1. A method for facilitating surface simulations, the method comprising: receiving, at one or more computer systems, information specifying a UV mapping associated with a surface; receiving, at the one or more computer systems, information specifying 3D position of the surface associated with the UV mapping; for each polygon associated with the UV mapping, determining, with one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, gradients of U and V for the polygon with respect to the 3D position of the surface that are substantially orthogonal and of uniform magnitude and that approximate the original gradients of U and V for the polygon, and generating, with the one or more processors associated with the one or more computer systems, information related to the determined gradients of U and V for the polygon; and storing the information related to the determined gradients of U and V for each polygon in a storage device associated with the one or more computer systems.