A thread on the Skinner forum about rivets and panels got me thinking, once again, I'd LOVE to see Normal and Specular maps added to aircraft for skinners to play with. The things that could be done with those additional maps would blow away anything possible now.
The image above is JUST done by converting the shadows and highlights used on my own F4U template. It would need some cleaning up, but it already FAR exceeds the impression of depth I achieved with the full skin itself.
Another example showing a model I did for DragonAge: Origins that is fully Normal and Spec mapped. In fact, with the exception of the basic geometry, ALL the raised and sunken detailing on the sword hilt are the result of Normal maps. Specular maps would also allow varying degrees of shininess to be applied, giving much more depth than the simple material file present in the game currently does. Bare metal Mustangs could have highly polished and reflective airframes, while still having matte anti-glare panels and exhaust staining (as opposed to the material files we have now, where the specularity is uniform across the entire model).
This could easily be a setting that can be turned off/on under the clipboard so players with low-end systems don't take a hit from it.
Of all the atmospheric improvements being made in the game, this would represent a MAJOR leap forward in the look of the game, while still being easily accessible to those community members responsible for our custom content.
