Normal Map Solutions?

EagleTopGaming

So I am running in to the problem where my normal map detail is getting blurred out because of the texture resolution (picture with 1024 normal map).




I know what causes this and even some ways to fix it (link I found)

Link

I usually scale my UVs to be uniformed, but this seems like a fairly common problem and I want to know the ways around it more then jacking up the resolution of the entire material beyond 1024.

Solutions (That I thought off)
1. Make only the normal map a higher resolution then the rest of the layers to increase detail.

2. Scale the areas affected by the normal map larger to pick up more detail and adjust the UV scale on the texture to avoid mismatched texture scale.

3. Bake the normal map on a different UV channel that has the affected areas scaled up but the base color is on an even UV channel so the texture details look right (is this possible?).

4. Something I have not thought of yet.

So I am not sure what you guys do. I know I am trying to solve a problem that most of you have already solved. Thanks in advance.

Joost

The most obvious solution would be using higher res textures. Are you limited to 1024 for a specific reason?
Scale down Uvs that won't be seen often or that are usually further away from the camera. For example with a first person gun you can scale up the back of the gun.
And try to make the mesh 1 solid piece. So you don't have intersecting geometry that takes up UV space.

JedTheKrampus

You could always do those tiny bolts with a deferred decal sheet, too.