Neoptolemus85

Neoptolemus85 t1_izym4g4 wrote

Ray tracing is used to give physically-accurate real-time lighting and reflections by simulating the bouncing of light through an environment. Without ray tracing, games have to fake things like sunlight illuminating a room through a window, or mirrors, puddles and other reflective surfaces.

The thing is, games have become really good at faking those things, so for a lot of people the difference is only noticeable when viewing side-by-side comparisons, and not really when actually playing in-game.

Ray tracing could be much more than just better lighting and reflections, but it's still a niche capability for enthusiasts with high-end gear. We won't really see the full potential of ray tracing until it becomes standard for the majority of gamers which is years away.

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