Months back at GDC, video card manufacturer Nvidia unveiled their RTX series of cards that focused on ray-tracing. They also showed off a select number of games being powered by the cards, including a ray-traced version of id Software’s classic, Quake 2.
For those keen on playing the game with the new tech, Nvidia have announced that, as in 1997, the first three levels of the RTX enhanced version of Quake 2 will be available to download for free. Best of all, if you own the original Quake 2, you’ll be able to point Quake 2 RTX to your install folder, and then play the full game with all the new ray-traced goodies enabled.
So just what’s enhanced, you ask? Using real-time ray tracing for global illumination has meant that Nvidia have been able to add several new options, including the ability to select the time of day in a level. As well, all Quake 2‘s textures have gotten the overhaul, with some from the Q2XP mod pack, and others that Nvidia themselves enhanced.
Better yet, Nvidia will be posting the source code for Quake 2 RTX on GitHub to make it easy for modders to use this to enhance Quake 2 further, or to use it in mods.
But to take advantage of this, you’ll need to grab at least an RTX 2060. Better start saving.
