Object Shadows - Not Included Options

[Neela]

Well the main forums were all ablaze tonight over object shadows apparently are not included. For my part I think the game looks great. I played Morrowind for years before I even realized that I had the shadow option turned off. Most games that have shadows I usually turn off the option anyway.

I think shadows do add to what I call "atmosphere" games, like Thief games. Characters cast nice soft shadows.. that is enough for me. For every object to cast a shadow would have been really tough for any GPU to handle in real time. This I know from the rendered pictures I create what a big difference in processing time for pictures with shadows vs. without.

After reading many of the threads in the main forums, I guess I never really even expected object shadows in the first place. Which is why I don't feel too upset with this news.

Can anyone tell me why this is such a big deal for alot of people? Or is it simply that we are to that point where anything and everything we hear about Oblivion will sound negative compared to our hype and expectation for it?

[Bofra]

I think Oblivion looks beautiful so why bother, If Bethesda made it look and "feel" real why put shadows on every object? It would probably break the feel of the graphics anyway making it look rather artificial. The most important thing in graphics is that it lets you dive into them and be a part of them while playing, being a 2D FPS or a pixelshader 3.0 enhanced RPG. I think Bethesda has done a better work with that than many other companies, so I can live without my spoon casting a shadow.