New NVIDIA RTX Remix Advanced Particle VFX Previewed In Quake III Arena RTX Demo
Many classic PC games remain beloved for their unforgettable stories, characters, and gameplay. But as technology advances, their visuals become dated, making it harder for gamers to appreciate their magic.
NVIDIA RTX Remix, a modding platform for RTX AI PCs, was built to change that. By reimagining the graphics of these timeless classics with cutting-edge path tracing, Remix has empowered fans to relive their favorite adventures in stunning detail, while introducing a new wave of players to the games that defined an era.
At GDC, we’re announcing an Advanced Particle VFX system, enabling modders to make even more impressive and immersive mods, demonstrated by WoodBoy's Quake III Arena RTX demo, which you can download now.
Read on to learn more.
Quake III Arena RTX Demo Remasters Classic NVIDIA Map - Download For Free From ModDB
26 years ago, at GDC 2000, we showcased the capabilities of the NV15-architecture GeForce2 GTS graphics card in Quake III Arena with a map called Area 15 NVIDIA Bunker, made in collaboration with level designer Casey.
Featuring four times the detail of a normal Quake III Arena map, Eurogamer said, “the sheer attention to detail was incredible, with bolts holding objects to the walls, smoothly curved corridors, detailed staircases and bannister rails, and even an NVIDIA chip fabrication plant in one room churning out little NVIDIA GPUs on a conveyor belt!”
Such was the level of detail, Area 15 was used to benchmark new GPUs for years to come, with its demanding visuals and Quake III Arena’s High Quality graphics preset punishing graphics cards at 1600x1200, the 4K equivalent of the era.
Now, 26 years later, modder ‘WoodBoy’ has remastered this classic map, with incredible 4K path-traced visuals, enhanced PBR assets, RTX Remix Logic, RTX Remix Advanced Particle VFX, Neural Radiance Cache, NVIDIA Reflex, DLSS Ray Reconstruction, and DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation.
Download WoodBoy’s Quake III Arena RTX demo, featuring Area 15 NVIDIA Bunker RTX, from ModDB. Woodboy has remastered over 15 maps, 3000 materials, and weapons and player textures, bringing the classic game to a new audience, without altering its beloved gameplay.
Introducing Remix Advanced Particle VFX, Available Next Month
In a previous update, RTX Remix introduced a path-traced particle system, enabling modders to replace a game’s legacy particles with modern, physically simulated ones. With Remix, modders can craft tens of thousands of path-traced particles, each accurately casting shadows and being reflected in the world. Remix particles are even governed by the laws of physics, accurately floating through the air with weight, before colliding with the environment, adding flair to mods, elevating them to new heights.
Modders love Remix’s Particle System, and have submitted a wishlist of over a dozen new capabilities they wanted to see added, quickly becoming RTX Remix’s highest rated “feature request” on our open source Github repository.
Next month, almost all of those requests will be fulfilled with the release of a new Remix update, which introduces Advanced Particle VFX, enabling even more gorgeous particles.
Remix particles now support Dynamic Animations, allowing modders to sculpt the animation of many effects over the lifetime of a particle, enabling mesmerizing aesthetics. Via a simple curve editor, modders can change the color, size, transparency and speed of particles moment to moment, widely expanding how lively they can look.
In the Quake III Arena RTX Demo, the Dynamic Animations system has been applied to the teleporters, which now contain black holes comprised of particle waves that shift in color, size and translucency over time, creating an eye-catching effect.
Remix’s physics simulation has been bolstered with Complex Gravitational Effects. Particles can now be magnetically attracted or repulsed by a location in the level, or carried through the air by directional wind, allowing for more interplay between the environment and the objects within it. You can even configure a drag coefficient to slow particles over time, simulating air resistance.
In the Quake III Arena RTX Demo, Complex Gravitational Effects are applied to the Black Hole. As you fire a Machine Gun, for instance, hundreds of sparks emitted from the weaponry are pulled into the gravity field, gently orbiting before disappearing into the dark center.
Advanced Particle VFX also adds Randomized Elements, allowing modders to create effects that surprise and delight with how varied they are. For instance, looking at a fire effect for more than a few moments reveals the same, unrealistic looping animation. Using Randomized Elements, visual repetition can be reduced, making a scene more immersive.
In the Quake III Arena RTX Demo, Randomized Elements are applied to the Lightning Gun, randomizing its lighting strikes that appear from the muzzle. Even the impact effects are randomized, with different sized rocks and billows of smoke blasting from the surface being struck, enhancing the look and feel of this powerful weapon in ways its developers couldn’t envisage 26 years ago.
Additionally, there are plenty of extra features for modders in the new Remix update, pushing particles even further and enabling unique effects. Use ultra small particles, new collision models, and different ways to make particles burst out in batches–stay tuned to learn more when it releases next month.
Remix Logic Already Available In Leading Mods
In January, we bolstered RTX Remix’s capabilities with the release of Remix Logic, a powerful system that allows modders to dynamically transform visuals based on in-game events. In two short months, modders have put Logic to work to create entirely new gameplay systems and add more atmosphere into their mods.
In Call of Duty 2 RTX Remix, by Sam Faulkner, Remix Logic changes the weather and lighting conditions, from a rainy thunder storm, to daylight, and eventually night, each with their own unique tone mapping profiles to perfectly capture the mood of those weather conditions and times of day.
In the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic RTX, by wiltOS Technologies, you can now use Logic to cast a Dark Vision spell, which activates magical night vision, to better see through your dark and dangerous adventure.
And in Painkiller RTX, by Merry Pencil Studios, collect 66 souls and you’ll be greeted with DEMON MODE, unlocking 1 hit kills and invincibility.
Additionally, new mods and compatibility patches have been released for classic games. xoxor4d and Skurtyyskirts’ Need for Speed Carbon RTX mod makes the game fully compatible for the first time, and remasters materials and lighting, showcasing how slick it can look with path-tracing. Pathtracedparadise has released an alpha of their Clive Barker’s Undying RTX mod, adding atmosphere to this gothic horror adventure. And Digitalwolf1313 released a new remaster of Portal 2 RTX, featuring updated textures, models and effects in the game and includes fan-made DLC Portal Stories: Mel, a community made campaign featuring a new story, with an Overwhelmingly Positive Steam rating from over 14,000 players.
Make Your Own Mods With NVIDIA RTX Remix, Or Download From ModDB
The new Advanced Particle VFX system will make NVIDIA RTX Remix mods even more kinetic, fun, realistic, and immersive when it's released next month. For an early hands-on look at these particles, download and play the latest version of the Quake III Arena RTX demo.
To make your own RTX mods, download NVIDIA RTX Remix from the Home screen of the NVIDIA app. And grab the Half-Life 2 RTX demo and Portal with RTX from Steam for an example of what’s possible with RTX Remix.
To find RTX Remix mods to download and play, we recommend ModDB and the RTX Remix Showcase Discord server.
And for news about future RTX Remix enhancements, new RTX games, RTX technologies, drivers, NVIDIA software, and more, return to GeForce.com regularly.