As long as your UVWs are projection mapped properly, or your UVWs are matched manually (however your personally do them) any texture can be used for a normal, diffuse, or specular map.
In fact, baking detail to materials from a high poly model to a low poly is how 'good' texture work is done.
Yes, it's easy, you can use Render to Texture, just like you would do a NormalMap, with you highres as source (with a material with 100 Self-Illumination to avoid shadows and highlights) but choosing DiffuseMap or CompleteMap. Here's an article explaining some things you can do with Render to Texture (not related to baking your map, but a good read).
Build your high poly model, and bake an "ambient occlusion" map as well as a normal map for details that will be lost when you convert to low poly. Bake your diffuse at this time as well too.
Ok. I have one more question. What way is better : creating first high poly model then reduce number of polygons, or creating first low poly, then copy model and creating high poly model?
Replies
In fact, baking detail to materials from a high poly model to a low poly is how 'good' texture work is done.