http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUtvj_pqxvs

Here is an example of how shadows were in Oblivion.
On characters they were god awful... but at first, before they canceled them, they looked VERY good (I'm refering to the dynamic soft shadows mentioned in the video).

The shadows in Skyrim look... a bit weird... They look good! Don't misunderstand me! But I think they don't look better than the ones supposed to be in Oblivion.

Compare between the video at the top of this post and between this picture: http://www.elderscrolls.com/skyrim/media/screenshots/riverwood/ (the shadow of the house, amongst other screenshots where the shadows, in my opinion, could've looked better, or am I asking for too much?)

NOTE: The shadows ON objects look great, better than in Oblivion. I'm refering to the shadows that fall on the ground and on OTHER objects.

Yes. You are.

you realize, of course, that comparing shadows in a video to shadows in a screenshot is like comparing motion blur in a video to motion blur in a screenshot, right?

the shadows in the Oblivion demo were being specifically shown off, and they were soft shadows being cast by a dynamic light source. the shadows in the screenshots are just there, shadows being cast by the sun.

also it's a console shot. shadow resolution is very likely set fairly low.

ed http://cms.elderscrolls.com/sites/default/files/tes/screenshots/Tavern01_wLegal.jpg (and again you can see that the shadow resolution is pretty low, particularly in the stools in front of the bar).

Morrowind has better lighting than both Oblivion and Skyrim, in my opinion. :whistling:

Remember that the dynamic shadows in Oblivion got dumped because they were just too much of a resource hog to be workable. It's much easier to get brilliant shadows when you don't care how small and simple your environments are.

Maybe they had to make a few minor quality compromises to get lots of dynamic shadows working right? If so, I could live with that .

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDP27Xt703w/Tf4SL0FCgiI/AAAAAAAAAFg/brt2Syekz_U/s1600/007-morrowind1.jpg

I think Daggerfall had the most complex shadow system. :whistling:

First question: Yeah, and still I would've expected them to look better, I don't know.

Second statement: I agree with the fact that the shadows in the Oblivion demo were there for show, but I can't see your point with shadows being cast by the sun.

Third statement: Fair enough.

Screenshot: I don't thinkt they look so good here, actually... I don't know, I guess it's because it's the Xbox version. If so then everything's alright.

But remember, I'm only expressing my opinion here (not reffering to you Might Be a Couch, but to everyone here), I still think they could've been done better. It's probably because of the current generation of consoles, here's hoping for it to improve in the PC version!

PS3's shadows svcked. PS3 is infamous for failing at making good looking shadows (unless a person programming on it knows what he is doing, which bethesda didn't back in 2006-2007).

shadows look more impressive when they're being cast by a fast-/randomly-moving light source than they do when they're just being cast by a slow-moving light source. in Oblivion, especially, the shadows being cast by torches looked great, since they'd flit around actively.

also the Oblivion demo was done on a PC, not a 360.

i mean i get what you're saying and i'd agree if these were PC shots, but playing around with shadow settings in Oblivion and seeing how they felt i'm confident Skyrim's lighting will be just as tight. Bethesda knows how to do good lighting, even if this is the first time they've had full dynamic lighting in a released game.

The only thing i'll give the 2011 version of Morrowind is the SSAO shaders and the water shaders.

Also, wasn't the footage from the OP's post an E3 demo of Oblivion on the PC? Didn't Bethesda come out and say that you'd need a super computer to run it like that?

Skyrim is being shown on the consoles to avoid all the regrets that include threads like these.

You have to remember that Bethesda did not know what kind of technology the 360 would have until several months prior to its release.

That video is so old its nothing like the final version of Oblivion. There where so many changes to the shadows and other effects its not even comparable to Skyrim.

I guess Skyrim IS their first real test if they know how to handle full lightning in a good way. Let's all show our support in that

Mikedzines: I know that the footage is from the Xbox, I just think it mainly reduces the textures rather than the shadows, probably I'm mistaken.

TWO NOTES:
1: Thanks for helping me with my board game Mikedzines
2: I love Morrowind...

Oblivion really was a masterpiece. The music, the graphics, the story, the voice actors, so much effort.