Apparently, improvements to shaders are part of what is causing the PS3 version to look better than what was released for 360 a year ago. I guess some of the shader tricks are GPU specific and won't be coming to the 360 but many are not and will. Only thing I could find about when this update would be happening is "this spring" but it stands to reason that if you buy the expansion you get the graphical update.

I understand that the Oblivion expansion for the 360 is being sold online only. This means only hard drive owners can play it and therefore it would be reasonable for Oblivion to use some additional hard drive caching to improve load time performance. This is just me speculating though.

BTW, the engine that Oblivion uses is called Gamebryo
http://www.emergent.net/index.php/h...mebryo-features
Gamebryo has been upgraded to better support the multiple processing cores on the Cell for PS3, and 360. As a result, it'll be interesting to see if the expansion for 360 improves on the original graphically in the same way that the ps3 version does.

I understand that the Oblivion expansion for the 360 is being sold online only. This means only HD owners can play it and therefore it would be reasonable for Oblivion to use some additional HD caching to improve performance.

Why would the fact that it is being sold online only mean that only HD owners can play it? You could have SD and still have an Xbox Live Gold account to download this game.

HD = hard drive. People should spell out a word before they abbreviate it.

Why would the fact that it is being sold online only mean that only HD owners can play it? You could have SD and still have an Xbox Live Gold account to download this game.

I think by hd he means hard drive not high definition.

Yeah - thanks - I corrected the original post.

BTW, has anyone spent time fishing around the news sites and found links that talk more about upgrades to the basic Oblivion game that we'll get as a result of the updates/expansion?

this is good news

I understand that the Oblivion expansion for the 360 is being sold online only. This means only hard drive owners can play it and therefore it would be reasonable for Oblivion to use some additional hard drive caching to improve load time performance. This is just me speculating though.


Oblivion has always used HDD caching- most 360 games do.

As a result, it'll be interesting to see if the expansion for 360 improves on the original graphically in the same way that the ps3 version does.

I'd rather they improve the framerate.

i think the framerate is pretty damn good for such a large scale rpg with v-sync.

Actually, any update is likely to be done separate from the for-pay D/L.
The Oblivion update that enabled downloadable content came separate from the horse armor.

And the 360 doesn't discriminate between memory card storage and the HDD; with new, bigger cards due "real-soon-now" the update might not, either.

Its nice to see the core oblivion engine getting updated prior to the GOTY release; lets hope the "spring" release of Shivering isles is closer to march than june...

BTW, the engine that Oblivion uses is called Gamebryo
http://www.emergent.net/index.php/h...mebryo-features
Gamebryo has been upgraded to better support the multiple processing cores on the Cell for PS3, and 360. As a result, it'll be interesting to see if the expansion for 360 improves on the original graphically in the same way that the ps3 version does.

Kind of OT, but Fallout 3 (which Bethesda is now in full development on) is using a modified Gamebryo engine, FWIW.

Fallout 3 = :D Can't wait. Armpit at your service!!!!!!!!

Actually, the Unified Shader improvements are being released on the 360 according to 1upshow 53. They are a small team and the guy that does the shaders learned more tricks over time and an update is coming for free to XBL to fix blooming in the distance as well as draw distance.

Is it coming out around Shivering Isles or what?

Are there any screenshot or before and after comparisons?

Is there an official date for Sivering Isles yet or is it still "Spring 07"?

Hmmm,

I am currently trying to decide if I should keep and play my copy of ESO or return it unopened and buy the PS3 version. I have held off on opening it because I am still playing a lot of other games and I heard that the PS3 version was going to have better graphics and less load times. But if there really will be an update to the 360 version...........tough choice. And hard to say until it is released for PS3 and the whole update business is settled.

Gamestop had Shivering Isles coming out on March 26 '07, which happens to be my birthday, kind of a nice way to celebrate it. Spending all of Spring Break sitting on my couch playing oblivion, it's gonna be great.

A good deal more information about Shivering Isles has surfaced. There are a bunch of town and irrelevent dungeons. Two new substances, amber and mania ore or something like that are what you take to the different smiths for them to make new armor. That sword, Duskfang, which becomes Dawnfang in the morning, gets upgraded power after you kill 12 enemies with it during that specific 12 hour cycle, its reset every 12 hours. You get to rebuild the Gatekeeper, giant monstorous guy with a sword for an arm, out of severed parts. The Golden Saints aren't enemies unless you choose them to be. They along with Dark Suddectresses (sp?) in Dementia, are the police. New information about quests have come up. Theres a museum filled with useless junk and you're commissioned to find more junk. Theres one where you need to find a way to make some guys death look like an accident because he wants to die, but Sheogorath frowns upon suicide or something like that. I can't wait for it.

I think in the 1upshow they also said Bethesda had to add the same content of Oblivion 3 or 4 times on different sections of the Blue-Ray Disc to keep load times *acceptable*. Blue-Ray may have superior capacity, but the slower access and transfer rate of the included PS3 drive prevent creativity.

Like I mentioned ealier. Bethesda never said the PS3 was better graphically, they said they learned how to make better use Unified Shaders, which are the same on both platforms, so the current Oblivion will benefit.

Bethesda did say that the lack of RAM in the PS3 is hurting their creativity also, so NO downloadable content will be available for the PS3. THey used Horse Armor as an example I remember.

Most of it is all here in show 63:

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

I think in the 1upshow they also said Bethesda had to add the same content of Oblivion 3 or 4 times on different sections of the Blue-Ray Disc to keep load times *acceptable*. Blue-Ray may have superior capacity, but the slower access and transfer rate of the included PS3 drive prevent creativity.

Like I mentioned ealier. Bethesda never said the PS3 was better graphically, they said they learned how to make better use Unified Shaders, which are the same on both platforms, so the current Oblivion will benefit.

Bethesda did say that the lack of RAM in the PS3 is hurting their creativity also, so NO downloadable content will be available for the PS3. THey used Horse Armor as an example I remember.

Most of it is all here in show 63:

http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3145462

1. Bethesda said it loads faster on the PS3.
2. Data duplication on the media to improve seek times is a very old trick and a smart one too.

I dont care about the graphic updates I just want them to improve the loading. Great game but the looooooooong loading sucks

I would galdly wait longer than I already do the game is jut that good. Sure it'd be nice to have shorter load times but with all the new content that willl likely take longer. I cringe at the thought of load times in Shivering Isles thanks to all the details and colors of it.