We’re still patiently waiting for Nvidia RTX Remix to be unleashed on the modding community, ushering in copious fan made ray traced remasters. Not content to remain at the whims of Nvidia, ReShade developer Pascal Glicher has begun development of their own tool similar to team green’s program, and has already given Skyrim a path tracing makeover with it.
Pascal Glicher, developer of the ReShade add-on for ray-traced global illumination (RTGI), has announced a new add-on, and is showing it off in a video uploaded to his YouTube Channel. The video showcases Glicher’s new path-traced global illumination (PTGI) update being implemented into The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, where the true capabilities of the path tracing shader are plain to be seen.
As detailed in a conversation with Eurogamer, the PTGI upgrade acts on a similar principle to RTX Remix, however, it’s a lot easier to incorporate. Implementing RTX Remix involves copious amounts of coding, whereas Glicher plans to allow users to set up PTGI through a series of clicks to an interface.
Working similarly to RTX Remix, this update to PTGI works by passing data collected from the GPU along to the game’s shaders, where it can be changed as the user sees fit. So long as the game is based on DirectX 9, the add-on should be compatible.
The capabilities of PTGI are on full display in the video uploaded onto Glicher’s YouTube channel. There, you can see the recognizable interiors of the Whiterun throne room. In the footage, dynamic lighting bounces through the sun-lit windows, and around the flickering candles. While Skyrim has been subject to a series of remasters and countless mods over the years, it’s never looked better.
Despite how impressive the mod looks, it’s still early into the project’s development. Eurogamer states that Glicher plans to create the add-on to be functional with a series of games, and not just Skyrim, with testing already being carried out in games like Grand Theft Auto 5.
Nevertheless, seeing Skyrim alive with dynamic lighting and generally looking more and more like a next-gen game, makes me excited about the future of PTGI, and if we’ll begin to see AAA developers implement similar technology in the future. Check out Pascal Glicher’s Patreon for more information and updates regarding his work with PTGI and other projects.
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