Resident Evil 2’s ray tracing was a huge disappointment for fans of Capcom’s excellent horror game. In June, the developer released a free atmosphere-enhancing ray tracing update, but in the process dropped support for DirectX 11 versions of the game, forcing players to upgrade to DirectX 12 and higher PC specs. That decision was quickly reversed and the original versions restored, but apparently for many fans that meant more ray tracing, a terrible shame given the vivid detail and rich atmosphere of RE2’s reimagined Raccoon Police Department.
But now ray tracing is not only back in Resident Evil 2, it’s looking better than ever thanks to the work of modder Giulio Guglielmi aka Massihancer.
We’ll get into the technical details here (think Willem Dafoe’s “I’m kind of a game developer” meme), but by using an alternative lighting technique called Dynamic Diffuse Global Illumination, the Massihancer mod can extend coverage and brightness. light sources in the game world, meaning that shadows and details are affected not just by a small number of lights traveling a short distance, but by all the lights in a given environment. There’s science behind it – the Massihancer comparison video you can watch below makes this case that much better.
We’re particularly impressed with the increase in reflection here. The vanilla version of Resident Evil 2 looks fantastic, but it lacks a bit of that dull matte look that makes it look like the light isn’t bouncing off of anything. Take a look at the modified version, especially at this point where it completely reduces RPD reception, and you can see that this is no longer the case.
The mod is still in development, but it looks like true ray tracing is finally coming to RE2. You can follow the Massihancer project through its YouTube channel.
Source : PC Gamesn
