The flickering of the shadows is too distracting and I cannot continue playing this game.

Is there any way to turn off the shadows on the PS3?

Wow.. $60 down the toilet.

While I know issues people are having are very frustrating. You act as if you will never be able to play the game while enjoying doing so. Im sure bethesda is working on patches at a furious pace.

Yackpah,

Thanks for the hopeful words, and I sure do hope you're right. Apparently this issue is accross all platforms, and the PC version can be rectified by editing the .ini file.

On the console, we're not so lucky and have to wait for a patch... if it's even forthcoming (sorry for the negativity... I am a veteran of the FO3 GOTY for PS3 fiasco)

I still feel I blew $60, though. Just for the record.

You feel that way over some issues with shadows,but players like myself can't even see their HUD because Bethesda decided to design the game solely around HDTVs. A lot of people still own SDTVs and can't always afford an HDTV. So we're stuck with the HUD stretched off-screen with no ability to adjust it since there's oddly no screen adjustment settings in-game and PS3/TV settings not resolving the problem. You can play your game just fine. Granted,issues such as the shadows and other environmental problems should have been seen before release. I understand and agree,yet disagree with what you're saying. I do hope your issue gets patched soon,but I'm just saying that there's far worse things that would really make gamers like you and I regret spending large amounts of money on the product at hand.

Chapel,

Sure, you're right, and I won't argue with that.

However, I would also put forth that anything that distracts from a good (not necessarily PERFECT) gaming experience pretty much ruins it.

Sure, I *can* play it, but seriously what's the point if the immersion factor is ruined? Certainly you can understand that, right?

To the OP, I am also a Fallout 3 GOTY PS3 veteran, but the reason some shadow flickering doesn't bother me is because I barely notice it and it's nothing compared to a very real and far more menacing issue... the bloating of saved data files and the subsequent broken syndrome that affected Fallout 3. It's seemingly affecting the PS3 version of Skyrim and that's what I'm far more concerned about than some barely noticeable flickering shadows. I'm worried sick about never being able to play a single character for more than 20 hours and I consider that a far graver and inexcusable (They did the same freaking thing with Fallout 3 and if us PS3 gamers can notice it in a matter of days after the game releases, Bethesda, having known about this issue with Fallout 3 and having game testers, should know about this issue. They probably do, but they just won't patch it.). As our background in the whole Fallout 3 fiasco should dictate, isn't that a far more worrisome threat then some flickering soft shadows?

OK, fine. You're all right. I am just whining unnecessarily because our standards have fallen so low for Bethesda that if it's not total game freezing, HUD ruining, memory corrupting problems then it's OK.

No, really, that's cool. As long as I know now what the Bethesda game standards are, I know what to spend my money on in the future. I actually still have Morrowind installed on this PC. I will play that instead

Very fair argument. For you,the issue that distracts from a good gaming experience would be the shadow issue. As for myself and many other players,its the inability to see the HUD due to being on an SDTV. Pretty much we're both feeling cheated or robbed out of what should be some of the most epic gaming ever. I understand and fully agree. I'm just bitter that they would for some absurd reason,build the entire game around strictly HDTVs and leave no means of adjusting the screen for players who don't have those types of TVs. I guess in terms the experience,our issues are equally as big.

I'm sensing some sarcasm...

Anyway, no, for the most part, I don't see what the problem is. I'm not noticing anything abnormal with the shadows. They shimmer a bit because they're low-resolution like most PS3 shadows and sometimes, on the soft shadows of certain buildings alone, they seem a bit segmented, but the game looks great, to me. I'm not seeing the problem here. We even got AA, unlike with Fallout 3... but the title of you thread and the anger you seem to bear over something that I don't even see as an issue would be, in my opinion, better suited to that one bug that is actually relevant to the crap experienced with Fallout 3 and would actually mean you "cannot play this game anymore". It's a game-breaking piece of garbage that's actually affecting Skyrim at the moment while I'm not bothered by the shadows, at all... therefore I really don't give a crap about some minor inconsistency with shadows that I've not even really noticed. It's not like the game's shadows all flicker on and off as you move, it's more like some building soft shadows shimmer a bit as you move.

That's cool. Here's the issue I am seeing (which was posted in another thread)....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es84W6A1XsQ


The flipping of the shadows when standing still is way too distracting for me. It happens outdoors in all locations except in extreme weather and night. Happens indoors where fires throw shadows on objects. I am also getting Atari 2600 pixelated shadows on walls, which svck but arent THAT distracting as the flipping shadows are.

If you can tell me how to mitigate this since you don't seem to be having this problem I would be forever in your debt. Well.. not forever.

Is is actually a huge problem considering we're in 2011 instead of 2007 when this quality was somehow acceptable.
Please see my topic here: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1260645-where-are-the-shadows/ .
Does Bethesda have a QA process?!!?
How come this huge graphical issues didn't come out?

Btw when you talk about PS3 limitations, have you ever tried Assassin's Creed I/II/... and/or Killzone 2/3?
Apparently those companies do have a QA process in place to ensure they don't release worse than beta software.

Cheers