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Gargantou

Gargantou

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http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/theelderscrollsivoblivion/news.html?sid=6144925

It looks very nice, and sounds nice, but I'm sorta dissappointed having recently learnt that soft-shadows were removed FULLY from the game, both indoors and outdoors..
No official reason was given but I assume it had to do with performance..
That dissappointed me not because I'm a graphics whore but because they stated in a few months ol' FAQ that they were IN..
Not to mention Soft-Shadows were used in the dungeon E3 demo if you remember..
Oh well, hopefully someone can magically mod it in <3
 
if you heard the podcast interview you would know that the soft shadowing was removed because of performance problems. the only place you saw soft shadowing in action was in the prison cell for the rest of that gameplay movie there was no soft shadowing enabled.(e.g. the dungeons with skeletons etc.)
 
Gargantou said:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/theelderscrollsivoblivion/news.html?sid=6144925

It looks very nice, and sounds nice, but I'm sorta dissappointed having recently learnt that soft-shadows were removed FULLY from the game, both indoors and outdoors..
No official reason was given but I assume it had to do with performance..
That dissappointed me not because I'm a graphics whore but because they stated in a few months ol' FAQ that they were IN..
Not to mention Soft-Shadows were used in the dungeon E3 demo if you remember..
Oh well, hopefully someone can magically mod it in <3
Click to expand...

They weren't just removed from the 360 version?

No reason not to put them in the PC version as atleast a toggleable option...
 
Nope xlucidx, both versions, that you can see in the PC screenies, there're new PC ones aswell as 360 ones, sadly..
And it's weird, a recent Beyond3D interview frmo 9th January states this.

"Are you using any kind of pre-computed shadow technique for static shadows? If so, how well will they blend with the dynamic shadows?

We are not using any pre-computed techniques. The main reasons are that pre-computed shadow maps don’t mesh well with our dynamic time-of-day system. Also, relying on a completely dynamic solution allows much more flexibility for the artists to create whatever environment they want in an entirely WYSIWYG work environment."

and this

"Are your dynamic shadow implementation a feature across all supported systems, perhaps scaling the detail on low-end machines, or are they a high-end only checkbox? How would you describe the qualitative jump from Morrowind?

They will be supported across all systems. We will have options to toggle features like self-shadowing and the softening effect, as well as to adjust the number of characters receiving shadows to improve performance for lower end machines."

Notice that they do even mention blurring for shadows, i.e. softshadows.

Link to interview, http://www.beyond3d.com/interviews/oblivion/
 
xlucidx said:
They weren't just removed from the 360 version?

No reason not to put them in the PC version as atleast a toggleable option...
Click to expand...
They probably can't make it a toggable option since they totally changed the shadow system.
 
Oh well... maybe that means I'll get a slight chance to be able to run it on my FX5200 :p
 
xcludicx, not only does it look retarded, but seeing as it's a merely polished vers of the XB1 game, it PLAYS retarded(Unless they decided to rewrite the ENTIRE GAME) <3
 
StardogChampion said:
They probably can't make it a toggable option since they totally changed the shadow system.
Click to expand...

I doubt that's the reason, any game with a sembelence of modularity can implement toggles for things such as dynamic/soft shadows. They're no harder to compute than something like HDR.
 
Looks very fun. Sad to see that they took out a large part of what made the game extremely beautiful. I'll still be getting my copy when it comes out though. :thumbs:
 
satch, what part was that?
The shadowing system..?:s
It was as said only shown a single time in the incredibly small dungeon cell..
So one can't really be sure how good or ugly it is without it.lawl.:p
We'll just have to wait and see..
 
Gargantou said:
satch, what part was that?
The shadowing system..?:s
It was as said only shown a single time in the incredibly small dungeon cell..
So one can't really be sure how good or ugly it is without it.lawl.:p
We'll just have to wait and see..
Click to expand...
Well, since everything else we have seen hasn't had the soft shadows and everything else looks amazing, I wouldn't worry too much about how beautiful the game will look. Besides, if it means performance doesn't take a nasty hit, I am all for it. Its a great thought, but I'd rather have a smooth fps. I would bet tons though that it will be in the next Elder Scrolls game as the high-end tech of today will be towards the low-end in 4-5 years. :thumbs:
 
I bet tons it's probably hidden there in some ol' code that one can haxx0r into Oblivion <3
 
Soft shadowing is computer demanding. If I turn it on for FEAR, I got from 30 FPS to about 5 FPS.
 
Yeah, however we're not talking just softshadowing, it seems they've removed DYNAMIC shadows all together, so we won't even get say Doom 3/FEAR standard shadows..
Atleast if we're to believe the latest screens which has neither selfshadowing nor dynamic shadows cast from neither the characters, monsters, etc..
That's the main issue, softshadows ain't such a big one for me..
Albeit I guess we can't be 100% until the game is actually released.
 
Gargantou said:
Yeah, however we're not talking just softshadowing, it seems they've removed DYNAMIC shadows all together, so we won't even get say Doom 3/FEAR standard shadows..
Atleast if we're to believe the latest screens which has neither selfshadowing nor dynamic shadows cast from neither the characters, monsters, etc..
That's the main issue, softshadows ain't such a big one for me..
Albeit I guess we can't be 100% until the game is actually released.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure dynamic shadows is still in the game, the just switched away from softshadowing and the way the shadows was done before because it caused major performance issues. listen to the podcast again.
 
No, most of the dynamic shadows on objects have been removed for performance reasons, although some still have them. It's easy to see why they did it.

