Looking at my initial normal map for the wallpaper material, it’s honestly pretty subtle – I went with a predominantly blueish base which means most of the surface stays relatively flat. The network of fine cracks and imperfections I scattered throughout will catch light at sharp angles, but they’re intentionally understated.
I kept the height variations minimal here since I wanted the base wallpaper material to feel worn but not completely deteriorated. Those thin lines create just enough surface disruption to break up that perfectly flat look you’d get from a plain normal map.
This revised normal map is working way better for what I need. The noisier, more varied surface gives me those nice light-catching moments without having to push my mesh displacement so hard.
I particularly like how the noise pattern has this almost fabric-like quality – it’s giving me that subtle wallpaper texture I wanted without being too obvious about it. The way it transitions between higher and lower areas feels more natural than the crack patterns I was using before.