Half-Life 2 returns with an impressive ray-traced remaster

NVIDIA announced Half Life 2 RTXremaster with new graphics and ray tracing (ray tracing). The project is underway developed by a team of artists and programmers with RTX Remix, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to improve older games.

One year after the twentieth anniversary of the launch Half Life 2the community is working on free remaster. Half Life 2 RTX similar to releases like RTX gateway or Quake 2 RTXwith the difference that the group includes teams responsible for Maud Valve’s most popular classic.

According to NVIDIA, developers they rebuilt almost all the models from the original game. Materials have also been worked on to add Physically Based Rendering (PBR) properties. Compared to the 2004 version graphic arts Half Life 2 RTX include 20 times more details.

The advertisement includes several screen shots from Kleiner’s lab showing visual improvements and usage ray tracing. Although the project is in the preliminary development stage, the work of the community is impressive. The materials of a HEV protective suit, a magnifying glass on a table that refracts light realistically, or Lammar’s skin are just a few examples.

Half Life 2 RTX is the work of Orbifold Studios, a development team Maud How Project 17, Half-Life 2 VR, Half-Life 2: Remade Assets And Raising the Bar: Redux. Your aim offer a new way to experience a Valve classic using modern rendering technologies. In addition to ray tracing, the project includes support for DLSS, RTX IO and NVIDIA Reflex.

Half Life 2 RTX remastered with artificial intelligence

Not so long ago, NVIDIA showed a tool that will allow you to remaster old games in order to adapt them to the new generation. RTX Remix is ​​capable of capturing textures, geometry, lighting and other values. through lead time from DirectX. Just play and the program will record all the elements in the background to save them in USD files later.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, Demonstrates the Power of RTX Remix in a Demo The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. According to Huang, the system used deep learning to scale textures and 3D models. and then combine them into a scene with realistic lighting. While the results are amazing, development isn’t as easy as clicking a button.

RTX Remix is ​​not compatible with all games

Current version does not support all old gamestherefore, games with versions other than DirectX 9 require additional downloads. The RTX Remix Github repository mentions that games released between 2000 and 2005 will work without problems, but games released after 2010 (DirectX 9c) will not. They are compatible. .

Another argument against is that not all updated games look good. Some lose aesthetics and some of the elements that were used to overcome the hardware limitations of their time.

The choice of Valve games for releasing updated versions is not accidental. Portal or Half Life 2 have extensive support for modifying game fileswhich has led to the creation of hundreds Maud. The developers behind Orbifold Studios are responsible for the most popular mods of the 2004 classic.

For now no set release date For Half Life 2 RTX. The game will be the perfect hook to attract new generations. We hope Gabe Newell and company realize the importance and announce 3rd part of the game “Half-Life.

Worth dreaming.