Realtime ray tracing for current and future games

Abstract

Recently, realtime ray tracing has been developed to the point where it is becoming a possible alternative to the current rasterization approach for interactive 3D graphics. With the availability of a first prototype graphics board purely based on ray tracing, we have all the ingredients for a new generation of 3D graphics technology that could have significant consequences for computer gaming. However, hardly any research has been looking at how games could benefit from ray tracing. In this paper we describe our experience with two games: The adaption of a well known ego-shooter to a ray tracing engine and the development of a new game especially designed to exploit the features of ray tracing. We discuss how existing features of games can be implemented in a ray tracing context and what new effects and improvements are enabled by using ray tracing. Both projects show how ray tracing allows for highly realistic images while it greatly simplifies content creation.