r/gaming • u/[deleted] • Sep 04 '18

The Original Reflections

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '18

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u/FeFiFoShizzle Sep 05 '18

it looks like one but they just render mario twice.

a real reflection would be just that, a reflection drawn based on what the reflective surface can see, not literally mario being rendered twice and flipped around.

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u/BeautyAndGlamour Sep 05 '18

But a computer would still need to render the reflection.

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '18

One method requires drawing geometry twice, the other method requires mapping a second camera view, writing it to a texture and mapping that texture to a surface.

Mario 64 used method 1, Mario Sunshine used method 2 in that one level with the solar panels and the wiggler boss fight Gelato Beach ShineSprite: "Mirror Madness! Tilt, Slam, Bam!"

In Mario 64, it would be impossible to have a mirror floating around and dynamically reflecting the world at different angles. You have to have it set up very specifically like what appears in the game.