I have been reading some negative comments about Oblivions graphics, in particular, the forest scene. One person who says that he was at the same event that you attended said that buildings were popping up out of nowhere in front of him, that the game would pause to load very frequently, and that grass and foliage was only drawn in about 10 feet in front of you. Are these things true? Did you notice any issues such as the ones I mentioned? Any info in regards to this is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

-- Rob

You know, I've read a bunch of these as well, but I really didn't have much of a problem with the popping that did occur. Buildings weren't popping out of nowhere for me unless they were far in the distance. The distance is where people are probably going to have their most problems because as I mentioned in the preview, any hills outside of the level of detail are going o be blurry blobby areas that are downright ugly. This isn't a product of having a worse video card either, anyone who plays the game will see this. Basically, when running around the world, Oblivion will load up new areas around the player that are full of foliage, buildings, and so on. When you cross a line, the next area will also load up, which on occasion brings a millisecond stutter and objects popping into view, should you have a clear view into the distance. When in the middle of town or a forest, I didn't see a lot of popping as there were too many objects in front of me.

It didn't really bother me, but that's not saying it won't bother you. There are obviously a lot of mixed opinion about how important and annoying the graphics situation is in Oblivion. I was having enough fun that I didn't notice, but I can see how some people would find it tiresome. It's also worth taking into consideration that I've see a bare fraction of the environments and only played five hours of a potential two hundred hours which means things could potentially get on my nerves eventually as well. I don't think it will, but I won't know until I try.

-- Dan