High Dynamic Range lighting, as featured in the latest Far Cry patch, will be used in the game to render the lush landscapes of the colonial age in which the game is set. Whilst Doom 3 had a hidden option to toggle self-shadowing, AOE3 will come with that feature fully built into the engine, meaning that ships and soldiers will be shaded more realistically than ever. We fully expect that this will be the first in a wave of DX9/SM3 announcements this year, as the in-game engines finally catch up to the hardware released last year.