Attached Link: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html

Hi bb. I've had very little contact with normal maps compared to bump maps, so I'm basing what I believed a normal map to be on things I've read, in places such as Pixologic's ZBrush forum for example. The bump map on steroids reference was in regard to various readings that say that a normal map gives a more 3d bump effect than a regular bump map due to the fact that a bump map only affects the normal in 2 dimensions whereas a normal map can affect a normal in 3, thus giving a better effect. I had a look for normal Vs bump on Google and found the Nvidia Normal Map plugin and decided to have a play.

Also, regarding you saying the strength of the normal map effect can't be changed. I made a normal map from a bump map using the Nvidia normal map Photoshop plugin and applied it to a cylinder prop in PoserPro using the Normal Tangent option on the Gradient Map socket, and that allowed me to utilise the Gradient Bump value to increase/decrease the effect as I wished.