For instance, you have a table with 200 coins on it and assorted junk. You place a torch in the centre of the table. You can drag some junk through the coins and they'll move around and your computer will wince in pain from all the physics calculations. Now, fire a fireball at the coins and watch your computer explode as it tries to calculate shadows and physics on 200+ objects.

Note: POST 555 STAYING ALIVE.
 
The best part: "we will be announcing a release date in the next couple of weeks."

i'm gonna have to stock up on Doritos and book a week off work.
 
Thats great news he says it plays better on the 360 version !! Now i know what system to get it for. He also siad you will need the latest and greatest like a ATI X1900xt just to have it look likr the 360 version. i'm glad i got a 360:)
 
I'm not sure if I even want to get the game now, because of the changed shadowing system. I mean, the shadows were what drew me in, when I first saw the first videos in the dungeon, when they were showing the skull and stuff reflecting light in real time.

Wait a second. Holy ****ing SHIT. Mr. Redundant, is that you!?!!
 
Raziaar said:
I'm not sure if I even want to get the game now, because of the changed shadowing system. I mean, the shadows were what drew me in, when I first saw the first videos in the dungeon, when they were showing the skull and stuff reflecting light in real time.
Click to expand...
Are you being facetious? If not then I would say definitely don;t get the game. I;m personally getting it to enjoy the awesomely deep and open-ended gameplay. Who cares if a graphical feature or two doesn't make it? It's still the most impressive looking RPG around.
 
Icarusintel said:
Are you being facetious? If not then I would say definitely don;t get the game. I;m personally getting it to enjoy the awesomely deep and open-ended gameplay. Who cares if a graphical feature or two doesn't make it? It's still the most impressive looking RPG around.
Click to expand...

I probably will ge tit. Its just VERY depressing, yanno?
 
Hmm, I could care less about these shadows everyone is talking about. In fact, I can't even tell. The game looks fricken fantastic with or without shadows. In any game I would disable stupid shadows for performance, but thats just me. :p
 
Raziaar said:
I'm not sure if I even want to get the game now, because of the changed shadowing system. I mean, the shadows were what drew me in, when I first saw the first videos in the dungeon, when they were showing the skull and stuff reflecting light in real time.

Wait a second. Holy ****ing SHIT. Mr. Redundant, is that you!?!!
Click to expand...

rgr that good buddy, howzit hangin'? :)

I agree with Raz on the shadowing issue... Soft shadows were a big part of what was impressive when the Unreal 3 engine tech was shown way back on the 6800... haven't really seen it in a decent game as of yet, and I was thinking that Oblivion would be the one to bring it home.
I was especially impressed after viewing the vid in the prison, showing the soft shadows and physics interactions.

ah well, soft shadows aside Im hoping they cleaned up the animations some, still the armor designs have me moist ;)
 
Shadows ain't too big a matter for me either, but it IS a major part of GRAPHICAL immersion imo, the game can be as beautiful as god but without any shadows, it'll detract majorly from the realism and immersion(graphicwise immersion that is).
 
The first modification I want to see for this game... is one with a ressurection system similiar to that of an MMORPG. I hate roleplaying games that if you die, its completely over. I mean, that in my mind just promotes the damn habit of saving/loading all the time, instead of taking more enjoyable risks.
 
So there are no shadows WHAT SO EVER OTHER THEN SOFT SHADOWS!!! There are other types of shadows like just plaine crappy shadows will do.
 
MySPecIsInMyNickDudez0r.
We don't know for sure yet, I think characters casts shadows, but only on the ground, no selfshadowing etc afaik, but say buildings etc, don't cast'em, they're just lightshaded, so we can't know for sure..
Tbh I'd prefered to have lower res textures with a fully dynamic shadow system.. Shadows add so much to the realism factor for me, graphicwise that is.

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2004/reviews/924363_20041028_screen001.jpg
Newest ESIV screen of GameSpot, notice no dynamic shadows whatsoever in that pic, no for items etc, none <3
 
For that matter, I don't notice any shadows 'period' in that screenshot :x
 
Indeed, I'm not a graphicswhore, but a proper shadow system adds so much for me, it'd been lovely to see the shadows slowly move up and covering the city as the sun goes down..
 
Gargantou said:
Indeed, I'm not a graphicswhore, but a proper shadow system adds so much for me, it'd been lovely to see the shadows slowly move up and covering the city as the sun goes down..
Click to expand...

at 5 fps:rolleyes:

stop complaining, the shadow system didn't work and they got rid of it because they found it more important that people could actually run the game a proper framerates and not as a slideshow.

that's how it is...things that doesn't work gets cut so that the game plays better.
 
Prince of space, they could've left an option in for it tho imo, for when the computers become fast enough to run it with softshadows.:)
And besides, they really shouldn't've shown anything at all with softshadows, nor should they've promised'em, if they weren't totally sure they'd be able to get'em to run imo..
I mean, it wasn't ONLY the prison cell, they've stated in multiple interviews that the game would have "Beautiful fully dynamic softshadows both indoors and outdoors".

But whatever.:)

Hopefully the gameplay will be good enough to make the graphics not matter.
 
Raziaar said:
I'm not sure if I even want to get the game now, because of the changed shadowing system. I mean, the shadows were what drew me in, when I first saw the first videos in the dungeon, when they were showing the skull and stuff reflecting light in real time.
Click to expand...

This is getting worse then I thought. I seriously can not believe people care so much about something like soft-shadows and dynamic shadows. Graphics are complimentary of gameplay and I hope that is the way it shall remain as you all should. Some of you guys are are making me wonder if we're going to be watching games in the future or playing them.
 
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