Holy shit! There has never been something released before that I dislike yet absolutely want so badly!
To write more seriously, I was extremely surprised when Nvidia shadow-dropped on a livestream their latest technology in which they are able to implement RTX into most games that support DirectX8 and 9. For many this came out of nowhere and to a bigger surprise a playable showcase was being released; players could experience the entirety of Portal with RTX-Remix on.
From a technical standpoint, Portal with RTX is nothing more than a sublime marvel and an exciting look into the future of graphics development. The RTX part doesn't actually mess with any of the game files itself but instead acts like a wrapper. The gist is that modders with just a click of a button, RTX Remix will take all render data for textures, lighting etc. and load it into the application itself, allowing modders to change these to their hearts content. This new software seems to have no downsides, doesn't it? Except your game must have a fixed function pipeline renderer so games like New Vegas won't work. Hooray.
However, the decision to revolve the tech demo around Portal is in itself flawed and unluckily damaging to what Nvidia want to show. To put it simply, the RTX often works against Portal's art direction. When we have an environment that is supposed to be decrepit and abandoned, it no longer makes any sense to have shiny, reflective surfaces. When we are supposed to have sterile blue lighting and blue surfaces that help invoke a feeling of isolation, we are given instead a 2017 Minecraft shader pack. What we lose in this "DLC" is important details in the game itself as well. The walls are originally supposed to be made from lunar rock and now everything seems to be made out of Portal 2's metal. Albeit impressive, pushing out light reflections and HD textures seems to be losing what made Portal even special in the first place.
This isn't really Nvidia fault, he technology is there and it's impressive. If you want to replay Portal and perhaps want to check out something more refreshing then try the RTX mod (if your PC can even handle it, my 3060 struggled even with 30fps). However there is not any reason to play this over the original if it's your first time into the Portal series. It's weird how except for DirectX issues this showcase wasn't done for Portal 2, since the game deals with more open spaces and opportunities for fauna reflection. However we can only wait to see where this goes in the future...
just wished it worked for New Vegas :(
To write more seriously, I was extremely surprised when Nvidia shadow-dropped on a livestream their latest technology in which they are able to implement RTX into most games that support DirectX8 and 9. For many this came out of nowhere and to a bigger surprise a playable showcase was being released; players could experience the entirety of Portal with RTX-Remix on.
From a technical standpoint, Portal with RTX is nothing more than a sublime marvel and an exciting look into the future of graphics development. The RTX part doesn't actually mess with any of the game files itself but instead acts like a wrapper. The gist is that modders with just a click of a button, RTX Remix will take all render data for textures, lighting etc. and load it into the application itself, allowing modders to change these to their hearts content. This new software seems to have no downsides, doesn't it? Except your game must have a fixed function pipeline renderer so games like New Vegas won't work. Hooray.
However, the decision to revolve the tech demo around Portal is in itself flawed and unluckily damaging to what Nvidia want to show. To put it simply, the RTX often works against Portal's art direction. When we have an environment that is supposed to be decrepit and abandoned, it no longer makes any sense to have shiny, reflective surfaces. When we are supposed to have sterile blue lighting and blue surfaces that help invoke a feeling of isolation, we are given instead a 2017 Minecraft shader pack. What we lose in this "DLC" is important details in the game itself as well. The walls are originally supposed to be made from lunar rock and now everything seems to be made out of Portal 2's metal. Albeit impressive, pushing out light reflections and HD textures seems to be losing what made Portal even special in the first place.
This isn't really Nvidia fault, he technology is there and it's impressive. If you want to replay Portal and perhaps want to check out something more refreshing then try the RTX mod (if your PC can even handle it, my 3060 struggled even with 30fps). However there is not any reason to play this over the original if it's your first time into the Portal series. It's weird how except for DirectX issues this showcase wasn't done for Portal 2, since the game deals with more open spaces and opportunities for fauna reflection. However we can only wait to see where this goes in the future...
just wished it worked for New Vegas :(