Wow, it's great to finally see FS Team members actively posting here. I have a question for Jason, or anyone else who knows, and please forgive me if this has already been asked. Will aircraft feature self shadowing? I can't tell by looking at the screenshots, though I know it's too soon to tell anyway.Incidentally, if you're one of those hardcore in-cockpit purists sitting there ready to hit reply to pontificate on how "real simmers" care not about the exterior graphics quality of the aircraft one is supposed to be flying IN, I ask you to just... don't. Thanks.

Jon,Rather than worry about getting stomped on if I reveal too much beyond what's been officially released, all I'll say is to look at *some* of the released screens and draw conclusions* based off those.That being said, I don't *ever* want to be the person who has to explain why what I said was or wasn't going to be in the product was or wasn't in the product. So I'll stick to what's public. :)does that er... *sorta* make sense? It's a *reasonably* safe bet that if you see it in the screens, it should be in the final product in a form at least *close* to what you see, but hopefully better. Cheers,Jason "I make no promises, and pepper my posts with weasel worded qualifications" Waskey* you are responsible for your conclusions...

Several of the screenshots here at AVSIM showwhat are clearly aircraft self shadowing In particular fsx021.jpg and fsx029.jpg I think self shadowing may be a bit problematicat times , cloudy conditions or overcast would requiremuch softer shadow edges than a bright day for example. I doubt we'll see that level of sophistication in thefirst implementation of selfshadowing ( but I can hope ) Cheers Steven

Well, one has to wonder from listeniing and watching those video interviews on gamespot if DirectX 10 doesn't take better advantage of those neat features?;-) Just a though.

>Jon,>>Rather than worry about getting stomped on if I reveal too>much beyond what's been officially released, all I'll say is>to look at *some* of the released screens and draw>conclusions* based off those.>>That being said, I don't *ever* want to be the person who has>to explain why what I said was or wasn't going to be in the>product was or wasn't in the product. So I'll stick to what's>public. :)>>does that er... *sorta* make sense? >>It's a *reasonably* safe bet that if you see it in the>screens, it should be in the final product in a form at least>*close* to what you see, but hopefully better. >>Cheers,>>Jason "I make no promises, and pepper my posts with weasel>worded qualifications" Waskey>>>>* you are responsible for your conclusions...Copy that 5x5. ;)

I imagine DirectX 10 will make a huge impact on our gaming experience, not only in FS either, but in future games built specifically for it, running on videocards designed on DirectX 10. I think we are about to see a revolution in graphical power and features. Yummy!http://home.earthlink.net/~dawgfighter/sit...es/swvasig1.gif-Jeremy BurchSWVA4806 http://www.virtualswa.com/home.phpThe Ozark Dogfighter http://forums.avsim.net/images/wedge.gifHappy Flying!

Dynamic soft-shadowing has been in games for ages and as such does not require any extra effort over what has already been achieved. Wether it will be used in FSX (the early screenshots don't show it) is entirely up to someone in the devteam who can say wether they "want" something in a product or not.It's not a question of "can we do this?" because they and everyone else in the industry can; it's a question of "do WE think this will enhance the product?" ("we" being the FSX devteam - naturally "we" the customers think it would enhances the product, but that might not be how the devs see it :) ).As for tying the sharpness of the edges of shadows to some measurement of ambient light (lots of light = sharper edges, less light = softer edges), I can't see why that would be a problem either (even on DX9). Even if that would for some odd reason go beyond FSX's scope, at the very least the devs can make the shadows lighter in low light (overcast, etc) and darker in bright light (mid-day sun for example).But, once again, that's up to someone in the team who can say "we want this" and make it so. Let's hope that someone is reading this and gets all fired up about the idea of dynamic soft-shadow edges ;D

Good points, all of them.Something that's sort of emerged over the last several years, as the graphics quality of FS has gotten better, is the artistry some of the screenshot posters in their forum are capable of. With all the great photoreal textures that have been made for aircraft, the main thing that took away from "as real as it gets" was the lack of self-shadowing on the aircraft, IMHO.Yes, it's a flight sim, and one doesn't need the wing to cast a shadow on the fuselage from certain angles to simulate flight, but it's among the little details that add to the suspension of disbelief. I'm excited about everything hinted at with FSX, be it self-shadowing, normal mapped rivets, or mission-based flying (with the assumption that the sandbox we've all loved over the years is still there to play in). Methinks Christmas this year will be a good one.

Jason, would you mind posting a VC picture :) ?Personally, I don't care too much about outside shadows. Having dynamic shadow creeping over the instrument panel is another story though. Probably in my personal top 10 wish list.(I know, you probably can't post a screenie here, but don't blame a guy for asking!)Cheers,Christian

FS9 already has self-shadowing in the VC:When you fly towards the sun, the VC is in shadow. When you fly away from the sun, you can actually read the instruments :DSeriously though, I know what you mean ;) It would be great to see shadows creeping up and down the virtual cockpit / cabin. Just not as dark as the "shadow" in FS9 is (making gauges hard to read in certain conditions).