Can Fancy New Graphics Tech Save Burned-Out Game Developers?
Ray tracing looks great, and it could alleviate crunch if companies let it
Real-time ray tracing, the next big innovation in gaming graphics, could eventually make your games look more like the CGI you’re used to seeing in movies. Companies like Nvidia are touting it as a revolution in computer graphics, but its biggest benefit may be easing the burden on the overworked game developers trapped under perpetual crunch time today.
Ray tracing is a powerful technique in computer graphics that simulates the way real-world objects should look. The software casts virtual rays of light and traces (get it?) the path from the light source to the camera, just like light works in real life. In the same way light from a lamp bounces off the book you’re reading and into your eyes, ray tracing blasts CGI objects with rays and captures them in a virtual camera.
This enables the program to intuitively cast natural shadows, light objects properly, and create fast and easy reflections. If a lot of rays hit an object, the object is brighter. If an object blocks a light source, it casts a shadow. Where the old method was like tediously drawing an animated movie, ray tracing is more like shooting a live-action movie. You can hang the virtual lights, and it all…
