You need to look at converting to 256 colors after you do your render. The book that helped me most in this regard was Dave Roberts "PC Game Programming". I think it was a SAMS book.(probably out of print by now.) I made my own converters some time ago which work quite well but are proprietory to myself. I will give you a hint however, histograms - the secret is knowing how to manipulate data gatered by histograms. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain..."