» Fri Dec 09, 2011 9:51 pm
Well, Skyrim runs on DX-9, so a jump to 10 or 11 has to be programmed into the game from the start.
It still uses Shader-2 even though the minimum cards required to run the game, use Shader-3.
However, there is a DX-10 conversion for XP, which runs DX-9 commands with DX-10 code, and forces Shader-3. (It is still buggy, as it forces code, as opposed to using actual DX-10 code.)
They only included DX-10 install, because it has the latest DX-9 drivers in the install for XP, Vista, and Win-7. (Doesn't matter which version you have installed, all prior versions are there too. Installing DX-10 or 11 does not make DX-9 run better.)
The major thing they could have gotten from DX-10, would be GRASS, SHADERS, WATER, SKY, CLOUDS, and FOG. (Some Flora effects like VINES and LEAVES also, but those were still slightly bugged in DX-10.)
However, that would exclude everyone who has XP as an OS, which is about 50% of the gaming community still. (Since 64-bit systems are/were still buggy for games. But that is MS's fault, hogging all the goods for the OS and WEB and MS-Progs, not letting it run right with games. Having 4GB on a 64-bit system is like having 2GB on a 32-bit system. Due to double-wide memory. However, because it is twice as long, it takes twice as long to fill and read, thus, 64-bit is a downgrade, performance wise, unless you run multiple things at once. As opposed to running one single game. It is also harder to program for, and costs ten times as much to slap a MS logo on the box, for 64-bit programs.)
That is changing, and will change, with games like this, and Crysis. Now people just have to get money, or prices have to become reasonable again, for computers.