We have in the works a more advanced materials system that will give users control over specular properties (i.e. allow a material to reflect light other than its base color, so a red texture could appear white when close to a white light). I hope to have it out some time this summer, but no promises, we have a lot on the schedule right now.
If you take an outdoor photograph, you'll notice that non-white surfaces can approach white (or even appear pure white) in direct sunlight. This is not due to specularity, but rather the photographic medium's (be it film or digital) maximum exposure level being approached or exceeded. Take a look at this screenshot from Trees of Pangaea (powered by SpeedTree) to see a simulation of this effect. Notice how parts of the well in the foreground and the tree trunks in the background approach white due to the sunlight. Their texture values are basically multiplied (with no cap on the R, G, and B components (except maximum value, of course)) according to how much light is falling on them.
Is there any possibility of seeing this type of shading in SL in the future?
