and brings up the Wii and Super Mario Galaxy. Ironically, he even specifically mentions the effect on the boulders you cited as being EMBM. Later when he moves on to Parallax Mapping, he specifically describes it as an effect "the Wii hasn't seen before".
Remember that the Wii's EMBM in the hands of a talented company like Nintendo can appear to be an even more advanced effect than it really is. I remember when I played F-Zero GX (Sega) on the Gamecube, I was convinced that some things had to be EMBM just because of how good it looked, before a tech-savvy friend of mine pointed out that it likely wasn't, because it would be difficult for the Cube to achieve it at that framerate... it just looked really good.
