(isn't it actually decreasing the FPS?
Naw, any stuttering in the vid is form the fact that I was in debug with FOW completely uncovered (while recording)...the calulations for this effect are really minimal.
Are you making the cloth map prettier as well?
I believe we'll be tweaking the cloth map, but our main visual focus is on making the main game looking better.
Will there also be soaring peaks or sharp drops- or is that something to tie into a place of interest only.
We played with ways to pinch the verts in such a way to give some sharpness to the mountains, but it ended up looking really cheap

IIRC there
are some new terrain types that will allow for sheer mountainsides, though, which could be used in conjunction with tiledesigns to make some cool looking mountain peaks.