What is the purpose of lightmapping?

The purpose of lightmapping is to precalculate lighting data and store it in a lightmap. This technique is used to improve the performance and visual fidelity of a scene by baking the lighting effects into textures. By doing this, static objects can display complex lighting effects, including shadows and various light interactions, without the need for intensive real-time calculations during gameplay.

This method is particularly beneficial in scenarios where lighting does not change frequently, as it allows the game engine to render scenes more efficiently. A lightmap contains information about how light interacts with surfaces in the environment, enabling a rich visual experience while maintaining optimal performance, especially in static environments.

In contrast, the other options address concepts that are either unrelated to lightmapping specifically or focus on aspects of lighting and effects that are not the primary benefits provided by lightmaps. For example, enhancing real-time particle effects typically involves dynamic lighting and shader work rather than the static nature of lightmapping. Adjusting ambient light color and controlling shadows cast by dynamic objects pertain to real-time lighting adjustments rather than the pre-calculated techniques that lightmapping employs.