LOTRO to gain DX10 Support This Fall

[HaMMerHeD]

As part of the regular updates that Turbine has planned for The Lord of the Rings Online, the Chapter 11 addition (scheduled to launch "this fall") will add DirectX 10 rendering support to the LOTRO client software. According to Meghan Rodberg's (a.k.a. "Patience"; Turbine Community Manager) post on the official LOTRO Forums:

There are a handful of graphics features which will be available only to DX10 users. These are mostly minor visual upgrades with the exception of the dynamic shadows which are a pretty dramatic change. Specifically these are the features we’ve implemented:

Dynamic outdoor shadow maps: This is out big upgrade for DX10. Outdoor shadows will now use dynamically rendered shadow maps. Buildings will self shadow. Trees cast shadows on players and scenery. The leaves move and it makes you happy. This feature is intended for users running in Very High or Ultra High.

Water improvements: the water now has soft shorelines and uses true depth calculations to determine the amount of fog visible.

Soft particles: Particle effects will now fade when they intersect with other geometry to avoid harsh lines.

Far terrain lighting: Far terrain lighting is improved for DX10 users. This effect may not be visible yet in all parts of the world. This is also only on by default in Very High or Ultra High.

(Original Link)

So it's not a huge graphical update at this point, but it is nice to see that they are at least headed down that path.

Chapter 11 went live on the Roheryn test server today, so LOTRO players can download the Roheryn test client and check out the changes now.

For a complete list of changes in Book 11, go here. Of humorous note is the addition of the "Moor cowbell" for minstrels.